Ahead of a New York state bill that would recognize marijuana for medical purposes, a state supreme judge with cancer writes in its favor in a recent New York Times op-ed.
Gustin L. Reichbach, a justice of the New York State Supreme Court, has spent the last three and a half years battling pancreatic cancer and says inhaled marijuana is his only relief.
In his op-ed advocating legitimate clinical use of marijuana, he writes:
This is not a law-and-order issue; it is a medical and a human rights issue. Being treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, I am receiving the absolute gold standard of medical care. But doctors cannot be expected to do what the law prohibits, even when they know it is in the best interests of their patients. When palliative care is understood as a fundamental human and medical right, marijuana for medical use should be beyond controversy.
The issue of medical marijuana and legalizing marijuana for recreational use keeps circling in the national conversation and political scene. (The issue took over the campaign in the Oregon attorney general primary race this week, for example.)
Earlier this year on GPS, Fareed Zakaria examined the impact the war on drugs has had on the overcrowded U.S. prison system, based on the infamous comments by Pat Robertson to treat marijuana the way we treat alcohol.
As Fareed wrote:
The reason Robertson is for legalizing marijuana is that it has created a prison problem in America that is well beyond what most Americans imagine. ... No other country comes even close to our rates of incarceration.
Taking up a similar theme as Robertson, a Colorado advocacy group is spending thousands of dollars to convince people that smoking pot is safer than drinking alcohol.
It's an attempt by the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol to rally support for a vote in November that would legalize the drug for recreational use. (Colorado legalized marijuana for medical use in 2000.) If it were legalized, Colorado would be the first state to legalize recreational marijuana use.
One Gallup poll showed that 46% of U.S. respondents say marijuana use should remain illegal, while 50% say the use should be made legal.
It's also one of the top issues in the (unscientific) iReport Debate, in which CNN iReporters share the issue that matters most to them in the coming election.
As one reader writes: "The day we open the door to legalizing pot is the day other drugs will redesign themselves to fit the same criteria, so they may also enter. You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'."
It's an issue with many opinions so what do you think? Take part in the iReport Debate and share your comments below.
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It's amazing that news organizations will still not report that cannabinoids have been shown to reduce tumors since the 1970s. One publicly traded Colorado company, Cannabis Science Inc. has posted pictures of reduced tumors on their web site, they even have biopsies showing that topically applied marijuana based oils worked to eliminate the cancers.
But no press covers this, not Fareed, not even Drudge. Yes, I bought a couple of hundred shares of CBIS.OB and yes it would be great to make a few dollars but not to ever cover the topic on CNN?
Whatever. Just keep running beer and drug company ads with 50 seconds of side effect disclosures and laugh all the way to your corrupt, corporate, drug and gun money-laundering banks.
Meanwhile, every year we keep arresting 3/4 of a million users for weed . . .
Got hypocrisy?
I can't even get a post through here on how prohibition violates my religious freedom, so there you go.
There is absolutely NO justifiable reason for marijuana to be illegal without being hypocritical towards alcohol. None whatsoever.
I'm experiencing similar problems; I've been posting peer-reviewed studies carried out by the Feds themselves but none are getting through.
I'll try again directly after this post. If it doesn't appear then you we all know what's happening.
Strange how the GOP cries FREEDOM when all they seem to want to do it take it away. They want control over our bodies, our communication and our lives.
Ron Paul is a republican...and he favors the legalization! William Buckley did too! Pat Robertson may be a bit of a pain but he is on the republican/conservative side...all favor legalizing. Someone list the Dems that are openly calling for legalization.
Are you saying CNN = Censored News Network? or Communist News Network?
Very interesting.... Vhere are your papers? Your papers are not in order! Vee have vays of dealing with those who do not submitt to the Obama cool aid!
Cultural ways to be certain have been the object of invariable discrimination and outright enslavement of one group of humans sold by another to the prison industry, to be conformed to another way. against their will. Cannabis did not just show up here. What did they think we were doing all these years. We have now built a peaceful culture among the people who have spread lie after lie about the ways we have and who we are. We are the ones who have been just trying to hang on until we can get the truth out there... all of us... A war has been waged on us. We did not declare it, I wasn't even born when Nixon was president, but I have 25 years knowing this way. We stay in hiding for the most part and don't fight back. Many of our peaceful friends in jail for having too much weed in the house.... as if there is any such thing... Do they have any idea what you can do with a lot of weed? And so what if they sold it... are you kidding me? We gotta get it somewhere, I sure ain't gonna get caught growing it. I got a big mouth tho. I will just ask question after question after question.... and as long as they don't pass this censoring thing, I'll just be able to keep googling my little heart out till I show that we have earned a right just by not being gone yet, and the first arrest I could dig up was a Mr. George Caldwell, (recall failure, but I think.... it was) 1937....... 75 years, that really is quite a good long time to prove harmless with no overdose deaths, useful, mobs of happy people cannot be wrong, and invested in a future, most certainly. With all due respect to everyone else can we please just be left alone? Justice delayed is justice denied.~ Anonymous (the one before Hacking existed)
You could write your own mini-article here in the forum.
Prohibition did not work with alcohol and created huge amount of crime until repealed. The biggest problem is that the government has created a whole culture around the 'drug wars' as well as the many jobs created to wage this war. It is just another example of not learning so we are doomed to repeat this behavior.
Simple resolution. Reallocate the jobs and focus on the lethal drugs.
Yep. We have the historical attention span of a potato chip.
At issue with legalizing marijuana is the Prison Industrial Complex; legalizing cannibus' use would cut drastically into their annual profits, therefore, their lobbyist pour millions of dollars into the campaigns of public officials that agree to vote to abridge the rights of US citizens to consume the cannibus plant as they see fit. I liken these actions to the action of slave holders who justify slavery by dehumanizing the slave. Strangely, the US political party that champions less government, the flag bearers of " Don't Tread On Me" are the very hypocrites in the pulpits of congress usurping US citizens' right to choose.
Its ironic that we spend hundreds of millions of dollars sending US emissaries around the globe preaching to other "less civilized" nations about freedom and democracy, imposing even, through the use of arms, when we have yet to master its tenets among the peoples of these freely united "states".
We are indeed the United States of Hypocrisy!
You sure are correct about this. It is exactly like when someone makes a mistake (financially) and keeps pouring money into a losing cause because you cannot admit that you made a mistake. There is such a large "industry" to fight the drug war that the governement cannot "afford" to admit a mistake.
The "government" forgets that we are the government, not them. It is about time we take it back!
Marijuana should only be written by prescription by a doctor. These medical corner shops are fidiculous
You obviously know nothing about cannabis. It is FAR safer than alcohol or tobacco.
If an American is truly free, whatever we want to ingest should be nobody's business but their own, so long as they harm no one else.
Marijuana should have the same legal status as alcohol
Exactly, it should be displayed in the glass cabinet in your local liquor store, next to the lethal drug alcohol.
Shel
Exactly, it should be displayed in the glass cabinet in your local liquor store, next to the lethal drug alcohol."
Best comment I have ever seen on this subject. Imagine how many drivers licenses would also be revoked if DUIs were issued to drivers for THC intoxication at random checkpoints. My point, I don't know that it would solve the legal problems involved, but merely reroute them. Perhaps better only in that more fines could be collected. In the vein of logic that says two wrongs don't make a right, comparing the history of alcohol and pot and other drugs is not the road to just lawmaking, but the road to a highway for an intoxicated, dysfunctional nation. Practically there now.
except many who smoke want to just chillax and not go anywhere. -less likely to go out for a drive.
However, that is really the big issue with legalization. Until they can develop a test that indicates recent use/being under the influence currently, they won't legalize it.
Find just ONE person who has died directly from marijauna use. 5ooo years of use not one death but its illegal and booze isnt. That says it all. Be a fool or see truth, freedom of choice.
25.00 a gram hahahahahaaha crooks
And $75 an 1/8 for LA Confidential! Only a few dispensaries in Hollywood have the b alls to pull that cr@p LoL GROW UR OWN IN CALI!!
You got that right. Until we reduce the black market price for 'legal weed' no one is benifiting save for the ones that always have, the dealer and the grower.
I really don't agree, it's being medicine. If it is, it would be used long time ago, by pharmaceutical Companies and by Phillip Morris, to make tobaccos out of it.
It seems like, it has more side effects, like causing drowsiness and lips burn.
Some even said, "It is for Religious purpose". Ya, alright, find your fool.
We even see, Haitians use Magic Mushrooms, for Religious Sacrament. But, the side effects are: damaging hearings and Visualisation. Then, they become, Hallucinogenic. They keep seen and hearing, things that never appears. It will cause also, sleep deprivation.
What are you smoking?
You obviously have never smoked a joint or eaten mushrooms. The hallucinations that are caused are nothing more than optical illusions. The user does not think these optical illusions are real. When I speak of optical illusions, I'm speaking of brighter, more vivid colors, possible tracers behind moving objects (usually the user's own hand) and objects appearing to "breathe." These illusions are seen more as a magic trick by the user and not as reality.
100% ETHIO, you are 100% cluless.
100% Ethos – it is researched by pharmaceudical companies. That is one of the big debates – why legalize smoking marijuana for medical purposes when marijuana type pills (from several different companies) have the same effect. One research says smoking allows the THC to be induced in the pure form which circulates in your blood easier and more effectively. I have never used marijuana in any form, I can't find anyone to sell me any because they say I look and act like an undercover cop, so I hope they legalized it for recreational use (nationwide) so I can try it.
Pharmaceutical companies don't sell it because they can't pantent it and charge beucoup bucks for it.
Burning lips a side effect of marijuana?That's a good one. Lol burning lips is a side effect of stupidity. And only if you prefer joints.
You are right. It's not a medicine. You can use it in it's natural form without processing anything to make it give the effect it does. You can certainly improve it's quality with various growing techniques which require nothing more than sun, soil, nutrients and love.
Jamann, (or David Copperfiled),
You, obviously have not had good mushrooms. Although I've never experienced the same intensity with mushrooms as LSD, it can get pretty "real" sometimes. They're mind-altering substances so they inherently change your perceptions and produce hallucinogenic images that your mind is not alway able to remember, "oh yeah I just ate mushrooms". Eating mushrooms is not like goint to a laser light show at the Planetarium. I guess you walk into traffic thinking "that's not a dump truck heading my way, it's just an illusion". I've seen people really flip out on mushrooms. It's possible to eat too many. Then again I'm sure there are those who tolerate it extremely well whatever the amount.
I'm fine driving around with pot-heads but leave the drinking and psychidelia at home.
It has been used by pharmaceutical companies until the feds outlawed it. Now, the pharmaceutical companies are again marketing it as the feds are now allowing some. Marinol, a synthetic marijuana, has been available by prescription since the mid-80's. There are other natural cannabis sprays that are currently in Phase 3 clinical trials in the U.S., and have already been approved and marketed in other countries.
100% Ethio
Cannabis has been used in medicine for a while.
As early as 2737 B.C., the mystical Emperor Shen Neng of China was prescribing marijuana tea.
Ancient physicians prescribed marijuana for everything from pain relief to earache to childbirth.
The reason why Pharma are not behind it being used as medicine is that it is too easy to grow. If anyone can grow their own then where would drug companies make their money?
"Burning Lips" you say ? After that statement perhaps your ears need soothing too. It helps to save the butts for the pipe.
100% ETHIO makes no sense, even when the language barrier is factored in. "I really don't agree, it's being medicine. If it is, it would be used long time ago, by pharmaceutical Companies and by Phillip Morris, to make tobaccos out of it." How can you make tobacco out of marijuana? The American Medical association endorsed marijuana long before it was made illegal, and again in 2009. "It seems like, it has more side effects, like causing drowsiness and lips burn". The drowsiness allows sick people to sleep, which is not a side effect, but a desired medicinal effect. I have never heard of anyone having burning lips from marijuana. Whatever it is that is making your lips burn, you should stop smoking it, ETHIO.
The 1930's called...they want their propaganda back...do some real research
wow. I don't know where to start picking apart your post. Lets just say, nothing you said is correct. Ps, the government has been using marijuana for years in many products. When GWB Senios jumped out of a plane in WWII, it was cannabis that saved his life (his parachute was partially constructed from Hemp).
Burning Lips? What?!?! Are you referring to maybe the Flaming lips band? Never heard of burning lips, unless you dont know how to use a lighter. And for the Mushrooms, do some research. The government once wanted to use LSD in their armed forces. I have never heard or read about the affects of Mushrooms being permanent. I have heard of LSD staying active in your spinal fluids which is why some people have flash backs after an injury.
I think your seeing and hearing things myself that have nothing to do with drugs.
svann hit it on the nose. Who do you think are the biggest lobbyists against the legalization? Pharmacological companies and law enforcement. Each knows that if legal, a huge portion of their budgets go Poof. And with vaporizers on the rise, the carcinogenicity factor is also Poof.
That's a bunch of crap. I did every kind of drug imaginable back in the 60's but especially lots of LSD and I sleep like a baby. Never had a 'flashback' either tho I'm pretty sure I would enjoy it.
Really? Where did you get you information from? Perhaps you got it from the movie "Reefer Madness" which was supposed to be "factual" and merely became a joke among the drug users. I've done many of those things in my younger days. Now, I smoke pot and drink. I never had any experience like you state. I have seen or heard of many people die from alcohol (abuse and drunk driving) and cigarettes (1st and 2nd hand) cocaine, crack, heroine, etc. I have never heard of anyone dying from pot – ever. I have never been so out of my mind on drugs that I had no concept of what was going on. I do think that people should be able to do what they want to thier bodies – provided they are not hurting anyone else. Cocaine, crack, alcohol, cigarette users have definately have hurt other (innocent ) people. I'm sure that many have died because of the hallugens – despite my own experience. If alcohol is legal, then pot should be legal.
I am totally naive regarding most drug use, legal or illegal. I have seen medical use of LSD with incredible results. It is an alternative medication for a seriously painful condition called Cluster Headaches. The legal meds I was taking for clusters ran me about $9,000 per year and had marginal results – I still got headaches. After much research, I discovered that LSD can keep clusters in check. I take 1 recreational dose of LSD, and split it in half. I take each half on two consecutive days. And I do that every 6 months. Total cost is now $40 per year! And I have not had a headache since I started doing this over 2 years ago. This is a "medical dosage", and I have never had any side effects. I never got wasted or high, or whatever you call it. I was always seriously opposed to illegal drugs, but now have become a believer in its medical benefits.
It has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years.
get a rope this president lied to u.s..........Form washington to jefferson to Clinton to Obama presidents have grown and used marijuana ! OR WORSE (Busheys little coke habit)!!!!. For FUEL, For Clothes ,For Composites, For Food, For oil, For Ropes, For Canvas ( the word comes from canabis )! The most useful plant on EARTH!Over 12,000 years of use ! Gentler than an ASPIRIN ,ONLY BECAUSE OF HEARST AND DOW IS MARIJUANA ILLEAGAL,,,THEN THE HUGE PROFITS FROM INCARCERATING OUR OWN PEOPLE !WICKED AND EVIL THIS COUNTRY
Dude, you've really been sniffing to much ethanol
So... the only viable health solutions come from major corporations?? Laughable.
Researchers at the Kaiser-Permanente HMO, funded by NIDA, followed 65,000 patients for nearly a decade, comparing cancer rates among non-smokers, tobacco smokers, and marijuana smokers. Tobacco smokers had massively higher rates of lung cancer and other cancers. Marijuana smokers who didn't also use tobacco had no increase in risk of tobacco-related cancers or of cancer risk overall. In fact their rates of lung and most other cancers were slightly lower than non-smokers, though the difference did not reach statistical significance. Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana Use and Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes and Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.
well informed...thanks..
Nice post. It's great to see somebody who actually attributes their facts.
