Marijuana

[Purple Haze]

What are your thoughts on legalization?

Would it take a bite out of the mafia?

Would it create some tax revenue?

Would the farmers benefit?

Is it harmless?

 

[forgetunome]

Hmmmmmm

I have no thoughts...hee hee...

Actually if they legalize it maybe it wouldn't hold all the mystique of trying to get away with something illegal.

I am not into it but, I don't think marijuana has caused as much injury as alcohol and it's legal.

 

[Guest]

<Tip toeing into the thread. http://smilecwm.tripod.com/net/bandit.gif > Um... Wha? Oh, I say legalize it! And yes, farmers could have a new crop on their feild. Lord knows it would be in greater demand than most of their current crops!

 

[CelestialBody]

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

I am for legalization.....

Too many normal people's lives are ruined by this - and it's no worse than and probably better for you than alcohol or tabacco.

I would of course suggest that the Fed tax the shit out of its sales - and regulate its growth and quality - like they would any food. Then the Fed would have to put the money to specific, good places.

I think it could aid US farmers - those who would grow it.

The Mafia is like a cockroach - it will always change and adapt. Won't hurt it at all. Nothing does in the long run.

 

[Wizard]

I have said before, I like my pot......they will never make it legal look at how many jobs would be lost?
I said along time ago make it legal let the goverment sell it ........sorta like a state store here in Pa ,,,,where ya have to go to buy wine etc. state owns these stores.......

Goverment could make the mark up and tax the shit out od it if they wanted and it would be so much more pure .....Nothing but weed......you would know what your buying.....

We could fund medicare , SS , and a whole bunch of programs with that cash made off weed.

You also would have to come up with a " DUI" tpye thing but read the paper how many kids drink them self to death?????????now how many have you read about smoking themself to death?????????????????I bet none.........

So you get all fucked up on weed .............You drive 5 miles an hour............ I would rather folks smoke than drink any day and It is better for your healt than drinking too..................

Ok so go ahead flame away.............Been there done that.........thats my opinion nothing more.................

 

[Myrrdin]

I would of course suggest that the Fed tax the shit out of its sales - and regulate its growth and quality - like they would any food. Then the Fed would have to put the money to specific, good places.
I think it could aid US farmers - those who would grow it

You don't think the users might decide to cut out the middle man and go pick their own. We could have a whole new generation of rustlers. Heck if they got really organised they could take a gun as well, pot a cow and have a BBQ at the same time.
Cheap night out, free meal , and after dinner smokes.

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

Maybe but they.....

Tax the shit outta cigs now - why not treat pot the same. Sure you got your cig runners up and down I-95. But what'er ya gonna do? I'd just rather some fairly healthy dollar amounts go to just about anything, roads, public schools, etc., - rather'n come outta my pocket.

Let the doper's pay for it all.

 

[Wizard]

Sparky........you know how much cash that would be????? You could fund all kinds of good programs with the money.......


Thats what I mean run down to the store but a pack of 20 joints or a oz. of weed................................

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

Yeah, like the money....

But I quite the weed.

It's rail/well tequila and a cold bottle of Bud all the way for me.

Until I go face down in a puddle of my own drool.

Of course.

 

[Purple Haze]

It seems to be a good solution to some problems.

Prison overcrowding. I don't see pot smokers as a real threat to society.

The farm economy. It only makes sense that if you have less wheat produced, the demand and the price per bushel would go increase. Of course the government might still find a way to fuck that up.

R.J. Reynolds. Everybody wants tobacco to go away, smokers are shunned, companies are sued, lawyers are getting rich. The government has been doing their best to run these producers of LEGAL products out of business. Let the tocacco companies roll something a lot less lethal, they already have the machinery and the trucks.

Government waste. How much does it cost to have the National Guard going around destroying plants? What a waste of time, energy and resources.

Of course there would be some negative side-effects, there always is. What are they? Please sound-off if you think I'm full of poppycock.

 

[Wizard]

PH, thats what I mean It will never happen .....So many jobs would be lost.............Those guys in the choppers make good cash flying around looking for weed all day...............

We talked about this in the past, I travel for a long time working all over the US . You would be suprised how easy it is to buy weed anywhere.............Anyone ever look along the side of the road ?
Bet you would never think there is pot growing right along your highway in your town................. Folks like me throw seeds out the window , some the birds or wildlife gets others mother nature gets.....and belive it or not some grow...............If you know what to look for you can find it right in front of you.......................

 

[naudiz]

Legalize! Legalize!

I live in a state where doctors can prescribe the stuff for medical reasons, but I'm not sure if I can still technically get arrested for having it. Hell, the only reason I want it is for medicinal use.

