Discussion: Legalizing Marijuana

[Scourge2099]

The police raided that pot farm because black bears were guarding it. If they were polar bears they would've let it go.

 

[Paroxysm]

Maybe not, but they are nosy buggers too. My point is, bears are not the best choice for guarding your pot plants.

They had a electric fence surrounding the house, the bears were on the outside. They had awesome security.

 

[War Party]

Haha, that's amazing!

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Lions would have been cooler. King of the ****ing jungle.

 

[TimBisley]

"They were extraordinarily docile and mellow, Mansveld said"

I bet.

 

[SuperFerret]

Lions suck. Wolverines are tougher and you don't have to feed them as much.

 

[Manic]

Lions would have been cooler. King of the ****ing jungle.

But they're in a forest.


Also, lions are from the savanna instead of the jungle, but that's not important.

 

[Paroxysm]

Lions would have been cooler. King of the ****ing jungle.

They'd be pretty weak from eating dog food all the time. t:

 

[Trainwreck2100]

i would totally chill with those bears and i don't even smoke

 

[SuperFerret]

They'd be pretty weak from eating dog food all the time. t:

They'd also be blind. Felines need taurine in their diet, which dog food typically doesn't provide adequate amounts of.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

But they're in a forest.

That makes it even better.

 

[8Diagrams(WU)]

They were pretty smart to keep bears around to scare the average hiker away, but its not like the animals were eating the plants because that does not get you high. To be consumed as food, the THC has to be disolved in oil and then you can make cookies and stuff like that. Obviously they were feeding that kind of thing to keep the animals mellow but around the perimeter.

 

[Optimus_Prime_]

Seriously, in all my years of experience with anything ever, I don't think there is anything quite so silly as making pot illegal.

 

[Sentinel X]

My opinion has really changed. Before it was a definite no and now it is a definite yes. Pot is so much better than Tobacco or Alcohol (now those are dangerous drugs). What is the big deal?

I would say I am a very good kid. Never been in trouble and when I graduate from medical school I will be a productive member of society. I smoke occasionally, like once a month or two...so I should be charged, fined, arrested, what have you...simply because I possessed marijuana even though its not harming anyone? Thats silly.
I do however think there should be an age limit (18 or older), other than that why not. Pot has such a bad wrap and you know whats the secret?...its really not bad. Bad is crystal meth, cocaine, heroin, and more. Not pot

$ .02

 

[Manic]

I think the only thing that can stop pot from being legalized in California is potheads forgetting to go to the ballots. I was walking through Oakland a couple weeks ago, passed by a store that sells medicinal weed, looked up, and the police station was across the street.

If they make weed legal in this state, I'm totally going to try it once they figure out how to regulate it without the FDA and DEA kicking in the door to the governor's house.

 

[enterthemadness]

I'm for making weed legal. However, I doubt I use it. More of a tobacco guy. Camel snus (which is poor knockoff of Swedish snus I read) and may be getting into dip. Dunno. Use to smoke.

Don't care much for alcohol though. Hurts head.

 

[LOBO3315a]

I don't have a problem with pot users in general, but the real stickler is how do you prove if someone under the influence of a substance that sticks in the system up to 90 days, if that person is involved in some sort of accident? You can't show up to work drunk (although I'm sure some of us would like to) so how do you prove someone isn't showing up to work stoned?

 

[ObakeTora]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mason-tvert/big-alcohol-fueling-oppos_b_719878.html:cmad::cmad::cmad:




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Mason Tvert

Executive director and co-founder, SAFER
Posted: September 16, 2010 03:24 PM


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Big Alcohol Fueling Opposition to California Marijuana Initiative



