I'm fairly certain hemp is completely legal in the US. Hemp necklaces were a big trend in my high school, there was even a club that would sell them.
As far as legalizing goes, I'm open to arguments. I've never smoked and, frankly, I think it's a disgusting habit, or at least the process of rolling a blunt is. You guys make a ton of good points, but I know a few of my friends that have smoked themselves retarded and it can be frightening. How's it worked out in Amsterdam? Do they have a ton of extra revenue and lower crime rates or something?
I know a few of my friends that have smoked themselves retarded and it can be frightening.
I know a few people like that, but honestly, I think most of them would have turned out that way without any help. All the weed does is help them forget how stupid they are. If they quit smoking, they'd regain their lost brain cells in a few days or a week or so. They'd still be stupid because they spent all their time high and never learned how to retain information properly, but that's not just because they smoked, they'd probably have ditched school and stayed stupid some other way.
EDIT: smoking DOES have some negative health effects. It temporarily lowers your testosterone level. If you smoke on a regular basis you'll never be able to have an effective workout and you will be maintaining a low sperm count and a low libido.
I know a few of my friends that have smoked themselves retarded and it can be frightening.
I agree with Adam on this point, many people like that were probably not destined for greatness anyway. I don't think it was marijuana that made them retarded, they were going to be retarded anyway and marijuana just provided them the way to it. I've known people who smoked and turned out okay.
South Park said it best, that smoking pot makes you okay with being bored, and it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill, discovering some new science or being creative. If you spend all your time smoking pot, then you may grow up to find out you're not good at anything.
As with anything, it just shouldn't control your life. The same can be said for alcohol, video games, masturbating, etc. Moderation and discipline are key.
EDIT: smoking DOES have some negative health effects. It temporarily lowers your testosterone level. If you smoke on a regular basis you'll never be able to have an effective workout and you will be maintaining a low sperm count and a low libido.
Are there any negative health effects like that when you brew marijuana as a tea or bake it into food? If not you could just take it in that way if you are worried about respiratory problems, though I read that you don't get as high.
I wasn't even thinking about respiratory problems. I was just focusing on general health and quality of life from decreased testosterone and by extension ambition to get up and do something. Plus while it's still in your system, if you go lift weights or run, you won't build much muscle, you'll just wear yourself out with little benefit, but I think that's mostly due to the lack of testosterone also.
Ok, I guess I had just misunderstood you. I thought you where making the connection that smoking in generally caused those problems, weather it be tobacco or marijuana, because of the smoke its self.
(After a several Google searches later)
So I guess I see what you are saying now, marijuana does contain phytoestrogens. Though I am not sure if you would be getting enough of it to cause any major changes but I have no evidence to support this.
I do know that soy has some of the highest levels of phytoestrogens in food and there is a lot of debate and research on if it is a catalyst or inhibitor for the development of breast cancer in women.
I dunno, my mom and I have had a few conversations about it, and I'm wondering what it might do to the economy if it was legalized. She thinks that they should make it legal and just put a hefty 'sin tax' on it, similar to cigarettes and alcohol. Make a legal age to smoke (18 and up?) and then moderate the shit out of it... no toking and driving, as was mentioned, and you're not allowed to smoke in public. Public intoxication would add being high on the list.
I am in no way an economy buff, but just from first glance it seems like this just might help the economy. The government would gain more money from the taxes, and tons of people would still buy it because, honestly, the only people I know who have tried pot and said they'd never do it again said it because it's illegal. Everyone else I know has thoroughly enjoyed it.
I also do not condone smoking and driving, but as my mother told me when I admitted to being a passenger in the car with someone high once, she said "Well... it's a lot easier than driving drunk."
She pointed out that it's a lot easier to fake being sober when you're high than it is when you're drunk... and it also made me laugh, since, ya know, it's my mom. I don't smoke very often at all anymore, the main reason being that I don't want it in my system in case I ever needed to take a random drug test for any reason. However, I have no problem with people smoking, and would have no problem with it being legalized.
