Colorado Sells Approx $1 Million of Pot on First Day of Legalization

[KevanG]

Burn the witch!

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Well this is good news. Hope CO makes good use of the tax revenue being generated

 

[chaseter]

No ****, huh? That doesn't make you exempt from people having an opinion on your selfish, judgmental, crass, ugly, contrarian opinions.

I never said I was exempt......:/

I'm not the one getting offended by other's opinions on here or getting worked up because I don't get spoon fed like minded opinions on the internet. That is what this place mostly has become now anyways.

 

[KevanG]

So what's the tax rate on that anyway?

 

[chaseter]

Why shouldn't legalization be compared to gay marriage?

Yes it's important that everyone be able to have their love acknowledged equally...

But how many children have been taken away from their parents because of prohibition? How many billions have lost in tax revenue? How many millions have had their careers and personal lives derailed because of an arrest record? How many billions have been diverted to cartels and gangs who kill thousands of people? How many medical patients have suffered pointlessly because they couldn't get relief with medical marijuana? How many violent criminals are allowed to roam the streets because the justice system was tied up with harmless weed users?

To say legalization is not a noble cause is to not fully understand the tragic ramifications of prohibition.

Weed...the recreational civil rights movement of this generation. Because it's a human rights issue to be able to freely toke amirite? Weed laws have ruined families because weed is a necessity to equal rights for all. MLK would proudly proclaim that Mary Jane is free at last, free at last. Move over Rosa Parks, you have a guy headed to the pot store that wants to sit up front too so that he can get off the bus quicker and into that store! I must have missed all the cocaine noses lynching the pot heads somewhere.

 

[SV Fan]

If you waited in line for hours to have a beer when prohibition ended then you are either an alcoholic or you lead a very fulfilling life. Same thing applies. I'm fine with celebrating but you need help if weed or alcohol is that big of a deal in your personal life to spend hours waiting.

What about those people that wait in long lines for sports or concert tickets, or the new Iphone? Do they need help

 

[chaseter]

If I had the choice to wait in line for hours to see a concert or sports thing the opening day or I could go the next day and not wait in line...I cho-cho-choose the latter. Then again...weed is not the same as a concert or a sports thing for many reasons as it's not the same as gay marriage or civil rights. It's an inhibitor that is used for fun or relaxation. But if the analogies make you sleep at night then so be it. The iPhone stuff is pathetic too. That's mostly Apple hipsters...but there are some smart people that sell their day 1 iphones to places like China and make big bucks. I plan on doing that next year after I saw what they were going for on ebay.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

If I had the choice to wait in line for hours to see a concert or sports thing the opening day or I could go the next day and not wait in line...I cho-cho-choose the latter. Then again...weed is not the same as a concert or a sports thing for many reasons as it's not the same as gay marriage or civil rights. It's an inhibitor that is used for fun or relaxation. But if the analogies make you sleep at night then so be it. The iPhone stuff is pathetic too. That's mostly Apple hipsters...but there are some smart people that sell their day 1 iphones to places like China and make big bucks. I plan on doing that next year after I saw what they were going for on ebay.

Yes, cannabis can be a drug that is just for laughs (though it has thousands of industrial uses and hundreds of medicinal uses).

But for some reason you ignore how destructive prohibition has been for decades.

Millions of lives derailed or ruined. Billions in revenue diverted to cartels and gangs. Countless law enforcement squandered instead of going after rapist and murderers. Billions in tax money lost. Countless children removed from their parents pointlessly. Endless suffering from people who could use cannabis for medical reasons.

Yes, ending prohibition is just as serious as men marrying men, if not more so.

 

[SV Fan]

Yes, cannabis can be a drug that is just for laughs (though it has thousands of industrial uses and hundreds of medicinal uses).

But for some reason you ignore how destructive prohibition has been for decades.