According to a recently filed campaign finance report, the campaign to defeat a marijuana legalization initiative in California is receiving substantial funding from the alcohol industry. Now marijuana advocates are fighting back, calling on the opposition campaign to explain why it is working with Big Alcohol to keep marijuana illegal.
On September 7th, the California Beer and Beverage Distributors contributed $10,000 to the No on Prop. 19 campaign, which calls itself "Public Safety First." Proposition 19 would establish a legally regulated marijuana market in which marijuana is controlled and taxed in a fashion similar to alcohol.
It's clear why the alcohol industry is in this fight -- to protect its turf and keep Californians drinking. This is the same California Beer and Beverage Distributors gave $100,000 to oppose Proposition 5, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA), which would have reduced marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction. With marijuana being the second most popular recreational substance (despite its prohibition), the booze industry must recognize the threat legal marijuana poses to its bottom line. Thus, it has a vast financial interest in keeping marijuana illegal and steering Californians away from using it.
But why does the No on Prop. 19 campaign share Big Alcohol's goal of an alcohol-only society? It seems odd that a group that purports to be committed to enhancing public safety wants to ensure Californians can only drink and cannot use marijuana as a safer recreational alternative.
After all, every objective study on marijuana has concluded that it is far safer than alcohol to the user and society. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, alcohol use alone contributes to more than 35,000 deaths each year -- including several hundred from overdoses -- whereas marijuana use does not contribute to any deaths and has never resulted in a fatal overdose in history. Also, whereas alcohol is a major contributing factor in domestic violence, sexual assaults, fights, and other violent crimes, marijuana has never been found to contribute to such problems.
In light of "Public Safety First's" decision to team up with the alcohol industry to ensure the booze keeps flowing and the pot does not, Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), the organization I run, called on No on Prop. 19 Campaign Manager Tim Rosales to explain the campaign's desire to ensure alcohol is the only legal intoxicant available for adults.
Mr. Rosales has yet to respond to the upwards of 1,000 e-mails he has received from Prop. 19 supporters throughout California and across the nation. So I'll ask him again here:
Mr. Rosales, if you and your campaign are so concerned about public safety, why do you want to continue driving Californians to drink, and why on earth wouldn't you want adults to be able to make the rational choice to use a far less harmful substance?
Needless to say, I won't be holding my breath as I await his response... I'll just be at the bar drinking my worries away until the day I can legally make the safer choice to use marijuana instead.

I have been alcohol free for over four months now, I'm in better shape than I was when I stopped the bottle. How many of you can survive a 2 hour workout session drunk? Alcohol activates the reptilian part of your brain, makes you beat your wife. Lets compare the amount of fights that break out at Hash bars as opposed to alcoholic ones once it becomes legalized!

 

[Texas Zombie]

Heres a thought, what if marijuana was not thought of like hard drugs, what if they teach that it's like alcohol, wouldn't kids who smoke marijuana learn that there is a difference between hard drugs and weed.

Plus if it was legalized and sold wouldn't any connections kids get that could lead them to harder drugs diminish.

Is it not evidenced by Amsterdam and their statistics.
The number of marijuana users will just increase over time.

Prohibition has failed, not once but twice, once a good amount of violence spills over from Mexico and enough American lives are lost they will see, but it does seem that we do not learn from our mistakes.

 

[souvlaki]

California Governor Signs Marijuana Decriminalization Bill

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Thursday signed into law a bill that decriminalizes the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. The bill reduces simple possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction.

Currently, small-time pot possession is "semi-decriminalized" in California. There is no possible jail sentence and a maximum $100 fine. But because possession is a misdemeanor, people caught with pot are "arrested," even if that means only they are served a notice to appear, and they must appear before a court.

That has happened to more than a half million Californians in the last decade, and more than 60,000 last year alone. Every one of them required a court appearance, complete with judge and prosecutor. That costs the cash-strapped state money it desperately needs.

Under the bill signed today, SB 1449, by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), pot possession will be treated like a traffic ticket. The fine will remain at $100, and there will be no arrest record.

In a signing statement, Schwarzenegger said he opposed decriminalization for personal use—and threw in a gratuitous jab at Proposition 19, the tax and regulate marijuana legalization initiative—but that the state couldn't afford the status quo.

"I am signing this measure because possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is an infraction in everything but name," said Schwarzenegger. "The only difference is that because it is a misdemeanor, a criminal defendant is entitled to a jury trial and a defense attorney. In this time of drastic budget cuts, prosecutors, defense attorneys, law enforcement, and the courts cannot afford to expend limited resources prosecuting a crime that carries the same punishment as a traffic ticket."

"Gov. Schwarzenegger deserves credit for sparing the state's taxpayers the cost of prosecuting minor pot offenders," said California NORML director Dale Gieringer. "Californians increasingly recognize that the war on marijuana is a waste of law enforcement resources."

The law goes into effect January 1. Even if Prop 19 passes in November, it leaves in place misdemeanor charges for smoking in public or in the presence of minors. Those misdemeanors would become infractions under the new law.

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2010/oct/01/california_governor_signs_mariju?page=1

 

[ChickenScratch]

Cool.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

49 more states to go.

 

[Scourge2099]

I was watching the news about it and the "Legalize It" people didn't seem too happy about it for some reason. You finally get what you want and you give an unenthusiastic response. They should just go back to their hackie shack tournies and watch cartoons all day.

 

[Manic]

Maybe they were just too baked to muster up the level of enthusiasm you were expecting.

 

[Scourge2099]

They didn't look like they were blowed to me. They just couldn't believe it got passed at all. I think because the new law was passed it's not "cool" anymore.