Marijuana Legalization?

[Michael Z]

Yes/Some (ie. make it legal to possess a certain maximum amount).

How about sell it in the bars (Or pubs as you blokes say )?

Lol, maybe. It seems to work quite well in Amsterdam, where you can buy and smoke it in 'coffee shops' but aren't exactly allowed to walk down the street smoking a joint.

I think what's important is to make sure that people who are otherwise perfectly normal citizens and just want to have a bit of fun on a Saturday night aren't immediately turned into criminals. Plus it's the dealers who carry and/or possess large amounts and the solution like the one I outlined would mainly target them, not the user. It would also save a lot of police time.

There already exists an unofficial law like this in parts of London, because the police were completely overstretched going for every single person carrying and/or smoking pot (no matter how tiny an amount).

[??????????]

Yes/Some (ie. make it legal to possess a certain maximum amount).

How about sell it in the bars (Or pubs as you blokes say )?

Lol, maybe. It seems to work quite well in Amsterdam, where you can buy and smoke it in 'coffee shops' but aren't exactly allowed to walk down the street smoking a joint.

I think what's important is to make sure that people who are otherwise perfectly normal citizens and just want to have a bit of fun on a Saturday night aren't immediately turned into criminals. Plus it's the dealers who carry and/or possess large amounts and the solution like the one I outlined would mainly target them, not the user. It would also save a lot of police time.

There already exists an unofficial law like this in parts of London, because the police were completely overstretched going for every single person carrying and/or smoking pot (no matter how tiny an amount).

Michael why dont you have AIM?

[Michael Z]

Michael why dont you have AIM?

I used to have AIM but it always caused my Macintosh to freeze on a regular basis, so I had to get rid of it.

I use MSN, however. michael_zeigermann@hotmail.com

[??????????]

Michael why dont you have AIM?

I used to have AIM but it always caused my Macintosh to freeze on a regular basis, so I had to get rid of it.

I use MSN, however. michael_zeigermann@hotmail.com

OK, I put it in the computer. I am always interested in talking to British folks.

[Brambila]

Just to reconfirm, I believe Marijuana should be legalized because I want a very free society with less government power, not because of what the Marijuana activists want. I think medical marijuana is bullsh**t.

[ilikeverin]

Personally: No/No

Wow, I am happy with the results from this community.  I have been a medical marijuana activist for about eight years now.  I got 150 signatures on Prop. 215, the one that made MMJ legal here in California.  Cannabis is one of the most benign substances known to man.  It is not physically addictive and there is no possibility of overdose.  The worst that can happen is you will fall asleep (and waste your high).  

It looks like you are in a pretty extreme minority ilikeverin and hughento.  Right now it's 19-2 in favor of those who approve of some form of legal access.  Is it possible that you posted the poll because you may be reconsidering your position?  

No, I'm seeing if there's a correlation between actually doing pot and supporting it.  In this case, there doesn't really seem to be one.

[quote[
You may find it interesting to know that ASA (americans for safe access) is currently going around to meet with the district attorneys in CA to educate them on MMJ so they know to leave us alone and not take our stash.  Mostly they know already.  Orange County's Long Beach City Council recently scolded their police chief and told hiim to stop harassing sick people and taking their medicine.  He is hip to it now.   I have had a prescription since 1998.

Here are couple of the best sites on the subject:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/

http://www.drugpolicy.org/homepage.cfm

http://stopthedrugwar.org/index.shtml

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I'm not going to read those sites; I prefer actually neutral sites, if possible.

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Ha.  Ha.  Ha.  I'm sure those sentences have lead to quite a few lives being ruined... they are the stereotypical druggies lines, after all.

 lol

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Oh no, there's a stigma about doing dangerous behavior!  

Besides, why should I care about the poll?

[7,052,770]

Absolutely No/Absolutely Yes

[freedomburns]

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You don't have to care, I am just pointing out that there are many in the US who are not aware of the overwhelming support for MMJ.  I am in favor of taxing and regulating along the line of alcohol and cigarettes, two substances that have ruined many more lives in my opinion.  Tobacco totally ruins your health and kills about 400,000 people a year here from emphysema and lung cancer.  I see this every day at work in my job as a medical paralegal for a prestigious law firm.

Alcohol's dangers are manifest and multifold and I won't go into them.  We are all familiar.  

Total deaths from MJ each year?  Zero.  There is nothing linking it to lung cancer or emphysema, like tobacco.

It's not totally benign, and I don't say this.  Smoking stuff is bad for you.  I use a vaporizer.  It just heats it up and you inhale the vapor, you don't burn it.  

