Legalize it!

[emilynghiem]

I still smoke weed. Don't much care if it's legal or not.

Does it affect your chromosomes or genetics?
Does that matter to you if it does?

All four of my children are happy and well adjusted adults. So if it did affect my chromosomes or genes it did so in a good way.
Not as much as my right to do as I wish with my own body.

As long as you don't expect taxpayers to pay for your health care, or your children's,
if something goes wrong and there are side effects over time.

If people who want legalization don't want to pay for prisons and police,
it makes sense that the people who criminalize it should agree to pay those costs associated.
It's only fair that people who want drug users to get spiritual healing and help to prevent
addiction or abuse NOT to have to pay for any consequences of using drugs they don't agree in funding the use of, either.

So let's sit down and spell out what we do or don't agree to pay for.
and make sure we are not dumping the cost of consequences on the other side.

I vote for spiritual healing because that cures more than medicine or marijuana does alone,
and it is natural free with no side effects, and even cures and breaks the cycle of addiction and abuse,
while marijuana does not.

The effects of spiritual healing can be replicated freely, without relying on temporary effects as marijuana does.

So if we were to invest research equally into both the
beneficial effects and resources/lives/health, minds and relationships saved by spiritual healing,
which is free natural and without side effects,
that would still come out more effective than marijuana that is limited and has risks of side effects and dependency.

If this research were promoted, and education made publicly accessible,
more people would choose natural benefits of spiritual healing and more people would lose the need or desire for marijuana, except for medical cases that depend on the chemicals not related to the recreational use which is optional.

I find it VERY telling that of the people with the most knowledge and experience
with spiritual healing, none of them want or promote drug or alcohol use.
To many, it causes more problems that it helps.

And of the people who promote and advocate marijuana use, very few have
any knowledge or experience with spiritual healing. I think there is a reason for that.
I don't think that is a coincidence that such people don't know how it works.

 

[Carib Gyal]

I still smoke weed. Don't much care if it's legal or not.

Does it affect your chromosomes or genetics?
Does that matter to you if it does?

All four of my children are happy and well adjusted adults. So if it did affect my chromosomes or genes it did so in a good way.
Not as much as my right to do as I wish with my own body.

As long as you don't expect taxpayers to pay for your health care, or your children's,
if something goes wrong and there are side effects over time.

If people who want legalization don't want to pay for prisons and police,
it makes sense that the people who criminalize it should agree to pay those costs associated.
It's only fair that people who want drug users to get spiritual healing and help to prevent
addiction or abuse NOT to have to pay for any consequences of using drugs they don't agree in funding the use of, either.

So let's sit down and spell out what we do or don't agree to pay for.
and make sure we are not dumping the cost of consequences on the other side.

I vote for spiritual healing because that cures more than medicine or marijuana does alone,
and it is natural free with no side effects, and even cures and breaks the cycle of addiction and abuse,
while marijuana does not.

The effects of spiritual healing can be replicated freely, without relying on temporary effects as marijuana does.

So if we were to invest research equally into both the
beneficial effects and resources/lives/health, minds and relationships saved by spiritual healing,
which is free natural and without side effects,
that would still come out more effective than marijuana that is limited and has risks of side effects and dependency.

If this research were promoted, and education made publicly accessible,
more people would choose natural benefits of spiritual healing and more people would lose the need or desire for marijuana, except for medical cases that depend on the chemicals not related to the recreational use which is optional.

I find it VERY telling that of the people with the most knowledge and experience
with spiritual healing, none of them want or promote drug or alcohol use.
To many, it causes more problems that it helps.

And of the people who promote and advocate marijuana use, very few have
any knowledge or experience with spiritual healing. I think there is a reason for that.
I don't think that is a coincidence that such people don't know how it works.

I'm not only for the legalization of pot, I'm for the legalization of all drugs. The government has no right to throw you in jail for using drugs than I do.

 

[ABikerSailor]

You know............MSNBC Business channel has been running some good shows on the effects of cannabis, what legalization looks like in Co., and what the benefits and medical uses of cannabis are.

Did you know that there is a strain of marijuana called Charlotte's Web that is very low in THC, but has been bred to have a very high CBD content? It's processed into oil and given to children who have bad seizures and epilepsy, and it has been proven to be effective in treating quite a few children. The waiting list for people wanting their children helped is over 1,300.

Others have been helped with their PTSD, as well as many other conditions. Matter of fact, there was an Afghanistan veteran who said that if he took the meds the VA was wanting to prescribe to him, he wouldn't be as healthy as he is, and he said that cannabis has helped him a great deal. He is off of most meds, and uses cannabis to help him live a better life.

I think it's going to just be a matter of time before it is legal in all 50 states, not only because it is medically beneficial, non addictive and no worse or better than alcohol, but also because CO is raking in massive tax revenue.