I'm fairly certain hemp is completely legal in the US. Hemp necklaces were a big trend in my high school, there was even a club that would sell them.
Yep, it's legal. We make hemp necklaces at the summer camp I go to.
As for the whole legalization thing, can't drinking or smoking to much do the same things to you as marijuana use? I don't really intend to do much (if any) of the above just because the few sips of alcohol I've had have completely grossed me out and I can't stand the smell of smoke, so it doesn't make much of a difference to me.
The real benefit to legalizing it is that it's the most profitable product of the drug cartels, so legalizing it takes away their profits. Marijuana costs pennies to produce, and it's widely consumed nationwide because it's not really dangerous. Cocaine was really profitable up until the mid 80s when crack cocaine became widespread and oversaturated the market. Prices of crack have dropped enough to where it's not profitable enough to kill rival gangs and cartels over.
Legalize marijuana, and it will seriously hurt the drug cartels. They will not have as much money to afford mercenaries and guns in central America, and they won't be able to buy off as many politicians and police. Then maybe governments of countries like Mexico will finally reign in their drug cartel problems.
This is the reason why I fully support legalization. However, it has to be done right. Just think the incredibly cut on income that the Colombian guerrilla would face if it were forced to: 1. Buy the land on which it grows and produces its drugs. 2. Pay taxes on that land and the income they make from sales. 3. Hire its workers and pay them all of the legal benefits they are entitled to.
Now, to this add new companies entering this incredibly big market who will eventually become a strong competition. Suddenly, being a drug dealer isn't so profitable anymore, is it? And if it's a legal business, you can collect your debts legally: no need to go on drive-by shootings anymore.
But, as I said, it has to be done right. Initially, the cartels won't be voluntarily adapting themselves to fit the new legal framework, so there's got to be mechanisms to force them to do it. This is where it gets hard.
Exactly. And at the same time the government can't just treat it as a cash cow; at least not right away while the black market drug infrastructure (marijuana farms, established transportation channels, etc) remains. If a pack of marijuana goes for, and I'm wildly guessing here, $10 bucks, and drug dealers can get you the same amount for $5 bucks, then their market will still exist. But if legal channels can provide marijuana for a decent enough price to drive out the cartels, then that is enough.
There is also the possibility of people just growing it in there gardens, getting it for free and cutting out the drug dealers altogether, this means no tax money but it does mean no money goes to illegal drug dealers.
I think we would also save a lot of money and time on the police force. We wouldn’t have to pay large sums of money to keep people who smoke behind bars, nor would we have to pay for drug raids/busts. This would give more time for police to go after other drugs like meth, heroin, and cocaine.
Is all that much police money really spent on busting pot? I understand depriving cartels of their money, but as much as I've heard, cops don't go on drug raids unless they're after much more dangerous substances (or, like, tons of pot, which would indicate a cartel that should be busted anyway).
Now that I think about it, if you legalize it, a lot of people would just start growing it, tax free, unless the market provided a cheap and easy alternative. And if it was legalized wouldn't cartels just take the legal steps to get it in the U.S.? I'd have to think the smuggling and bribing they do right now is more expensive than whatever permits you'd have to get to bring it into the country legally.
What would probably happen is that cannabis would be regulated similarly to tobacco or alcohol, in that the FDA or whoever would set strict guidelines for how the products are made and sold, and it probably would be illegal for individuals and/or sinister drug organizations to cultivate and/or sell it themselves as they would lack the regulatory oversight.
Interestingly enough, tobacco was only recently given to the FDA's jurisdiction. Some in the press asked if this was a step toward outlawing cigarettes, and the spokesman said that making it illegal would be unrealistic as the demand for them would remain and unregulated black market products would far more dangerous. BUT MARIJUANA MUST BE WIPED FROM THE EARTH AT ALL COSTS.