Amotivational people are drawn to the plant, per studies.  They probably wouldn't amount to much even without access to the herb.  It is not causative, per se, but it easy to see why people claim this.  I can see a synergistic effect where it reinforces their apathetic behavior.  Trying to get marijuana users to become activists is like herding cats.  *sigh*

Here is a good opinion piece article written a couple of days ago in a paper in Columbia, SC, certainly not a left-leaning city.  I imagine their newspaper could not be considered left wing, either.  It is very succinct and lays out the arguments perfectly.

http://www.free-times.com/    (Click on "my turn" - Marijuana Prohibition, fourth from top)

freedomburns

[AuH2O]

Yes/Yes.

Screw medical marijuana, that's BS, it should just be legal... I mean, how on earth can you make a rational justification for the illegality of weed while maintaining the legality of tobacco.

In fact, I think there is a much, much stronger case against tobacco, because it's health affects do cost the government quite a bit. Pot is much less harmful, at least in ways that require costly medical treatment (there is damage to the brain, but it's not like lung cancer).

[??????????]

Tobacco will never be made illegal. They government makes far to much money to give that gold mine away.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Yes/Yes.

Screw medical marijuana, that's BS, it should just be legal... I mean, how on earth can you make a rational justification for the illegality of weed while maintaining the legality of tobacco.

In fact, I think there is a much, much stronger case against tobacco, because it's health affects do cost the government quite a bit. Pot is much less harmful, at least in ways that require costly medical treatment (there is damage to the brain, but it's not like lung cancer).

It's mind-altering, but in that case why isn't alcohol illegal?  They should just stop the war on drugs.  People who don't use drugs, don't use them because they're illegal.  I couldn't care less that herion is illegal, but I don't want to get on stuff like that!  

[Bogart]

Yes/Yes. Save money spent on incarceration and the failed war on drugs, then tax it like tobacco and alcohol. It's the #1 cash crop in America.

[freedomburns]

Last Option, never wanted too, never will.

You don't know what you're missing.  You should say nothing about the subject.  You are ignorant of the benefits of the herbal medication.

freedomburns

[minionofmidas]

Last Option, never wanted too, never will.

You don't know what you're missing.  You should say nothing about the subject.

Now that's silly. Lots of people here haven't tried it - you should either tell each and everyone of them they should say nothing about the subject, or retract this statement.

[Siege40]

I support the current plan by the Canadian government to decriminalize pot, but not legalize it.

Siege

[Storebought]

Hell no! This country has too many damned morons as it is.

[bejkuy]

Personally: No/No

Wow, I am happy with the results from this community.  I have been a medical marijuana activist for about eight years now.  I got 150 signatures on Prop. 215, the one that made MMJ legal here in California.  Cannabis is one of the most benign substances known to man.  It is not physically addictive and there is no possibility of overdose.  The worst that can happen is you will fall asleep (and waste your high).  

It looks like you are in a pretty extreme minority ilikeverin and hughento.  Right now it's 19-2 in favor of those who approve of some form of legal access.  Is it possible that you posted the poll because you may be reconsidering your position?  

You may find it interesting to know that ASA (americans for safe access) is currently going around to meet with the district attorneys in CA to educate them on MMJ so they know to leave us alone and not take our stash.  Mostly they know already.  Orange County's Long Beach City Council recently scolded their police chief and told hiim to stop harassing sick people and taking their medicine.  He is hip to it now.   I have had a prescription since 1998.

Here are couple of the best sites on the subject:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/

http://www.drugpolicy.org/homepage.cfm

http://stopthedrugwar.org/index.shtml

I shouldn't be so surprised by the poll.  There  are a bunch of libertarians here who believe that people can think for themselves and that we should not have the gov't breathing down our necks.

Maybe if you tried it you would be better able to judge, ilikeverin.  Come on, everyone's doing it...you want to be part of the gang don't you??  One hit won't kill you man.  Come on, just try a little...

 lol


(Polls from Time show 80% of Americans favor MMJ laws btw.  But if you ask what percentage Americans think will answer yes to this question they consistently guess that around 50% will.  I find this revealing of the stigma that still exists.)

Being a Californicator, I'm surprised you thought that Long Beach was in Orange county.  Isn't Long beach in LA county?

I can see LA county looking the other way on pot long before Orange county.

[freedomburns]

Last Option, never wanted too, never will.

You don't know what you're missing.  You should say nothing about the subject.

Now that's silly. Lots of people here haven't tried it - you should either tell each and everyone of them they should say nothing about the subject, or retract this statement.

Yeah, you're right Laloo, that was silly.  I was going off half-cocked because he called me stupid in another thread.  What I said doesn't make that much sense.  I think I had been drinking red wine that night.  Honestly he has a right to have a strong opinion whether he has tried it or not.  I retract the statement.

freedomburns