Why isn't pot legal in U.S.?

j20 · 09-22-2007, 11:25 PM

This is probably one of the most interesting articles I've read in a while. Please share your thoughts on it!

Original link: Hawaii Tribune-Herald :: Hilo, Hawaii

Quote:

Why isn't pot legal in U.S.?

Wednesday, September 12, 2007 9:07 AM HST

By Gloria Baraquio
When I first moved here, I thought marijuana was illegal. And then after living here a few years, I realized that everyone and their mom either smokes it, buys it, grows it, or sells it. So then I thought weed wasn't illegal. But then in the past few weeks, I've been hearing about these drug busts and house raids and farms getting shut down, which has made me start to think, once again, that marijuana is in fact illegal.

I grew up thinking weed was BAD. Just say no to drugs. Marijuana is a gateway drug. It's addictive, and it'll get you hooked on harder drugs like ice and cocaine. Somewhere, somehow this was ingrained in me.

But then I started going to public school, and a lot of my friends were smoking it. They made special brownies, and they ate them in class ... and they always got good grades! When I went to college in California, everyone in the dorms smoked it -- all the time. And many of them were honor students. I found the same thing happening when I studied in England. Those Brits love their pot. They actually roll their marijuana with tobacco so they don't smoke it all one time -- weed is hard to come by in those areas. But when I visited Amsterdam, I found pot on every corner. I remember walking into a coffee shop there and being absolutely astounded with their menu. Right next to their coffee list was a list of marijuana strains! They even had complementary pipes and hookahs for free samples of the herb.

When I worked as a professional on Oahu, I found that a lot of business owners and all these rich, white guys smoked weed for recreation. That was a little shocking for me.

But then I moved here, and nothing really shocked me anymore. Everyone -- young and old, rich and poor, local and haole -- was smoking it.

And it made sense to me. For one, the lifestyle here is so laid back. Everything is chill, and the marijuana high seems to complement that. And two, the farmland and weather conditions here are prime for cannabis. You don't have to do anything to the plant. Just throw it in the ground and it grows. And three, there aren't many other jobs or sources of income on this island (yet) to sustain everyone who wants to live here.

In my time here, listening to different people's stories, I've learned that marijuana is sacred and natural, that it can expand the mind and take you to higher states of consciousness. That would explain why some of the kindest and wisest people I've met are advocates of the herb. And I don't really have to say this because it's so obvious, but smokers of marijuana are way more peaceful, loving, and conscious than most alcohol drinkers out there. And yet, somehow, alcohol is totally a legal drug (and a multibillion-dollar industry in the U.S.).

I was reading the forums online regarding the pot busts on this island, and different people have their different beliefs.

Some people think weed is a danger to society and to the youth. Some people think it should be taxed and controlled. Some people think cannabis is still illegal because it's a threat to big industries like pharmaceuticals, tobacco, cotton and oil. Many believe that criminalizing it is a way to simply control the masses.

But there seems to be no disagreement about this: marijuana frees the mind.

The main reason people love the herb is the same reason other people fear it. If everyone smoked weed, this world might be happy, healthy, peaceful, and free. People might actually quit their jobs and start doing what they love. Society, as we know it, would come tumbling down.

Bob Marley once said, "The more people smoke herb, the more Babylon fall."

Babylon is falling.

Shantibaba420 · 09-23-2007, 12:05 AM

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Babylon is falling big time, its time for a new era, the capitalism and the struggle for money is over... we need to live this life!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by j20

This is probably one of the most interesting articles I've read in a while. Please share your thoughts on it!

Original link: Hawaii Tribune-Herald :: Hilo, Hawaii

Buzzby · 09-23-2007, 04:40 AM

Marijuana is a gateway drug. It's addictive, and it'll get you hooked on harder drugs like ice cream and Doritos.

Quote:

If everyone smoked weed, this world might be happy, healthy, peaceful, and free.

