Bill to legalize Marijuana introduced in California

[Mezzlegasm]

Do you ever stop and think of why drugs are illegal in the first place? They're dangerous. It protects people from harming themselves and others. That is what laws are for. It has been illegal for a long time and with good reason.

Then we should illegalize Cigarettes and Booze. It is very hypocritical to have Booze and Smokes legal while leaving Pot illegal. No one dies of Pot, ever. There is not one documented death in world history. Booze and Cigarette's kill thousands of people a year in just America alone. It is all so retarded.

I've already said, the only reason alcohol isn't outlawed is because of how long it was accepted as "okay" previously. They tried to outlaw it, but couldn't. Cigarettes are most likely not outlawed because of the amount of tax revenue they produce.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

I know, but the high is mentally addictive. You don't "feel good" off second hand smoke.

You don't feel good off of second hand weed smoke either. You'd have to be sitting in a small enclosed space with a whole bunch of people chonging down to get high off second hand smoke.

 

[Danzaivar]

I've already said, the only reason alcohol isn't outlawed is because of how long it was accepted as "okay" previously. They tried to outlaw it, but couldn't. Cigarettes are most likely not outlawed because of the amount of tax revenue they produce.

Cannabis is in a similar category really, legally it's against the law but socially (in most places i've seen) it's pretty much accepted. Even staunch anti-cannabis people accept it's not as bad as 'hard drugs' like coke and stuff. I know more people who dislike the stuff because it reeks worse than tobacco than because my Government says it's illegal.

It's pretty much illegal because 'we say so', which is hardly justification for a law. (For the record, I don't use the stuff, tried it about 6 years ago and hated it, never tried it again. I do respect the fact some people like it however, in my eyes it's no worse than alcohol, except the damn smell).

 

[PirateKing]

I applaud this action. Sounds good to me.

 

[Captain Blackout]

If it gets legalized someone should make a reality tv-show on it:
Who gets to overdose the fastest:
People sitting around day after day and trying to do it
I'd be hilarious and at least on par in terms of sophistication with most shows that run in the UK

I WANT ON THAT SHOW!

I'll bring Denis Leary and Bill Hicks with me (right after I perform a resurrection!)

It'll be more sophisticated than _most_ of the T.V. here.

I WANT ON THAT SHOW!!

Our first season will be a celebrity special wit washed up celebrities like:
Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty and Bill Gates

You're gonna have to wait in line

I'm bringing DENIS LEARY and BILL HICKS with me. That should get me a pass!

 

[Yog Sothoth]

If it gets legalized someone should make a reality tv-show on it:
Who gets to overdose the fastest:
People sitting around day after day and trying to do it
I'd be hilarious and at least on par in terms of sophistication with most shows that run in the UK

I WANT ON THAT SHOW!

I'll bring Denis Leary and Bill Hicks with me (right after I perform a resurrection!)

It'll be more sophisticated than _most_ of the T.V. here.

I WANT ON THAT SHOW!!

Our first season will be a celebrity special wit washed up celebrities like:
Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty and Bill Gates

You're gonna have to wait in line

I'm bringing DENIS LEARY and BILL HICKS with me. That should get me a pass!

I'm bringing the ashes of Kieth Richards.... yes, I know he's not dead yet!

 

[Captain Blackout]

...

Sorry I didn't read through the whole thread, I just couldn't stand another idiot post.

I'm I the only one who finds it ironic that someone who considers marijuana harmful and dangerous can't be bothered to read something...?

You do realize that I read the first two pages, right?

Oh, and I'm sorry that I can't find time the read 6 pages of a thread with repeated ideas with no correction or erroneous correction in between my other reading of which I'm positive I've done more than you have in the past week.

I'm done with the pot thread, but this needs challenged. Yes I know, you admitted to hyperbole and rhetoric. Not enough.

A very short sample of my reading list:
Existential Psychotherapy, most of the Bible, the Tao Te Jhing, William Gibson, Tad Williams, Tolkien, various issues of J.A.M.A. - Journal of the American Medical Association, biographies of Einstien and Jim Morrison, Hagakuri, The Art of War, A Brief History of Time.