And................speaking as someone who has actually been up to CO since they legalized it, after seeing all the security checks and what the store owners do when they sell it, I think that following CO's example would be a good model to follow.

 

[emilynghiem]

You know............MSNBC Business channel has been running some good shows on the effects of cannabis, what legalization looks like in Co., and what the benefits and medical uses of cannabis are.

Did you know that there is a strain of marijuana called Charlotte's Web that is very low in THC, but has been bred to have a very high CBD content? It's processed into oil and given to children who have bad seizures and epilepsy, and it has been proven to be effective in treating quite a few children. The waiting list for people wanting their children helped is over 1,300.

Others have been helped with their PTSD, as well as many other conditions. Matter of fact, there was an Afghanistan veteran who said that if he took the meds the VA was wanting to prescribe to him, he wouldn't be as healthy as he is, and he said that cannabis has helped him a great deal. He is off of most meds, and uses cannabis to help him live a better life.

I think it's going to just be a matter of time before it is legal in all 50 states, not only because it is medically beneficial, non addictive and no worse or better than alcohol, but also because CO is raking in massive tax revenue.

And................speaking as someone who has actually been up to CO since they legalized it, after seeing all the security checks and what the store owners do when they sell it, I think that following CO's example would be a good model to follow.

You can make medical benefits accessible without opening the door for abuse of marijuana.

Also, research into spiritual healing would show that it cures more conditions than marijuana can.

So why not research both for maximum help to the most people and the most conditions?

If you are only supporting research for marijuana, but not for spiritual healing that can help even more people,
that seems clearly biased for the purpose of pushing marijuana legalization.

That isn't purely for medical help for more people, or else people would have pushed to research
spiritual healing which is free. Zero cost, and yet it would save more lives, and cure more conditions than marijuana does.

So clearly there is another motivation going on, besides maximizing the medical benefits.

 

[MikeK]

As long as you don't expect taxpayers to pay for your health care, or your children's, if something goes wrong and there are side effects over time.

[...]

One outstanding result of marijuana prohibition has been the appalling level of public ignorance regarding its proper use and of its many, medical, social, and intellectual benefits. The criminalization of this useful and broadly beneficial plant has resulted in its use being largely restricted to smoking it, which is not the only way to ingest it -- nor is it the best way.

The legalization of marijuana will result in gradually expanding public awareness of the facts, the myths, and the insidious lies associated with marijuana use.

 

[emilynghiem]

As long as you don't expect taxpayers to pay for your health care, or your children's, if something goes wrong and there are side effects over time.

[...]

One outstanding result of marijuana prohibition has been the appalling level of public ignorance regarding its proper use and of its many, medical, social, and intellectual benefits. The criminalization of this useful and broadly beneficial plant has resulted in its use being largely restricted to smoking it, which is not the only way to ingest it -- nor is it the best way.

The legalization of marijuana will result in gradually expanding public awareness of the facts, the myths, and the insidious lies associated with marijuana use.

Hi MikeK
I find many like myself who believe in DEcriminalization which isn't the same as legalization.

You can decriminalize the use of medicines but still reserve them for prescription only.

This magical leap between decriminalization and freedom to use marijuana for recreational use is
clearly biased by something other than medical concerns.

I don't have problems with people growing and using their own pot.
But if you mess up your brain, and don't want to work and want to blame that on drug testing that prevents you from applying, etc. etc. I would expect you to pay for your own welfare system for people who want to support others who fall into that trap.

I believe in teaching and accessing spiritual healing in order to have FULLY INFORMED choices
before getting mixed up with any such drug use.

So I believe people are being taken advantage of because they don't have full information.

I don't want to pay the consequences of that lack of information when fixing it is free.
That makes no sense to me why should I have to pay when the solutions to
drug abuse and addiction are FREE. Of course, I want to support that first
and prevent the costs on the other side of that equation.

So I believe in free and equal choice as long as you pay for the consequences of your side of the equation.

I don't want to pay for people screwing up their brains and not working and getting onto welfare
and expecting th epublic to pay for health care.

And other people don't want to pay for prisons and police, and the cost of imprisoning, prosecuting or
even shooting and killing nonviolent offenders over a possession issue.

So no, you shouldn't have to pay for that.

But I shouldn't have to pay for the cost of people rejecting spiritual healing as a better cure
of diseases and even drug use and addictions, because they'd rather push for using drugs than curing addictions.

So if you don't want to have to pay for the costs of criminalizing drugs,
I shouldn't have to pay for the cost of choosing drugs over spiritual healing that I believe
is free, harmless, natural and more effective than drugs.

If you want your free choice you can't impose on mine either.
If you don't want to pay costs associated with criminalization,
I don't either, nor do I want to pay for the costs of legalization without fully informed choice of spiritual healing as an alternative.