Millions of lives derailed or ruined. Billions in revenue diverted to cartels and gangs. Countless law enforcement squandered instead of going after rapist and murderers. Billions in tax money lost. Countless children removed from their parents pointlessly. Endless suffering from people who could use cannabis for medical reasons.

Yes, ending prohibition is just as serious as men marrying men, if not more so.

But hey look at all the politicians who benefited by claiming they are tough on crime wasting tons of tax payer money.

 

[KevanG]

Have they said what they plan to do about people who were put in prison for pot related crime?

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Weed...the recreational civil rights movement of this generation. Because it's a human rights issue to be able to freely toke amirite? Weed laws have ruined families because weed is a necessity to equal rights for all. MLK would proudly proclaim that Mary Jane is free at last, free at last. Move over Rosa Parks, you have a guy headed to the pot store that wants to sit up front too so that he can get off the bus quicker and into that store! I must have missed all the cocaine noses lynching the pot heads somewhere.

Here's the ironic part: the NAACP (the same NAACP who marched with MLK) believes legalization is a civil rights issue.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/07/07/naacp.marijuana.support/

http://fox43.com/2013/06/25/naacp-announces-support-of-marijuana-legalization-in-pa/#axzz2pU9iolFB

 

[Schlosser85]

Legally selling cigarettes and putting people in prison for pot is absurd.

 

[jaymes_e06]

^Agreed. Either they get rid of both or legalize them both.

 

[Six]

Looks like everyone is getting rocky mountain high in Colorado...

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

^Agreed. Either they get rid of both or legalize them both.

Why get rid of weed?

Cigarettes kill 400,000 Americans every year.

Alcohol kills 75,000 Americans every year.

Cannabis kills zero.

 

[jaymes_e06]

Why get rid of weed?

Cigarettes kill 400,000 Americans every year.

Alcohol kills 75,000 Americans every year.

Cannabis kills zero.

Come one we all know that weed has carcinogens in it too. lets not act like it is a magical plant that cures everything. Though it feels that way.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Come one we all know that weed has carcinogens in it too. lets not act like it is a magical plant that cures everything. Though it feels that way.

Here's my evidence:

"Marijuana does not cause lung cancer"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729.html

http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/.../marijuana-doesnt-cause-lung-cancer-or-death/

"Marijuana stops the spread of cancer"

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/1...stop-breast-cancer-from-spreading-study-says/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/marijuana-and-cancer_n_1898208.html

So it's not magic that makes cannabis a miracle drug, it's science.

Feel free to post any proof that cannabis has anywhere near the number of annual deaths as cigarettes and alcohol.

 

[jaymes_e06]

Here's my evidence:

"Marijuana does not cause lung cancer"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729.html

http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/.../marijuana-doesnt-cause-lung-cancer-or-death/

"Marijuana stops the spread of cancer"

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/1...stop-breast-cancer-from-spreading-study-says/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/marijuana-and-cancer_n_1898208.html

So it's not magic that makes cannabis a miracle drug, it's science.

Feel free to post any proof that cannabis has anywhere near the number of annual deaths as cigarettes and alcohol.

Who ever said it did. I'm saying it is not completely healthy either.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Who ever said it did. I'm saying it is not completely healthy either.

It's non-lethal medicine with hundreds of medicinal uses.

That puts it above dangerous substances like alcohol and cigarettes which kill millions of people globally every year.

and even above many prescription drugs which kill over 100,000 people per year.

Even if cannabis did cause some health problems from smoking it there are alternative ways of ingesting it like eating and vaporizing.

At the end of the day is it's no where as dangerous as alcohol, cigarettes or even many popular prescription drugs. Add to the the many medicinal, industrial (Hemp), economic (taxes) and recreational uses and it clearly, flat-out STUPID to keep it illegal.

 

[The End]

This has nothing to do with civil rights or anti-gay laws and if you equate it to that then I continue my battle.

The equivalence is just *whooosh* straight over your head, isn't it?