Let's face it; marijuana isn't illegal because it's any more dangerous than alcohol or tobacco (I would say it's quite less dangerous in many regards). It's illegal because the war on this particular drug is a war on culture, or counter culture as the case may be. If tie-dye wearing 'down with the man' hippies were growing tobacco and pot farmers were lobbying to the good old boys in Congress, you'd better believe cigarettes would be a major no-no and smoking out would be a national pasttime.

We know tobacco and alcohol kills. We know marijuana can help some people live less painful lives. Unfortunately, the issue isn't about what's best for the people, it's about cultural stigmas and the going rate for politicians.

GOD BLESS AMERICA! I'm going to go have a brownie.

 

[Jester]

I don't get why so many people have such a raging hard-on over this. Half of them are raging against it, the other half for it, and the rest are using it or not using like they have been.

I know people who think that it's the be-all and end-all of the entire fucking world. They push it like it's a religion. Then they sit on their asses in their apartments stoned out of their gourds while other people actually go out and live some. As for people claiming that it doesn't have any side-effects, that really pisses me off. It's a drug. Any drug is going to have other effects on you than just one primary one. Then there's the "I don't do drugs, just pot" line; yeah, you're a fucking bastion of resistance alright.

I don't think that people should be shoved into an already strained prison system just for getting stoned. Figure something else out. What's set up obviously isn't working. Personally, I'm not fond of the idea of general legalization, but what do I know? I personally can't stand the stuff and think that it's completely pointless and stupid, but I'm willing to consider other options/opinions even if I don't like them. Flame me for it if you want, it's my opinion.

 

[Unclebill]

Drug use, sale, possession and manufacture are political crimes, i. e., morality laws. They provide a convenient straw man to make politicians look as if they care and as if they're actually achieving something.

I have never used it and never will unless it becomes a medical benefit. If you wish to use it, it's your body, your brain and your life. What I fear is some idiot DEA agent kicking in my door because somebody screwed up the address or lied about it and I get shot trying to protect my home from intruders who have no legitimate reason to be there.

 

[naudiz]

I just think it's funny when people say "I don't do drugs." and then will light up a ciggie and pound down a beer. Just because it's legal doesn't make it any less of a drug, with any safer side effects.

Sure, marijuana is a drug. Sure it has negative side effects. But to throw it in with things like crack and meth just because someone decided it was a no-no doesn't paint the whole picture, or even an accurate part of one. Every substance has its own properties and a range of side effects, legal or not. I've never seen a medicinal use for crank like I have for pot, so I wouldn't take the stance that all illegal drugs are created (and should be judged) equal.

What bugs me on this issue isn't that I can't get high (I don't actually smoke the stuff even though I could get a prescription easily). What bugs me is the hypocrisy. Is getting drunk any better for you than getting stoned? Is it any healthier just because it's legal? Lighting up a tobacco cigarette (whose level and brand of addictiveness is on par with heroin) while ranting about how smoking pot is bad for you just seems kind of off to me.

Now if you're 100% free of addictive substances (and remember - caffeine is an addictive substance too), then I guess you have the moral high ground, and as far as I'm concerned you're welcome to it. I prefer not to throw stones.

 

[Vlad]

Legalize

I say legalize it, maybe a lot of other drugs also. Prohibition proved that by banning a substance, you only increase the demand for it and increase crime.

We waste a lot of money trying to bar the use of drugs when we could taxing them and bringing in a lot of revenue.

The Mob will always find some way to make money, sad to say. Human beings are easy marks.

Vlad

 

[Myrrdin]

Having your cake and eating it........

So you want to legalize marijuana, but then tax it...?

You think the Colombians are going to fill in their tax returns ? Or just ship in their product, sell it tax free, undercutting the price.

Taxation increases smuggling. In the UK both political parties went into the last election promising not to raise direct taxation. So to pay for their spending plans, the gov't has raised indirect taxation, on booze, cigarettes and fuel. Hypermarkets have now opened just across the Channel in France, where the taxes are lower, solely selling cigarettes and alcohol. Its called the booze run.
Even UK manufactured beer / cigarettes is shipped to France, where the tax is paid and then brought back into the UK.

A lot of smugglers are earning a living taking trucks to France, loading, driving back to the UK and selling them round the back door of pubs, clubs etc.
There have even been cases where vehicle suspensions have collapsed under the load.
So the French get the tax revenue, while Britain has the expense of trying to detect, convict, etc the smugglers.

 

[Hecate]

In regards to the tax matter:

I agree, myrrdin, that specially in our "little Europe" those re-imports or "grey imports" as we call them are quite a subject.