The only downside of MJ besides the price of it is how hungry it makes me. I would smoke everyday if I didn't eat like a 400 pound loser.
yes and no. The lung cancer link to cannabis is still being studied – thus, we still don't know (I'm 60yo, been smokin since I was 17 with no ill effect). See NORML site: http://norml.org/component/zoo/category/cannabis-smoke-and-cancer-assessing-the-risk
HOT VIDEOS :
nextmobs.com
CBIS def. has potential to work. Too bad they're not in the greatest financial shape. Maybe if they get FDA approval they will get more publicity.
I really feel bad for people missing out on MJ and those poor souls that have been brain washed. However, I see some really great, intelligent posts today that give me hope. Please follow through and vote.. Its only a matter of time. I think theres enough people in the country that are pro legalization to get it to happen but YOU MUST VOTE and not just leave it here on CNN and go about your day.
It's pretty simple. Take all the costs associated with law enforcement, incarceration costs, and court costs specific to MJ. Add those, then factor in a flat 10% tax on all MJ sales. I bet our national debt would be reduced by $1 trillion within the first 5 years.
Ah, the old, "enforcement costs so much, we should just legalize it," argument. If you follow the logical progression that this path takes, you will arrive at a conclusion that anarchy is the best practice because it costs so much to enforce any law. Hyperbole aside, if you look at the cost of investigating murder, prosecuting murder, and providing a jail cell, food, and clothing to an individual convicted of murder, you may come to the conclusion that it would be cheaper to just allow people to kill other people. "Surely you jest," you say, feeling that this is ridiculous. I would concur. If you want to justify legalizing a substance that, much like alcohol, destroys lives, please do so by showing us how it is not as destructive as anyone who works in a hospital, law enforcement, or addiction therapy knows that it is. Also, if you want to convince someone that they should legalize use of a drug, mentioning that it really isn't that much worse than alcohol is probably not a strong move. We gave up on enforcing alcohol prohibition, not because we recognized that it was too costly to enforce, not because we felt that it's effects were not as deleterious as we initially believed, but because politicians wanted to be able to have a drink without worrying about getting put into jail.
Dr. Jeffery Miron (Harvard Economics) has projected a net gain of $10 billion per year if marijuana were legalized. You have been criticized by "basics of sense" for advocating the economic argument, but you are right. Basics of sense has not considered that marijuana possession is a consensual crime, and cannot be compared directly to non-consensual crimes such as murder. Legalization leads us away from the anarchy of the war on drugs, not towards anarchy.
You clearly don't know what you're talking about.
That line of logic won't lead you there as it's pretty much common since that some things should not be done and certain things need to be enforced. It's a nanny state mentality. Why can't an individual make the decision himself, OR even in the case of medically legal a person that's qualified.
Prohibition was repealed because of the amount of crime taking place.
To Basics of Sense. You are truly illogical. What the argument is that part is not hurting anyone. Why enforce a law when breaking the law produces no victims? Murder has victims. If pot breaks up families, it is because of old fashioned outdated beliefs from people who have no clue – such as yourself – who refuses to understand the harmlessness of pot and can't tolerate thier children smoking it. No one is claiming that pot "isn't much worse than alcohol", we are claiing that it is far safer than alcohol. Years ago (maybe 1980) , my Mom found some in my brother's cigarette pack. She decided to try it to find out what the "fuss" was about. When we found out, she said, "the stuff wasn't worth a darn anyway. You can get higher off a class of wine." So you know, I am a college grad, run a business, and smoked pot most of my life. I have freinds that are doctors, lawyers, clergy, computer programmers, and bankers that regularly smoke pot. My parents have never liked the fact that I smoked it, but I never denied it either. Recently my 77 year old father said that even he has to "reconsider" his believes on pot because he has seen the benefits that it has provided to some of his friends that are suffereing from cancers caused by alcohol and cigarettes. I refuse to drink and drive because I know – first hand – the effects of alcohol on my driving abilities. I also no – first hand – the effects pot smoking has on my driving ability: it has NONE. I do not have a problem driving after smoking pot. I don't want to actually smoke while I'm driving because I don't think it's safe. I also don't eat while driving, nor do I have a drink (non-alcoholic or alcoholic beverages) while I drive. I do not text and drive and I do not talk on the cell phone while I'm driving. There is too much distraction.
Prohibition was not repealed because of the amount of crime strictly speaking. It was repealed because all it effectively did was hand power and wealth to organized crime, who then in turn were able to take their criminal endeavors to new heights.
We can see the exact same thing happening today with the prohibition of victimless crimes resulting in the War on Drugs. If anything recreational drug use has escalated over the years and more dangerous drugs have come to market. All the money circulating through this illegal market ends up in the posession of organized criminal groups the world over. And those groups then use that money to buy power and spread into other criminal enterprises.
There is no doubt that drugs can be bad for you. But criminalizing them has not done any good. The Netherlands quit the war on drugs and has found that it's cheaper to treat drug addictions when people have a problem than it is to put all the users in prison. Every dollar we spend putting and keeping someone behind bars for a victimless crime is wasted. We pay twice for it because the prisoner isn't able to contribute to society and so is forced to leech, and all the law enforcement dollars spent keeping an eye on the prisoners as well as capturing and prosecuting is wasted because it could have been spent on something productive.
"Basics of Sense" – Society determines what is morally or ethically acceptable – that's how we change laws/regulations. Part of that decision-making process is assessing the economic cost of enforcing rules. If the benefits outweigh cost, society continues enforcement. If cost is greater, then reassessment begins. We've been locked in the 'reassessment' phase for about 20 years. The current for change is growing stronger because the benefits of change is tipping opinions toward legalization. There was once a time when cannabis was a "weed with roots in hell." LOL... my my... how we have grown.
the government can't tax weed because lots of people would grow their own(no buying or selling)...permits to grow a certain number of plants would be much more productive economically, like a fishing license or hunting license. The more plants you want to grow, the higher the cost of the permit...of course if you are growing for sale, you would be required to have a business license and pay the retail sales tax just like any other business on top of having a permit to grow.
The day we open the door to legalizing pot is the day other drugs will redesign themselves to fit the same criteria, so they may also enter. You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'.
Alcohol?
Nicotine?
Prescription Drugs?
This argument is based on ignorance to reality. It is no different than saying if we legalize gay marriage, then a person will be able to marry his television, pet dog, etc. It's a dumb argument designed to scare people. We certainly, as a nation of relatively educated people, can design legislation that keeps harmful drugs out of the equation.
Good point, AM. Narcotics such as meth, coke, and synthetic heroin are already legal and regulated as schedule II drugs. To say that MJ legalization would lead to legalization of hard drugs is silly because they are already legal.
Only one of those is considered a narcotic bud. Coke and meth are stimulants.
I SUPPORT JOSE'S POST! STOP THE INEXCUSABLE B.S.! REPORT ON THE FACTS AND STOP BOWING TO BLOOD-SUCKING PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES!
Jose articulated this debate loud and clear. His comment is not only true, but sad. We see legal drug ads every day on the most powerful media source, television, with tiny (barely visible) footnotes listing the dangerous side-effects. In the meantime Big Pharma continues its billion dollar profits. And then there is Mexico, where the U.S. plays a major role in what is happening there. Politics, greed, and power is destroying humanity.
Romney vs. Frankenstein (Obama)
Put simply, better the devil you don't know. Vote Romney.
The drug companies can't make any money on something you can grow in your closet and it will cut into their profits on all the dangerous crap they produce.
The real answer to almost ALL political questions is CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM. WE THE PEOPLE will never be able to get our voices heard over all the SPEECH the DRUG COMPANIES CAN AFFORD!
Of course they will not legalize marijuana.. everything else would stop selling!! The pharmaceutical giants have been telling us for decades they have a pill for everything and we need those pills.. otherwise things will start falling off on us!!
no it makes perfect sence , oxcontin and alcholo are legal.. and marijuanna is illegal. this is the world we live in. Just another reason our policy makers and law enforcment personal are failing us at the state and federal level.. how much money do we waste iradicating this DANGEROUS drug... right
Find out why more and more cops, judges, and prosecutors who have fought on the front lines of the "war on drugs" are standing up and saying we need to legalize and regulate marijuana and other drugs to help solve our economic, crime, and public health problems: http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com
Why are you allowed to post a link and I can't?
I wanted to post the link to the story "Cannabis is legalized in Utah for religious use" but for some reason it is not allowed.
You don't suppose it is a religious prohibition of CNN's, do you? That would be so Catholic of them.
THE COMMENT BOX IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE AND YOU HAVE TO BE SIGNED UP WITH CNN WEB SITE,,,,,,,AND THEY DO NOT DISCRIMINATE,,,THEY ARE FAIR WITH EVERYONE..
Why is it that we have so many people in our prison system for marijuana possession and people getting locked up for the same thing everyday? But yet our government has been giving certain patients prohibited schedule 1 non medicinal use marijuana since the 1970s and still doing it every month now. If it has medicinal use for them it should have medicinal use for all. Prohibition doesn't work, just legalize it and tax it for all.
Because the prison system in this country has become privatized and is now a for-profit industry. Prison is no longer about punishment or rehabilitation (if that happens, it's a happy accident). Prison, the court system and policing is now about profit for shareholders rather than safety for citizens.
Between the Pharm companies and for-profit prisons I'm sure Millions of $$ are being spent lobbying against decriminalization.
Roy, the patients receiving the marijuana from the government (Bob Randall was the first) since the 70's did have to prove a medical need. It may not be strong marijuana, but it is still used for medical purposes, and the patients receiving it still claim to be very happy with what they receive.
I have friends that sell drugs and they are all very grateful of the federal laws being as they are because it greatly increases their profit margins. When drug dealers embrace legislation aimed at their demise the system would appear to need some revisions.
There is absolutely no reason for marijuana to be illegal without being hypocritical towards alcohol. A 2010 study done by the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs measured the harm of a drug to an individual as well as the harm to society and they found that alcohol was the most harmful drug on the planet, beating out heroin.
I'll go one step further as to why alcohol should be illegal before marijuana. Marijuan is 100% natural, there's nothing chemicaly done to pot. There's no process that has to be done in order to make it. All you have to do is grow it and dry the bud
I'm a supporter of legalizing MJ but alcohol can be just as "natural" as MJ. I make beer with water, hops, malt extracted from fresh grains and yeast. Nothing unnatural about that.
At the same time the effect of alcohol on the body is very different than MJ. Alcohol overdose can lead to death, MJ can't. Alcohol causes esophageal and stomach cancer. No risk with MJ.
Alcohol impairs driving, the one study on MJ showed drivers drove better than sober drivers!
And we all know how people can become violent and out of control on alcohol. MJ has the opposite effect.
There's no rational reason to keep MJ illegal. The time has come for intelligent people to speak up. Legalize it!
Unless you grow and dry your own, you have no idea what's been done to it between planting, growing, harvesting and your hands. That's one of the reasons it should be legalized and regulated. Different grades of potency should be defined and allowed, but purity should be tightly controlled.
we tried prohibiting alcohol. it did not work. better yet, place cannabis on equal footing with booze and watch sales of booze fall dramatically
I'm all about legalization, but to do so, one of the key arguements in the, "pro," camp has to stop– "Oh, it's natural!" That needs to quit. Just because something healthy for you, doesn't mean it won't hurt you. Hemlock is natural, too, and that'll kill you pretty well.
Preach the benefits, fine and well, but the, "natural," route... well, it just paints the type of image weed smokers should really try to get away from.
I'm all for legalization. But, about the comparison with alcohol, I read once that they'd never have allowed legalization if they simply didn't have to. I mean, think about what prohibition did for organized crime. The same thing is happening with pot, now.
So since one bad substance is legal you think another substance should be made legal. Marijuana and alcohol really don't have anything to do with each other.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MY POST??
What happened to your caps lock button?
LOL!
Good One! 2 points for Ronnie.
"The day we open the door to legalizing pot is the day other drugs will redesign themselves to fit the same criteria, so they may also enter. You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'."
The above statement makes absolutely no sense. Alcohol has been proven to be a physically addictive drug, where marijuana is not physically addictive. Alcohol has no proven medicinal uses, as marijuana has. Very interesting topic, and I am very curious to see where this goes over the next 5-10 years.
Alcohol, especially red wine, does have positive medical effects. I don't get all the hoopla on legalizing it. It hardly does anything for me. A couple of old friends have become daily users, and it's quite evident they've lost brain cells and defintiely lost motivation. Either way, it's not a major legislation piece to me.
Does it bother you that billions of our tax dollars are wasted on a pointless prohibition policy that doesn't work?
I have two loved ones in the ground due to alcohol. Please, if anyone can, please post info on a pot death.
America is such a joke!!
Well besides the fact that what your saying is completely impossible, you seem to have some losers as friends. Marijuana doesn't kill brain cells, cannot kill brain cells, and has never killed a single brain cell. You know not what you speak of.
Wine only has the positive effects if it's 1-2 glasses max daily. You failed to neglect all the brain cells lost to alcoholism. How convenient.
It's not the alcohol that is good in red wing it is the tannins in the wine.
please read the literature, not the ridiculous stuff put out there. Study after study has proven that marijuana is not a gateway drug in fact even the prevention crowd has stopped saying that. In fact the literature is pointing to cigarettes as the one common factor and possibly the gate way .
It's like saying because the rooster crows each morning before sunrise the rooster causes the sun to rise. Neither has any relation to one another.
The gateway drug theory is so stupid. Hard drug users are typically risk takers, alcohol users, cigarette smokers AND they have a higher rate of MJ use than the gen pop. So what? That doesn't prove MJ correlates with hard drug use any more than the other chemicals mentioned. How about that those prone to mess up their lives with hard drugs will likely try ANYTHING and everything to get high.
There is a gateway from current illegal marijuana use. You have to go to a drug dealer in many cases to procure the stuff. Drug dealers deal illegal drugs. They may have some other illegal drugs and you may decide to try them too. If you go to a dispensary, or if it legalized, you will not be able to get illegal drugs in the same place, thus closing the gateway associated.
everyday we see commmercials for "legal drugs" with side effects that are more damaging than the reason for taking it. Our law makers need to get a clue and just legalize pot for goodness sake, then they can move on to more pressing matters, and from the tax revenues of the pot, they can pay for the other matters that are sucking our economy beyond repair.
Too many people are making money with pot being illegal. That, and I just can't imagine the Christian right, and their lackeys, the GOP. allowing legalization.
Ha! This reminds me of "Sleep driving with amnesia for the event". I've done more than my share of drugs before...but never woken up in another city without a clues as to how I got there.
Stay thirsty my friends.
I had three friends who died of cancer. All of them found great relief from pain in their finals days thanks to Marijuana. having seen how it helped them, I am all for the use of medical grade Marijuana.
I also feel that the money spent on arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating people who smoke it could be put to better use, like fighting the sale and use of hard drugs. Marijuana is no worse that alcohol or cigarettes.
The topic of the article is medicinal marijuana, not complete legalization. If the marijuana were really and truly only used for medicinal purposes, I would be for it. But if New York ends up like my home state of California did, with no oversight and a whole bunch of "doctors" issuing "recommendations" for marijuana for people with "headaches" and "anxiety", they you should really think twice. It's anarchy, right now. It is estimated that we have 1000 pot dispensaries, which outnumber Starbucks in some neighborhoods, but we can't be sure since no one has good records. Absolutely no control or oversight.
First off it sounds like your pulling stats out of thin air, much like prohibitionists due with drug "facts". According to Starbucks own website there are 2,010 stores in California, my 1 minute google search reveals the best estimate for medical marijuana dispensaries in operation in California is between 500-1000 in operation, (source ballotpedia.com). Please do some research before spouting anti weed propaganda.
I recommend everyone watch “The Union” – youtube it.
Coffee has been shown to be much more addictive than marijuana. Starbucks is a drug dealer.
and exactly how did that affect you?
Does it bother you that no one needs a doctor's recommendation for alcohol?
Back in the "good ol' days" of prohibition, doctors actually wrote scripts for alcohol as a way of getting around the laws. The parallels with MJ prohibition go deeper than you think.
