yeah..but in 5 years it will progress to more and more people doing it. but hey at least the weed heads will have to cry about something else.
They obviously don't think people should do drugs that are classified as illegal. It's not like if you legalize it, pot smoking is going to go down. If they could ban alcohol and tobacco without a ton of public outcry, they'd probably do it. Or at least they would if they weren't getting so much money from tobacco lobbyists.
Which explains why alcohol consumption actually went down following the end of prohibition, right? What basis do you have for that statement? ....That's what I thought....
i first smoked weed when i was in 7th grade. in fact i prefer getting high than getting drunk (might be cuz i smoked before i drank) all i did in college was smoke weed (lived in austin)... was able to hold a steady job and graduate in 4 years. during that time i had to quit smoking every now and then for different reasons and had no problems, no withdrawals or anything. people react differently to weed. alot of ppl will smoke and become useless, but i can smoke and be completely normal. in fact, i would find my classwork alot more interesting seeing it under the influence of thc. theres been alot of research in the past 20 years or so done on cannabinoids and the brain (cb1 and cb2 receptors), in fact most if not all pharmacies carry rx mar1juana under the trade name Marinol (this wasnt the case as little as 2 years ago). i think the tide is turning on legalization of mar1juana. i believe new mexico just recently legalized a few months ago.
Ooh yeah because we had all those gangs and rebels back in the 1920's. Prohibition was over 70 years ago, weed has never been legal, those are what I based my stuff on.
granted i dont know much personally about weed i knew of a few people who smoked every now and then and they were all freakin smart and held up the rest of their lives perfectly. did research, won academic awards, etc. one of them right now is in the utbhp program, the others went their own routes. then again it was a boarding college where everyone was smart ive definitely considered trying it but never had the opportunity. but i just started real college
Dude....what? The mafia got super rich, super powerful, and super dangerous back then, mostly via profits from the then-illegal sales of booze. And while weed wasn't ever "legal," per se, it wasn't made illegal until somewhere around the 1930's or '40's. It was/is literally a weed....it wasn't any more legal or illegal than the grass growing in our back yards. What's your point?
mar1juana is only illegal because white people (lawmakers) haven't found an effective way to profit from it yet, and because our govt is holding firm on outdated moral principles. A lot of this mar1juana hatred stems from social prejudices of almost 100 years ago, which is a main reason why opium was outlawed in the earlier part of the 20th century... white men weren't happy seeing their women smoking dope and partying with with colored people.
heck no. the us makes 10 billion dollars off the sale of alchohol and that doesn't include dui violations. no way is alchohol leaving. the main reason why weed is illegal is thanks to the cigarette companies during the 50's. too bad, cuz there's so much other uses to mar1juana, that doesn't involve just smoking it. funny, I was talking to my boss about legalizing hard drugs last week. Here's my idea. 60 percent of the prison populations are incarcerated due to drug related offenses. Instead of building more prisons, convert about of them into drug facilities. In these centers you can take as much drugs as you want, but you can't leave until you've been clean for 2 or so months. Drug users are off the streets, no drug dealers, no o.d. cuz the doses are monitored, no spreading disease since the drugs are clean. Counseling for those who wants to quit would be present and required for you to leave. The cost of the facilities would be similar to operating prisons minus billions of dollars on controlling it (i.e. DEA). it would be difficult to implement though, cuz there's a current billion dollar industry build on controlling drug. too many people making money now
I have never used mar1juana, but family members have been in serious trouble with the law over it. There is no good reason why mar1juana shouldn't be legal. Recently Congress voted against the Hinchey Amendment which would have stopped federal raids against medical mar1juana patients in states which they are already legal. This is pathetic :"Democrats have been far more likely than Republicans to back the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment, which last week was supported by 66 percent of the Democrats who voted but opposed by 92 percent of the Republicans." Here's a record of the vote from last month: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll733.xml The Republicans should be ashamed of this lack of compassion- this is to allow medical patients to use their medication in a state where it is already legal! I recently contacted my Congressman, one Nick Lampson about this issue. He was one of the Democrats who voted against the proposed amendment. First I sent him an automated plea from NORML. His response was so ridiculous it turned into me attacking every one of his points. Here is my first