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Jake

I honestly believe that with the number of people who smoke marijuana, if a large amount of people started to "come out of the closet" (if you will), we would get a lot more support. One of the biggest problems with legalization is that most people don't know that the Joneses across the street smoke dat cheeba. But they hear over the fence about that 17 year old down the block who is known for smoking "don't let your daughter see him!"

Of course the biggest problem is that coming out amounts to confessing to a crime with sometimes harsh penalties. But really, what can the DEA and the police really do about it? A lot of people are known smokers, certain celebrities, and do not get arrested.

Marijuana is starting to go more and more mainstream. Unfortunately, it's still mostly associated with teenagers, rap music, and recklessness.

It would be pretty cool if the baby boomers go back to their roots in their old age and legalize weed before they die. It would be the icing on the cake for that generation

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FreedomFighter15

that's dedicated to what you are talking about. Although we need ALOT more people do this to have any real success. Still though, a good idea.

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Bari

I would so love to do stuff like that. The best I can do though is stay anonymous on the internet. That is because, like you said, it is a crime right now. My profession is going to be a public school teacher that is just one of those positions that are in the public eye and one wrong person seeing me supporting pot could mean losing my teaching license which applies to teaching in any state in the country. That is just one example of many I am sure but it further supports the whole 'how can it get leaglized if people are afraid to support it because of its crimnality' question.

newcarcaviar

I have to say I completely agree. I'd elaborate, but you seem to have done it well enough, sir.

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Buzzby

The DEA doesn't care if you're a pothead, they're after bigger fish. The local LEOs might start keeping an eye on you and look for an excuse to bust you. That's why most people do not advertise that they're pot smokers.

There are other problems besides the possible criminal penalties. You can lose credibility in your community. You can lose friends. People might not allow their children to play with your children. You can lose your job. You can lose professional licenses. You can't come out in one venue and still deny that you're a pot smoker in another.

And a lot of them do get arrested. It's in the news all the time. Celebrities have an advantage over ordinary people: they can afford fancy lawyers to get them off the hook and, except for athletes, don't have to worry about losing their jobs. People give them a lot more leeway than they give to doctors, lawyers, airline pilots, businessmen, and school teachers.

They're the pot smokers who have the least to lose by not being discrete about it.

You don't have to tell the world you're a pot smoker in order to advocate the legalization of marijuana. There are plenty of good rational arguments for it that don't include a personal preference for the weed. I'm not gay but I advocate for gay rights. I'm not a person of color, but I advocate against racial discrimination. I spend a great deal of my time working for legalization, but I never admit publicly that I'm a cannabis consumer.

I'm afraid that in many cases the reaction to coming out wouldn't be, "Joe's OK, so smoking pot must not be so bad." It would be, "I thought Joe was OK. Now I find out that he's a pot-smoking degenerate!" Coming out is much more of a problem when you've got a lot to lose.

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Bowlblaze

I think it's massively important that as many of us as possible do this. I understand if your career depends on it, but I really feel that it's important to show the general public the number of people who use weed responsibly. I'm not suggesting that everyone goes out and tattoos "I SMOKE WEED" on their forehead, merely for all of us to be honest about it when we're asked. This not only helps the legalization movement, but also your own mental health. It's a huge weight off your chest not to have to try to conceal smoking weed to people you're in constant contact with.

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The government thinks we're all criminals. The people who are really the criminals are the people who view pot smokers as being no better than rapists, murderers, or corrupt politions
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chadwick

i would love to se the baby boomers start another movement again the hippies were a success and the amount of kids between 18 and 20 that i know of about 65-70% smoke and of those that dont about 10% aposes canabis the rest wouldnt mind seeing canabis legalized for medical and recreational use similar to amsterdams so if the baby boomers started a movement then they would get aton of support from some of the younger generations

steakii

that is just your demographic of friends, based on your location and choice of people you hang out with, that isnt real numbers for nation wide.

Feorge Gorman

<< It would be pretty cool if the baby boomers go back to their roots in their old age and legalize weed before they die. It would be the icing on the cake for that generation >>


I can't speak for all Baby Boomers, since I'm on the cusp, being born in '55. But as someone who has seen the carrot of legalization dangled out there for at least the 35 years I've been smoking...I've become quite cynical about the 'movements' to legalize.

I won't say we've made NO progress. I really don't worry much when I'm coming home 2 hours from my buddy with an o-zer. They rarely (at least here in Cali) jail for small amounts, so for that, I guess I'm quite thankful.

But total legalization? What would that mean, anyway? Where you could smoke, if there was total legalization, would be just as restricted as cigarettes...maybe even more! There are more and more places now you can't light up a cigarette, and the same would hold for weed. Only difference is you could possess it...but WHO would know you have it! What fun would that be?

I don't mean to come across so apathetic about it...I would LOVE to know the laws have been lifted and no one would be ticketed or jailed for possession of any amount!

But the cynic in me says it ain't gonna happen...in my lifetime anyway. The stigma is a big one, and not going away anytime soon imho.

You can thank Harry Anslinger for convincing the American people early on that there will never be any good that comes from Marijuana, and is no less a tool of the devil! The scare worked then...and is still working today. With every celebrity that comes out about it, or is caught smoking on TMZ...there are plenty of families that will shun it as something evil.

just my

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Buzzby

The great majority of boomers don't smoke and aren't interested in it anymore. They are far more concerned with their families and keeping their children and grandchildren from becoming drug abusers. I don't think they'd be motivated. The movement has to be built around a group of people who have a personal interest in legalization.

The hippies were the biggest fucking disaster of all time! The phenomenon centered around a society that doesn't exist anymore. In the late sixties/early seventies, you could rent a house for $150 a month. Spread that across ten people and you could panhandle enough in one day to pay your rent. We were so rich in those days that it was quite easy to live on the mainstream society's cast-offs. The hippies, for the most part, weren't productive. It was great fun for a while, but most people got tired of all the bullshit endemic to living in large groups of unrelated, drugged out, and immature people. They got tired of dirt. They got tired of crappy food. They got tired of poor medical and dental care. They got tired of not having all the shiny stuff that the mainstream culture produced for consumers.

They hippies of the 60/70s became the Yuppies of the 80s. Some hippies, like me, were spiritually oriented and have retained some of the better values of that era. Most were in it for the drugs and sex and faded away when things started to get ugly. After the Stones concert at Altamont and the massacre at Kent State, there was a mass exodus. Most are now middle class materialists who look back on that time as an aberration of youth, and are most concerned with securing an affluent retirement.