But you'are OK with people using advil for headaches, a drug that kills over 800 Americans each year? Or Xanax for anxiety, which is HIGHLY addictive and kills thousands of Americans each year, along with getting the user higher than a kite. Stick to your day job doc, you don't seem fit to give a dog "medical advise".
Wow, crime must have gone up 1000-fold, with that many dispensaries....oh...it didn't?
ANY increase in crime would HAVE to be blamed on economy first and foremost.
Marijuana has no use for us. It is toxic, illegal, and causes cancer and boosts crime rates. We already have to deal with alcohol which is killing us and so is tobacco. All 3 of these have no use on Earth whatsoever. If it were up to me, I would even ban alcohol and tobacco altogether. These drugs kill and we dont need them. Enough...
You poor, poor ignorant fool. Uneducated people like you ruin it for all the responsible, intelligent users out there.
Grow a sack, smoke a joint, and change your life forever.
Ron Paul 2012
You are plainly and simply a liar or completely ignorant of what you are talking about. Stay off here if you can't say something truthful
Good luck banning alcohol. We tried that already. Marijuana prohibition has been even less successful.
It is not toxic. There has never been a study that has shown any long term health effects of smoking marijuana. Neither does it cause cancer. In fact there is evidence that it prevents and curtails cancer. Did you even read the article?
Doctors prescribe hundreds of medications every day which are genuinely addictive (Marijuana is not) and have worse long term side effects (of which Marijuana has none) without the emotional uninformed anger that Marijuana somehow generates. Hydrocodone or Vicodin is far worse; very addictive and has serious health repercussions including liver damage if it is taken over a long period of time. And yet it is prescribed in every hospital across the United States every day without anyone blinking an eye.
The problem with the Marijuana issue is that people like you spread misinformation about Marijuana based out of pure ignorance or malicious agenda. The truth is that Marijuana is a fantastic drug for cancer patients, as discussed in this article, because it has few side effects and doesn't have a lot of dangerous interactions with other medications. And it's effective. But keep on clinging to your articles of faith that tell you that Marijuana is bad because somebody told you that once while a mountain of scientific evidence contradicts you.
I guess you're also a devotee of the Taliban's beliefs.
People get high and eat food or listen to music. Some people just can't handle it if other people are simply enjoying themselves.
The only one you got right is 'illegal'.
Nice try troll. No one who doesn't get their news from a comic book can possibly be THAT stupid.
You're wrong right out of the gate. Having no facts in hand you choose to make them up.
No redeeming value? Ask the people who've gotten benefit from severe nausea and anorexia from cancer.
And for the rest of us it's a benign drug that is far less dangerous than alcohol.
please do more and better research before you make retarded ass statements like this. I can respect anothers opinion no matter how different it may be from my own, but i have no tolerance for stupidity.
hate to say it but, this must be some Joe Biden fan...
Whether we like it or not, millions of people are consuming cannabis daily, and the justice system neither has the will nor the resources to find and prosecute all of them - especially when marijuana use causes so little obvious harm.
Considering these facts, the real question is whether we'd rather have consumers purchase their cannabis in licensed stores that pay taxes and ID customers - OR - have them buy it in high school parking lots from violent, Mexican-cartel linked drug dealers who often sell cocaine and heroin alongside the pesticide-tainted "marijuana" they offer.
Which option do you think is best?
I've been told that some of the "best" marijuana is from British-Columbia CA. Not connected to any "cartels" . One problem with legalization is that the suppliers who are not domestic would still produce their crops and under cut any legalized price scale that had been set. Main point here is don't put the blame on just one of the US borders.
tell us about marijuana's toxicity. inform us of all the pot overdoses
And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, which has seed in its fruit; to you it shall be for food.
@Reverend Lauren Unruh he put a space between each w so it isn't actually a link
The drug company's would rather see every last U.S. citizen behind bars or dead as opposed to see them go to another drug dealer.
$75 for an 1/8th? Keep it illegal if they're going to rip people off like that.
Last I heard, in my area, it costs $60 per an eight oz. Course, that's only hearsay. As with the original prohibition, we make a lot of people criminals for no good reason, and some of them come away very wealthy, and with less respect for those who benefit from criminalization.
In Oregon where MMJ users are legion but there's little dispensiaries the price has dropped dramatically. An ounce of good bud can cost you 180.00. This is a huge drop from just a few years ago. Frankly MJ should be a lot cheaper when legal. If farmers can make money growing lettuce at a buck a pound legal MJ growers can survive on a lot less.
i pay $250 for a z
Those who smoke Marijuana for recreational purposes are just doing it as preventative maintenance.
If you think legalization should be debated and Obama and Mitt challenged to defend their anti-legalization positions then get over to Gary Johnson 2012 web site and donate a few dollars to help pay for national adds.
It is absolutely ludicrous this is against the law. People get their pot anyway. It flows in Americas streets more than cigarettes do. I don't smoke it myself, makes me sick to my stomach and sleepy when I tried it years ago, but alcohol is far worse of a drug. We are wasting way too much time and money keeping this helpful and beneficial plant off off the street. Legalize and regulate it. I think this is more of a pride issue than a legal issue. Washington does not want to admit they were wrong for making it illegal to begin with. More respect to own up to your mistakes and just get it over with and let it flow. Hard drugs still need to be kept out, though. Cocaine, heroin, etc. destroys lives and makes you useless. The fight should not be pot though.
I can't help but wonder if this judge has sentenced people to jail for selling or using pot. 'Cuz, if so, this would be a case of karma.
"I can't help but wonder if this judge has sentenced people to jail for selling or using pot. 'Cuz, if so, this would be a case of karma."
Well, of course, he has – and, the legislators who contrived the minimum sentencing guidelines made sure that he had no other choice, whatsoever.
As a person that believes that all pot heads are ridiculous and stupid, even I can recognize the horrible damaging effects that the war on Drugs has been for America.
We now imprison 25% of the world’s prisoners even though we are only 5% of the world’s population. Any ignorant college freshman taking first year statistics can tell you that there is something very wrong with those numbers. Nothing can be that out of balance that much and survive. Our country could collapse from several of our idiotic excesses but the prison system costs us more than all our social services.
De-criminalize Pot now.
"Our country could collapse from several of our idiotic excesses but the prison system costs us more than all our social services."
As long as we out-source prison services to private companies, marijuana will NEVER be made legal and there is no chance that we will ever see a decrease in our prison population – not even on a per capita basis. Throwing people in jail is now a for-profit industry with investors to please. And, none of those investors give a damn about the lives that are ruined for their profit.
I certainly agree, I intend to keep telling people until someone pays attention.
For-profit prisons are what is really SCARY! Anybody out there want to do time to keep the beds full and the bottom line up?? Any volunteers.....Didn't think so. A lot of people are making a lot of money keeping pot illegal.
never before have so many people suffered for such a stupid prohibition not to mention gazillions in lost tax revenue since 1936!
"As one reader writes: "The day we open the door to legalizing pot is the day other drugs will redesign themselves to fit the same criteria, so they may also enter. You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'."
So basically what this reader is saying is about alcohol, "just this one and this one only"...humorous to say the least.
Why our Federal Government refuses to see the benefits of marijuana is beyond anyone, even the Federal Government.
The federal govt is the result of our politicians. Even on autopilot, it's our elected representation having handed unimaginable power to bureaucracies.
Unless you are going to do the same thing to far worse drugs such as alcohol and tobbacco there is no reason to have marijuana which is much less harmful be illegal. The president refuses to listen to the people no matter how much they want it.
What I think is that our Founding Fathers never intended to establish a nanny state where the government decides what is best for us.
There would have to be some radical changes in the u.s. government for cannabis to become legal. I don't think it will become legal for another 10 or 20 years. What will they tell the victims of
It is no longer merely a matter of whether marijuana is harmful, or not – that matter has effectively been put to rest Now, it is a matter of we have millions of people all over the world that have become dependent on the flow of illegal money from the purchase of marijuana and to make it legal would knock the bottom out from under the price and all those people would make far less money, if any at all. Then, what will they do?
And, let's not forget that the drug cartels are heavily motivated to keep drugs illegal to keep their profits up – so, they will buy as many politicians as they need to keep it that way. And, of course, the politicians need not "know" where the money for their next campaign comes from . They can "believe" it came from some right wing group that thinks "drugs are bad, mmkay?" but, the money can come from drug cartels just as easily. And, we all know that politicans really don't care where the money comes from – they only care that it lands in their pockets.
So, don't hold your breath, folks – marijuana will remain illegal for the forseeable future – guaranteed. Too many crooked politicians and others with a dog in this race would not have it any other way.
Let's just legalize it. That way people can choose to use it or not. Isn't that what freedom is all about?
In case, you had not noticed, this country is no longer about freedom. Today, this country is all about war – war on drugs, war on terrorism, and a war on freedom. Our immigration officials sound more like Nazis than Americans. Travel has become something that makes you an automatic suspect, worthy of infringing all of your civil rights.
We're not safe from unreasonable searches. We have no privacy in our communications (every word you uttter on the telephone is digitally processed and interpreted to assess its potential threat value).
"Freedom" is just a bad joke these days.
Sadly Richard I am afraid you are right. This country has long lost it's core values of a Republic representing the people. The funny thing is if the founding father were alive today they would probably be imprison for smoking MJ especially Benjamin Franklin. lol
If I was a drug cartel, I would be heavily invested in private prison service firms and very active in right-wing politics, pushing for things like mandatory sentencing and stiffer penalties for drug related crimes. And, I would have been involved in those things for the last 40 years.
Joe Biden wrote the crime bill of 1994 which stiffened penalties for every imaginable drug-related issue. It also mandated the death penalty for non-murder cases. You don't have to be "right wing" to be a fascist.
Prohibition made alcohol illegal, and the mob got rich. Even though it was illegal, people found a way to purchase it and drink it. Hey! Bud is illegal, the mob is getting rich off of it, people are still buying it and smoking it. Wake up America! The only things that have changed, is we have created more jobs and increased taxes trying to keep it off the streets while at the same time over flowing our courts and prisons. Europe is doing fine with legalization.
Europe has not legalized marijuana. Decriminalization is not the same thing as legalization. Examine the laws in the Netherlands, for example – they don't make marijuana legal, they just decriminalize it for small amounts. Of course, they can't legalize it – the US government would get its panties all in a wad over that.
Google this "Single Convention Treaty on Narcotic Drugs"
America drafted this worldwide treaty for every nation on Earth to sign about 50 or so years ago. I am pretty sure almost every country signed on probably because our government either threatened to blow them up or send them bags full of cash. Some things never change.
It's puzzling that industrial hemp was exempted from the definition of marijuana for the purposes of the treaty, but not for the citizens of the U.S.
Folks.. the underlying problem with legalizing weed is the lack of large-scale scientific research. Typical studies cannot be government-funded and, hence, include less than 200 people, nowhere near enough data to show positive or negative trends. Those of you who claim there is conclusive evidence either way need to realize that a much larger sample size is needed – else, these studies may well show conflicting trends when repeated.
Hillary Clinton herself said this year that it is the lack of research preventing her from reaching a definitive conclusion. Durr.
I smoke every day, but have become increasingly worried about the mental (read: not physical) health effects. I feel sometimes like I'm becoming slightly psychotic. Our government needs to protect us by enabling determination whether marijuana is harmful or not.
It is completely irresponsible for the government not to do so, as marijuana is more widely used than cigarettes among the young population.
"Folks.. the underlying problem with legalizing weed is the lack of large-scale scientific research. Typical studies cannot be government-funded and, hence, include less than 200 people, nowhere near enough data to show positive or negative trends"
No, it is not. We've known for hundreds, if not thousands of years that marijuana has benefits. Hemp (marijuana) was traded for thousands of years before the US decided to wage war against it. We know the benefits. That is not why it is illegal. It is illegal because people who make enormous amounts of money off of it being illegal want it to stay illegal and they will buy however many politicians they need to keep it illegal. And, they can afford it. So, don't hold your breath for marijuana to be made legal any time soon.
"I smoke every day, but have become increasingly worried about the mental (read: not physical) health effects. I feel sometimes like I'm becoming slightly psychotic. Our government needs to protect us by enabling determination whether marijuana is harmful or not. "
I personally don't want a nanny state where the government tells me what is best for me. I can figure that out on my own and do my own research. The government has been researching marijuana all along. They grow some of the best in the world.
Also, Richard: I don't give a flying *&^ about what the government says. But they are deliberately impeding scientists, who I am sure you would agree should be listened to. Sorry for hammering this point in. You can't do your own research. You'd probably be eating trans fats, smoking cigs, and drinking cholera-infested water just like the rest of humanity had scientists not taken the reins. PS: The gov doesn't grow weed.
*doesn't grow weed for scientific purposes.
A minor point, the Federal Gov pays the U of Mississippi to grow the weed.
Johns Hopkins did a study comparing esophageal cancer rates in MJ users vs. alcohol users.
Univ. California (not sure which branch) did a study comparing lung cancer rates MJ vs. cigarettes vs. non smokers
US Dept of Transportation study compared MJ drivers to alcohol users. By both rating scales MJ use had no effect on driving and in fact made them more cautious.
The few well done studies on MJ have failed to show negative effects and in fact show no increased health risk in terms of lung or esophageal cancer. In terms of driving,those under the effects of MJ showed little if no effect on performance.
Stick that in yer pipe n' smoke it
Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately, my point still stands. Failure to prove something is bad, is NOT proof of the contrary. And a conclusive study on something illegal can NOT be done without government support. I am simply saying that there is a skinny chance of the feds legalizing marijuana before large-scale studies are done.
We've known weed's good for thousands of years, eh? We also didn't take more than one bath a month until 300 years ago. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) We were, relatively speaking, idiots until the scientific method was invented, and all research afterwards starts from scratch.
What we people 'want' or 'know' is irrelevant, because the government can always point to some tiny study that shows it's bad. (I was reading some of them yesterday.. incredibly scary stuff that really freaked me out. Too bad it's pseudo-science.)
Yeah, the powerfully political people are at fault. But they do their damage by blocking the progress of SCIENCE. Not by blocking the progress of LAWS. It's like the middle ages all over again. Except we are arguing over something much more inconsequential (marijuana) than back then (Earth revolves around the sun, we are all made out of atoms, etc.)
Humanity is increasingly finding that they can trust in scientific fact. This is the greatest trend in existence, and the reason we aren't controlled by the Pope, bishops, and kings anymore. The government should be removing scientific barriers. Oh, and while they're at it, outlaw cancer sticks too. I can't believe those are still legal.
Unfortunately, precedence has nearly absolute power in this government. That's also why Obama hasn't done anything consequential in office beyond repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell and saying he believes gays should be allowed to marry (what an earth-shaker!). The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Donald Tashkin, a UCLA researcher whose work is funded by NIDA, did a case-control study comparing 1,200 patients with lung, head and neck cancers to a matched group with no cancer. Even the heaviest marijuana smokers had no increased risk of cancer, and had somewhat lower cancer risk than non-smokers (tobacco smokers had a 20-fold increased Lung Cancer risk). Tashkin D. Marijuana Use and Lung Cancer: Results of a Case-Control Study. American Thoracic Society International Conference. May 23, 2006.
Also, check out the study I posted above. It was also funded by NIDA and involved 65,000 people over 10 years – Sidney, S. et al. Marijuana Use and Cancer Incidence (California, United States). Cancer Causes and Control. Vol. 8. Sept. 1997, p. 722-728.
Contrary to what you claim, the government most certainly does 'grow weed' Try this simple google search: 'Stockbroker Irv Rosenfeld receives 300 marijuana cigarettes every month from the US government.'
Please stop posting false information!