But on the other hand - see how many of those goods ARE properly taxed - whereas right now there is no tax at all on the illegal drugs. There is smuggling going on but LESS than now (since now it is 100%)

Another point to see is that we are talking mainly about the US here (I assume anyway) and well - over which chanel would they go? Which border would they use to set up a "low tax heaven" for re-imports?? it is the USA all over the continent (apart from maybe the canadian and mexican border which is neglectable to Europe that kind of only exists of patches of land inbetween borders *g*

So even if the amount of taxed and controlled substance was not 100% ... it sure would be more than 0% which it is now.

The other question is: would as many people be smoking / drinking as are now if those drugs were illegal too? Wouldn't we be saving HEAPS of money on health and addiction programms if the were criminal deeds to obtain?

Sure, there would ALWAYS be those smoking and drinking, just as there are now people taking all other illegal substances and commiting all sorts of crimes but if you sum it up - are the taxes for ciggs and alkohol sufficient to cover for the damage done?

I agree though to the hypocracy to see the possession and usage of pot as a criminal offence (even in the privacy of your home) while you can be drunk out of your brains without any consequence (not talking DUI - which I will NEVER EVER tolerate or excuse no matter what the substance).

Well - I for one wouldn't know the stuff if you put a pot plant (pun intended) right in front of me on my desk so no "raiding any fields" for me *lol* - I'd probably end up smoking corn leaves or whatever else may be growing there and feel "real good" (probably getting high on the pestizides)*winks*

But I can see some arguments pro legalizing (besides the money) - if pot was legal my hope would be more youg people would turn to that instead of those synthetic shit designer drugs. I do think the damage done by pot is lot less ( and sure less deadly) than crack or exstasy or whtever the stuff may be called. I rather see the kids stoned than collaps in spasms of dehydration or die from simply poisoning themselfes. My hope would be that IF they have to enhance their perceptions they would go for the substances available before turning to criminal (and imho worse) alternatives. Right now it is a criminal act and why settle for the "less effective" drugs if the consequences are the same?

OK - it probably is easy to tell that I am no "illegal substance" user and don't really have a clue about the stuff. But I like to think I have my brains about me and I care for society and specially our youth.

To decide if or if no to legalize it ... I really am not 100% sure, but I guess there is no way to ban alcohol or regular smokes so why not have pot a legal thingy too (with all the mentoined benefits from tax over controlled quality to avoiding the unneccessary "criminalization" of those using it now and then for medical or recreational purposes).

The only "contra" I can think about is the fear that it may lead to a wave of "Why not legalize H or cocaine or ... " which I see as another class of drug, and the question if more kids/people would start to get into drugs at all if it was an "acceptable" thing to do (just like drinking is now).

Hope it made sense

 

[Guest]

 

[KillerMuffin]

I hate junkies.

I voted to legalize marijuana.

I may hate junkies, but if they wanna kill off their brains, who am I to stop them. Maybe we can induce some sort of volunteer sterility program.

If we do manage to ever legalize it the only thing you'll see is what happened after the repeal of the 18th amendment. We've been there done that. The cartels can come in and undercut by selling under the tax base, but they just aren't gonna make the same cash.

Just discovered it was shot down, 71% against it. Oh well.

[Edited by KillerMuffin on 11-09-2000 at 11:10 AM]

 

[lala]

um, you don't have to read this, but it's a litlle different,...

i don't think all people who smoke pot are junkies. i think people who shoot up in public bathrooms are junkies. i think potheads are potheads. i like them more than alcoholics, by FAR.

as for legalization, the problem then is taxation, i don't think we'll have a real big problem with illegal selling of weed if we did tax it, we don't have a large problem with illegal alcohol sale, my problem is i really don't want to pay taxes on it if i don't have to,...

as far as medication goes, the problem is as soon as drug corporations get their hands on it, the price will skyrocket like any drug, so i'd rather have full legaliztion than partial, so folks can go out and buy it instead of getting it from evil drug corps.

ok, it being bad for you? alcohol is worse. it is. look at college binge drinking, which is firmly attached to date rape, alcohol poisoning leading to death, all kinds of car crashes, it aids in domestic violence, you get the idea.

anyway, i think i've spewed enough,...

c ya!

[Edited by lala on 11-09-2000 at 02:50 PM]

 

[insideShiraz]

A matter of Conscience...

And the so called church and state will never separate themselves from dictating yours... Marijuana? It's the Devil...

I have a bigger rage about fucks who scoot by the rules and shoot deer that come down to the water just before dusk...they sit 100's of feet away with high powered bullet providers with scopes, and kill unsuspecting animals to hang on the wall...Yea, yea, it's for food...bullshit, it's really because it's a lawful way just to love killing things without being a stone cold thug in a video or next to you somewhere...