Should "Pot" Be Legalized?

This subject is an emotional one.

Look at the approaches:

Political, scientific, opinions by the boat load.

I learned from galaxee that there exists true risks for people of the younger set. That was new information for me. That really provided information that I do not think is known by the masses.

I used to think "let them kill themselves if they want to". We claim to be a free country. But on the other extreme I tend not to like anyone telling me what is good for me either. Being human means making mistakes. The question is should we be protected from making those mistakes? And who gets to decide.

galaxee has shown us some pretty objective info. But politics typically rears its ugly head and clearly messes with everyones head through the media. Each one of us comes to a conclusion for ourselves but can't come to a consensus because of political agendas.

Drugs have been used for thousands of years. I guess we will need to spend yet another millinium arguing about this question. I didn't vote in this poll.

 

Thank you....this is NOT a political issue (sorry...I meant to say shouldn't be) Thanks galaxee

 

I vote FDA Schedule II classification. Needs a damn good reason to be prescibed. Would put it in the same category as Morphine, OxyContin, Fentanyl, Methadone, etc.

Heck, right now I can write for Desoxyn as a schedule II drug on my DEA license (Never have cause I am afraid that it would send the wrong message to my ADD patients). What might you ask is Desoxyn's generic chemical name??? Answer... Methamphetamine!!!

Many Oncology Clinics quietly recognize that in a subset of patients none of our standard antiemetics work. Even Drorubinol aka Marinol is a poor substitute for THC in those patients. All the Left Coast States (CA, OR, WA) have a medical marijuana law on the books. At least in Washington this consists of a letter that the patient gets from the doc. I believe that it is up to the patient to find thier own source. It had also previously found use in the AIDS wasting syndromes though I believe now this is less of an issue with the newer antivirals being used for AIDS.

I would not open it up for general use for the many reasons stated before this. I would even be willing to go so far a restricting the prescribing of it to physicians who manage very specific conditions such as cancer. All other uses would continue to fall under current law.

Just My 2 cents.

 

Didn't read everyones opionions so feel free to skip mine. Got to get back to work. I think drugs and money are the biggest contributors of many of todays problems (even past ones). I just watched a TV show where they randomly pulled on stage an audience member just to ask a few questions.

Q) "What do you do for fun?"

A) "Chill"

Q) "Where do you want to go to collage?"

A) "Nowhere"

Q) "What do you want to do for a living?"

A) "Fashion"

Q) "Designer, Model, Thief?"

A) "Something like that"

Q) "Do you have a New Years resolution?"

A) "Quit Blazing"

Q) "Does that mean smoking Pot or using a blowtourch?"

Q) "Well, who is your favorite cast member on the show?"

A) "The Nip"

They had to mute the word Nip but it just shows what many people who use drugs are like. Just chill and do nothing but blaze up with other people who do the same. I bet if she is serius about quiting and Pot was legalized she would have a change of heart. I don't think making it legal will gat people to stop using it because "Oh, what's the fun it I don't have to sneek around and be paranoid that I will be caught?" More people would use it for sure.

 

If they legalize it, all of the drug dealers would go out of business! :lol:
All the brand new cars with the huge chrome rims will start to disappear!

 

Weed? Hey, I grew up in the 60's with all the hippies, Vietnam, etc. I have known many people that have smoked reefer and I can honestly say that none of them became addicted to it, had wild personality changes, etc.

The gov. tells us that it's a "gateway" drug. In other words, some folks get so used to the pot high they want to get higher. So they graduate to something that is highly addictive like coke or crack. Everyone I grew up with except for 1 person did just fine on weed. Only 1 messed up & ended up in detox. BUT, that was after 25 years and a new set of friends that freebased. Hmm...

Anyway, I have been saying for about 40 years the gov. should legalize Pot. Let our Gov tax it, and leave those who want to relax in their homes-(Not in their motor vehicles!) the pleasure they derive from weed.

Opinions vary, but there are way too many people in jail for possession of Marijuana. It's costing us taxpayers way too much $$$ to keep harmless, non-violent individuals locked up. There are several states where you can have up to 4 ounces of pot for your own personal use.

I find it interesting that alchohol, which is legal kills far more people than weed. How many people have you personally known that crashed a car & died on pot? How many people have you known that got killed by drunk drivers? LOTS.