Hey malcolmkyle,
I looked up the NIDA-funded study you mentioned. The government did 'fail to find a link' between cancers, but again, they said there is 'evidence of precarcinoginec effects'. Directly from the NIDA website (http://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/nida-notes/2006/10/marijuana-smoking-associated-spectrum-respiratory-disorders):
"Further evidence of marijuana's respiratory toxicity emerged from a study conducted by Dr. Donald Tashkin at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Tashkin conducted an extensive review of clinical and epidemiological research to determine the extent to which chronic marijuana smoking might lead to long-term pulmonary effects and diseases similar to those caused by tobacco. Unlike the NHANES III data examined by Dr. Moore, the studies evaluated by Dr. Tashkin made it possible to assess a possible association between marijuana smoking and respiratory cancers.
"The results of animal and cell culture studies are mixed with respect to the carcinogenic effects of THC, some studies showing that THC promotes lung cancer growth and others showing an anti-tumoral effect on a variety of malignancies."
Isn't that what I said? Conflicting evidence, allowing the gov to say any conclusion they want. It's clear any study funded by NIDA will NOT show any conclusion NIDA does not agree with.
Thanks for the corrections though.. I really appreciate the opportunity to learn from my mistakes. However, The gov growing weed is apparently for 4 people, the remnants of a 1982 program, who are lucky enough to be grandfathered in – I was hopeful they were growing it for research purposes, but no, it's another archaic law serving no scientific purpose.
I will check out the 65,000+ study later, but so far all of these studies have simply treated marijuana as a factor in their studies, not singling them out. That's a problem. Out of the 6728 people in Moore's study, how many smoked? A statistically significant amount?
These kind of articles appear every 6 months or so and they are dishonest and illegitimate. Discuss the real reasons for keeping it illegal such as corporate prisons and gov't employees who just want to keep the status quo.
Most legit Doctors will tell you that weed is alright for "termially" sick patients. However for people that are not terminal marijuana does causes short term memory loss, heart problems and as more carcinigins that tabocco. So is marijuana safe, not by any means. And those are the facts.
Yeah, eating at McDonalds too often is also bad for your heart and could lead to cancer. So, what? So, is eating too much processed sugar and fat – the two substances that cause most of our health problems.
So, what makes marijuana worse than eating at McD's too much or eating too much sugar and fat?
"So is marijuana safe, not by any means. And those are the facts."
Another pertinent fact:
No ones cause of death has EVER been listed as "marijuana overdose".
Yes, the point is when is something unhealthy enough to be illegal? Today we learn that those who drink 3 cups of coffee a day are 10% less likely to die, should we require people to drink coffee? What about the short term memory loss from concussions, should we outlaw football?
Either you allow adults to make their own decisions about what risk they're willing to accept in exhange for pleasure, or you don't. But to do so for some things and not others is patently unfair. so unless you sleep 8 hours a day, excersize 45 minutes most days of the week, and have a BMI of 25 or less, etc. you are also making choices, and I support your right to do so. So why won't you support mine?
jeff: if it such a danger, point out the studies to show as much
at 60 years old now I've never once heard any facts about heart disease or lung cancer associated with marijuana. those are the facts
The major reason marijuana stays illegal is because of the huge amount of money that it generates for so many. The legal system benefits because of the judges, lawyers, courts, police, probation officers, prisons construction and prison staff that are necessary for the prohibition. The drug dealers enjoy making huge profits due to the prohibition. The drug cartels are able to make billions importing it into the US. The list goes on and on. The US is rapidly approaching the point where more money is being spend on marijuana prohibition then on college education.
The original reason for the prohibition was based upon lies and clever propaganda by people like William Randolf Hearst and movies like "Reefer madness". It was way of targeting Mexican minorities in the US. Later President Nixon launched the War on Drugs as a method to target opponents to the Vietnam war.
Will this crazy war on drugs ever end? I doubt it because it is always about money and money rules this country.
It's gotten to the point that they don't even care that we've noticed the lies and deceit. They're even more blatant about it today than ever.
The gateway argument is total crap. Saying "one and just this one" is absolutely an option. We've said it to an interminable number of other compounds without unleashing the truly dangerous ones in any significant way into the population. Yes, there will be abuse, but that's just human nature. Relax. It's just a frigging joint.
"The gateway argument is total crap."
Yeah, that propaganda is right out of the Nixon administration. If there was any truth to it at all, we'd have a hundred million junkies in this country – but, we don't, do we?
You can die from an overdose of aspirin – but, you cannot die from an overdose of marijuana.
Legalize it. Tax it. Stop spending $'s to stop it. Then maybe I could use it on Friday nights. I would be a lot happier and my head wouldn't hurt on Saturday morning.
"Legalize it. Tax it. "
We should no more tax marijuana than we should tax pine trees. We don't tax pine trees – we tax the products made from it. Taxing marijuana directly would be as impractical as trying to enforce prohibition. If someone wants to grow it for their own personal private use, the government has no business taxing it. But, if that same person wants to sell it at the convenience store in packs, then we should tax the number of packs he sells – but, not the ingredients used in their making. It is a fine distinction, but important to make.
we can certainly tax the sale of it
I'm trying to figure out why detractrs of MJ continually distort its health and recreational effects. Ignorance or maliciousness?
Honestly, i think it is brainwashing. The government has been sending out this consistent message of "drugs are bad, mmkay?" for over 40 years, and many people are still brainwashed by it. They don't smoke it themselves and/or don't know anyone who does, so it is nothing to them. Why bother to educate themselves about something that is nothing to them?
I am an enemy of the State because I do not believe or follow their orders or lies and propaganda that gets people killed and that wasted trillions of dollars and sent millions of my fellow countrymen to prison.
Prohibition aginst marijauna /Hemp is one of the older corporate banker frauds committed for the sake of dollars and growing the powers of government and police.
Just read some history books and do your own researech for a change.,
Then you can begin to see and understand.
We are not free., we are all slaves now.
Big Pharma and the Petro chemical giants have made natural plant based drugs their #1 enemy.
Raw opium tar will knock you out before you can ever overdose on it unlike Big Pharma pills that addict and kill thousands each year.
Old fassion plant based drugs can be safer and cheaper in most cases when used with care and knowledge of their usage and doseages.
Get smart America you have been lied to.
pills kill.,
Plants heal and prevent death and disease.
Get smart evolve or die America it's your shoice.
Ive made mine.
Why are the rest of you so slow to act on this knowledge??
have you been dumbed down that much???
I hate to guese.
You act as though we the people actually have a say in the matter – we don't. And, they will no more listen to you than they will listen to me – unless, of course, you have billions of dollars to wave around to get their attention. I don't.
I'm really perplexed by the relative silence of the pharmaceutical industry on the issue of marijuana legalization. i know that I've heard the "conventional wisdom" that says that marijuana represents a threat to the big pharma companies because it represents a viable alternative to many of their more expensive synthetic pharma products. But, a closer analysis reveals that marijuana represents a tremendous potential FOR big pharma, if it is made legal, because they can then develop new products derived from it – and, they are best qualified to do just that. So, they miss a huge opportunity for not pushing – hard – for marijuana legalization.
It will take a lot of competing money to out-lobby the drug cartels who would keep marijuana illegal, but big pharma companied have it. They could take on the drug cartels and win. But, they have to see the potential in winning the battle first, and I have to wonder if they're missing the big picture?
It's laughable when people say...legalize one drug, and might as well legalize them all. Pot is a natural substance, consumed the way it grew...naturally. What about alcohol?...is that a gateway drug...more damaging to the body, society and causes more deaths. People need to educate themselves. If you are going to have an opinion....you should smoke a joint first. Then go down a few brewskys...tell me which is more dangerous...ever heard someone running a school bus off the road after smoking a joint? Entering the freeway going the wrong way?
Umm, you know, I haven't noticed any posts from people who want to keep it illegal. Isn't that strange?
Oops, i guess I didn't look high enough up in the posts. There do seem to be a few ignorant dolts still hanging around this issue.
There would have to be some radical changes in the u.s. government for cannabis to become legal. If it where made legal tomorrow, how could the government repay the victims of prohibition whose lives have been ruined because of criminal charges? What would they tell all the cops, prison employees, judges, DEA, & probation officers who become unemployed? How could they admit that they have been lying to their people for the last 76 year?
The real reason cannabis remains illegal is because of $$$$. The government knows that if they did make it legal that they could never successfully tax and regulate it. Each user could easily grow a full year supply with one or two seeds. Anyone can grow cannabis, so why would smokers pay a heavy tax on it when they could get it for free from the earth.
Cannabis will be legal eventually. This nonsense could not go on forever. Slavery was finally ended, so will cannabis prohibition.
"If it where made legal tomorrow, how could the government repay the victims of prohibition whose lives have been ruined because of criminal charges?"
They don't have to repay them. They don't even have to let them out of jail before they finish serving their terms. I think I learned this in about the seventh grade.
u r a total scuzball...
I wish you would make up your mind. Do i have good points, as you said below? Or, am I a total 'scuzball'?
They don't have to pay a cent, they didn't pay the victims of alcohol prohibition either. As for the government not getting their cut of taxes, there's always gonna be a tax cheat, but they'll get plenty. In the extremely unlikely situation no taxes were collected, its still a huge victory because all of the MJ commerce dollars will stay in our economy, and not Mexico's.
You see, that's a big part of the problem with legalization – it would bring illegal Mexicans back over the border into the US, again, in record numbers. Why? Because, there would no longer be enough money in working the MJ fields in Mexico to help them stay there.
Cutting off the flow of illegal drug money would devastate the lives of millions of latin Americans. I real;ize that should not be our problem – but, it would be, whether we liked it or not.
The prudent and savvy politician would seize this opportunity to come out in favor of legalization. The timing is right. Of course, that presumes an honest candidate who wants to win on an honest issue. As soon as he is offered a huge check to change his mind, though, he probably will. They usually do. It's the way our system was deigned – those with the most money have the most influence.
America the beautiful. I can buy alcohol and drink till my liver stops working even though the label says it is dangerous. I can buy cigarettes and smoke till my lungs fall apart even though the carton says they are dangerous. Why exactly is there a law prohibiting recreational marijuana use? Because it is dangerous? Because it is unhealthy?
I am 50 yrs old. I have a $115,000.00 a year job. I have worked at this same job for 22 years. I have raised 3 great children. 2 who went on and got their bachelor degrees and the other a manager at her job. I have never been arrested and I have never even bounced a check. I have several friends whose lives have been destroyed because of alcohol. DUI's and alcoholism. I had a high school fried who died last year from alcohol induced liver disease. I have another family friend who I have known since I was 4 years old who drank herself to death. I have smoked Pot every day almost since I was 14 years old. I have a drink, a single drink maybe two -three times a week. I HATE how a hangover makes me feel! I quit smaoking cigarettes over 5 years ago and my Dr tells me my lungs and x-rays look so MUCH BETTER since I stopped the cigarettes. People who are against the legalization of Pot need to wake up and look at the facts!!!
I am with you Jeff.
I have been employed as an engineer for 30 years, Own two homes, never arrested, it has even been 12 years since I got a speeding ticket. I am 55. I am considered to be an excelent employee who has never missed a day unexcused (vacation / sick)
I used to drink 30+ years ago but the bad effects of alcohol caused me problems (hangovers) I have smoked Pot daily for over 30 years. in that time I have experienced no bad side effects, my lungs are clear (after smoking tobacco for 20 yr) and I find I don't suffer from stress. I have used all kinds of drugs in H.S. but I now only smoke pot.
Bottom line: from my personal experience I find pot less damaging than alcohol and tobacco, it has never led me to use harder drugs ( in fact i used more hard drugs before pot) I am happy, healthy and very productive
My, what a sticky wicket we have created for ourselves! 40 years of waging the War on Drugs has had an unintended consequence – allowing the drug cartels to become wealthy enough to influence our politics. They now have enough money to buy all the politicians they need to ensure that their profits on their cash-cow (marijuana) remain very high. And, since their money has far more influence than the will of the voters, all we can really do is watch in horror while more and more otherwise productive citizens who represent no threat to us have their lives ruined by being thrown into privately run prisones that are probably also largely owned by the drug cartels (I know I would be heavily invested in them, if I ran a drug cartel).
And, to add insult upon injury, the drug cartels can buy the politicians under the guise of being Christian right wing conservative anti-drug groups, because we all know Jesus would agree that "drugs are bad, mmkay?"..It's really perverse. Even the most conservative of us are being made their mules.
Good points...only mindless cretins would be against legalization. It is a no brainer to legalize weed.
40 years? pot was made illegal on the national stage 75 years ago
Illegal because of the billions made from the marijuana prison complex.
legalize it. tax it and let all those poor people out of jail for possessing it and selling it.
With the stroke of a pen half of Mexico's violence vanishes......
And, all those unemployed MJ farmers come running across the border for jobs.
why would they cross the border? They can grow there and export....
It's time we open our eyes and realize that the "dangers" of marijuana are blown out of proportion. Marijuana is much healthier for the body than soda or fast food, yet we indulge ourselves with that day after day. Here we are, heading towards environmental disasters left and right, and saving a few trees can go a long way towards that. Hemp can effectively end the timber industry and is useful in more ways that imaginable. We are in an economic crisis and hemp can help us improve our efficiency 100%. There's no justifiable reason for hemp to be illegal, much less marijuana.
Judges and alot of cops think the same way, but are afraid to say anything because of losing their jobs.
I have never smoked Marijuana, or tried any other drugs. My husband used to smoke pot when he was younger but stopped smoking once we started having kids. Unfortunately, as he got older, he started to seriously abuse prescription pain killers that were legally prescribed by his physician. By the very nature of opiates, he kept on needing more and more not to kill the pain but just to be able to function. He quit several times but always seemed to go back to the painkillers.
After a recent late night argument, I pleaded with my hubby how much worse the opiates are than the pot he used to smoke when he was younger. I was terrified that one morning one of our kids would try to wake daddy up only to find him dead. He promised that he would not take pills anymore and for the next month, he really seemed changed. No more falling asleep in the middle of conversations and forgetting everything. The came the late night phone call. On his way home from work, he had been arrested for a marijuana dui (he wasn't smoking, but he had a baggy of pot in the car and the officer had a sharp nose). After reviewing the police dash cam video and arrest report, it was clear to me that he was in no way under the influence. I am rightfully ticked off! This has so far cost us $7000 in just attorneys fees. That doesn't even begin to touch the impound fees , upcoming court cost and fines, car breathalyzer (mandatory, even though it doesn't test for marijuana). The worst part of this journey... if he had stuck with the prescription pain killers, he wouldn't be charged with a dui right now. Yes, even if you haven't recently smoked marijuana, you can still be charged with a dui if you have any trace of THC metabolites in you system. Marijuana is fat soluble and while cocaine for heroin be out of your body within a couple of days, marijuana can stay in you system for a month or more.
There is a test for marijuana intoxication. But, drug testing is a multibillion dollar industry. The real time intoxication test is electronic. Pay for it once, use it for years. Not as profitable as urine testing. Down side is that intoxication lasts 2-10 hours but urine tests can detect use 28 days ago. Blood tests are a shorter time frame, but still test for residuals well after intoxication has subsided. The electronic test sits in a development lab with "no practical use".
And as an aside to that point. Like alcohol, marijuana impairs your motor skills. But, there is one huge difference. People on alcohol think they drive just as well or better than when they are sober. Marijuana user are well aware of their impairment and compensate for it. You are still far safer being sober. But, driving on alcohol is more dangerous then driving on alcohol.
Drug companies don't want it because they can't control it. Or make billions off of it.
Law enforcement doesn't want it, because they need to justify their jobs.
Goverment doesn't want it because they can't come to terms with being wrong about anything.
America, owned and operated by Big Business.
"Drug companies don't want it because they can't control it. Or make billions off of it."
No, they cannot control it but they can make billions off of it. They can make all kinds of refined pharmaceutical products from marijuana, and they are the best qualified to do it, too. They're fools for not pushing for legalization. It could be a bigger cash cow for them than it is for the drug cartels.
AGAIN!! I love it!! Hear Hear.....America has proven that we can adopt and adapt, ie: learn as we go. Potential to solve some problems- Legalize, provide guidance and tax it , treat any and all effected through previous MJ prosecution/incarceration- just like hiring laws...equal opportunity and no bias to potential employee or applicant. I think its time has come.