message and response: Your message was sent to: Representative Nick Lampson I urge you to support the Hinchey medical mar1juana amendment this week during consideration of the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill. The amendment would limit the DEA in targeting seriously ill medical mar1juana patients and their caregivers who are complying with state law. These patients -- some of whom suffer from HIV/AIDS, cancer, and multiple sclerosis, to name just a few -- are not criminals or a threat to the well being of the community; they are citizens who are afflicted with crippling and often terminal illnesses, and they are desperate to find relief from their suffering. Considering the myriad of threats to our country, limited law enforcement resources should not be squandered harassing seriously ill people, especially when the DEA already faces a staffing shortfall for agents. The real threat to our nation comes from those who are committed to violence against Americans. Stopping terrorists and major drug traffickers should be the priority of law enforcement. Please take this opportunity to insist that the Justice Department focus its resources on actions that will truly protect us. Your vote for the Hinchey amendment will help make Americans safer and will eliminate the fear of arrest among seriously ill patients and those who care for them. Thank you in advance for your support. His response July 27, 2007 Dear Omar, Thank you for contacting me in support of the Hinchey Medical mar1juana Amendment. mar1juana lacks accepted safety requirements even for use under supervision by a physician and currently has no accepted medical need in the United States . While I do appreciate the material that you sent me, I believe that any change in the legal status of mar1juana will serve as a great detriment to society. Currently there are problems with prescription medication addiction and I feel that legalizing the medical use of mar1juana will only increase those problems. mar1juana is currently classified by the US Drug Enforcement Agency as a schedule drug, which notes its a high potential for abuse, no approved medical use in the United States , and lacks accepted safety for use under a physician. Additionally, physicians do have the ability to prescribe safe and effective medications to alleviate a patient's pain. While I am aware that the medical conditions you mentioned cause great discomfort to patients, I do not believe mar1juana use is the answer. Again, thank you for taking the time to share your views with me. If I can ever be of assistance to you in the future, please do not hesitate to be in touch. I look forward to hearing from you again soon. Sincerely, NICK LAMPSON Member of Congress ..... I'll post the 2nd part of my conversation, ripping his arguments to threads.
I know a lot of very successful people with families etc who still smoke. It's not a big deal to me. I don't think the drug can be blamed for anything. I don't think possession of a plant should land you in prison either. We could live at peace with mar1juana, letting grow wild along the roadside. mar1juana could also be used to help mankind. It's a gift. But that's just not the reality most people want.
That Hinchey Amendment is bad law. If they want to legalize prescription mar1juana at the federal level, they should just do it. States can't make laws that contradict federal laws, AFAIK.
Here is my response to what he "wrote". His responses sound pretty cut and paste. As someone who voted for you in the last election, I urge you to look into this matter further. "mar1juana is currently classified by the US Drug Enforcement Agency as a schedule drug, which notes its a high potential for abuse, no approved medical use in the United States, and lacks accepted safety for use under a physician" As far as safety, mar1juana has proven to be one of the safest substances around. Prescription drugs and OTC drugs are far more dangerous. Regarding safety, DEA U.S. Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young in September, 1988, after reviewing all the evidence on rescheduling cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule II, stated: "In strict medical terms mar1juana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating ten raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough mar1juana to induce death. mar1juana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis mar1juana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care." The view that mar1juana lacks any medical use is one that is only shared by the government. Respected doctors and terminally ill patients will tell you otherwise. 