Real World Event Discussions

Legalize Pot

POSTED BY: AURaptor
UPDATED: Monday, July 20, 2026 00:53
VIEWED: 2708
PAGE 1 of 4

AURAPTOR

Sunday, April 28, 2013 9:09 PM

Yes or no?

Niki, I wanna hear your views on the matter, especially.

AGENTROUKA

Monday, April 29, 2013 10:15 AM

Just so there will be a reply: I think there's no reason to treat it differently from alcohol or tobacco. Regulate and tax it. Treat its abuse-related issues the way you would with alcohol. Protect the public the way you would with cigarette regulations.

The main problem seems to be that it's illegal, not anything particular to this specific drug.

GEEZER

Monday, April 29, 2013 12:53 PM

Decriminalize it at least. Cut down on the large number of folks who are in Federal and State prisons for drug crimes.
http://www.bop.gov/news/quick.jsp#4
http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-population-of-private-
prison-by-offense-2012-3

Legalization and taxation wouldn't seem to be a bad idea, as currently we're just seeing a replay of the Prohibition movie, with criminalization of a drug just leading to more crime.

P.S. I expect PN's pictures of body parts at any time.

"When your heart breaks, you choose what to fill the cracks with. Love or hate. But hate won't ever heal. Only love can do that."

NIKI2

Monday, April 29, 2013 1:06 PM

Rouka answered for me, perfectly. I only started smoking pot in my late teens because booze and I do NOT get along and I wanted something at parties. From all the parties I went to and everything since then, I've seen far, FAR worse from drunks than those who are stoned. And after living with a fall-down drunk, and seeing the results of alcohol abuse in families I've known, I think dope being illegal and booze being legal is asinine. That's my prejudice.

Mankind will always seeks ways to escape reality. Marijuana is one of the least worst, in my opinion.

PHOENIXROSE

Monday, April 29, 2013 2:06 PM

I don't smoke it and have no interest in smoking it, but I did vote yea on the bill to legalize and tax it in Colorado, a bill that passed by a pretty good margin. It's no worse than alcohol in its effects, and is probably easier on the liver of those who do it. I honestly don't understand why tobacco can be legal but marijuana is not. Makes no sense to me.

What reason had proved best ceased to look absurd to the eye, which shows how idle it is to think anything ridiculous except what is wrong.

AURAPTOR

Monday, April 29, 2013 8:42 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by PhoenixRose:
I honestly don't understand why tobacco can be legal but marijuana is not. Makes no sense to me.

Tobacco doesn't have as potent an effect on the user as does pot , maybe?

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen

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" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

AGENTROUKA

Monday, April 29, 2013 9:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Quote:
Originally posted by PhoenixRose:
I honestly don't understand why tobacco can be legal but marijuana is not. Makes no sense to me.

Tobacco doesn't have as potent an effect on the user as does pot , maybe?

Alcohol certainly does.

KWICKO

Monday, April 29, 2013 11:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Quote:
Originally posted by PhoenixRose:
I honestly don't understand why tobacco can be legal but marijuana is not. Makes no sense to me.

Tobacco doesn't have as potent an effect on the user as does pot , maybe?

That depends on which effects you're talking about. Addiction? Cancer? Yeah, tobacco's got pot beat hands-down in the potency of those effects.

Like PR, I have no interest in pot. Been there, tried it, tried it some more, just never really liked the high it gives. But I'm fully supportive of legalization.

One sticking point as far as working or driving after imbibing pop, though - it tends to stay in your system for quite a while afterwards. In other words, if you get hurt on the job and they do a drug test (Workers' Comp requires such in Texas; not sure how it works elsewhere), pot can show up in your system weeks after you used it. How do you prove you weren't high when it happened, or how do they prove you were? Same thing with driving - how do they prove you were actually *under the influence* if it shows up two weeks later in a piss test?

Those are really the only semi-valid reasons I can see for people being against legalization: the legal ramifications of pot use well after the fact of its use.

As for me, I'm sensitive enough to pot that I still "feel" it up to a few days after use, which is another big reason I don't use it. If I drink, I might feel it the next day in the form of a hangover, but that's about it.

Also, there's absolutely no need to smoke pot. There are lots and lots and lots of ingestibles these days. My sis-in-law lives in WA State and has advanced stage MS, so she's got a medical marijuana card. She's partial to the carrot cake they sell at the dispensary, because the effect lasts all day long. Hearing that made my skin crawl, because being high for an hour or two was too much for me; I couldn't imagine feeling like that for an entire day - I'd think I was going to be stuck like that forever!

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I was wrong" - Hero, 2012

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

MAGONSDAUGHTER

Tuesday, April 30, 2013 1:12 PM

If you have no problems in allowing citizens to resource their own arsenal stocked full of military style weapons, I can't see how a bit of pot can be an issue - I mean when you way up the potential damage of each, its kind of ridikilus.

GEEZER

Tuesday, April 30, 2013 1:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
One sticking point as far as working or driving after imbibing pop, though - it tends to stay in your system for quite a while afterwards. In other words, if you get hurt on the job and they do a drug test (Workers' Comp requires such in Texas; not sure how it works elsewhere), pot can show up in your system weeks after you used it. How do you prove you weren't high when it happened, or how do they prove you were? Same thing with driving - how do they prove you were actually *under the influence* if it shows up two weeks later in a piss test?

Madame Geezer was commenting on this last week. If you don't have a field test for pot analogous to a breathalyzer - that not only shows you've been using, but how impaired you are - how could you cite someone for driving under the influence of pot? You'd also have to determine at what level you're impaired, like the pretty standard .08 for blood alcohol level. So looks like both technical and legislative hurdles to be jumped.

"When your heart breaks, you choose what to fill the cracks with. Love or hate. But hate won't ever heal. Only love can do that."