The war on marijuana has been going on since Hearst was making his first Millions. The government has not found a way to efficiently create a revenue stream for Marijuana. Harmful, not harmful...maters not. If it kept its users from being totally unmotivated, non-responsive, and unable to care about issues like the repeal of certain drug laws, it would be legal now. Cash crop for another reason...When Pfizer finds a way to start selling it, then it will be a go.
When you want to destroy a country, you pick the resource that provides greatest economic benefit and criminalize its use, hence, marijuana, and hemp are illegal. Lincoln wanted to destroy the South, so he freed the slaves to destroy the greatest economic resource, agriculture, farms. We live in an upside down world, and America is at the bottom.
While the judge's only relief is inhaling marijuana, I hope he is ingesting the THC oil before beddy-bye.
It's about freedom. why should the government tell me I can't burn a plant and inhale its smoke into my lungs?
You non-pot smokers should also take heed. Increasingly companies and governments are seeking to regulate fatty foods and other bad habits. We've already seen companies refusing to hire tobacco smokers, and there's been reports on a trend toward doing the same to the obese.
few of us are completely without unhealthy habits, whether it's skipping sleep, or not excersizing, or being overweight. If we allow the government to tell us in what ways we're allowed to abuse ourselves then pretty soon we'll all be doing calesthenics in front of a government camera like in Orwell's 1984.
You are either for freedom, or against it. there's really no middle ground.
"As one reader writes: "The day we open the door to legalizing pot is the day other drugs will redesign themselves to fit the same criteria, so they may also enter. You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'.""
___
Oh give me a break, then the same can be said for Tobacco and Alcohol. Tobacco is loaded with Glycerine (Sugars) to addict people.
Sentiments like this quote are heinous in light of the reality that so many Americans are stripped of freedom by this assault on Marijuana. When physicians paid by pharamaceuticals sit there claiming toxic medicines do 'just about the same thing.' In light of the fact that it is a plant that has been used for well over a thousand years.
The issue is Marijuana is popular and widely used, so it gives the legal system an easy excuse to be able to invade millions of people's lives. Then selectively be able to put who they want into prison; which is great for these corrupt people running the prisons and their lobbyists. While it seems the lawyers, the prison guards, etc., etc., go back to their comfortable homes and more than would care to admit, light up their own joint.
I forgot to mention in my previous post, Tobacco should be outlawed too. It does nothing besides promote lung disease and cancer. Again, people close to me smoke and regret it. I'm not expecting any of these things to happen, and I expect marijuana to be legalized all over the country in a matter of years for general usage because of it increased acceptability by the public. These studies suggesting how harmless marijuana are at best inconclusive, given all of the studies done suggesting the harm that marijuana can do as well. With some possible medical benefits of any of these drugs, their usage should be restricted under law to medical uses. Tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol, for the most part do nothing but destroy lives and families. You don't have to take my word for any of this. Research it for yourself. But research all aspects, not just the ones you want to think are true.
Prohibition is astoundingly expensive, and it still doesn't work.
the real story here, is that when something directly affects a judge or
congress person, then they get "enlightened". there have been many studies on this. so human kind generally behaves for their own self interest. ayn rand and evolutionary biology say so. the end!
I'm not saying we should start handing out joints in schools, but the "War on Drugs" has never worked. Cut off the cash pipeline to drug cartels who are redefining "inhumane" and to the dealer thugs everywhere. Collect billions of dollars in taxes, at least enough to pay for rehab for anyone who needs it. Save many billions of dollars by recognizing that you can't really declare war on a thing. Stop spending $40k per year to incarcerate people for drug offenses. Let them work and pay taxes (in addition to those they pay when they buy their drugs legally). Not because drugs are good, but because this is the real world, and in the real world the "War on Drugs" doesn't make sense.
I work and talk in mysterious ways.
Marijuana should be legal.
The only "gateway drug" is stupidity.
As one reader writes: "The day we open the door to legalizing pot is the day other drugs will redesign themselves to fit the same criteria, so they may also enter. You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'."
This has got to be the dumbest reason I've ever heard in regards to keeping marijuana illegal to use. I find it highly unlikely that cocaine, crystal meth or heroin will ever "redesign themselves to fit the criteria" as clinical studies have shown the impact these drugs can have on a person both physically and psychologically are extremely negative.
I've seen people who use legal but controlled substances by prescription like methadone, oxycodone, morphine and codeine develop a tolerance, requiring increased dosages to compensate for the developed tolerance, become addicted and ending up in the hospital because they overdosed on the stuff or because of withdrawal symptoms, but never have I seen a marijuana user suffer anything worse than a case of the munchies. I've seen people get alcohol poisoning from drinking too much, but I have never seen or heard of anyone being hospitalized or dying because of pot poisoning.
I've been smoking marijuana daily for more than 20 years; I have a Masters degree (social work) earned entirely under the influence of marijuana. I smoked marijuana through all of my pregnancies–all of which produced full-term, healthy, happy children who are above average students (National Honor Society). Try that with alcohol and the child will be born with fetal alcohol syndrome and suffer a host of physical and emotional deformities. I'm all for banning alcohol because it makes people abusive, it can kill you if you consume too much, and a person under the influence of alcohol has progressively limited physical and mental abilities the more they consume. People become addicted to alcohol and it ruins their lives–they lose their jobs because mentally they are still impaired after a night of drinking and can't do their work or are too hung-over to go to work. The effect of alcohol on their personalities causes them to destroy their relationships as alcohol tends to make people abusive, especially when they use distilled spirits. And alcohol kills brain cells, it destroys the liver and skin tissue. Alcohol is high in calories, and affects cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Marijuana might affect blood pressure and cholesterol levels if the user chooses to eat foods that are high in calories–but marijuana in itself does not do this.
I'd like to know why the Reader believes "You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only' " when it is possible. This person probably fears that marijuana is a "gateway drug", but one could easily say that alcohol is a gateway drug because the body builds up a tolerance and requires more and more to attain the same kind of high over a period of time. One beer could lead to a 6-pack, which could then lead to a more potent form of alcohol like vodka or gin for a faster, longer high. People who have never tried marijuana but are against its legality can only quote federal propaganda.They have no clinical data to support their stance. Maybe it's that marijuana is a drug, and the word 'drug' scares the heck out of them because the word itself has a negative connotation. I have tried alcohol; I have family members who are alcoholics. I have seen and felt the effects of alcohol first hand and I can honestly say that alcohol is far more dangerous a drug than marijuana, and I would rather see my kids lighting up a blunt or puffing on a pipe than having even one beer.
I have been following almost every comment on those reports and don't remember seeing anything like that. Then they go ahead and end the only article on the site with a negative spin when most people were very much in favor of it. Anyone can go read through the comments and see what everyone thinks. Not the one person who wrote a dumb comment they decided to focus on.
Booze IS the gateway drug. I am a professional drunk who is now sober going on 25 years. Booze kills more people than everything but tobacco. 76% of violent crimes have booze involved.
Pot is much safer. I have never heard of a man who was stoned beating his wife/GF. Drunk..almost always.
Lastly we have 25% of all the jailed people in the WORLD. and yet we have only 5% of the world population. Most are for possession offenses.
amen...I told both of my children i would rather them smoke weed than drink alcohol
I have posted one of the I-reports this article talks about and have read almost every comment about legalization. I can't remember seeing more than one or two people against it out of hundreds. Somehow though this article quotes one of the very few at the end that suggests legalizing pot will lead to other drugs changing to do the same. That doesn't even make sense. Are people gonna somehow change heroin and crack and say legalize them. The answer is absolutly not. This argument is about marijuana and that only. For the one and only peice that they put on the website to put a negative spin at the end is just wrong.
It's the pharmaceutical companies.
It's the oil companies.
It's the beer companies.
It's, it's everyone but me.
WRONG!
It's you. You are the reason marijuana is illegal. Simple as that.
You know who won the 2008 presidential election? Bet you want to say Obama. Well that would be wrong.
Hmmm, you mean it was really McCain, somehow? No again.
In 2008 the most votes in ALL 50 states went to "I like my couch".
Get off your stoned &%^ and go vote.
Congress will kiss your ring and shine your shoes for a vote. If 100,000 votes went to the person who favored legalization, then they would support it. Or they would be out of a job and your new representation would support it.
As my stone friend once said "SSSSSSSSP Dude, I ain't gonna vote! Why play there game? The alcohol companies are stopping legalization . . ."
If everyone in California who smokes marijuana registered and voted, marijuana would be legal there. Simple huh?
So vote or shut up. Your conspiracy theories are nothing but shirking your responsibilities.
Register
Vote
Get your friends to register.
Get your friends to vote.
This year more people than ever will go out to vote in states where any legalizaion or medical marijuana issue is on the ballot. If it isn't there really isn't a reason to vote since both of the people running are people nobody wants to vote for and both against the issue.
Very Good Point. I do vote, but yes, many pot smokers are lazy or do not want to participate in our democracy. All they do is complain. Hea, if you don't vote you cannot complain.
Who has an interest in banning an effective medicinal plant that could be grown in your yard for pennies? Hmmm.
Exactly.
Bill that is correct. One thing though. Primo bud requires dedication in the form of many hours and expensive lights and proper fertilization and a good deal of hands on care to get the really good crop. Most people would opt for buying rather than farming. It is just a weed and will grow anywhere.
Oops forgot the important part, the correct seed that contains the genetics of a hybrid plant that isn't from a ditch.
I always wondered WHAT IF the first Americans (i.e. Native American Indians) had smoked marijuana rather than tobacco and introduced THAT to the Europeans...would we now be filling our prisons with tobacco smokers??? Sounds like a good plan to me!!!
I am one of the proponents of SB 409, the medical marijuana bill in New Hampshire. My wife has stage IV, metastatic breast cancer and has survived over nineteen years of treatments for it. She is currently in a phase I clinical trial that has miraculously saved her life. The only draw back to the treatment is that she is constantly nauseated and has become anorexic as a result. Last year she was told, after having lost some thirty-two pounds that she had lost too much weight and was at risk of being removed from the trial. None of the standard anti-emetic treatments are working for her. Out of desperation, she tried cannabis (marijuana) and the results were instantaneous. We had never seen anything work so well and so fast. With this kind of input, I find it difficult to defend the position that cannabis has no medical benefit. We certainly don't need a double blind, randomized, naive clinical trial to see how well it actually works. Anecdotal or not, the evidence is obviously something that needs to be considered.
The political arena is not the place for deciding the efficacy of adjuvant therapies. Playing a "hard line" role that ignores facts will not benefit anyone. My wife and I are upstanding citizens who, for the lack of good luck, have been cursed with my wife's breast cancer. Since I began my campaign for this cause, I have met with many cancer patients that have had similar results when dealing with nausea and vomiting and I decided early on that I will stand up for anyone's right to gain open access to cannabis as a therapy if it works for them in this type of situation. Quality of life quite often translates into extending life for patients in this unenviable position. Too often I hear people have had enough of the treatments and they simply give up. The bottom line is that the Governors, policemen and other members of Government have no place coming between a doctor and their patient much less making the patient a criminal for trying to save their own life.
"You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'."
Yes you can.
go back to bed GRANDMA!!
Absolutely agree. They've been doing it with alcohol since Prohibition ended some 70+ years ago!
Gustin L. Reichbach has been a loyal servant of Prohibition for his whole career, but now that HE'S suffering then Oliver Sudden now MaryJane is okay.
Screw you Gustin, I'm glad you got pancreatic cancer, it's a shame you aren't being harassed by cops on an hourly basis for the rest of your short life.
"You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'."
We already have...to alcohol. There is no reason for pot to be illegal if alcohol isn't & we all know what happened when that was tried...
I forgot what I was going to say.
Now we're supposed to get all teary because a judge wants to smoke it? Tsk tsk. Are there no prisons?
Sure there are. But they're already full, fool. Of people placed there for possession of...pot.
the current status of marijuana as an illegal drug has absolutely nothing to do with it being something that people want to use and everything to do with it being a commercial threat to Wm. Randolph Hearst and DuPont in the 1920s/30s. Hearst owned vast timber stands and marijuana fiber was a better product for paper pulp than his trees, and hemp fiber was a commercial threat to DuPont's new (then) nylon fiber. Both Hearst and DuPont were wealthy beyond belief and had sufficient political connections to get marijuana outlawed.
It's past time we get past the idiocy of our laws vis-a-vis marijuana, legalize it, tax it, and release the thousands or tens-of-thousands of people incarcerated for simple possession.
So absurd that I can go, buy a bottle of vodka, drink it, get in my car, and plow over 100 people legally (until the cops catch me). But marijuana?? Oh no no no, that is pure EVIL.....so absurd.
"...you can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'."
We already have-Alcohol. I've never heard of a person smoking a joint and going home to beat his wife in a rage. Safer? In what way? For yourself? Or those around you? Pot, hands down gets my vote.
open up the market for all drugs . alcohol is a drug most won't admit it because they drink take booze out of washinton see how fast the goverment passes to make pot leagle. those people in congress get there booze after work and it would not shock me to find out it is on there expense account and we are paying for it
The most abused drug in America is legal and look how many die from it. Alcohol.
'old gaffer' got it right. "the current status of marijuana as an illegal drug has absolutely nothing to do with it being something that people want to use and everything to do with it being a commercial threat to Wm. Randolph Hearst and DuPont in the 1920s/30s. Hearst owned vast timber stands and marijuana fiber was a better product for paper pulp than his trees, and hemp fiber was a commercial threat to DuPont's new (then) nylon fiber. Both Hearst and DuPont were wealthy beyond belief and had sufficient political connections to get marijuana outlawed."
Also the liquor commission wants to keep it illegal. (Hmm, imagine that) Even big time crooks want it illegal because it (marijuana) is worth more that way. And the biggest crooks we know make the laws. (Now there's something to ponder.)
I'm 61, a former U.S. Marine (Vietnam vet) college grad where I played football, helped raise 3 wonderful children, and still 'kickin' ass'. And also still smoking marijuana. Grow my own.
The state of Michigan is doing it all wrong. They only charge $100 for a medical card and do not tax the sale. Duh. Missing out on millions in sales tax.
Isn't ironic that folks want o legalize marijuana but the government spends millions of dollars to stop smoking because it causes lung cancer. Think about how weed is used and you know that deep inhalation is more extreme with a weed user than a cigarettte smoker. Where is the discussion about cancer causing side effects? BTW I am in favor of medical use.
mostly, because a marijuana smoker does not smoke 20-40 joints a day like a cigarette smoker (equals one to two packs) and the one or two he/she does smoke is not enough to do any permanent damage.
Are we talking about weed users? One two? Try 5 or 6 and the J's are twice the size of most cigs. I will give you that they are usually shared and in my observation most weed smokers are also drinkers and smokers.
TJ – studies have not established any connection between smoking marijuana and lung cancer. After at least 40 years of mass use by the public, if marijuana did cause lung cancer, we would know that by now. It doesn't. Another nail in the coffin of justification for marijuana being illegal.
It's not legal yet because Republicans who are afraid of evrything including their own shadow, haven't found a way to link it to Jesus yet, like taxes. Jesus hates taxes and poor people.
An analogy for the "against" argument (imperfect, but...): Free speech would be OK, but if we allow it, violent hate groups will have free reign to persuade others of their beliefs and causes.
"The day we open the door to legalizing pot is the day other drugs will redesign themselves to fit the same criteria, so they may also enter. You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'."
THEN WHY DIDN'T ALCOHOL HAVE THIS EFFECT? AND WHY SHOULDN'T THEY ALL BE LEGAL? WE'RE AMERICAN ADULTS WE CAN MAKE OUR OWN CHOICES. EVEN STUPID ONES.
The logic of the "drug war" has always evaded me. It seems to go something like this: "We're afraid that your bad habit might ruin your life, and we don't want that, so we're going to throw you in prison, give you a criminal record, interrupt your career or education, possibly destroy your marriage, and ruin your chances of future employment. Your welcome."