72 percent of respondents in an AARP survey agree that "adults should be allowed to legally use mar1juana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it." http://www.aarp.org/research/refere...es_of_marijuana_opinions_of_us_residents.html http://www.marinol.com/ Also it seems quite hypocritical for the US government to make a claim like that, and have the FDA APPROVED drug Marinol. Marinol is a synthetic version of THC extracted from the mar1juana plant. The drug is used to treat terminally ill patients suffering from the same ailments as medical mar1juana patients- Cancer, AIDS, MS, appetite disorders. The problem is the drug has proven to be far less effective than mar1juana because it is not instantly absorbed, and the cost is not something people can afford. Here is more info on its medical use: http://www.alternet.org/story/53947/ Quote: "All these heavy-duty narcotics made me almost incoherent. I couldn't take them when I had to work, because they turned me into a zombie. Worse, all of these drugs are highly addictive, and one thing I knew was that I didn't want to become a junkie. When someone suggested I try mar1juana, I was skeptical -- but desperate. To my amazement, it worked when these other legal drugs failed. Three puffs and within minutes the excruciating pain in my legs subsided. I had my first restful sleep in months." Here is an article from MS sufferer and TV personality Montel Williams. He describes the pain relief he achieved from medical mar1juana, working where prescription medications had failed him. A new study from the University of California, published Feb. 13 in the highly regarded medical journal Neurology, leaves no doubt about that. You see, people with MS suffer from a particular type of pain called neuropathic pain -- pain caused by damage to the nerves. It's common in MS, but also in many other illnesses, including diabetes and HIV/AIDS. It's typically a burning or stabbing sensation, and conventional pain drugs don't help much, whatever the specific illness. The new study, conducted by Dr. Donald Abrams, looked at neuropathic pain in HIV/AIDS patients. About one-third of people with HIV eventually suffer this kind of pain, and there are no FDA-approved treatments. For some, it gets so bad that they can't walk. This was what is known as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the "gold standard" of medical research. And mar1juana worked. The very first mar1juana cigarette reduced the pain by an average of 72 percent, without serious side effects. What makes this even more impressive is that U.S. researchers studying mar1juana are required to use mar1juana supplied by the federal government -- mar1juana that is famous for being weak and of poor quality. So there is every reason to believe that studies such as this one underestimate the potential relief that high-quality mar1juana could provide. Proposals to make mar1juana legally available as a medicine are countered with claims that safer, more effective drugs are available, including a synthetic version of delta-9-THC, mar1juana's primary active ingredient. For thousands of years, throughout the world, people have used mar1juana to treat a variety of medical conditions. Today, in the United States, such use is prohibited. Although 36 states have passed legislation to allow mar1juana's use as a medicine, federal law preempts their making mar1juana legally available to patients. People undergoing cancer chemotherapy have found smoked mar1juana to be an effective anti-nauseant - often more effective than available pharmaceutical medications. Indeed, 44% of oncologists responding to a questionnaire said they had recommended mar1juana to their cancer patients; others said they would recommend it if it were legal. mar1juana is also smoked by thousands of AIDS patients to treat the nausea and vomiting associated with both the disease and AZT drug therapy. Because it stimulates appetite, mar1juana also counters HIV-related "wasting," allowing AIDS patients to gain weight and prolong their lives. I also urge you to read various scientific reports about the medical use- to see an unbiased scientific view. http://books.nap.edu/html/marimed/ (1999) -- The Institute of Medicine (IOM) published this report in response to the the White House's request for a review of scientific information about mar1juana's medical uses. This report is informative and straightforward, and states the clear conclusion that scientific evidence indicates the therapeutic effects of "cannabinoid drugs, primarily THC, for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation." http://books.nap.edu/html/marimed/es.html The only major federal report on the the subject of medicinal use of mar1juana concluded that there was evidence that mar1juana could be useful for "pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation." mar1juana also does not have a high potential for abuse, unlike addictive substances like alcohol and tobacco. It is now frequently stated that mar1juana is profoundly addicting and that any increase in prevalence of use will lead inevitably to increases in addiction. Essentially all drugs are used in "an addictive fashion" by some people. However, for any drug to be identified as highly addictive, there should be evidence that substantial numbers of users repeatedly fail in their attempts to discontinue use and develop use-patterns that interfere with other life activities. National epidemiological surveys show that the large majority of people who have had experience with mar1juana do not become regular users. In 1993, among Americans age 12 and over, about 34% had used mar1juana sometime in their life, but only 9% had used it in the past year, 4.3% in the past month, and 2.8% in the past week. A longitudinal study of young adults who had first been surveyed in high school also found a high "discontinuation rate" for mar1juana. While 77% had used the drug, 74% of those had NOT used in the past year and 84% had NOT used in the past month. Compare this to a truly