Marijuana Legalization/Decriminalization Efforts

[Kohan]

I've always read that tests have been inconclusive, i.e. nothing died.

I can't find any actual conclusive tests, either. I'm finding pretty consistent claims that it's a 40k/1 tox/intox ratio, though. So I guess there's something out there.

An LD50 was not attainable in monkeys and dogs by the oral route. Enormous dose levels (over 3000 mg/kg of Delta 9 THC) were administered without lethality to most animals. A dose of about 1000 mg/kg THC was the lowest dose which caused death in any animals The completeness of intestinal absorption of THC at these high doses is unknown. Behavioral changes in the survivors included sedation, huddled posture, muscle tremors, hypersensitivity to sound and hypermobility.

The cause of death in the rats and mice subsequent to oral THC was profound central nervous system depression leading to dyspnea, prostration, weight loss, loss of Fighting reflex, ataxia, and severe fall in body temperature which led to cessation of respiration from 10 to 46 hours after single dose oral administration. No consistent pathological changes were observed in any organs. The cause of death when it rarely occurred in the higher species did not appear to be related to the same mechanism as in the rats.

http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/libr...es/nc/nc1e.htm

Possible, but infinitesimally unlikely.

[Plow]

yeah, 40,000 times as much to kill you as to get you a pretty good high

alcohol is apparently 4-10/1

but, that 40k/1 ratio is in rats and mice and shit

the first line you quoted, "An LD50 was not attainable in monkeys and dogs by the oral route. Enormous dose levels (over 3000 mg/kg of Delta 9 THC) were administered without lethality to most animals." states that they went more than 3x higher than that with larger animals, and one closer to humans, without being able to kill enough to establish a baseline for where it should start to happen

[Pikarya]

Anything can kill you at ridiculous amounts concentrated. If anyone believes any different they're probably full-on retarded.

[Plow]

well I mean sure if you inject yourself with so much thc it just clogs up all your veins you're going to die, the point is whether or not there's effects unique to the substance that are potentially fatal

[Plow]

and, for pot, that possibility is far less likely than such terrible threats to humanity as, say, sugar, or water

[BaneTheBrawler]

idk, stoners do some pretty stupid shit sometimes.

[zoobernut]

Now, before I conclude this post, let me be clear: I do not always agree with the "natural is better" mantra, because that is not unconditionally true. That is why I was a bit befuddled by where this thread was going. However, in the case of marijuana, there isn't a dire need for anything else. The only people who would require another means of consuming cannabinoids would be those who simply could not smoke or vape (this being the minority alluded to above); for everyone else, there is no great reason not to.

I guess a big part of my post was kind of a non answer because I agree with everything you said. I was just stating in my post that "natural is better" works for many people but it doesn't work for some. For some people a pharmaceutical marijuana pill will be valuable. For others who can will smoke it. And even more for others who can't smoke it but the pharmaceutical pill doesn't work they will use other "natural" means of getting the marijuana like oil or baked goods.

[Dotsudoku]

Your use of the word "natural" confuses the hell out of me

[zoobernut]

Your use of the word "natural" confuses the hell out of me

Not processed through a lab to chemically extract particular compounds. Nor are the compounds created synthetically. Did the quotations confuse you?

[Correction]

Breaking The Taboo is out on YouTube. Narrated by Mowgan Fweeman

[Pikarya]

Marijuana! Heavens, oh yeah. It’s just the stupidest law possible, given history. You don’t stop people from doing what they want to do, so forget about making it unlawful. You’re just making criminals out of people who aren’t engaged in criminal activity. And we’re spending zillions of dollars trying to fight a war we can’t win! We could make zillions, just legalize it and tax it like we do liquor. It’s stupid.

I love this man.

[Icywave]

Breaking The Taboo is out on YouTube. Narrated by Mowgan Fweeman

Great film, thanks!

[Hatedregret]

Man, that woman from Switzerland really hit the heart strings. You can just see it in her how compassionate she is.

[6souls]

A man jurors acquitted of multiple marijuana felonies has sued the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office after his 42 plants were destroyed, according to a lawsuit recently filed in 8th Judicial District Court.

Denver lawyer Rob Corry said his client expects to receive $5,000 per plant (totaling $210,000), based on what law enforcers have testified a marijuana plant is worth, in addition to attorney fees.

Kaleb Young, 34, had been growing the plants in a Wellington home in compliance with Colorado’s medical marijuana laws and during a warrant search in September 2010 had shown deputies paperwork authorizing him to do so, according to the lawsuit.

Young was arrested, and his plants, raw marijuana and equipment were among items taken during the search. An investigation, including surveillance, had been under way for five months after deputies followed up on a tip, according to filings in the criminal court case.

The case went to trial, and Young was acquitted of all charges in November 2011.

“Typically, the agency will preserve the plants as they’re required to do under the (Colorado) Constitution,” Corry said. “Here, they just straight-up cut them down and destroyed them.”

Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith declined comment Friday because he had not seen the lawsuit, a sheriff’s spokesman said in an email. Smith has previously said it would be a violation of federal law for his agency to dispense marijuana to the public.

Fort Collins Police Services, in at least one instance of a marijuana grower claiming medical status, has taken samples and photos of plants, leaving them at the scene where the warrant was served. Corry said this is ordinary in Colorado.

“What commonly happens is they’ll just leave the plants right where they find them,” he said.

Corry, who represents people in marijuana cases across the state, said this is likely the first time in Colorado that a medical-marijuana grower was acquitted at trial and sued because plants and marijuana weren’t returned.

“You hear a lot about these cases being threatened,” he said. “But to my knowledge, none have gone the distance yet.”

Young had been charged with cultivation of marijuana, possession with intent to manufacture or distribute less than 5 pounds of marijuana, and possession of more than 12 ounces of marijuana, according to the lawsuit.

After the acquittal, the sheriff’s office returned some of the property, but none of the plants or marijuana.

“Throughout December 2011, Mr. Young repeatedly attempted to enforce, through counsel, the District Court order that required the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office to return property previously seized from his residence, including 42 medical marijuana plants,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit cites language from the Colorado Constitution indicating marijuana and paraphernalia seized by “state or local law enforcement officials from a patient or primary caregiver in connection with the claimed medical use of marijuana” must be returned on acquittal.

Young has no other criminal record more serious than a traffic violation, according to Colorado court records.

http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20...nclick_check=1

[Plow]

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013...-argument?lite

by a 2-1 vote, a panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said Tuesday that the DEA did consider all the available information. "We find nothing in the record that could move us to conclude that the agency failed to prove by substantial evidence that such studies confirming marijuana's medical efficacy do not exist," the majority opinion said.

Terrible double negative shit going on there, but long story short the D.C. court of appeals decided that the DEA has proven successfully that pot has no medical benefits whatsoever.

And, not only has it proven that, it has proven that studies showing otherwise "do not exist."

[Pikarya]

DEA logic.

[Acevalefor]

DEA logic.

Well of course they create their own logic. Jobs will be lost if they can't bust grandma for trying to manage her glaucoma.

[Mrbeansman]

Do DEA officers really have no other place in law enforcement sectors if they stop doing pot busts?

[Ragnus]

They have plenty of other things they can be doing like focusing on busting hard drugs that deserve their schedule rating. They keep going after pot because it's everywhere and they get a paid per plant they bring in.

[archibaldcrane]

My wife is good friends with a DEA agent and he says they spend next to no time on marijuana, other than what they find along with other drugs.