You hit the nail on the head.
Legalize and tax it. This will cut off HALF of the Mexican border drug problems. This will cut a lot off out overcrowded jails. This will cut the cost of the unworkable 'war on drugs' and will provide tax income, etc etc etc. Legalize!
Aside from all the overly debated reasons for and against legalization, just let all these naysayers smoke a joint. They'll change their tunes.
Yep, if these older bashers would kick back in their lazy-boy chairs in the evenings and smoke a joint they would be asking their grandkids to buy them more.
Busting folks for possession and sending them to prison is good for prison business and protects the drug companies business as well. We won't help dying people have any dignity because there is no money in it for above two mentioned businesses both of which have lots of money and powerful lobbying interests to protect...
How pathetic are we to do this to law abiding citizens for drug company and private prisons profit?
[[As one reader writes: "The day we open the door to legalizing pot is the day other drugs will redesign themselves to fit the same criteria, so they may also enter. You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'."]]
Yeah, you're right. We can't allow some drugs and not others. Time to ban tylenol and penicillin too; and don't forget about all those nasty drugs we inject our children with to play God and vaccinate them. This reader is absolutely right. You can't say "just this one".
Seriously? What a stupid comment.
If you vote to ban pot, you are either ignorant, a nazi, or so stupid you believe all the hype. It's illegal because the DEA makes a LOT of income off it being illegal. Not to protect you as a citizen. Get real.
The Presdient and the Att. Gen have the power with a pen and a swift hand to end marijuana Probaition NOW!! But the citizen of the US are blind to this fact and are not doing a thing about it. Wake up, write to the Presdient, Att. general now, before the elections and put an end this issue.
As one reader writes: "The day we open the door to legalizing pot is the day other drugs will redesign themselves to fit the same criteria, so they may also enter. You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'."
ALCOHOL = DRUG!!!
This is a highly ignorant and ridiculous statement probably made by someone over the age of 70.
Does this reader really think the U.S. will begin legalizing drugs such as heroin, crack cocaine and so on?
I have many friends that have quit smoking marijuana because of screening at work. They all drink much more since...Oh, now I get it! Maybe in a few years they'll be taking prescription meds for depression as well. Well played greedy, rich corporate American companies in collusion with lawmakers. Well played.
The fact that alcohol has harmful effects doesn't have anything to do with legalizing marijuana. By that logic you cold argue that since guns kill more people every year than heroin then heroin should be legal.
Anyone bringing alcohol into the equation should be arguing for prohibition.
Its got everything to do with it. Why can something that is proven to be devastatingly harmful be legal and something loved by millions and proven to be safe is not? They have a great argument. Maybe once your hangover wears off you'll get it.
Maybe once you quit frying your brain with drugs you will realize that the legality of alcohol has nothing to do with why marijuana should be legal.
Millions of people love herion and crystal meth too. Guns are legal so let's legalize smack and meth too.
Dan, you truly are amazing. First off, marijuana doesn't fry your brain. That was a lie put out by the "so-called" scientists that did a marijuana study for Ronald Reagan. The way they conducted their study with monkeys, they essentially fed the monkeys so much smoke that they cut off the oxygen supply, causing brain damage due to that lack of oxygen. But of course, they attributed the death of brain cells to the marijuana. They wouldn't release their study methodology for 6 and 1/2 years afterward. Folks like you completely bought the lie and perpetuate it to this day.
To all those opposed.., All the reasons MJ should be legal are legit and you know it. You can hold on to old beliefs and propaganda and try in vain to stop it but you're going to be out voted eventually. Until that time millions will continue to do it anyway because they could care less what you think or what the laws are. The most damaging thing to youths today and biggest waste of time and resources are sports and religion. Both are poisoning the minds of the youths and the tremendous resouces used up on them could be used to solve the many terrible problems we face today instead.
Sports and religion are worse that marijuana. Do you really believe what you are saying?
A really good reason to get rid of marijuana is the fact that it turns people into lowlife antisocial losers such as yourself.
I assume Danno you never smoked pot.
If you think Pot does these things to people you are mistaken, a liar or both. the only "lowlife antisocial losers" I have seen is you. everyone else seems to be having a logical civil discussion, All you have is insults based on your opinion.
if you would like to reference a scientific study to support your opinion I'd love to see it
Legalizing canabis opens the door for hemp. Good, our farmers will love it. $$$
Tax pot like cigarrets. $$$
No earlly release for child molestors and other criminals.
Hempgas anyone?
AMERICA home of the free. One day i hope not to have to cringe when i c a cop and wonder if he smelled what i have.
Paralysis & severe spasticity and i have to go around like a mouse. WHERE R MY RIGHTS????????? why do i need permission to live comfortably????? IM 42 YEARS OLD, I BELIEVE I KNOW WHATS BEST FOR ME UNCLE SAM!!
JUST SAY NOW!
"The day we open the door to legalizing pot is the day other drugs will redesign themselves to fit the same criteria, so they may also enter. You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'."
What a load of uninformed crap. Marijuana is the only "drug" to grow naturally and not be altered in anyway before consumption. All other drugs (cocaine, heroin, meth, etc.) can – and will – kill someone who over indulges. Furthermore, none of them have any proven medical use. Meanwhile, big tobacco donates $1.5 million to political campaigns while killing nearly four times that amount of people each year. The ignorance of people in this country is astounding. Educate yourself on facts before making statements with none. CNN should be ashamed of themselves for mentioning that line in this article.
Man is a drug using animal. Most people use some form of mood alterning drug. Alcohol, nicotine or caffiiene. Why should we not seek safer, recreational drugs. Marijuana seems to fit that need. The 'war' on drugs is not helping and we have too many American's in the legal system due to it.
You have to smoke marijuana to become president today.
Just ask Bill Clinton, G.W. Bush, and Barack Obama.
Mitt better get toking.
nobody can come up with one legitimate, valid reason why marijuana should remain illegal.
Drugs do not "redesign themselves".
The time has come. Legalize it. If only for the sake of the sick, but also consider for the sake of those who simply enjoy it – perhaps instead of drinking.
I LOVE reading the comments section of articles like these. They are some of the most intelligent (mostly) and good natured comments around.
Keep up the good work and legalize it!
Seems like to me most people want to smoke up, seems good to me, but its pointless to talk hee its better to do it right in the white house when people decide to take our conutry back, and last thing, i dont of anyone whos has smoked weed, and woke up in jail with no memory of killing someone with their car the previous night, seems like all laws point to finding away just to screw us all.
"You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'."
Of course you can. We've done it successfully many times: nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, and a host of OTC pain killers are freely available. We even successfully regulate their use post-sale: alcohol cannot be used at work, and it is illegal to participate in many activities while inebriated.
The problem is people like this, who draw some kind of imaginary line in the sand. You need to have a reason to ban a product beyond "it's banned." That is circular reasoning, and it will eventually be discarded.
Well said.
My wife and I have been smoking pot for 40 years. My wife was a office manager for 35 years. I retired from a good
factory job after 30+ years . We have never been in trouble ever. We will smoke to the day we die. What is sad is the
Goverment never got a dime in tax's. Stop the madness now.
Sounds to me like the concept of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness has lost it's way. Prisons for profit = big money, big money = government. I've smoked the stuff for 45 years and even grown some a few times at the risk of losing my property. I earned a college degree, raised three great kids who all have degrees now and I've worked at the same job for 35 years and about to retire to my farm. The current eco-buzzword is sustainability. This plant can be regrown every year but it takes many years to grow a tree. Not to mention all the other uses medicinal and otherwise. I'm all for
decriminalization. Franklin D. Roosevelt was President when marijuana was made illegal by William Randolph Hearst. FDR was right about fear.
Hmmm.......let's see. War in Viet Nam, War in Iraq, War in Afghanistan and, oh yes, War on Drugs. How are we doing so far.....Hmmmm? Just legalize pot and use those tax dollars for science, education and, god forbid, even treatment centers for those who have substance abuse problems! Or, better yet, just keep building prisons. At least some construction workers will have jobs. And so will the contractors who win those sweet bids.
The U.S.A. has approximately 742 per 100,000 people in prison, which is 4 times the amount of almost all other countries. The main cause of this is the failed "War on Drugs". In the last 10 years the state of California has built "1" college and "21" prisons. The U.S.A is going broke housing all of these prisoners. The legalizing of marijuana would turn this country around, it's simple math.
MJ will never be legalized. There is too much money to be made by prohibition .. from Big Pharma, the prison industrial complex, defense contractors, banks laundering the proceeds, it keeps all those judges, lawyers, and social workers employed, etc, etc.
You can't criminalize something that grows out of the ground. What are you going to do? Throw God in jail?
You already said "this one and this one only" with alcohol.......and caffeine, and aspirin, and.......
I am the rebirth of Jesus Christ. Vote Phillip Anthony Biondo for President 2012 of the Fraternity Party! Brandon Gilligan USN for VP. Free College like k-12. Free Healthcare. All safe drugs, as determined by doctors, prescription and illegal will be legal. Invest in Intel and Amg: Superhuman computer making even smarter superhuman computer designing fusion spaceship by. God of the Universe, colonate the Milky Way. Homeless shelters, Raman noodles, and a multivitamin for the poor. Environmentally intelligent policy, Big Bang in Physics, Evolution in Biology, Strong Military, Technological Singularity in 2045. Alcohol is a fuel and tobacco is the opposite of green tea, go to the psychiatrist they will remain legal use at your own risk. I'm suing the U.S. government for Violation of freedom of Religion for sacred medicine as illegal actually causes depression as a result from being illegal. Cannabis, dmt, peyote, and psilocybin mushrooms do not qualify as schedule 1. Any intelligent human knows we are Sapiens, a species of Ape closely related to Chimpanzees. If that Sheriff is right that Obama’s birth certificate is a forgery than is he even eligible for reelection? Everyone go Meditate in full lotus. JGA: No one can use nuclear weapons.
I think i just hurt my brain by trying to understand what you wrote. What did you have for breakfast this morning??
I can't understand why they don't regulate it for everyone. It will create a whole bunch of jobs and you can tax it to gain revenue. But they would rather keep it illegal and push it to criminals. Just keep racking up the debt.
I am absolutely against the legalization of marijuana for anything other than strict medical usage as prescribed by a licensed physician. In other words, if we legalize cannabis for medical reasons, then I have no problem with that, but society needs to be well aware that it is still dangerous and unacceptable to use outside the direction of a doctor. They understand this about narcotic pain relievers and other such medicines, yet my fear is that in the minds of many, this will only serve to legitimize cannabis use for recreational purposes. Any legalization of marijuana for medical uses should be followed by stern warnings of the dangers of marijuana usage outside the medical realm. This is important to me because I have people very close to me who have fallen into those pitfalls of marijuana usage. It's not an abstract argument when it hits home. So, I'm pleading with those who want to legalize marijuana for medical usage. Legalize it, but emphasize how dangerous it is for recreational use. There are many studies suggesting many side effects to the use of marijuana, including the possibility of lung and other cancers.
As for treating alcohol and marijuana the same, I'm all for it. Alcohol should also be restricted to medical uses, if not outlawed altogether. Alcoholism destroys individuals, families and even causes the deaths of innocent people when a drunk driver gets behind the wheel.
You will never stop people from wanting to alter their mood recreationally, whether it be alcohol, marijuana or something else. It is a fact of human behavior from the beginning of recorded history and certainly before. It will never, ever change, got it? That said, certainly there are people who have had extremely bad experiences or simply cannot handle being high on marijuana, just like for alcohol. However, the fact is that the vast majority of people who use MJ do so responsibly, just like most alcohol users. No justification for having MJ be illegal and completely impractical (we learned already, remember?) to make alcohol illegal (again). Marijuana is still dangerous? How do you figure? Based on what evidence? It's unquestionably less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco or even a great many prescription drugs, so what's your justification again? Don't base your position on hyperbole and lies. Also realize that your personal experience with MJ can be greatly different from that of many others. Putting people in jail for its use is totally unjust. Oh, and after more than 40 years experience, there is STILL no proof whatsoever that MJ causes lung cancer – no one has EVER dies of lung cancer caused by smoking MJ... that's a fact.
My Father is dying,
The cancer he has is eating him alive! After losing 50 lb in just over 2 months he now resembles a holocaust victim more than my father, barley able to walk from the pain in his body. He is on so many different narcotic medications that cause so many other horrible side effects. It absolutely breaks my heart that the one medication he desperately needs is illegal. His name is Lou Morin, he lives in Phoenix, Arizona and he is a good man.
It's just ridiculous how our law makers cannot open their eyes to all the health benefits Marijuana has. There is no record of anyone every dying from an OD of marijuana. However, the same cannot be said for the number of deaths that alcohol and tobacco have contributed to. People need to educate themselves on the good and the bad and then pass judgement. They need to stop listening to what the news and politicians are feeding them and do the research for themselves. Then and only then can everyone make an informed decision.
I started practicing as a physician in 1972, but didn't really get interested in the 'drug debate' until 1978, the year our Province (BC) proposed to send heroin users for compulsory treatment.
I did a lot of research, and came to some conclusions that surprised me:
heroin, in its pure form has no known harmful effects on the human body APART from addiction and potential overdose. It's a harmful, powerful drug, like alcohol, but is it harmful enough to justify the enormous costs
of controlling it?
We all know potheads whose lives have been put on "irrelevant", but we know many alcoholics like that too.
Back then in 1978, I thought hey, this is bad. It couldn't be worse.
What a difference 34 years make!
The prison population in the US went from 500,000 to 1.5 million and the US has the highest proportion in the world of its citizenry behind bars.
Mexico is now a failed state where criminals can kill at will, and there are no effective community structures to prevent them. I heard of a case a month ago where the two teenaged nieces of some government official had been pulled over for a driving infraction. Once they were at the police station, the local drug lord demanded they be handed over to him. The girls were handed over (BY THE POLICE) and two plastic bins of blood and body parts were delivered to the town square the next day.
Just one example among the 48,000 killed between 2006 and 2012, the years (President) Felipe Calderon swore to wipe out the drug criminals.
Is Mexico a safer, more prosperous place than it was in 2006?
But more to the point for the US and Canada, does anyone doubt that the cartels will establish themselves here, and that our police structures and municipal officials will be overwhelmed?
Forget all those stupid arguments about pharmacology and individual liberty. A well run rational society will only try to control the things it CAN control. The consumption of alcohol and recreational drugs has been devastatingly proven to be uncontrollable.
Irrational laws create corrupt social structures.
I have a practical suggestion: Buy shares in the for-profit prison system. Something tells me they are going to do just fine.
How many stoners do you see beat their wives then get behind the wheel and drive 100mph through a redlight and t-bone a family in a minivan? Pot causes much less destructive behavior than alcohol.
I just want the same rights that every POS alcoholic in this country has!
If people want to claim marijuana use for medical purposes, then put THC into pill form at a properly regulated dose and with the appropriate quality control. Dispense it like any other prescription drug.
But smoking marijuana is the worst possible way for drug delivery. Each plants has variable and "unknown to the end user" potency, most of it is incinerated when lighting up and with it you deposit the same tar and cancer causing by-products as for cigarette smoking.
And Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has a policy that giving up smoking is a requirement for treatment. I remember the days when cancer patients were hooked up to IVs and sitting on the curb in front to the hospital while chain smoking.
Did you read the NY Time article? Marinol is the pill form and the judge said it was useless. Most cancer patients prescribed marinol say the same thing.
If it works for them why should it be anyones business except the patient and their physician?
"The day we open the door to legalizing pot is the day other drugs will redesign themselves to fit the same criteria, so they may also enter. You can't say 'just this one' – 'and this one only'." Um sorry but why not Alcohol is a drug but it is legal and hasn't made any other drugs legal or otherwise. This is a stupid quote as usual. just make it legal and lets move on to other bigger issues.
I can use a gun to defend myself from suffering from a attacker; but I can't take a few puffs to alleviate suffering right now! Stupid politicians.