The government's effort to manage tobacco rather than make it illegal is exactly what belongs in the debate over pot and other illegal substances that could, at the very least, provide significant boons to medical pharmacology. The FDA has rejected the possibility of making cigarettes illegal by saying the underground product would be "even more dangerous than those currently marketed." So when you make popular products illegal, it has the potential to make those products more dangerous. Gee, ya think?
I know that Gee, ya think is about as far as you can get from a comprehensive plan for the controlled legalization of marijuana and other substances. But let's be adults here. Obama understands the limits of cigarette law because he understands the market for cigarettes. Maybe what the drug debate really needs is a joint in the West Wing.
If pot was legal, we could grow it freely outside, and people would stop ruining houses by turning them into grow-ops. Right? RIGHT??
That's a really big problem with the new developments in Florida that have been all but abandoned. It usually won't work because the houses are abandoned but on the market still. Agents drive by but never go intp the houses, but if an abandoned house is suddenly being frequented by a few people without agent notification, it is pretty easy to get busted.
Technically not drunken, but I wrote a love poem... It's called guiding light, I wrote it for my girlfriend:
All was dark,
All around,
An unrelenting black.
When all seemed lost
All seemed gone,
I wanted to escape.
But suddenly a light appeared
To guide me down the path.
The path of life,
Once Scary, Dark and Rough
Was given Light,
Was gently Smoothed
Was made a Pleasant Place.
You are my light,
You are my life.
I'll love you 'til the day I die,
You are my one and only.
Orphanage, Orphanage,
Look at you burn.
Your children Cry,
Your children Fry.
Try as they might,
They just cannot escape
The hellish inferno
That once was their home.
Comments
As far as legalizing goes, I'm open to arguments. I've never smoked and, frankly, I think it's a disgusting habit, or at least the process of rolling a blunt is. You guys make a ton of good points, but I know a few of my friends that have smoked themselves retarded and it can be frightening. How's it worked out in Amsterdam? Do they have a ton of extra revenue and lower crime rates or something?
I know a few people like that, but honestly, I think most of them would have turned out that way without any help. All the weed does is help them forget how stupid they are. If they quit smoking, they'd regain their lost brain cells in a few days or a week or so. They'd still be stupid because they spent all their time high and never learned how to retain information properly, but that's not just because they smoked, they'd probably have ditched school and stayed stupid some other way.
EDIT: smoking DOES have some negative health effects. It temporarily lowers your testosterone level. If you smoke on a regular basis you'll never be able to have an effective workout and you will be maintaining a low sperm count and a low libido.
I agree with Adam on this point, many people like that were probably not destined for greatness anyway. I don't think it was marijuana that made them retarded, they were going to be retarded anyway and marijuana just provided them the way to it. I've known people who smoked and turned out okay.
South Park said it best, that smoking pot makes you okay with being bored, and it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill, discovering some new science or being creative. If you spend all your time smoking pot, then you may grow up to find out you're not good at anything.
As with anything, it just shouldn't control your life. The same can be said for alcohol, video games, masturbating, etc. Moderation and discipline are key.
Are there any negative health effects like that when you brew marijuana as a tea or bake it into food? If not you could just take it in that way if you are worried about respiratory problems, though I read that you don't get as high.
(After a several Google searches later)
So I guess I see what you are saying now, marijuana does contain phytoestrogens. Though I am not sure if you would be getting enough of it to cause any major changes but I have no evidence to support this.
I do know that soy has some of the highest levels of phytoestrogens in food and there is a lot of debate and research on if it is a catalyst or inhibitor for the development of breast cancer in women.
I am in no way an economy buff, but just from first glance it seems like this just might help the economy. The government would gain more money from the taxes, and tons of people would still buy it because, honestly, the only people I know who have tried pot and said they'd never do it again said it because it's illegal. Everyone else I know has thoroughly enjoyed it.
I also do not condone smoking and driving, but as my mother told me when I admitted to being a passenger in the car with someone high once, she said "Well... it's a lot easier than driving drunk."