Why do you think homosexuality eventually became accepted? Because it harms no one. Whether or not its a choice or something people are born with is pretty irrelevant - its all about the benefit/harm, and by making it illegal and demonising homosexuality, so much unnecessary harm has been done.

EXACT same thing with weed being illegal. All this unnecessary harm has been done to many people across a massive span of time. If a government makes a law that seems arbitrary, going against what actual science says, causing harm when there can be so much benefit; this is a violation of people's fundamental freedom.

This isn't just basic humanity and empathy but basic logic.

You seem to be lacking all 3.

For some reason that you have YET to articulate; you find the concept of respecting the personal freedoms of other people to be laughable.

See, I actually think that basically, people should be able to do whatever they WANT, as long as they are causing no harm, and that if a government restricts this without valid justification (for example, being able to demonstrate what the harm is in the action) then that government is wrong on that issue and that anyone who respects freedom - the basic, personal freedom underlined above - ought to support changing this policy so that the basic freedoms of people ARE respected and isn't simply arbitrarily abused.

Thought experiment:

The government has banned people from listening to Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan's been banned for many years now. The ban has been justified with stereotypes and massive exaggerations, sometimes even lies, about the effects of listening to Bob Dylan (may be a gateway to drugs, for example, with no actual evidence to back such statements). Despite this being illegal, maybe even partly to spite this restriction, many millions of people break this law. Many people have went to prison for non-violent offences, effectively ruining any prospects of decent work, good people are treated like criminals. Many people who break this law feel it is is their right; that they ought to have the personal freedom to listen to Bob Dylan as they are harming no one by doing so.

There's a word for what kind of government does that.

Imagine the alternate-world version of YOU, that gloats over people being put in prison for such a silly, arbitrary law, and ad hominems the people that celebrate and line up at the music shops when Bob Dylan becomes legal. There's a word, for that person that gloats and seems to lack empathy, or any respect for the personal freedoms of others.

The fact that, APPARENTLY, this sort of analogy hasn't occurred to you, the ramifications of laughing off the freedoms of other people hasn't occurred to you, speaks volumes on your inability to reason.

Everyone can have an opinion and so can I. I can state mine on here. Some people probably think queuing at Comiccon overnight is stupid. That has nothing to do with the topic. Weed isn't even in the same league as seeing a panel at Hall H or a man not being able to marry his boyfriend in most states. Grasping at those straws....

What straws? What are you talking about? You've been utterly unable to articulate your opinion and you show no understanding that this opinion of yours is entirely subjective. The basic logic and equivalence of these issues has went over your head.

Weed isn't even in the same league...

That's subjective. It's in no way factual. Note the difference - I'm actually able to articulate a benefit/harm equivalence in respect to people's freedoms regarding these issues. You just... state these silly subjective views of yours as though they were fact, and expect the rest of us to just take it on face value, as though what you're saying should be obvious without you even having to explain what you mean. It's obvious to you alone. I earlier exposed a glaring hole in your black and white view of following the law; you were not able to actually address this glaring contradiction in your own view. You need to actually explain why it is you think harmless personal freedoms should not be respected. If the issues I have brought up to expose the contradiction in your view aren't equivalent, explain why, if you want your view to be taken seriously back it up with something other than 'its my opinion'. And at the very least, show SOME understanding that your statements are subjective.

I've determined that perhaps you really aren't trolling. For whatever reason, you don't take the time to engage with reasoning and critical thinking and just fire out your biases without any sort of self-reflection which ends with these really embarrassing (you should be embarrassed) posts.

 

[jaymes_e06]

It's non-lethal medicine with hundreds of medicinal uses.

That puts it above dangerous substances like alcohol and cigarettes which kill millions of people globally every year.

and even above many prescription drugs which kill over 100,000 people per year.

Even if cannabis did cause some health problems from smoking it there are alternative ways of ingesting it like eating and vaporizing.