I was not a hippy, but reality is drugs are in just about every school in the country. I have asked teens how easy it is for them to get either drugs and/or alchohol. Guess how many said they couldn't? Zero.

My big thing is: "If you must drink and/or do drugs stay OUT of all motor vehicles." DUIs are for life. Sitting home watching HBO while smoking weed sounds quite reasonable to me.

One last note: The Netherlands can't be so bad. They're doing OK and at least they don't start wars with numerous countries over how they run their own affairs.

I'm done.

 

we lose BILLIONS of dollars every year to drug dealers in revenue. and lets face it. our best efforts to control it have failed miserably.

lets regulate it, tax the crap out of it, (along with cigarettes, i believe cigarettes should not be cheaper than $10 per pack.) then use the money to support the currently "tolerated" services this fine country claims to support but doesnt like public school education.

 

I don't think the Netherlands are large enough or a super power that other countries would love to overtake. If Americans all chilled out and made peace and love I bet we'd be someone's bitch real quick. I agree that all drugs including drinks should be illegal. You just can't legalize everything and expect everyone to use it responsably. It just won't happen. The drunk drivers I see EVERY NIGHT are proof. I, myself drink every once in a while with friends but sometimes I don't and it doesn't kill me. I have never even tried any illegal drugs because I'm against the idea of needing to escape reality and also can't be sure if I would become addicted. I'd just rather not go through the trouble of finding out. I had a friend who frist tried Pot at the age of 32 and started freaking out. I wasn't there but everyone was stoned and didn't know what to do. They can't take him to the hospital because they were all paranoid. So they just watched him convolsing.

 

Common guys.. tax the hell out of it? do you see what that does. if you make it expensive legally.. it's going to be done illegally.. that's why the government could grow it with a controlled THC count to it.. weeker brand.. people don't get as dumb. Then they sell it at prices that are lower than street.. not hard to do.. trust me. still tax it but since it's cheaper it will put the illegal market out of business and they will have control of the THC in the plans. duh...

 

i dont think you fully understand the amount of markup drug dealers have. they dont make billions from a product that costs tens of thousands to cultivate, harvest, process, transport and distribute to the states without charging for the priviliage.

studies show that even if the government charged triple the tax rate on most illegal drugs, it would still be cheaper than the street value and the quality would be assured. too maqny O'd because of a sudden spike in purity that the user cant handle.

so will this make more druggies? sure some will fall into "now its affordable, its ok to blow off a weekend" trap and become addicted. but most will grow tired of it quickly.

 

on weed? trust me.. it's all grown here in the U.S. i wont' state how i know my info.. but when it comes to weed, i know a lot. There is a huge markup. In small quantities you can make several thousand on a plant that takes maybe a hundred bucks to grow.. if you take really good care of it.

 

legalize it and tax it.

 

1. THC lowers sperm count

2. cigarettes are likely worse

3. oralpharyngeal cancer (think that's the name, someone correct me on the spelling) is common in long term cannabis smokers.

4. inhaling something that's been burned gives you a good dose of benzo[a]pyrene, a carcinogen.

 

i guess my whole point on that was that cigarettes are worse. Interesting cancer.. i know it lowers sperm count. but uhh.. maybe that's a good thing in some cases lol Inhaling anything burnt is bad for you. I'm not saying everyone smoke out. Make brownies.. i don't know.

 

1. industry's coming up with many analogs of THC- synthetic cannabinoids- that have varying efficacies for varying cannabinoid system effects (antiemetic, analgesic, etc) although they have a long way to go. i'm sure by the time they get everything sorted out the psychotropic side effects will not occur from partial activation of the EC system.

2. this is one of the major benefits of THC use. the effect on appetite and nausea is very helpful to these kinds of patients. however, antivirals are also improving as you've mentioned. they're still nasty, nasty drugs though.

 

they put some nasty stuff in cigarettes that isn't present in marijuana.

however, pot purchased from some guy on the street may be laced with any number of other drugs, which can catch the common user off guard and cause serious problems (driving, job-related, etc)

legalization and control of this would prevent this from happening.

but there are a ton of other ramifications to consider.

 

I've never heard of laced weed... ever.

catching off guard... well.. i think any drug at work is bad.. before work is bad... on break is bad... anything involving drugs and society is bad. That's why it's all for personal use.