Marijuana.com

nacrypt

You have hit the nail on the head. But I believe there is hope, the truth about marijuana is slowly but surely emerging. Marijuana prohibition is a very frusterating problem, since, as you say, marijuana users themselves don't seem interested in legalization, mainly because %99.9 of the time they get away with buying, selling and using marijuana.

I like NORML and the other organizations too but they seem to be focused on medical marijuana right now, which doesn't help the rest of us one bit.

 

Buzzby

It's not hypocritical at all. Note that Cassius said that he smoked "a few times". The illegal status of marijuana for teenagers discourages them from making it a way of life. Unfortunately, the way it's illegal now gives them more access than they'd have if it was illegal as alcohol is illegal. Taking it off the black market and putting it behind the counter in stores, where buyers are carded, would make pot harder to get for teens.


For the most part, people's minds and bodies are done developing by the time they're in their early 20s. A far more relevant reason for preventing teens from smoking and drinking is that teenagers are generally pretty irresponsible. They think they're immortal. They think they know everything. They tend to go to extremes. Why do you think everything for teens is being marketed as "Extreme" this or that? Teenagers have the highest incidence of car crashes. They have the highest incidence of unwanted pregnancy. They want all the freedom in the world but are not ready to shoulder the responsibility that freedom requires.


I'm an adult with grown children. Why do you think that campaign slogan is so effective? Parents feel a need to protect their children from harm. It's one of the strongest drives in the human psyche. We do need to protect our children. The lie is that prohibition protects them. The reality is that prohibition gives them greater access to marijuana and it exposes them to drug dealers who are quite happy to sell them dangerous, addictive drugs on which they can make a higher profit.

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nacrypt

How are we going to make the argument that by legalizating marijuana and putting it behind counters in stores, teenagers will have less access to marijuana? Teenagers don't seem to have much trouble getting alcohol today, through people who are of age.

As long as people fear enjoyable things like alcohol and marijuana we will have a social policy that turns regular people with natural desires into defacto criminals, even before the age of 18.

One final comment, most small-scale marijuana dealers (the ones teenagers come into the most contact with) are not interested in maximizing profit as they are in financing their own marijuana habit. They probably are not going to start trying to push a drug on you, like say cocaine, just so they can make more money. However, since they are involved in the black market, if you come to them looking for cocaine, they may know someone who could find it for you.

nacrypt

Speed limits are about protecting people from imminent bodily harm. Marijuana is no more harmful than alcohol, which is already legal.

The problem, Niteshift, is that so many people already use marijauna and they don't care what the law says. Personally, I'm quite happy to live in a country governed by the rule of law. But the law should not herd us as if we were sheep. It should be a clear, minimal rule-set that describes the things that: you must not do. Marijuana laws change based on the volume of marijuana, how could such an abritrary metric make for an objective law? Every small bag of marijuana came from a big bag.

Bad laws errode the public's respect for the police and the government. Our nation is at war with terrorists, how long are we going to be at war with our own citizens?

Buzzby

The current focus on medical marijuana is part of a reasoned, step-by-step approach to get marijuana legalized for recreational purposes. In the world of realpolitik we don't go from prohibition to legalization in one step. It's just not going to happen that way. Too many people see marijuana through the screen of government-funded prohibitionist propaganda. Our under-funded pro-legalization organizations simply don't have the money to put out an effective campaign of counter-propaganda.

The legitimization of medical marijuana puts marijuana before the public eye as something beneficial. When med pot patients (who tend to smoke a lot more than recreational users) don't become degenerate crack heads it'll blow the "gateway drug" myth. When they don't become drooling morons it'll blow the "brain damage" myth. When they don't sit around all day spacing out on lava-lamps it'll blow the "amotivational syndrome" myth. When Aunt Mary, who has suffered all her life from migraines, finds relief in medical marijuana and still remains Aunt Mary, people will realize that marijuana is not something scary but a relatively benign, helpful herb.

In a world where marijuana smokers will not spend the money to look out for their own best interests, promoting medical marijuana seems to be the best affordable strategy at this stage of the game.

 

Buzzby

Nation-wide surveys have shown, again and again, that teenagers say they have much easier access to pot than to alcohol and tobacco. Putting it behind the counter will not absolutely cut off access any more than it cuts off access to alcohol or tobacco, but it will make it harder to get which will cut down on usage.