addictive drug, such as the nicotine in smoked tobacco with a 90% addiction rate, and the argument for possible mar1juana addiction starts to sound very silly. I could go on and on, but the matter at hand is how the federal government is treating terminally ill patients. If the individual state says its legal, a doctor recommends it to a patient, and the patient reports pain relief not achieved by conventional drugs- then why does the DEA continue to prosecute these individuals? I think this is a major issue and the United States really shows a lack of compassion when making criminals out of terminally ill patients. I believe that federal policy is close to changing however- 10 out of 17, including U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) — of the presidential candidates pledge to end the federal government’s war on medical mar1juana users. The days of DEA raids on seriously ill people are numbered. I would like to thank you for taking time out of your day to respond to me, and representing our District well. Again I urge you to look at the issue further- read about the science, talk to doctors, and patients. Sincerely , Omar Again he responded with more nonsense: August 8, 2007 Dear Texas, Thank you for contacting me to request my introduction and support of legislation regarding the decriminalization of mar1juana for adults. I appreciate hearing from you. I have no plans to introduce legislation that would decriminalize the use of mar1juana for adults, nor do I support the use of mar1juana by adults. While I do appreciate the material that you sent me outlining your rationale, I believe that any change in the legal status of mar1juana, even if limited to adults, could affect the prevalence of use among adolescents. For example, tobacco and alcohol products, both legal for adults 18 and 21 years of age, respectively, are the psychoactive substances most widely abused by adolescents. mar1juana currently is classified by the US Drug Enforcement Agency as a schedule I drug, which means that it has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in the United States , and lacks accepted safety for use under supervision by a physician. Again, thank you for writing. Please don't hesitate to do so in the future for any assistance you might need. I look forward to hearing from you again soon. Sincerely, NICK LAMPSON Member of Congress And my FINAL response to him: Dear Nick, Thank you for responding to me again. From the last info I sent you-mar1juana use has proven to be far safer than alcohol and tobacco, which are widely abused as you stated. If alcohol and tobacco is legal and taxed then it makes no sense that mar1juana is not, while being far safer. Also the hemp plant, which contains minute amounts of THC and cannot be used as a drug, has a wide array of uses from paper, fibers, and is considered to be a better source of ethanol than corn. But decriminalization of mar1juana and allowing farmers to grow non pyschoactive hemp are different issues- I was voicing my support for the Hinchey Medical mar1juana Amendment which will prohibit the Federal Government from raiding and arresting medical mar1juana patients /dispensaries in states where they have already made medicinal mar1juana legal. Treating patients that can only get relief from medical mar1juana as criminals is wrong and a violation of basic civil liberties. These people are not criminals, they are terminally sick and in most cases medical mar1juana is the only thing that provides relief for their pain. Again I urge you to look into the matter further, instead of sticking by this blanket statement:"mar1juana currently is classified by the US Drug Enforcement Agency as a schedule I drug, which means that it has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in the United States , and lacks accepted safety for use under supervision by a physician." Please take the time and read through all the information I sent you with my last email, talk to the doctors, patients, etc. I know it is difficult to change your mind on a position that may be longheld, but I believe when you look at the facts and science it is overwhemingly on medical mar1juana's side. I'd like to thank you for responding to each one of my emails. I voted for you in the last election here in Sugar Land, and agree with yourself on most issues. I will continue to rally support for this issue, and you will hear from many more people. Hope you change your mind! Omar Contact your congressman through NORML or MPP and let your opinion be heard! PS: Every Democratic Presidential Candidate Vows to Halt Medical mar1juana Raids !
One more thing If weed became legal .. I suspect Tobacco sales would plummet Most of the people i know who smoke. . . smoke when weed is not available If they went into a store. . and a 10 Pack of Weed versus a 20 pack of Tobacco The would pick Weed everytime and twice on Sundays but that is just my observation IMO If you wonder why weed is not legal . .. look at the same Tobacco Lobby Rocket River
I hate any smoking. Never smoked a day in my life. It smells mad, and the scent rubs off on clothes to easy. I ban smoking in my room/car. However - Weed > Cigarettes > Black&Mild(yuck) Also, out of them all as far as I know, weed is the only one that can have a positive effect. Don't see a reason why it shouldn't be legalized.
