Either legalize it or leave it the way it is. It is considered a scheduled 1 substance for a reason. People say it is like alcohol and I disagree.
It is a gate way drug, just ask Reverend Jim from Taxi.

I have a friend who started out with pot, that lead to harder drugs and eventually heroin.
At one point he started to clean his life up. I was told shortly after, he had a stroke and passed away. They suspect it was caused by the years of drug abuse.

Another story, There are four people that were killed (one was an unborn baby)right out side the development I live in. The driver was smoking pot while driving and was high. He tried to make a quick left hand turn across a three lane highway right in front of several cars, he did not make it. He survived and the passengers in the car that hit him survived however the three passengers in his car did not.

I think in this country we already have enough people addicted to alcohol and drugs, I think it would make it worse.
The only thing making it legal would be so the government could collect TAXES on it. It is another stream of revenue that's it. By decriminalizing it it just takes away the penalty however it is still illegal.

I posted this story the other day and if you make it legal you will see more of it on the roads every day. At one point last year I could not ride with my car windows open because there would be some one firing up a joint while driving, and I did not want the smell of it in my car.


I thought I had seen it all on the roads in central Florida, till today.


Posted July 27, 2022 01:33 PM
I had to go to Lowe's to pick up a couple of items today. I get on the road and I am now stuck in traffic. The three lane highway right out side of my development is is running slow because there are three tractor trailers in each lane across the highway.

At some point I finally get around them only to be in the middle of six more tractor trailers doing the same thing, and of course we are now only doing 35 miles an hour on a 60 mile an hour road.

Directly in front of me is a Hummer who I watch drive off the road 5 times on to the shoulder and as I pass him he has his head buried in his phone.

I finally get around all the mess of traffic and as I approach the final traffic light I need to go through to get to Lowe's there is a car in the middle lane not moving.
As every one goes around him I follow and as I pass I can see him through his open passenger side window firing up a bong. I can, even with my windows closed smell the stench of pot as I pass him.

This has to be the craziest thing I have seen so far.

The next craziest was the guy who almost ran a red light while someone in the passenger seat was doing something in his lap. As he slammed on his breaks and came to a stop I saw a head pop up from his lap.

What is the craziest thing you have seen on the road while you were driving?

quote:

Originally posted by Ironbutt:
At the very least, the feds should decriminalize pot & leave it up to the individual states whether it should be legal.

Isn't that pretty much as it is now? 19 states plus DC have legalized it. I suppose the feds could swoop in and cause some problems but it's been quite a few years now with no fed actions.

We have countless people in prison for smoking pot

Yep and quite a few where put there by our idiot Vep when she was AG.

I’m with bigdeal on this one. Of all the things to try to take care of right now, this shouldn’t even be in the radar with the state of our economy.

Of course they see a revenue stream they can tax that they currently don’t get a piece of, and don’t nobody enforce tax revenue like the feds.

I just hope if they decriminalize on a federal level that they strike it from the 4473 question list. Besides alcohol, it’s the only substance named, and with my extensive and near fatal experience with alcohol, I think it’s silly to have weed listed on there, my experience being nearly as extensive and not even in the same league in terms of harm done. Alcohol is the gateway drug, not weed. Ya’ll can trust me on this one, and I’m speaking for myself and nearly everyone I’ve heard speak in a twelve step meeting. If anything, in the late 90’s and into the mid 2010’s, Oxy was the gateway drug.

Problem is, legalizing it doesn't stop all the property crime associated with users needing cash.

If you think legalizing it is a good idea, please take a weekend and visit Portland or San Francisco and have look around at all the broken glass, the cars with busted windows and all the losers hanging around. Not places that you want to live.

A good friend in LE says that MOST property crimes are users trying to get anything they can steal/sell for supporting their habits.

I’m not saying that doesn’t ever, can’t happen with weed, but what I feel comfortable saying is that such issues are almost completely because of opiate, or meth addiction. They may smoke weed also, but they’re not busting into cars to support their ganja habit.

quote:

So the fed thinks it’s fine to let the states decide for dope, but are fighting to make every state sanction the murder of unborn children despite what the people in those states want?

Yep.

quote:

Originally posted by Ironbutt:
At the very least, the feds should decriminalize pot & leave it up to the individual states whether it should be legal.

I agree. Both issues should be left to the several States. I would have no problem with different States having different approaches to both abortion and pot. You want California to be a dope-smoking abortion "destination" State? Fine. Have at it.

But leave more conservative States alone to have differing opinions and laws. People are flocking to the low crime, law and order, low tax, freedom loving States.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
I’m not saying that doesn’t ever, can’t happen with weed, but what I feel comfortable saying is that such issues are almost completely because of opiate, or meth addiction. They may smoke weed also, but they’re not busting into cars to support their ganja habit.

I also believe this to be true.

quote:

also believe this to be true.

I believe this as well. I equate MJ to alcohol, and I've not seen people busting down things to get cash for alcohol. Does it happen with MJ and booze? I'm sure one could google up some instances, but the terrible situations we see with people shooting up in the streets, and going crazy to find a "fix" is not MJ. Gateway? maybe for a few that already have dependency issues. I blame the libs that allow this to go on. Banning MJ would have zero effect on that street situation.