If we put forth the argument that teenagers should have legal access to marijuana it'll never be legalized for anyone. We don't live in your ideal world. We live in a world where parents have a very real need to protect their children from harm. Alcohol is the cause of a lot of dead teenagers even though it's not legal. How many would die it it were? Marijuana is perceived as being harmful as well. Adults vote. Teenagers don't. Who are politicians going to listen to?

SkyTripper

Very good posts to this thread and valid arguments which are being addressed here from a rational point of view.
IMO, if and when marijuana is ever legalized and marketed/distributed in the way alcohol is today......I, personally believe that it SHOULD be legally available for those 18 and older and alcohol continue to remain a 21+ recreational drug.
Being that I feel marijuana is far less dangerous as opposed to alcohol is why I feel that 18 is a fair age for its use.
I know that it will still be just as easy for teenagers to acquire it as it is now and I don't believe for a minute that selling it the way they do now with alcohol will in any way keep it out of the hands of younger kids. But this IS where laws are necessary and punishment too..... if caught with pot or alcohol when you're underage. Laws are basically rules that are often broken....and if caught....you pay a price. NO....I don't believe any jail time is necessary or any solution with pot use......but if you are caught with it and you are underage you should be required to pay a fine and depending on just how young you are.....possibly be required to pay for some form of class which accurately and honestly explains the REASONS WHY you are too young to be using this substance.
But I definitely agree that legalizing marijuana and removing it from the black market once and for all would be the best thing for ALL of society. Its current illegal status placing it alongside the likes of meth, coke and heroin just GREATLY EXPOSES the youth of America to every drug under the sun and adds way too much temptation to take real risks by trying other very dangerous and addictive drugs. Like Buzzby said.....when you're young you truly think nothing can hurt you or that you are immortal.
Yes....it IS very hypocritical for alcohol and cigarettes to be the only legal "recreational" substances to choose from in America and yes.....pot SHOULD be another LEGAL CHOICE for those 18+, IMO!
But being that marijuana is a weed and so easy to grow, and for this reason major companies who would love to profit from it know they have a real nightmare in doing so. The logistics of cultivating, distributing and marketing it would be their biggest nightmare, IMO. It's far easier for many companies to just continue to lobby the politicians to keep it illegal. The alcohol industry in particular could and would stand to lose enormous profits if pot were legal and sold by a company other than themselves. I honestly don't know that it will ever get full legal status......maybe DE-criminalization is all we can ever truly hope for.
Besides....you KNOW there are also a LOT of people who love pot and who will love to see it remain ILLEGAL forever.....because of the HUGE profits THEY can reap illegally, on the black market and who are very willing to take the associated risks of prison....cause the money is just too good now....for them.

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SkyTripper

Buzzby

Why? They've made huge fortunes growing and distributing tobacco products. Tobacco is truly a nightmare to grow. They have to sterilize the soil with live steam in order to keep it from dying from normal soil microorganisms. It's subject to all kinds of pests.

Marketing would probably be limited in the same ways as the marketing of tobacco and alcohol but it wouldn't be any different.

Growing hemp is very easy. Growing high-quality sinsemilla is both an art and a science. If it could be produced at a reasonable price people, other than hobbyists, would have little reason to grow their own.

SkyTripper

Thats just it.....marijuana IS so easy to grow. Tobacco is not and why cigarette smokers rely on tobacco companies to provide it.
Besides.....a LOT of people who grow weed LOVE doing so as a hobby and just because it were to become legal.....I believe a LOT of those who enjoy cultivating their own would still continue to do so even if they could buy it legally right around the corner or whatever.
Growing weed CAN be a very addicting hobby in itself! Its FUN to watch your OWN plants mature and wait patiently for harvest time and curing and to finally ENJOY the fruits of your OWN labor.
My opinion anyway.

mikeheath420

i think that marijuana should be legalized because.......
1. it will lower crime and make the naton great
2. it would make more money for the united states and they can lower taxes
3. it is good for your eyes and somewhat good for your body
4. it is very educating to plant them as ive read in www.grasscity.com
5. and everyone enjoys it



6. it would be the greatest to have a president as a pothead lol





thank you for reading this from mikeheath420 lesbomania69@yahoo.com