If marijuana works for an individual then its use should be between the patient and their physician.
As long as corporate interests such as big phrma, beer alcohol and liquor industry, tobacco, private prison industrialized complex, control policy and perpetuate the government organizations such as law enforcement unions, DEA, DOJ, IRS, and all those industries that profit by incarcerating Americans over a non toxic harmless plant.... Nothing will change, and America will continue on the path to corporate fascism.
Money is speech and corporations are people...... mmj will remain illegal and non violent Americans will have their children, homes, and lives taken from them. Example: California Republican Jeff Denham; among his top 6 contributors are the beer, wine, and liquor industry and casino's and gambling industry. Big phrma #28. Tobacco #33. He is clearly owned and controlled by corporate interests that want mmj illegal.
I added some hemp seed oil which was supposed to be free of THC to a topical formula I use to treat various equine injuries.
As a favor I used some on a horse with a saucer fracture of the cannon bone. After two days of treatment I asked the horse if it was helping. She responded by pawing the ground with the fractured leg (sign of impatience). I was dumbstruck because horses cannot be taught the meaning of words. I concluded it had to be coincidence and asked her; do you want me to give you another treatment. Same response. I could not treat her because the owner/trainer was not there. I was bewildered and extremely uneasy in her presence so I had to leave.
Did she respond because she recognized a healing effect or reduction in pain or was there a trace of THC which made her feel better AND
STIMULATED HER MIND TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS????? Can anyone help with some answers.
She responded because she is a he and is named Mr. Ed.
Thank you Harry. I am not trying to be funny or critical but I now have a clearer understanding of what "Level of consciousness means" and it is now obvious to me that each and every one of us lives on a different level of consciousness.It appears animals are just as intelligent as us and possibly more so. The point is; can THC in even minute amounts stimulate emotions and boost us to a higher level awareness???
Wow i hate people who have never smoked pot and are on here saying how bad it is....Mr President, i promise you that it wont kill you on the first puff through a pipe. when was the last time you got your own opinion, hell even air drop some marijuana on Kim jung uns' door step and then talk peace. the only way to make peace is by passing the pipe......take one hit and put it down then give it 15 mins and i promise you there will be a difference (Why do you think people want it to be legalized or decriminalized) . its not like crack or any of the other very addictive and lethal drug that physically and noticeably destroys the body ....those im 100% for keeping off the streets and illegal....i ONLY smoke marijuana and i used to smoke camel crush. people who smoke cigarettes smell horrible and they have a hard time quitting because of all the CHEMICALs in the corruptible cigarette. when was the last time u saw a ad on TV saying that cigarettes were good....LONG time ago. its call free will and if someone chooses to smoke a plant then let them do it. if someone chooses to jump off a building then let them do it. they're gonna do it regaurdless. now of course they should know the outcome prior to it....lol
Its a seed baring plant for a reason and seriously there is so much beauty in the plant itself.... ITS GREEN for gods sake.....THC is amazing and it needs to be used for good....and not just putting a tax on something that anyone can grow. because if you Tax it then once again its government controlled which is what they want( Mr.President, you represent the people correct? and not the government).....someone wants to fill up their pockets because money is the root of all evil........the US would save so much money, since they are already feeling the pinch from the Drug war and the middle east. which is once again another WAR......OMG MAKE PEACE NOT WAR.
there would be far less people in prisons and more room for those who actually deserve to be in such as, rapist, murders, robbers, and people who are repeat offenders.
We need to stop trying to fix the world when we havnt even finished with our own, And set an example!
Just like Ronald Reagan said...."And let me offer lesson number one about America: All great change in America begins at the dinner table. So, tomorrow night in the kitchen I hope the talking begins. And children, if your parents haven't been teaching you what it means to be an American, let 'em know and nail 'em on it. That would be a very American thing to do."
GOD PLEASE bless this great country because i feel we will loose it if we dont work together.
We the people are speaking......Who's listening?
Please Mr. President, open what god gave you and use it well if you want another term.
LOVE
Shawn From Houston
The only reason pot is still illegal is because a test to check for current intoxication from weed has yet to be developed. All test for mariquana check for THC levels... a by-product of pot use. It does not tell if the person is currently high on the substance. Employers and insurance companies need to know if accidents were a direct cause of intoxication. So, since no test exist to prove current intoxication they can only rely on the test that shows THC in the person's system.
If we can get a test kit deveoped that shows current weed intoxication (rather than THC levels) the need to keep it illegal will go away. Who really cares if you drink alcohol or smoke weed on your days off, as long as you are sober when you come back to work.
It is without a doubt, much safer than alcohol. Too bad the Alcohol industry bribes our elected officials to keep canibis illegal as they know there profits would plummet.
The worst side effect of Smoking Marijuana is it may make you lazy. You would think the government would love that. Lazy people are less likely to object to corrupt government.
If everyone I hear from is in support of legallizing just becase it makes sense than why are so few people speaking out about it. Most sites i go to everyone is hiding theyre name. I post usually through facebook and I smoke pot every day so if the government wants to come get me they are more than welcome. I'd go to jail over and over again before cutting down on pot just based on principle.
Boy are we dumb, the ONLY reason its illegal is that too many powerful people are making tax free money off of this, and that includes politicians....the truth is never told, people are not stupid. The cartels have politicians in their pockets.....DUH. It's just too much money for this not too happen. Here's another news flash.......gas is going to go WAY down real soon and it'll help Obama get elected(with the help of CNN,CBS,NBC,abc, etc etc.). We are a very dumb society and people have been programmed yes programmed to believe what they read and hear. Drugs keep this country running......always have,always will. Illegal drugs are just a means for the powerful to get richer and to enslave the people.
The only reason marijuana is illegal is because it provides lots of jobs for the police. In America the police is God, whatever it wants, it gets – law enforcement is a state within the state. Also, all the other vampires who make big bucks from throwing people in jail want to keep it illegal – lawyers, jail guards, judges, p!!ss-testers, private prisons and their suppliers – all make a fat living from sponging off our taxes that pay for the war on drugs. They all want to keep marijuana illegal so that they can profit from the prohibition. The public safety and "morality" arguments are only smokescreens. Everyone knows this.
Law enforcement makes millions off property seizures, prisons make millions off occupied cells, politicians make millions off lobby's representing pharmacies,law enforcement, prisons and perhaps drug cartels. Perverted greed "trumps" common sense.
The Government now tells you who you can and can't Marry, The Government tells you when and what you can or can't build on YOUR property. The Government tells you how much money you need to pay to them that YOU earned, the Government tells you what vaccines you must put in to YOUR child , The Government tells you what you can or can't put in to YOUR body, the Government tells you that YOU do not have the choice to live or die.
Scary when it's put in such simple phrasing like that.
Gays have never been allowed to marry, it's just wrong. They make up 1 percent of total population. I sure don't want my sons living next to mr and mr jones......next thing you'll want pedophiles able to marry children, 75 percent of America don't want it to happen....if California voted it down, well that ought to tell you. Don't be a sheep, be a Shepard.
The problem is, for every 1 person who could truly benefit from it, there are 10,000 who just want to get high. In places where "medical" pot is legal, stores that sell it (as well as head shops) have sprung up like mushrooms and bringing with them additional crime (locally a person delivering "medical" pot was robbed and shot).
The only way this could work is for actual doctors–and not the rubberstampers the storefronts hire–to issue prescriptions.
Please link the source of the "alleged" increase in crime from legal head shops and pot stores. I think it is BS.
i smoke weed everyday cause im an american that has problems...who are you to tell me what i can and can not do. and for all you blind idiots who want to bring god into this QUOTE THE BIBLE BOOK OF GENISUS ...I GIVE TO YOU ALL SEED BARRING PLANTS
The US has grown and distributed marijuana to patients since the 70's.
The program is run out of the University of Mississippi.
Clinton closed the program to new patients at the height of the AIDS crisis.
Barry could reopen the program with the stroke of a pen.
The Obama administration LIES when it says it "can do nothing".
I have been clean & sober for 29+ years. I still think pot should be legalized. It's benefits far outweigh the problems. It's liabilities are far fewer and much less severe than alcohol ever was.
Law enforcement/the judicial system/ the prison system have become big business that greatly capitalizes on this so called, "War on Drugs". Incarcerating someone for possession while violent offenders are allowed to walk free or parole is ludicrous.
Law enforcement priorities need to drastically change, but that won't happen until the financial incentive is removed.
To you potheads, GROWUP and face yourself and face your life without a crutch....weak weak children.
Go drink a beer hypocrite.
I don't drink mr. Assume everything. I am an adult and make my own choices, just because the tv says so don't mean it's for everyone.
its not a crutch, its just something people see/use as a recreational tool. just like fishing, hunting, soccer, footballl, baseball....all recreational events.....smoking marijuana relaxes the mind and body and can be done in the comfort of their own home...we each have preferences correct?....and if its not for everyone you being one of them, then why the hell are you commenting....i also know for a fact your a hypocrite...sooo buzz off hater
Well, religion is a crutch and it appears satan created religion to ensure there can never be world peace let alone peace between family member. Religion creates hatred and war, not peace.
I hope I didn't hurt your feelings......put the pipe down, you'll be ok, I promise.
same logic, just because it is illegal doesn't mean it should be. and don't assume i am a Mr.
Mr is a general response, boy are you potheads sensitive.......okay let's try again. Don't assume mr or mrs chemically dependent adolescent. Grow up and have some courage, have some respect for your own mind, you don't have to be under the influence of ANYTHING. Try listening to some different music, stop watching liberal reality shows and just get yourself together.....you are a mess. Try QUITTING the things the tv tells you is hip and cool.
Hip and cool...ehh? Judgmental much he is. nope once again way off.....
..and not everyone can be as superior as you and face this current reality like you claim to do.
....lol no just give the hater a break for thinkin hes perfect. the worlds changing and is going to change whether he likes it or not.....
Changing? Or going down the tubes? You should research your grandparents and try to respect the right way things are done......the people aren't meant to live this way. Stoned and stupid is no way to go through life son.
Typical pothead, excuses excuses excuses.....poor kid
Why not try? You too scared? Need a crutch? Weak weak weak
bored bored bored
What is your passion? You seem intelligent enough.....follow your passion, pot steals dreams and eventually all your life is just that, a long hazy dream.....you are better than that
maybe for the prodigal children, but not for the strong willed and deffinatly not whom respect something that once planted, watered, nurtured and cared for.....its green after all and has been around since....EVER
So have a lot of things, that don't make it right
The only reason "pot steals dreams" is because of the stupid bs laws that makes it illegal
Its about MONEYor how it would look if someone running for office will be precieved by others..Put it up for a vote nationaly...Remember the words "For the people an by the people" those words mean anything anymore
One day you potheads will wake up and realize you wasted your life on a stupid plant.......it's just not right, respect your life.
you live your life ill live mine.......and no excuses...just freedom to do what i want. and also...respect the way my grandparents did things....lol yea so we can tell how you want it....you like the way it is and dont want it to change....wonder why....(sounds like a anti-change person) haa! ........
You don't like the way things have been? You don't believe in America? Typical pothead.....rebel without a clue. Poor me, people are racist, gays should marry, wah wah wah......I bet if you went to prison you'd be hanging with the other race right? You can't change natural instinct......we are who we are, just respect the other and stick with your own if possible. You don't have to accept everyone else, radical thoughts bring radical mess.
You can keep the change haha how's that fella workin out for us eh? Oh yeah......worst president EVER, first gay one too eh? Patton would be proud I bet hahaha
Do what you like because in the end the only thing that will matter is how much fun you had in your life.
Wow do you have your priorities messed up, you don't have kids I ,can tell.......fun? How about leaving a legacy of decency to your kids, how about living clean and moral? We aren't animals. God you libs are a mess
You're like 15 right? Or 35 and started smoking pot at 15, you need to change your life son.
I don't smoke pot, I stopped drinking when I got sick. TV is for retarded people. Spend most my time reading liberal blogs to reinforce what I am not. The world is so gray. I believe that if it grows naturally, it should not be illegal. How people choose to live is no concern of mine.
If its legal kids will grow to thnk it's normal, it's about the kids
So let's compromise and make the legal age 21.
ok....so then what Justifies RIGHT?....are forgetting to agree that we are going to disagree?
Make it legal. Not just for medicinal purposes but for recreation purposes as well. Legalize it, sell it, tax it, and release all the pot prisoners who are just taking up space in the prison system. It was stupid to outlaw it in the first place, like prohibition, has done nothing good for the country or its people.
Do not legalize. It will be regulated and taxed to hell. Do not buy street crap from wherever. It has pesticides and mold and whatever else that has consequences. Grow your own or get from someone that does and knows how. If the city and county and state and feds do not want tax income from then great.
Why even do it? Waste of time, energy, money, life, ability......you gotta be stupid or just don't care to smoke that garbage
have you ever smoked it...?........and if not then well...how does your opinion justify itself....opinions are like A%&holes, we all have one...
So you smoke just to prove you can right? You don't need it do you? If you need it I hope it works out for ya.
There are all kinds of successful people that smoke pot. They don't advertise it for good reason, but speak about something you now about. It is a recreational drug like alcohol. It isn't the same as heroin or meth. Caffein is a drug. Does that ruin everybody's life that does it? It's even addictive where pot isn't.
Not addictive? My butt it's not addictive, it's more addicting than alcohol in myopinin, ever have a sack and keep it for a month without smoking it? HA no you havent
Successful people can be stupid too.....we measure succes by money, not by living right. Isn't that messed up?
I smoked it for 20 years, and I regret every inute of it.
What's it like being on drugs? Were you a junkie, if so did you ever live on the streets in a cardboard box? Was your mom a junkie too and passed it on to you? I hope you teaching your kids about the dangers of using drugs, if so do you admit you were a junkie to them to? Regardless and I am sure I speak for this entire forum thanks for coming forward and giving us all something to really think about when it come's to being a drug addict like you were for 20 horrible years. Hope you stay clean Joboo, looking forward to reading your comments soon.
I raise my kids the right way and teach them right, they are both in the gifted programs at their respective schools.......and i teach them that education and treating others the way you want to be treated is the way to go. what's it like? It's he'll on eartha nd I'm lucky I'm still alive and sane.
Sane enough to pick up on your wiseass sarcasm, but that's ok.....this is how you learn
Haha and who said I was a junkie? No needles, ever......I was stupid but not that stupid. I hope you get it together one day, I'm rooting for ya. And.......let it go,quit living in the past, it's over,people make mistakes, move on......without using.
And because you have not been benefited by the use of pot, everyone else should suffer? Pot is not addictive. Have you ever smoked cigarettes? Please don't share your opinion if you don't have a clue what your talking about.
Marijuana was defined as a Schedule 1 drug provisionally, and it is clearly misclassified. It was already used as a medicine years ago, but drug companies don't like it since they can't patent it or profit from it as it is a plant.
America is supposed to be a free country where people have the right to choose how to live and what to consume. So where does the Government get off telling citizens they can't do this or that, since the country was based on the concept of freedom!?!
From a prgamatic standpoint it turns otherwise law-abiding citizens into criminals, and creates a black market which stimulates organized crime and smuggling. It also places a huge burden on taxpayers to pay the salaries of all the DEA agents, the Judges the DA's the Prisons and the Guards... This has been going on for decades, this war on drugs, and people are still doing the drugs and still being arrested.
Laws like this are an anathema to the rights of citizens and serves no legitimate purpose. Tax the stuff, regulate it, turn people's desire for it into a business, and get the government out of the rights of people! By doing so you will save billions if not trillions in tax dollars, and stop this malinvestment all based on the idea that it is lawful to protect people from themselves.
Thank you.
Pot is a lot healthier than Alcohol. Not one person has ever died from smoking pot ever. Somebody might have accidentally walked in front of a car a died, but nobody has ever died medically from smoking pot. The same can't be said about alcohol.
