Why legalize it when you can sell legal cocaine to kids! Ritalin maing.
I only got one problem with weed, when people go 5 seconds without baking up, that seed was driven into me by local pot heads who cant remember 5 seconds because they are blitzed 24/7.

Yo, what is up with your icon :O

Whats up with yours?

Omg dont' start with me I tell you whut

Well I tell ya whut, I know alot about sellin the propane and propane accessories. yup....propane.

*poof* ... Need a light?

I can talk hank hill, yup yup.

Oh... I thought you were quoting the Firebat from Starcraft.

nope, never played starcraft :<

It's a Surprise guy! Like that one surprise kitten thing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0rKe8

S'all about control my man. My dad did everyth-ang,....Everyth-ang?...Ever-y-th-ang. And he was not a good person for it. When I was younger I swore the stuff off, then I became a teen.....And that didn't last long, but I learned control on any substance, that wasn't caffeine.

It's all about control kitties drugs. The problem isn't the drugs people controlling the drugs, it's the drugs controlling the people.


And now you know.

[XD couldn't resist the multiple references.]

its fine, and I know that, which is why I tend to not wanna be around them at all times, dont get me wrong I am still friends with people like that, but I make sure they are not stonned when I come over or hang out, I also dont date girls like that either unless they have said Self Control.

Being woken up in the morning cause my friend is calling from jail due to being drunk and high as shit in public gets annoying (and yes the weed thing, with self control, applies to people who drink too)

tl;dr have respect around me and try not to be 8 years old all day long all week long ;_;... xD

Yeah I had friends like that hell, I had a friend who use to bring his "buyers" back to my place, and smoke. I only joined in like once every ten times, cause I had fucking shit to do....Like socialize, work, go out, read a book. Only did it whenever I had literally nothing better to do......And 5 boxes of pop-tarts, and pizzahut on speed-dial .


It ain't all that bad, but yeah, they could easily tax weed. If they made you buy a permit, for every little thing you could do with weed. Buy, Own, Sell, grow, trade they would make the money back from the permits easy, and from the bust on people who didn't have permits.

wow....random ^^ What brought this on?

I'm always random :D

YAY RANDOM! *offers you cotton candy*

You can legalise it and make the licenses to grow it cost a lot on a recurring yearly manner, then tax any that's sold. I'm betting money would still be made on it compared with the costly enforcement methods.

you can try but there's no way to do that without making it illegal for the plant to be grown outside certain areas and then checking houses for potted plants.

You would find the laziness of the average american to be astounding. Basil is a weed and it grows nearly anywhere and it grows very very fast. Yet you can pay the local supermarket to get some fresh, or pay to have it in dried form.

basil isn't as heavily in demand as marijuana X3

so it should follow that even more would be sold, based on the basil example.

Exactly!

Or as smokeable?

Weed is a weed. Who knew?

Corn is practically a weed. I can grow it at any time. ... Perhaps I should have picked potatoes. They'll try to grow in a dark cabinet. How many people grow these things? Not many.

Corn is a grass ;)

Heh grass.

Yo,like, if they taxedthat shit they'd get so much money.

But seriously, I honestly don't think this situation is going to change at all in the near...or even distant future. Weed is a weed, as you said, and it's going to be around for a while.

You'd be surprised at the ocean of people that would pick up a pack of joints at the gas station forever rather than ever trying to cultivate a plant like marijuana.

Sure it grows easy, but it doesn't yield good THC levels easy.

I think they should really just drop the whole thing and forget about it. No one taxes wild onions and they are actually good for you to eat.

I'm just so tired of hearing how much money is spent enforcing marijuana.

It's very interesting that you bring this up, I hadn't thought about that...An interesting angle, I feel as though I don't mind the legalization very much...