This list goes on and on. All of what I listed here was for personal education, and does not include anything I've ever read for work or school. Some of these were lent to me by Yog. I doubt his reading list is quite as extensive as mine, but I could be wrong. I've known three people, ever, who could keep up with me in general, Yog being one of them. Why? Because he's as well-read of a person as I've ever met. We trade books back and forth on a regular basis. Well, usually I'm borrowing from him, not the other way around.

So, you want to make a hyperbolic statement in an attempt to what? Show you have a greater knowledge base? To borrow a page from Sun Tzu, know your opponent before taking them.

In general for all of us here: Don't take anything for granted. Keep reading, be critical, read more, be even more critical. I have at _least_ three different disabilities. I have "od'ed" on pot. I _needed_ to know everything I could about it before smoking anymore. So I read everything I could get my hands on from all sides of the discussion. I still do. That combined with personal experience is the only way I know of to keep one's own education as informed as possible.

 

[Yog Sothoth]

However, smoking in bars or other public places like that, especially around children should not be allowed.

Wait.... they let children into bars...?

 

[Ultrajoe]

I'll just leave this here, for all parties to consider

Come on Ultrajoe, you can do better then that.

I can, that was rather the point of my dropping the link.

But it's good to see you all missed the point in eloquent fashion, at least. Have fun, i'm off to smoke an entire old-wood redwood forest... the choice of lumberjacks and other manly, manly men.

 

[Kontar]

Yes we claim to live in a free country, the idea that drugs will cause morals to decrease is unfounded, government exists to serve the people not protect them from themselves and anarchy is NO LAWS and NO government.

Although I'd say throwing people in jail for doing something that doesn't harm others is immoral.

And despite your pathetic use of the slippery slope all drugs should be legal. Crack speed, PCP, black tar, pick your favorite.

Drinking and driving endangers the public whereas heroin (and drinking in general) does not. Do you not understand the difference or do you need it explained to you?

And so what if booze and tobacco have been legal for centuries. Aren't they still bad for you?

Do you ever stop and think of why drugs are illegal in the first place? They're dangerous. It protects people from harming themselves and others. That is what laws are for. It has been illegal for a long time and with good reason.

Yes, alcohol and tobacco are still bad for you. Tobacco we didn't even know was harmful until fairly recently. Alcohol has always been harmful and would be illegal were it not so widely accepted in our nation. They are still bad, we don't need more bad things.

Saying "Alcohol and tobacco are legal, therefore pot shot be legal" is like saying "I've broken your nose and gave you a black eye, therefore I should break your finger". It isn't really logical.

I can't force you to agree with me, but the evidence is there. Drugs have caused problems and widespread use of them will continue to cause problems. Do you honestly believe that those who have truely contributed to the world have been avid drug users? Do you think that Einstein smoked some pot while deriving the famous equation E=mc^2?

First of all, yes I think all drugs SHOULD be legal, it would reduce the amount of money we as a nation (america in my case) spend fighting the "drug lords" of these kinds of drugs. If these drugs were legalized then we could regulate them, tax them, and allow for rehab clinics for people who took them too far. I don't think it's up to a government to decide what is good for its citizens, it's up to the citizens to decide that. Plus regulating it doesn't stop people from getting that drug. Think of all the taxes the U.S government could collect from all the "illegal" drugs if it were to sell it like alcohol.

Second of all, we tried outlawing alcohol, remember? It was the great age of abolision (spelling?), it led to gang members running moonshine and other liquors to underground bars, and it led to nothing but more crime and more people illegally drinking (they weren't gonna stop getting drunk were they?). So why do we think it's any different for any other drug? People who want that drug, get it, they pay more than they probably should, and the money doesn't go to our government in the form of taxes, and it doesn't go towards our economy in the form of sales. It instead goes towards illegal and underground crime groups.

Yes drugs cause problems, but they cause more problems if they are illegal, they fuel drug wars, drug lords, and illegal drug transport into our country.

If we were to legalize all drugs out there, it would virtually kill the illegal drug trade (since it would no longer be illegal), we would collect immense amount of taxes (are you aware of the incredible amount of money the government makes off of alcohol and nicotine?), and we would fortify, and better our econonomy AND our country with the taxes.

Yes parents would have to teach their kids that it is not alright to get addicted to any of these drugs, but really, they try and in my opinion, some do well in teaching their kids this. Of course there will be people who get addicted to these drugs, abuse them, and ruin their lives, but how is this any different than where we are now? Except we could tax these people and make money off of them, and offer them legal "rehab" clinics to get better.