There is a huge business incarcerating people. An AZ judge not long ago was arrested for taking handouts from the company that runs prisons. They were giving him money to send people to their prisons, so he was sending everybody to prison so he could make some cash. That is evil, unethical and Un American and it goes on all the time. Privately run prisons open this up for fraud and must be stopped. Sending Americans to prison to make a profit is wrong. Sending pot smokers to prison is wrong. We pay for it through taxes and we pay for the losing drug war with taxes resulting in billions spent for no reason except greed.
So it's healthier not healthy right? Two wrongs don't make a right
If CO legalizes pot it doesn't really matter because the federal law will trump the state law.
so joboo is perfect and his/her kids are perfect and not open minded but are products of preprogramming
If you were taught right you wouldn't be on drugs.....your mom is happy you get high right? She loves it right?
Isn't that swell? A judge gets cancer and suddenly it's alright to use marijuana for relief. Think of how many have suffered for years because government "leaders" STILL have their heads up their @s$es. I guess we just have to hope more of them get cancer.
Kids aren't open minded they are naive, when you grow up you'll see and understand
lol...when i grow up....been there done that and got the shirt to prove it. kids who live sheltered lives are naive.
My kids are anything but sheltered, they go to a very large urban school and by their own choices participate in just about everything they can, honor roll since they started......I tell them truths, not lies.....I don't say that pot is harmless and should be legalized.....THAT my dim witted little friend, is naive.
Here's ow smart I am, you are a college aged white kid, maybe 24 but I doubt it and you think you're smarter than most and ou til pot makes you more open to new things and more creative, and you listen to music most people don't know about, because you are so unique and cool. You're proud when you get some special chronic, and our friends all think you have the best buds....you like metal, but you like a lot of hip hop and rap, some alternative........hahaha see? You're an open book smokey.
I'm not perfect, just smarter than you....and that's because I've lived it for many years, and I saw the light.....sad that many of you will not, unfortunately.
smarter then me is only words from someone who's conceded. oh and actually i have a mind of my own and i think for myself. it is right for gays to marry whom ever they choose and saying no is an act of restricting rights.... and the trayvon case is more accurate on the profiling. there were many aspects that led to his death and marijuana wasnt one of them. it was someone who wasnt listening and couldnt let it go. he wasnt a officer but just a vigilanty in the waiting.....you can clearly hear it in the 911 calls.....its a shame that boy had to suffer for it
Yeah you are right, me and the family are going to a gay pride parade tomorrow, very family oriented and just fine for kids....and that poor black kid, such a victim. There is no way he could have attacked a concerned neighborhood watchman.....young black men are peaceful, and very pleasant, I'm going on vacation with the family to beautiful east st.louis soon! Hahaha stupid liberal white kids......you're killin me
ignorant to crimnalize a plant in the first place regardless shoulda done that with cigarettes before marijuana and left marijuana alone.No nicotine in it and safer than alchohol.Ignorant leaders we have anyhow.
I bet you potheads think that our government in dc is looking out for your best interest, and that our prezidint loves this country....right? And Trayvon was a victim because the black voices on your tv tell you so. You should feel sorry for minorities and gays because they just want to be equal right? Right thing to do right?
Altered states
the annoying thing is it wasnt this hardddd to get new pills that come out every year or vodka or any substance out there like it is for pot... we didnt need the nation to vote 50+ % ..but when it comes to something that cant physically kill you unlike the rest , its sooo hard and long of a process because of the evil motives against it < .
any argument against pot you can simply replace the word pot,marijuana ...with ___ alcohol, pills, tobacco ...and even have a better argument since pot is safer.
this article reminds me i'm almost out of pot.
i....lol*high five man*
Anything that alters your brain and gives you a distorted view of reality is not only dangerous, but extremely dangerous. Ever meet a really really old pothead? They are completely bonkers, insane in the membrane.
its more interesting that there hasnt been a single case of marijuana killing anyone since its ever been acknowledged. also its never been proven thats its extremely dangerous, cuz id love to see that research. crack cocaine is extremely dangerous...thats been proven....ummm heroin is extremely dangerous....plus addictive also proven....marijuana proven to show positive results on multiple fronts. Want the links..?
Ever think that not everything you read online is true? I bet a pothead wrote it, wow are you brainwashed
Shoving a habanero pepper up my ass won't kill me, it doesn't mean it's a good idea though.
Have you ever met a chronic alcoholic? Lying in the streets having lost everything! Willing to do anything to get another drink. NO! Because cannabis is not addicting!
You must be the single person out there telling the truth. Thank GOD for people like you. I feel so much better now that I know the TRUTH.
Its' 2012....and Marijuana still isn't legal?? Oxycontin and Alcohol are perfectly legal and kill our citizens everyday...when was the last time you heard of anyone Over Dosing on marijuana? Truth is...the only thing i Over Dosed on was my bank account when i couldn't buy enough food to satisfy my need for hunger.
Weed in the photo is way overpriced, $25/ gram, $75 an 1/8th.
I love to smoke hash right before my workout. My mind just goes somewhere else and I've found that I can endure twice the cardio. After my workout, I'm down from the hash, no hangover, no side effects, (other than food craving), and I go about my day. You can't do that with hard drugs or alcohol.
Wow, that would be a great commercial....."before I workout I kick it into gear with......hashish, it gets you moving!". This ad brought to you by totally brainwashed liberal white kids
Joboo, how long have you worked for the Government? You sound like someone with some deep rooted issues. My guess you work for the Prison System in some capacity. You sound like a Correctional Officer. Probably been there for 7 or 8 years and of course you believe the government reports about Marijuana. I am close?
Wow... I thought I was the only one who liked to smoke (herb, not hash) before a workout or run. For me it makes the workout more intense because I can better focus on the mind/muscle connection, and the body mechanics. Awesome!
wow.....joboo, your not a role model
Where's that damn button for ejection....?
What's the difference between a stoner and a drunk... The stoner waits for the stop sign to turn green. Legalize it!!!!
Let’s legalize it and get it and the dealers out of our schools…I mean guns are legal which one is more dangerous.
the money usa spends trying to stop it .billions and millions it give mexico..it can help the usa people ,the money the give to overseas. still no help to their own people
Alcohol users drive into trees. Pot smokers drive into 7-11's
So when will CNN cover the indisputable facts of cannabis' safe, accepted medical use in the United States, Fareed?
The very basis of marijuana's scheduling in the Controlled Substances Act is a demonstrably false claim, and in court it's a FELONY to suppress exculpatory evidence.
War against millions of otherwise law abiding American citizens could be over with one honest Supreme Court "Justice" . . .
Well??
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6630507.html
The U S Dept. of Health and Human Services has a patent on it; look it up.
Another reason legalization faces resistance...fear. One side always exploits fear for personal gain....
The movie 'Reefer Madness' was successful in making several associations that have withstood time and reason.
1) It began with the premise that all blacks/minorities were inferiors and criminals.
2) Smoking one joint turned them all into zombies, whose only desire was to attack white women.
3) White men do not smoke MJ.
4) Any white woman who smokes will as a result become a race traitor.
Some of this still remains a fear in many minds.
With this thinking, all the positive effects of legalization – economic, medical, judicial are ignored.
The mindset has become – a white who smokes – suffered a tempory problem. A black who smokes
is a thug and a criminal who deserves to spend hard time in a capitalist prison system...
AND, upon release, be rewarded with a scarlet letter to use as reference for any future job opportunities.
TY judge if you need support because of speaking out just get the word out. We will support you.
i believe pot should be legalized.....the people who feel against legalization have never tried...its cool and would really help our economy....
Legalize it for everyone and be done with it. Laws punishing users have caused more damage to people and families than pot itself. Time for the DEA to get a budget cut.
Legalize it. Entrepreneurialize it. Tax it.
I'm a researcher by profession. There are uses for Marijuana even in my tiny field in the petroleum industry. There are very legitimate food uses for hemp and marijuana. There are clothing usages–did you know that it takes only 1/5 the energy to convert hemp to use for clothes as it goes to convert cotton? I can't begin to tell you the wide range of uses for this plant. How did we ever make such an amazing plant and raw material to be made illegal? Fear. That's all.
It's medical uses are only beginning to be understood. There is so much further testing that needs to be done and should be LEGAL to do. In so many fields and even in so many industries.
But look at the bad side...is it deadly to use? Does it cause addiction? As a Scientist, I'd say England has it right. Marijuana rates below alcohol for all undesirable categories. This means pot is lower risk than alcohol, less addictive and less dangerous to your health. And has a less dangerous effect on its users.
Alcohol is much more likely to influence you to do bad things, to put it shortly. Alcohol affects inhibitions. In other words, you will act out things while drinking that you would NEVER do while sober. Alcohol can both reveal hidden tendencies or desires otherwise kept at bay in sobriety. However you describe it, we all know that under the influence of alcohol some people tend toward becoming louder, ruder, and self-control goes out the window in both motor abilities and mental ones as well.
Marijuana may appear to have some similarities, but I'm a scientist. My own experience is what rules the day. Some may seem jarred, he's admitting to illicit drug use. But I'm raising the point that it appears most that are so adamantly against marijuana are those who have never used it. Well, no one is forcing anyone, but it's irresponsible to take a staunch position about something one has no empirical knowledge of. Most who have any right to say anything about it, meaning they have first hand knowledge of it at least, would at least admit it's less dangerous to society than alcohol, or at the very least, would say it's of no greater concern than is alcohol.
Now granted, there are politics tied to this issue to this day. The cotton industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the alcohol industry–these are just three of the giants who have dogs in the fight as far as $$ is concerned. Both parties officially are against marijuana, Obama being the latest president to make war on medical marijuana, which is a mistake.
And it is a human rights issue. It is. It is a quality of life issue. It's not going to hurt you. There will be a lot more room and money to investigate and prosecute real crimes. There's no danger of meth, for example, being legalized with marijuana. They aren't in the same substance planet as each other. There may be a bridge for such substances as mushrooms, but like Marijuana, mushrooms have never caused a single known death. These are not "OD" drugs. They are natures medicine for various uses and that should be your choice. You should not be forced to contribute billions of dollars to pharmaceutical companies when a plant you could grow for yourself would give you equal or greater relief and comfort. But now you have to fight the pharmaceutical companies for the right, and you have to fight their lies, and their bad science they've tried to buy.
Weed is a right.
Legalizing marijuana should have come decades ago. There is no moral, medical or legal justification for arresting and incarcerating marijuana users, or taking away their children, denying them jobs or firing them from their jobs. Absolutely no justification save the "Chicken Little" lies that have been spewed by the powers that be for far too many years. Not one more death by law enforcement. Not one more arrest. Not one more job denied. Stop the madness.
Wait, there's a debate about cannabis legalization? Since when? I thought everyone with opinions informed enough to be taken seriously already know that cannabis is safer than LSD.
*Correction – ALMOST AS SAFE
Marijuana is unique. It was designed by nature in a symbiotic relationship with man. It is unlikely that it is just a coincidence that many components of Marijuana are psychoactive and target neurochemeical receptors in human brains.
It is manifestly absurd to think that a government should come between man and nature.
It is a crime to lock people up for enjoying nature. Should we also lock people up for viewing the grand canyon or for viewing flowers?
This is complete and utter nonsense.
Of course it should be legal because it should never have been made illegal in the first place.
period.
PLEASE DON'T LEGALIZE MARIJUANA. If its made legal for everyone I will lose $$$$$$. You see with it,POT, being illegal there is a big demand for it and most people are scared to grow there own. So you see there is lots of money to be made. I can grow 50 k a year in my back yard and then sell it to all the people that are scared to do it them self. Vote NO TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA, KEEP A DRUG DEALER IN BUSINESS. THANKS.
One thing you could make illegal that should have been for the last 50 years is tobacco .
O
Out of all the post, only one idiot is still against keeping it illegal. That sounds like more then 50%.
I think that destructive drugs are bad for the body and for the society. Just look at the drug wars in Mexico and the violence it is causing. Every time we think that our choices do not affect others we can see how untrue it is if you look. Everything you do has an effect, even using Marijuana. It is damaging to others in many ways and to you as it does cloud your thinking and judgment. Please we as Americans need to hold ourselves to a higher standard and not do things that damage ourselves and others. Let's not support drugs and violence in our country. We are better than that!
Legalize Marijuana.
Remove all penalty and stigma from growing and possessing it.
A couple of simple facts should make this decision a simple one.
It is a plant that has been used ritually and recreationally for centuries. Not only for the benefits of the active ingredient, THC, but also for hemp products. It is already recognized as medically useful in some states.
Another overlooked benefit of legalization is the fact that it would definitely cut into the profit of Mexican drug cartels and Middle Eastern terrorist groups. The amount they would lose is estimated to be in millions of dollars. How much impact do you think this loss would have on their operations? How many innocent lives could be SAVED by one simple act of Congress?
Meanwhile, it could prove to be a revenue boost to the economy of THIS country in the form of permits. Almost everybody that I have asked has answered affirmatively when asked if they would be willing to pay a yearly permit fee in order to be able to grow marijuana for their own personal use. Some have agreed that $100 per year would not be unreasonable. How much money is that? Considering the statistics which tell us that marijuana use is one of our “biggest” drug problems, I would venture it would definitely be worth it to the federal government to put this idea to the test.
Nobody would be forced to use marijuana. It could be regulated similarly to alcohol. Most of the people I know who use marijuana are responsible people who have jobs and families. They are just trying to get by like everyone else. It is shameful to take that away from them because they choose to use, in its natural state, a natural product that grows up out of this earth.
Further, all of the propaganda that is meant to scare the American people into thinking that there will be an explosion in crime due to legalization is false. It would actually serve to reduce marijuana related crime…People would not have to associate with “drug dealers” any longer, trafficking (and all of the bad things that go with it) of marijuana would cease, and people whose only “crime” is possession of marijuana would be able to continue to work their jobs and live their lives and still be productive American citizens. Think how much taxpayer money could be saved by NOT having to prosecute and incarcerate these people. And think of the benefits of NOT losing their economic productivity due to incarceration. (Another economic advantage, here.)
I know the pharmaceutical companies will raise a ruckus because they will lose some profit from this move. Lots of people may quit taking xanax and other prescription medicines that they DO NOT NEED because a natural product will take care of their needs. But they have people convinced enough that their products are miracles that it shouldn’t cause them much hardship and legalization will relieve the hardship of many Americans who can’t afford their miracles.
A failure by the American government to enact legislation to legalize marijuana only proves the collusion of the government with pharmaceutical companies to poison the American people for profit and the support of terrorist groups worldwide by that government. Not to mention the fact that to ignore the implication of the economic benefits of legalization is just plain dumd-headed.
DO IT NOW!!!
As a chronic pain sufferer who has been on opioid analgesics for six years, I can say that it is ridiculous to ban marijuana from the doctor's pharmacopeia. My own doctor would prefer to prescribe this natural and effective substance as opposed to the drug I currently use. Managing opioid medication requires continuious fine tuning of dosage. However, until the legal liabilities are worked out, I dare not take the chance of using the forbidden weed. I travel frequently for work, were I to have an automobile accident that resulted in injury or death, I could well find myself bankrupted by a lawsuit (or jail!). However, the drug I take now would cause no such problem. Insane.
Wow the lib college professors have really indoctrinated you suburban white kids and you're all too stupid to see it. One day you'll have kids and finally grow up.
"lib"? Maybe you need to grow up yourself do some research on the topic. Cannabis use was and remains criminalized based on lies.
The facts are that the law in question falsely claims that marijuana has no safe, accepted medical use in the United States.
All use, EVEN recreational use is medical, period. Unlike tobacco and alcohol, which factually have their medical applications, cannabis does not kill.
Stupid, indeed.
We as a country need to cut back all drug use, perscription and otherwise. It would solve a lot of our societal problems.
Again, research answers your objection. Cannabis safely replaces many deadly prescription and "social" drugs.
I think we live in a sick society that would deny a man an inexpensive and safe medicine that has proven to better his quality of life and potentially even save it.... yet that society has no problems with allowing a man to take other drugs with much worse side effects to help him get a hard-on.
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