That's something I don't hear every day, cool :)

bleh, at this point it's easier to just grow it in your closet and tell nobody about it =P

well, the problem is the hallucinogenic properties of the stuff

if it wasn't any more harmful than tobaco i'd be all for legalizing it

problem is just that it... well... it can fuck with your head, and the withdrawal symptoms can be far far worse than that of nicotine-withdrawal


sure, it has its industrial uses. hemp rope, paper, and fibers in general are great.

gene-modify a strain of the stuff to remove the halucinagen, then i'm sure you can get a permit for growing it on an industrial scale.



from a commercial point of view, the fact that it addicts you is what i'm most against. sure, purely economically then getting your buyer addicted to your product is a good thing - but when it also comes with the option for halucinations and tripping? its not acid, but it can do stuff to you anyway.

its not the 99% of the users i'm worried about

its that 1% that suffers seriously messed up effects from it i worry about. they might not want me to worry, or care that i worry for them, but i would rather be my brothers keeper and keep him from harming himself, than let them become a strain on the social and healthcare systems when they end up wrecks than can't function in society any more after decades of getting stoned

Marijuana is only a mild hallucinogen and even then only in large doses. The only real medical risk associated with the substance is if a person is predisposed to dementia it can accelerate the onset.

Even in that situation we consume drugs with more dangerous and common side effects daily.

Marijuana itself is also not physically addictive. People can become psychologically addictive but any withdrawal symptoms tend to be psychosomatic.

It's pointless to argue those points because it's well established that much harder drugs are already in regular use. Heck some say caffeine is more addictive than cocaine.

The medical uses far outweigh the limited risks.

medical use - prescribed and controled - i have nothing against

but...

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/pot/.....fects.-Lya.htm

now i'm not a doctor - but i have several close family members and friends of the family who are nurses or doctors...

i'm fairly certain that they'd confirm most of what that link says.

like i said: i'm against anything that, be it over short or long term usage, reduces your ability to function or be productive in society. I have nothing against recreation, but recreation at the cost of your ability to learn, got to work (because i got high... oh thats a good song though) and so on, i just dont like it

Overdosing on anything can have negative consequences. I just don't feel it's right for such a thing to be criminal in nature. It certainly doesn't prevent people from using it, but will probably prevent people from seeking medical help should complications arise.

I also tend to ignore most inhalation damage stats because joints tend not to have filters, so of course they'd do more damage. However this threat can be minimized by use of a bong.

Ultimately I don't feel it's right for the government to decide what we can and can't consume or do to ourselves. Last I checked it's still legal to shoot yourself in the foot or stab yourself with a knife, and those happen often enough to justify banning both guns and knives :P

Darn, beaten to the punch >3>

Oh and there are already strains of hemp that contain no THC. However those remain illegal because of the cotton industry. Hemp is far more durable than cotton and clothing made of it can nearly last centuries.

hax!

Stuff is also itch as all heck, and it's really not hard to get hold of hemp at all. I tried making a hat and.. ugh never again and you permanently has a grassing smell around you, specially if it gets wet.

When properly made it can actually be a pretty nice material.

Marijuana isn't a hallucinogen. It makes your mind more perceptive to stimuli, ie, makes things seem more interesting than they are, but does not induce hallucinations.

I'm pretty sure it's nonaddictive, at least physically, but it's been a few years since I learned about it in health class.

more perceptive?

last time i checked it dulled your senses and reduced your ability to think

that is, stoners aren't known for being sharp-witted while high - nor very perceptive. more like slow on the uptake really

Yeah. They're more perceptive to stimuli. So things that would seem banal when sober would be interesting while under it's influence. Things that are mildly unnerving when sober would be incredibly terrifying, and so on.

[color=]>It makes your mind more perceptive to stimuli[/color]
Oh it does, I guess you wouldn't have learned it's positive effects webkilla.
Haters gunna hate, love gunna love and all that bullshit.

withdrawal symptoms can be far far worse than that of nicotine-withdrawal
SNRK alright, if you say so.