At the end of the day is it's no where as dangerous as alcohol, cigarettes or even many popular prescription drugs. Add to the the many medicinal, industrial (Hemp), economic (taxes) and recreational uses and it clearly, flat-out STUPID to keep it illegal.

I'm not arguing with you why are you coming at me? I agree with everything you said I'm just playing devils advocate in saying what I said.

It is at the least an addictive drug which is never a purely benign thing.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Weed...the recreational civil rights movement of this generation. Because it's a human rights issue to be able to freely toke amirite? Weed laws have ruined families because weed is a necessity to equal rights for all. MLK would proudly proclaim that Mary Jane is free at last, free at last. Move over Rosa Parks, you have a guy headed to the pot store that wants to sit up front too so that he can get off the bus quicker and into that store! I must have missed all the cocaine noses lynching the pot heads somewhere.

LOL---this is GOLD, chaseter.

But for some reason you ignore how destructive prohibition has been for decades.

Millions of lives derailed or ruined. Billions in revenue diverted to cartels and gangs. Countless law enforcement squandered instead of going after rapist and murderers. Billions in tax money lost. Countless children removed from their parents pointlessly. Endless suffering from people who could use cannabis for medical reasons.

Yes, ending prohibition is just as serious as men marrying men, if not more so.

Don't try to rationalize this as something noble. It's nothing more than druggies fighting for easier ways to intoxicate themselves. Forget about the legal ramifications and think about the central issue. A person shouldn't need the law to tell him/her that being intoxicated from any kind of substance is unhealthy and reckless. That should be common sense.

Feel free to keep playing the morally relativistic game of "But...but...it's not at bad as alcohol!", but I've never heard a viable argument for recreational drug use. Sobriety is the only responsible choice.

 

[The End]

So you don't take pain killers, Scar?



And, unhealthy and reckless in what sense? If a person is in their living room smoking a joint while watching Batman Begins, in what sense is that reckless?

It just seems like very hyperbolic language, Scar.

I've never heard a viable argument for recreational drug use

Respecting the personal freedoms of other people.

And, the simple fact that so much more harm is done keeping marijuana illegal than could ever be done by the substance itself. Allowing a black market to dominate is dangerous. Locking people up, also, is much more harmful than marijuana could ever be.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

The prohibition of substances may or may not be effective in helping to keep any population as sober as some may want, but there is one thing it does do for sure: IT EMPOWERS EVIL MEN. Period. Without the black market the money and influence of the Gangsters and suppliers would be nowhere near what it is now across multiple governments and agencies across the world. To put it bluntly one does not see the Bud people and the Coors people shooting up neighborhoods or paying off police forces and the like. They take part in a legal above the board business. I know it is popular to think of cartel types and capos and those types as somehow "evil geniuses" but the proof is in the pudding. Our jails are not full of Lex Luthors. They are filled with men with guys with low I.Q.'s and low self control. I dare say that most of the guys making bank off the drug trade, without that source of power, would be janitors and gas station attendants, if that. Keeping drugs illegal lines the pockets of these men, period and grown their influence in the wider world. The "war" against them has not been successful and is a waste of my and anyone else' tax money. Even if one can be against the personal consumption of drugs on a moral level it's kind of hard to justify the effects and cost of the drug war on society as a whole. Legalize it, tax it and allow law enforcement agencies to concentrate on more important matters.

 

[Lantern Venom]

So you don't take pain killers, Scar?



And, unhealthy and reckless in what sense? If a person is in their living room smoking a joint while watching Batman Begins, in what sense is that reckless?

It just seems like very hyperbolic language, Scar.



Respecting the personal freedoms of other people.

I don't use any drugs recreationally, including alcohol. And your last line is the very reason that recreational drug use is stupid: innocent people can and will suffer because of the user's habit. Once a person surrenders his/her higher cognitive functioning to a drug, especially on a regular basis, problems always follow.

Stay smart. Stay strong. Stay sober.