The idea to illegalize drugs is antiquated and short sited in my opinion. There should be no reason in our day and age to illegalize these drugs. People can make their own choices, and they get the drugs they want right now, even though they are illegal, so why not get something out of it?

 

[edinflames]

If it gets legalized someone should make a reality tv-show on it:
Who gets to overdose the fastest:
People sitting around day after day and trying to do it
I'd be hilarious and at least on par in terms of sophistication with most shows that run in the UK

I WANT ON THAT SHOW!

I'll bring Denis Leary and Bill Hicks with me (right after I perform a resurrection!)

It'll be more sophisticated than _most_ of the T.V. here.

I WANT ON THAT SHOW!!

Our first season will be a celebrity special wit washed up celebrities like:
Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty and Bill Gates

You're gonna have to wait in line

I'm bringing DENIS LEARY and BILL HICKS with me. That should get me a pass!

I'm bringing the ashes of Kieth Richards.... yes, I know he's not dead yet!

I'd be interested to see the surgeon general's report on Keith..."drugs are bad, but not for this guy, they work really well for him, he just keeps on living".

People, stop equating all drugs as one.

Cannabis is not as bad as Crack, Heroin, Ketamine, et al.

You wouldn't know that from the way US and UK government behaves, but its true. Even the UK govt's AMCD (advisory medical council on drugs) reccomends declassification of cannabis, but the policy makers make it more illegal instead. Bastards.

 

[Yog Sothoth]

Hmmm... got awful quiet in here recently... could it be that the nay-sayers have run out of propaganda and mis-information to distribute?

 

[Lukeje]

Hmmm... got awful quiet in here recently... could it be that the nay-sayers have run out of propaganda and mis-information to distribute?

...or that there's no point in an argument where neither side will back down.

 

[Yog Sothoth]

Hmmm... got awful quiet in here recently... could it be that the nay-sayers have run out of propaganda and mis-information to distribute?

...or that there's no point in an argument where neither side will back down.

That possibility crossed my mind as well....

 

[Lukeje]

Hmmm... got awful quiet in here recently... could it be that the nay-sayers have run out of propaganda and mis-information to distribute?

...or that there's no point in an argument where neither side will back down.

That possibility crossed my mind as well....

I don't know; I'm slowly coming round to the idea that it should probably be legalised, but not for smoking. Why not just create 'Mary-Jane tea' or something? No risk of 'second-hand' smoke, much safer than cigarettes (in terms of lung cancer at least), plus a higher THC content.

 

[Shotgunbunny]

I don't know why the myth of marijuana not being dangerous floats around. It has more carcinogens the cigarettes and thus has a higher chance of causing lung cancer. Overdoses on marijuana are far more likely the overdoses on booze. The only reason you DON'T hear about that stuff is because there are no ads saying don't do pot for (blah) reasons because its already illegal.

There is no such thing as an overdoze for marijuana, my friend.
You can trust me, the toking Dutchman, on that.
And legalization is only a good thing, because there will always be weed. So the best thing to do is at least make sure the weed that is sold is of decent quality.

If you've ever seen anyone "overdose" on weed, it's probably because they put something in it. Dealers do it all the time, like spraying some hairspray on it because it makes it look like it's high quality. But I myself have gotten severe headaches from junk like that, before we were allowed into a coffeeshop.

 

[Yog Sothoth]

Hmmm... got awful quiet in here recently... could it be that the nay-sayers have run out of propaganda and mis-information to distribute?

...or that there's no point in an argument where neither side will back down.

That possibility crossed my mind as well....

I don't know; I'm slowly coming round to the idea that it should probably be legalised, but not for smoking. Why not just create 'Mary-Jane tea' or something? No risk of 'second-hand' smoke, much safer than cigarettes (in terms of lung cancer at least), plus a higher THC content.

Glad to hear that you're staying open-minded.

For the record, ingesting cannabis is in all probability more dangerous than smoking it. It's far easier to consume toxic quantities by that method. I think that were it decriminalized we should either follow the example set in the Netherlands with their hashbas, or restrict usage to private residences.

Either way, I certainly agree that people who don't want to partake should be shielded from it by whatever means necessary.