I'm confused. You explain why taxing and regulating would be a nightmare if it were legalized, and then suggest that government doesn't want it to be illegal.

that was a typo, my bad :P

No worries, I figured that's what it was.

Odd that like... a dozen people replied before me and none of them brought it up.

Your wisdom never ceases to amaze me, Mif. That does make a lot of sense. I mean, legalizing would be good in theory, but when you put it that way, yeah, it does seem a little over-the-top.

Never thought of it this way o.0

I guess this leaves far fewer options. The less fortunate, and less productive way of doing it could be keeping it illegal for growers, but only government regulated pharmaceutical companies could grow and sell it.

The smarter way, in my opinion, is just making it fully legal :P

Smarter: yes. Better for society: yes. Good for business: no.

exactly x3

it sucks though, since taxing and regulating seems like such a great idea in theory :P

oh miffy, when ever your do journals like this, i always learn something new. tho i tried marijuana and i never got addicted nor do i care for it, video games are my drug. <3

In Canada, it was decriminalized several years ago because it was so widespread, and mere possession was such a low offense, that it was creating a drain on government resources and tieing up courts. (Actual selling is illegal, as is possessing it in quantities large enough to sell, though)

So perhaps a main cause for it's legalization would be not so much benefiting from it as much as cutting down on losses.

I thought they re-criminalized it a few months later.

I don't believe so... I tried looking it up, but I can't find an answer @___@

Look under reclassification. They didn't officially decriminalize it, they merely reclassified it under a different number, which essentially decriminalized its use.

Ah, kays.

Do you smoke marijuana, Mif?

Nope, never have :P

Yeah, I pretty much figured that this is the main reason why it's not legalized in many states.

Anywho uhh.. ya I hear lots of people saying they can't tax weed because it's a natural product ext.. SO is tobacco, it's completely natural and is just as easy to grow as marijuana. Tons of fields in North Carolina, Tennessee off hand from personal experience.
SO ya the taxing thing is shot down right there as to why they don't want to legalize it it's more of it makes people fucking morons when they smoke it because they don't use it likely, people smoked till they are fucking retarded now days. I use to smoke and on a rare occasion I still might but only enough to relax me while everyone else who I see or knows who smokes it till they are "blitzed" and can hardly function.

Kinda like how some people only drink socially or moderately while other people drink themselves into a stupor or worse. Then there is also drunk driving, alcohol poisoning and a list of other effects we all learned about in school. And yet the only real ban on that is if you're under the magic age of 21. How does the "blitzed moron" argument for marijuana's illegal status not apply to alcohol? I'm just curious. I do neither illegal drugs, tobacco, nor alcohol myself- having had a fraternity use my house as a location for parties back in 1999 gave me the full list of why I shouldn't- and was from one of those rare responsible fraternities.

Well beer mind you was originally made to be basically liquid bread, it's been around for... well a long time and has much history but whatever I enjoy a few drinks here and there but again it is all in moderation. Just like wine historically wasn't that strong it was basically mixed in with water to make it drinkable and safe *shruges* Neither are what they use to be... and the thought of light beers is whats really funny to me knowing what beer is suppose to be

Bleh. They had the sense to repeal Prohibition...I guess they won't decriminalize weed because of the lack of Marijuana Mob?

Then make it illegal to grow without a permit and illegal to grow in certain states (Since pot IS finnicky and will die in winter). How do i know? Ive grow the stuff myself. :/ People may not follow the law, but it will cut back on everyone turning into a marijuana grower.

You can tax marijuana and enforce the taxation. Rather then taxing the product itself you tax the possession and use. Make it endorsement on a drivers license from the IRS showing you've paid a yearly ownership and usage tax, much like a registration tag on a car. Possession or usage with out the endorsement and you get hit with heavy fines and the IRS gets to have a field day with you for Tax Evasion.

That's my thoughts anyway.

Well the only difference between now and before is that tons of law makers, senators, and government types are getting behind it now so they truly can tax it. Before it was just the activists saying why don't you tax it. Now it's the government employees saying, we WANT to tax it.