She pointed out that it's a lot easier to fake being sober when you're high than it is when you're drunk... and it also made me laugh, since, ya know, it's my mom. I don't smoke very often at all anymore, the main reason being that I don't want it in my system in case I ever needed to take a random drug test for any reason. However, I have no problem with people smoking, and would have no problem with it being legalized.
As for the whole legalization thing, can't drinking or smoking to much do the same things to you as marijuana use? I don't really intend to do much (if any) of the above just because the few sips of alcohol I've had have completely grossed me out and I can't stand the smell of smoke, so it doesn't make much of a difference to me.
This is the reason why I fully support legalization. However, it has to be done right. Just think the incredibly cut on income that the Colombian guerrilla would face if it were forced to: 1. Buy the land on which it grows and produces its drugs. 2. Pay taxes on that land and the income they make from sales. 3. Hire its workers and pay them all of the legal benefits they are entitled to.
Now, to this add new companies entering this incredibly big market who will eventually become a strong competition. Suddenly, being a drug dealer isn't so profitable anymore, is it? And if it's a legal business, you can collect your debts legally: no need to go on drive-by shootings anymore.
But, as I said, it has to be done right. Initially, the cartels won't be voluntarily adapting themselves to fit the new legal framework, so there's got to be mechanisms to force them to do it. This is where it gets hard.
I think we would also save a lot of money and time on the police force. We wouldn’t have to pay large sums of money to keep people who smoke behind bars, nor would we have to pay for drug raids/busts. This would give more time for police to go after other drugs like meth, heroin, and cocaine.
Now that I think about it, if you legalize it, a lot of people would just start growing it, tax free, unless the market provided a cheap and easy alternative. And if it was legalized wouldn't cartels just take the legal steps to get it in the U.S.? I'd have to think the smuggling and bribing they do right now is more expensive than whatever permits you'd have to get to bring it into the country legally.
Interestingly enough, tobacco was only recently given to the FDA's jurisdiction. Some in the press asked if this was a step toward outlawing cigarettes, and the spokesman said that making it illegal would be unrealistic as the demand for them would remain and unregulated black market products would far more dangerous. BUT MARIJUANA MUST BE WIPED FROM THE EARTH AT ALL COSTS.
EDIT: Here's where I read this originally:
That's a really big problem with the new developments in Florida that have been all but abandoned. It usually won't work because the houses are abandoned but on the market still. Agents drive by but never go intp the houses, but if an abandoned house is suddenly being frequented by a few people without agent notification, it is pretty easy to get busted.
All was dark,
All around,
An unrelenting black.
When all seemed lost
All seemed gone,
I wanted to escape.
But suddenly a light appeared
To guide me down the path.
The path of life,
Once Scary, Dark and Rough
Was given Light,
Was gently Smoothed
Was made a Pleasant Place.
You are my light,
You are my life.
I'll love you 'til the day I die,
You are my one and only.
But she really does mean the world to me, I was just scared to commit
Look at you burn.
Your children Cry,
Your children Fry.
Try as they might,
They just cannot escape
The hellish inferno
That once was their home.
For all my days I shall remember
That cold night in late December.
That great old house, by my hand burned
And how my life sentence was earned.
The orphans ranged from tot to teen
Strangely, none smelled the gasoline.
I poured all round the house in the dark
Now, all it needed was a spark.
From my pocket I produced a match
Against the box I heard it scratch.
A brief orange glow in the night
And the orphanage was set alight.
I giggled with maniacal glee
And from the inferno, I did flee.
The roaring flames against the snow
Only caused my delight to grow.
In the morning I was arrested
Alas, in the end I was bested.
Yet still I did naught but grin
To me, the night had still been a win.
DBD's just jealous because he can't find that one person out there who thinks burning down orphanages is sexy.
*sniff* It's true! I'm so lonely...
That sounds an awful lot like something a stalker would say.....