Galt's Gulch

What do Gulchers think of marijuana legalization?

Posted by johnpe1 9 years, 2 months ago to Culture
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is this stuff like alcohol, which should be legally managed,
or a dangerous gateway drug? . What Do You Think? -- j
.
SOURCE URL: http://jonathanturley.org/2015/10/22/gallup-poll-58-of-americans-want-marijuana-legalized/

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  • Posted by richrobinson 9 years, 2 months ago
    I would prefer to see it legalized. A friend of mine suggested that it may be a gateway drug because it is illegal. People using marijuana have to buy it from drug dealers who also deal harder drugs. His theory is if it were legal and you bought it at a drug store or liquor shop you would be less likely to move on to a harder substance.
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    • Posted by CircuitGuy 9 years, 2 months ago
      "A friend of mine suggested that it may be a gateway drug because it is illegal"
      That's a very good point. I'd never thought of that. There are many gateway activities in our society, then, because so many things are illegal.
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      • Posted by richrobinson 9 years, 2 months ago
        It basically determines who you end up hanging out with. I still think it will be legalized for the tax revenue. States are running out of income sources.
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        • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 2 months ago
          That will make some folks very rich. 1930's and Black Market here we come! Well.....in musing....everything else has failed except the the one thing that would work. But I don't see that changing either. Quit Spending! As for me I believe in debt repudiation. I repudiadate my share of the national debt unless the nation returns to Constitutional law.

          Otherwise....it's not worth the effort much less worth dying for.

          24 years Infantry and not one Kerry Heart in the collection.... for what? Match that or close to it. I'll listen.
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          • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 2 months ago
            As for the pot heads. Leave them alone unless they do cause an accident or a death. Then treat them like anyone else. People who think and talk like Nancy Pelosillyni are better left ignored. when I see results of legalization in the realm of empty beds in prisons then it begins to have some use.
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          • Posted by richrobinson 9 years, 2 months ago
            Quit spending. YES! As for the black market you are probably right. The government will most likely tax and regulate it to the point that it will be ridiculously expensive. I read once that half of all cigarettes sold in New York City are on the black market because of high the taxes are.
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            • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 2 months ago
              Been that way for decades. 1969 only night clubs in some cities had reached a dollar a pack in the machines. NYC was the first. In the Military Commissary $2.00 a carton overseas $3.00 in the USA. Gas was under fifty cents a gallon. How do you pay for a weekend in Washington DC or elsewhere? trunk full of Camels, Marlboro Red and Salems. We paid for our gas at certain statons enroute to and from with that sort of currency.

              Washington's Governor and former Attorney General part of the great nicotine heist took the solvent state into indebtedness and into the realm of $50 a carton smokes. There was no real black market. Washington had reservation stores. Served the same purpose. Having not smoked for 32 years I was a bystander but it did exist. Head shops another place with American Spirit brand were 'reputed' to be a good source of lower costs. The black market in pot accounts for the excess grown in the drug States and the products destination to other States. From there to Colorado it's just a matter of interstate trucking. A free ride to the drug markets of the East.
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  • Posted by Ben_C 9 years, 2 months ago
    Its personal responsibility. Ownership of the consequences is the central issue. Those who are constantly stoned with their altered reality must be held accountable for their actions. Whether it is in the work place (assuming they have a job) or driving an automobile they put others at risk. To this I object. But making it illegal won't stop the behavior just as gun legislation will not stop shooting crimes. Society needs to make the consequences severe if the behavior results in harm to others. Inhale away - just don't ask me for a job or drive in my neighborhood.
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  • Posted by broskjold22 9 years, 2 months ago
    MJ has a stigma associated with it. Does topical cocaine when used for excessive nosebleeds? Does morphine when used to alleviate intense pain? Does alcohol when used to sterilize?

    One can use pot to cope with conditions from PTSD to ADHD to appetite loss caused by cancer treatment, to treating cancer itself.

    Whatever stigma is associated with this drug, should it not be the object of medical study? Do so-called "pot-heads" use the drug to escape reality or does the drug assist them in dealing with symptoms recognized by medical professionals?

    What we are discussing here is not the question of are there benefits to the drug, but is recreational use of it acceptable? If so, what makes recreational use of any drug acceptable versus not acceptable? I think this is largely determined by culture/climate, etc.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 9 years, 2 months ago
    "is this stuff like alcohol, which should be legally managed,"
    This is actually two questions.
    1. Is it lke alcohol?
    I think it's significantly safer in terms of health risks to user, tendency to encourage behavior dangerous to others, and risk of addiction.
    2. Should risky/dangerous things be legally managed?
    We should not legally manage things based on their risks only to the user. (i.e. helmet, seatbelt laws.) That's up to each person. We should very cautious about legally managing things that somewhere down the line they may be a risk or cost to other people. (i.e. cars, guns, drugs like alcohol)

    The "gateway" phrase bothers me b/c it's based on the idea that gov't should stop people from doing things based on any possible indirect risk down the line, even if the thing itself is harmless.
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    • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 2 months ago
      it'a all addictive with rushes and withdrawal symptoms. So is chocolate, caffiene, nicotine. only the addicted refuse to acknowledge or lack the ability to recognize when they have lost it and are no longer responsible....but society doesn't care You hurt someone else you pay. Except in liberal societies where you are mollycoddled and encouraged to become a repeat offender. Society also decides the level of punishment. Fly at a picnic instant execution no report filed. Kind of like the new rules in the patriot act. Marijuana you get long terms in jail under three strikes apparently. hurt, maim and kill people in auto accidents you get a series of slaps on the wrist. Nicotine you pay the price for committing suicide we now read same results from heavy marijuana use. it's not all carcinogens. Probably why the next move is to get the price down. Meanwhile the turn people loose for marijuana offenses ploy seems to have been more scam than anything else.

      I personally like the fly swatter approach....No fly swatted ever bothers my hot dog again. No revenge or recidivism or re-education needed just instant removal....

      Now the 'but what of and what if's can start."






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    • Posted by johnpe1 9 years, 2 months ago
      I was adopting "conventional terminology" for the post,
      since alcohol is legally managed, and MJ is considered
      a gateway drug by many. . it might not have been wise
      to do that, here. -- j

      p.s. I have emphysema, so smoking stuff seems bad.
      .
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 2 months ago
    The drug of choice to dumb down society in general.Since society in general will always need a ruling class and refuse to take that responsibility unto itself. It's pay as you go and far better than the other methods used in the past. Saves the cost of re-education camps (public schools) and produced a docile collection of sheep. Or so they claim.

    Legalizing so far does not release the massive amount of inmates who are behind bars for toking and thereby freeing up jail space....I'll never believe that campaign promise again.

    I thought much the same of diversity as a tool to divide and conquer or to set groups against each other. There is a difference betwen diversithy and honoring the past. Our Patron Saint's Day - Olaf - celebrates the discovery of the western hemisphere by European explorers. Followed by the Irish, the Portuguese and perhaps preceded by the Chinese. Finally Giovanni Come Lately a Geoese on hire to the King of Spain followed. Three lies in one three word sentence? Columbus Discovered America. His name wasn't Columbus, He didn't discover anytning, and it wasn't named America. But he had the best Spin Doctors available at he time in Europe.
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