Government always loves new ways to get more money from people , so I guess it'd be a win-win situation for both activists and government.

Tobacco grows pretty easily, too, but it's regulated. And it doesn't take a moron (read uneducated hillbilly with 3 teeth) to brew and make a still, but alcohol is still regulated. It could work with pot.

I dont' agree with your first point, tobacco is a really finicky plant that requires lots of care to grow good, but I totally was going to state the same opinion about alcohol.

Part of the point is just because you can make doesn't mean is 1) it's easy and convenient and 2) even if you do it's any good. Most states let you brew your own beer and wine, but very few people bother and those who do rarely make all that great of a beer unless they're lucky or good.

Hey America! How about, and I know this'll sound crazy, instead of taxing and regulating it, we just fucking let people grow marijuana if they want to and stop treating citizens like children who can't be trusted to make their own decisions about their own goddamned bodies? How's that sound?

Since getting my medical license, the government is happily taking the money of all the applicants (there are quite a few in my state), and taxing all the dispensaries. Yes there are problems, but it's new. Rules keep changing as the industry grows -- as it should. There are going to be stupid people who do stupid things, but that could be said about anything.

Cannabis is a weed, and grows easily, but just because it grows to full maturity, doesn't mean it's usable or viable. People can also make beer with a home-brew kit. Alcohol isn't all that hard, it's just fermentation and patience.

There are lots of reasons why Cannabis is illegal, and many are pretty bizarre. Decriminalization will never occur until people get over the all the propaganda.

imo

This is the first time I've heard this particular argument against. While I do see your point, decent quality marijuana DOES take a bit more care, etc. than you might think. I'd rather not go into details, as well, y'know, incrimination and all that, but people would pay for cared-for product.

At this point anyone can grow their own grapes and produce wine, my parents tried it, but the wine business is still huge because people would rather spend money on the already processed product rather then put all the work into it and get a low quality product. The same thing could be said for moonshine liquor, which requires very minimal equipment to produce, but people still buy retail alcohol.

Legalize it, get quality producers setup with a path to retail for their product and people will line up to buy that product even if they experiment and try to grow it themselves.

The solution for everything is taxing everything.

*goes back to build home-made spaceship*

well sure everyone could grow a plant at home for himself, but on the other side your home would smell like weed most of the time =P

Marijuana is a weed, but home growing requires a lot of effort. if you aren't doing out doors, aside from the smell, each adult plant puts a minimum of a half liter of moisture into the air. mold control is essential. but the main point is they (the government) can barely control it as is now and is loosing money, but in decriminalizing the government may continue to have difficulty controlling, but at least they can MAKE money. not to mention the economic boom involved in marijuana business training. The cigarette industry I'm sure would jump full force in manufacturing and marketing marijuana as the new cigarette... and for those not into smoking, marijuana atomizes well, so a boom in smokeless e-cigarettes would also be very profitable.

And this is one of the so many reasons I'm gonna have to get my ass back to Californis as soon as possible.

I've tried.
So many other medications and prescriptions and over-the-counter and lifestyle things.
To make the anxiety go away and *appetite exist* any other way.
Months of 'sobriety' and pounds of prepackaged pills.

but
it
never
works

If Cali starts recalling the level of ITS decriminalization even more and moreso, I am gonna CRY SO BAD.
I hate hiding and everything revolved around the 'need' to use it currently.
AND I WANT TO KNOW *exactly* what strain, what chemicals/pesticides, and strength of what I'm taking. I'd LOVE for it to be regulated and me to have a measured-out diagnosed mg pill to take. I HATE hurting my lungs. I cry thinking of how they look inside and how as a child I hated and still hate the results of smoking-- mom's a nurse, seen the tarred lungs things more times than I care to recall. Then there's the uncle who died of lung cancer. And both brothers who not just toke recreation ally much more than I do daily, but go through packs of cigs simultaneously as well.