Gateway drug? Yeah, 1965 called...

In my opinion, alcohol has the potential to be far more destructive to a person than cannabis.

Marijuana is not physically addictive. One can develop a psychological dependency with cannabis, but alcoholism is so prevalent in this world, I doubt few if any adults can say that they don't know at least one alcoholic.

If you drink too much alcohol- either all at once or over a period of time, it can kill you. If you drink enough alcohol for a long enough time, it can kill you when you stop drinking it.

Both alcohol and cannabis are toxins; it's simply that our society has- literally- chosen its poison. The fact that alcohol can be easily produced from organic materials such as grain, potatoes, grapes, etc makes it far more accessible to people than cannabis. You can produce alcohol in your kitchen or garage. There's no getting rid of it in this world.

To demonize cannabis, while at the same time ignoring the corrosive effects of alcohol on society, is foolishness.

Living in Colorado I can give first hand reports of the effects of legalizing the devil's lettuce.
It's slightly worse than cigarettes. That is the truth of it.
Yep, teenagers can get their hands on it a little easier since it's available everywhere but so is alcohol (which I too agree is as harmful as meth) and so the hell what. Who didn't see weed in high school?
We have no "drug" problem. We have a "people" problem. We have the ability to choose what we put into our bodies and should be held accountable for our choices.
I can smoke as much weed as I want and I do. The amount of weed I want to smoke is none
I can also drink as much whiskey as I want. That amount is also none.

More of the same illogical, anecdotal reasoning on why pot is bad.

Time to smile and nod.

I hope it passes.

It's probably one of the more benign drugs available. The fact that people are doing prison time because of this mildly psychoactive plant is just morally reprehensible. Decriminalization at the federal level is almost inevitable at some point.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
To demonize cannabis, while at the same time ignoring the corrosive effects of alcohol on society, is foolishness.

Anybody who's still hung-up on MJ being a 'gateway' drug, needs to either socialize with people outside of their bubble or, read up on the mountain of scientific evidence that points out there's zero addiction in THC.


Legalization hang-ups appear to be more related to political critters attempting to tap into a tax stream (they'll screw it up, look at how CA dealt with it) and how financial regulators will oversee the banks servicing this industry. I like how Spain has legalized it: no open selling, can only be sold via licensed sellers via licensed growers/producers, individuals can legally grow 3-plants maximum per adult, per household for personal consumption only, gardening and home stores can sell all necessary supplies for home growers.

Gateway drug? So and so did MJ and later went on to be a heroin addict. What's that really mean?
Was that what caused it, or bridged the gap to the hard stuff? That person may have also smoked cigarettes, had two cups of coffee each morning, chewed gum, etc. Nicotine is addictive, caffine and sugar can be too. Why not blame them? Correlation isn't causation.

What the drug wars have done is to enrich large criminal enterprises that have done tremendous damage to societies around the world. They took something that would cost very little to make or grow yourself and made it into a very high profit item that fuels the drug world criminals live in. The same thing happened in the 1920's from prohibition and it's taken decades to even start to get the criminals it spawned under any sort of control. The money it generates supplies the cash for corrupting governments at all levels.

Yes, I've known a few that smoked and never got their life on track. But I grew up in the 60's and 70's and about 99+% of those partakers I knew, went on to simply grow out of it and live their lives as well as anybody that never touched the stuff.

This is mostly an election year tactic, just in time. Look no further than the current Gov of WI. When he ran they had a non-binding referendum on the ballot in some areas, it had zero chance to become law.

They wanted young voters to come out in support, while there, vote for the lefty Gov candidate.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Remember that decriminalization simply means that the severity of the crime is decreased; in other words, it will still be federally illegal but will amount to a fine and release for possession of whatever they determine is a “personal use” amount.

That's not what the bill says. It removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana. If passed, the federal government would be out of the marijuana-regulating business.

Almost (IMHO). We'll know they're truly out of the marijuana-regulating buisness for good when they get out of the marijuana-crossing-state-boundaries buisness.

quote:

Originally posted by Ironbutt:

We have countless people in prison for smoking pot

I'm not sure exactly where I stand on legalization, but I'm sure about this: I have not personally seen somebody committed to jail-- let along prison-- for simple possession (e.g. smoking) MJ in over 30 years.

Distribution? Yep. Smuggling? Add-on charge to some other crime? Yep. But if people are going to big-boy, real-deal prison for simply being potheads, please direct me to this place... because I haven't seen it since Mississippi circa 1992.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
So the fed thinks it’s fine to let the states decide for dope, but are fighting to make every state sanction the murder of unborn children despite what the people in those states want?

The left is criminally insane.

It should be governed at the state level, as most everything should.

They should change the law or enforce it. Having a federal drug law that is openly violated in most states creates a regulatory mess for people (Can you deposit profits from a dispensary in a federally insured bank? Can you lease space to one?)and undermines the federal government’s authority to enforce other unpopular laws.