I don't think it helps to go overboard about weed. It's a lot of fun and can open the mind to many possibilities, but smoking weed doesn't make you a good person, any more than drinking alcohol makes you a bad person. There are plenty of greedy, nasty, selfish assholes who use marijuana. Your choice of a recreational drug doesn't determine anything about who you are.

Life is not primarily about recreational drugs. It's about taking care of business.

Quote:

People might actually quit their jobs and start doing what they love.

Let's all quit our jobs and sit on the couch listening to CDs and watching TV! Society has niches for only a few artistes. Most people need to work to keep things running properly and many of those necessary jobs aren't a lot of fun. They're a way to keep a roof over your family's head and food on the table.

Quote:

Society, as we know it, would come tumbling down.

It certainly would if everyone quit performing useful economic activities to "find themselves".

j20 · 09-23-2007, 01:41 PM

Sometimes when I'm stoned I get inspired to do some outrageous things... Like clean my house. Other times me and my girlfriend just want to have sex like bunnies.. *shrug* Rarely do we just sit there.

Trocisp · 09-23-2007, 01:50 PM

Why does it need to have a positive impact on everyones life to be legalized? Can't people just accept that it would have a positive impact on a few? On the lady with bone cancer who can't eat because of her Chemo. Or her husband with glucoma?

And if people want to use it recreationally who's place is it to tell them they can't? Who cares if it has a negative impact on their health - it's their health, not yours. Who cares if it did (which it doesn't) ruin their life, and they become an addict? It's still their life - not yours.

Silly shit of it is - it does have a positive impact on a lot of peoples lives - it's not for everyone, but if you like it, more power to you. I have been getting better grades since I started smoking pot than for the last 5 years.

**Lit_Match** · 09-23-2007, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trocisp

Why does it need to have a positive impact on everyones life to be legalized? Can't people just accept that it would have a positive impact on a few? On the lady with bone cancer who can't eat because of her Chemo. Or her husband with glucoma?

And if people want to use it recreationally who's place is it to tell them they can't? Who cares if it has a negative impact on their health - it's their health, not yours. Who cares if it did (which it doesn't) ruin their life, and they become an addict? It's still their life - not yours.

Silly shit of it is - it does have a positive impact on a lot of peoples lives - it's not for everyone, but if you like it, more power to you. I have been getting better grades since I started smoking pot than for the last 5 years.

I guess it would take adults to grow up and start acting like adults. Even in the name of "purifying" this country of it's drug uses, legalization is the best route.

How do we keep weed out of our children's hands? Legalize it

How do we ensure quality and a safe product? Legalize it

How do we end black market associated violence? Legalize it

The list could go on and on and the ones propagating the bullshit are the ones responsible for the problems we have. That's my take on it anyhow.

Buzzby · 09-23-2007, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trocisp

Who cares if it has a negative impact on their health - it's their health, not yours. Who cares if it did (which it doesn't) ruin their life, and they become an addict? It's still their life - not yours.

Society has an interest in the health of its members. Society, through our taxes, ends up paying the health care costs of the people who fuck themselves up. Also, I care about people other than myself. I'm funny that way.

The answer is not locking up people with drug problems (or drug users without problems). That doesn't mean that people with problems should just be ignored. We have an interest, as a society, in trying to prevent drug abuse and its consequences. People need to be informed about the realities, discouraged from getting in trouble in the first place, and helped if they do.

Trocisp · 09-23-2007, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buzzby

Society has an interest in the health of its members. Society, through our taxes, ends up paying the health care costs of the people who fuck themselves up. Also, I care about people other than myself. I'm funny that way.

For society paying my healthcare, I sure do get a lot of bills after a family member gets out of the hospital.

Buzzby · 09-24-2007, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trocisp

For society paying my healthcare, I sure do get a lot of bills after a family member gets out of the hospital.

Are you and your family indigent drug addicts? If not, what I said doesn't apply to you.

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