.. le sigh. Though I know yer right miffmaffu :\
Fuck you, the uber-likely truth.
*joins Tha_Pig's spaceship* ._.

Well some legalization organization (forgot their name) has been in the news lately stating they've gotten enough signatures to actually put it on the ballot in November. It includes plans for things like making it illegal to smoke in view of kids and still limit the amount somebody can carry.

I'm wacky enough without putting stupid stuff like that in my system. Personally I'd prefer to see the medicinal use restricted further. I've seen stoners get their "green cards" by making up mild excuses and get their marijuana legally now because the person issuing them didn't actually care to really evaluate them.

However, it was the best painkiller my grandad tried when he shattered his shoulder so I'm not saying to make it entirely illegal again. There are definitely legitimate medical uses for it.

Marijuana is definitely harmless because I've tried it before. I think It should be Legalized.

Well, it might be easy to grow but the thing is it's pretty hard to grow anything worthwhile. The growing is insanely easy, it really is a weed. The processing can take take weeks though (curing and drying mostly), and if it isn't done properly it will taste, smell, and generally affect you poorly. I think that taxing and regulating it would certainly work. If anything, legalizing would take the funding from a lot of small-time gangs, and a decent amount from larger ones. Not to mention, who's going to kill someone over a drug that could be easily grown or bought in a store?
As far as talking about "withdrawl", the only withdrawl is mental. It's addictive in the same way that bubblegum is addictive. If you want some drugs that are truely addictive, take a look at the currently legal ones such as caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and tobacco. Marijuana can be quit cold turkey any time to anyone who has any ounce of willpower. I've quit several times and never suffered even a slight withdrawl, so I'm talking from experience and research, not just parroting propaganda slogans.
Also, I'd like to point out that even if it isn't publicly legal, they should at least do more research into its medical uses. The Indica strain has so much potential for curing insomnia, seeing as how you have no drowsiness the next day, no hangover, and none of the bizarre "sleep driving/eating" side effects.

Random journal lurker here:

I live in Massachusetts and last year, they decriminalized marijuana. (hard to believe considering Massachusetts is best known as the "Nanny State") It's still against the law, but pretty much if you have marijuana on you and you're caught, they just hit you with a small fine. They did it mostly because the police departments would rather commit their time to crime that actually effects society. Personally, they should pretty much have marijuana replace tobacco. It's not as damaging and it doesn't smell as bad. Plus any addiction to it would be natural rather than being caused from nicotine.

marijuana smells way worse than tobacco, but at least it doesn't linger as bad X3

I guess the guys I know who smoke it must be smoking smaller amounts. But yeah, it really doesn't cling to clothing as badly.

Criminal enterprises making money on drugs do NOT want competition.
Criminal enterprises making money on drugs DO pay politicians to maintain a profitable status quo.
“A wealthy man can afford anything except a conscience—Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #261 ^{http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Rules_of_Acquisition}

Shush, people aren't ready to know about such things >.>

Those who use and like the idea of weed being legal will argue you into the floor.

Those who don't want to see it legal will agree with you completely.

Me? I think making weed legal would soon have half the US in flames. Those who use it would have huge access to it and use it more, and those who had never used it would have to deal with all the commercials, ads, fliers and sales setups in stores until at least some of them caved and tried it... and then some of them would turn into potheads too.

People say tobacco is regulated and can't be grown, but it can just like weed can. And it doesn't need any special treatment to be used; it's been smoked for a LONG time, long before there was any company running things or the government really gave a damn about it. Same with liquor. My father used to make vodka and wine in the basement in his spare time.

I know it has some medical uses, but I honestly wouldn't mind seeing it gone from the world at large. Too many people use it to hide from the stress of the world, rather than trying to deal with things and make them better, and though we all need a place to go to feel comfortable, fuckin up your mind and body isn't really helping you... just deluding you.

So, what do you imagine a better solution would be on this matter?