If everyone was required to go through spiritual healing to remove any risk of addiction or abuse,
and to maximize the amount of people who would no longer have any desire for drugs,
and to minimize the amount of people who would still want to try or smoke marijuana, I might feel safe with that.

But as it is, with the people pushing marijuana having a CLEAR bias against spiritual healing,
NO, I don't want to support such an agenda that has a dangerous bias against ensuring people have fully informed choices.

The "medical" lobbies would have to quit funding only research into marijuana
and invest equal resources in spiritual healing if they were truly focused on maximizing medical help for people
and not just pushing marijuana.

If the funding and support were equal, I wouldn't mind, because that would mean the focus is really
on the medical benefits and not on the marijuana in order to use or abuse it in ways that are not healthy.

I support decriminalization, but to regulate the use beyond that, I would insist on equal medical research in spiritual healing in order to balance the equation and not exploit people who don't have full and equal knowledge of the spiritual causes and effects that go into abuse and addiction.

Just like you would not sell guns to people who don't understand the full responsibility.

The full responsibility it takes to make an informed decision about whether or not to try drugs
is much higher than people think, so I would want this researched and established as part of the
agreement if there is going to be full legalization. The costs of the consequences have to be accounted for.

And too many people aren't even aware but are denying there are any longterm consequences.
So that is causing the cost to be dumped on others due to this denial going on.

Until it is proven, the beliefs should be kept separate, and people should financially pay for their own beliefs.

so I think we could work toward decriminalization, but for legalization, that may take separating the
costs by district or party because people have different beliefs and can't be forced by law to pay for each other's.

 

[MikeK]

[...]

If you are only supporting research for marijuana, but not for spiritual healing that can help even more people, that seems clearly biased for the purpose of pushing marijuana legalization.

[...]

The relevant factor here is while the medical benefits of marijuana are stubbornly impeded by an irrational legal prohibition no such barriers interfere with the promotion of spiritual healing, which is a categorically separate pursuit. The exception being the use of marijuana as the physical catalyst for spiritual awakening by such religious sects as the Coptics.

 

[emilynghiem]

Dear MikeK

the ACA mandates do not recognize spiritual healing as a way of reducing health care costs but only insurance.
so even though spiritual healing is "not banned" literally, only the choice of insurance qualifies for
exemptions and other methods for reducing costs of health care, such as spiritual healing
which even the Christian Scientists argued should count as a religious alternative, are TAXED.

This is a form of a PENALTY that is discriminatory and biased based on creed,
and treating one belief about paying for health care as superior to another so that one is exempted and the other is fined.

[...]

If you are only supporting research for marijuana, but not for spiritual healing that can help even more people, that seems clearly biased for the purpose of pushing marijuana legalization.

[...]

The relevant factor here is while the medical benefits of marijuana are stubbornly impeded by an irrational legal prohibition no such barriers interfere with the promotion of spiritual healing, which is a categorically separate pursuit. The exception being the use of marijuana as the physical catalyst for spiritual awakening by such religious sects as the Coptics.

^ But the psychological barrier remains that is CAUSING the conflicts over legalization.^

So it is the PSYCHOLOGICAL block that I am seeking to address and resolve first.
My point is the block is MUTUAL.

The reason people can't make the distinction between DEcriminalizing it (which they COULD support by medical arguments) and legalizing it which they are so opposed to that this blocks DEcriminalization

is people like YOU aren't making that distinction
between DEcriminalization and legalization when you advocate the two together!

if you keep running these two together, and pushing for legalization,
that is causing the psychological rejection of BOTH which are seen as one agenda.

But if YOU push for DEcriminalization of the medical access
WITHOUT pushing for legalization of recreational use at the same time,
maybe other people would make that same distinction.

You can't expect people to separate what you aren't willing to separate.

So the push for legalizing recreational use
is HARMING the push for decriminalization of medical access.

If you SEPARATE those two, maybe more people would also.

Do you see the point?

Similarly the only way I have found to get the prolife people to calm down about prochoice
is to SEPARATE the free choice FROM the "pro abortion" agenda.

DEcriminalizing the choice of abortion is SEPARATE from pushing for abortion.

If you push for abortion, this HARMS the argument of defending FREE CHOICE from laws criminalizing it
because people are religiously against the abortion, and the free choice is "run together" with it.
When they hear prochoice they hear proabortion.

So the first step with the decriminalization
is to SEPARATE decriminalization from legalization
and not to run those two together which causes rejection on its face.

Many people who want to get the medical access
have had to DISTANCE themselves from the pro-pot advocates whose reputations hurt their arguments.

So this is NOT helping the medical issues
by mixing it in with the public perception of pushing for recreational pot.

BTW And YES the misinformation about denying addiction concerning pot
IS blocking access to equal knowledge of spiritual healing.
The conflicts and resources wasted arguing about in the media
prevents solutions from being promoted instead, so it is a form of censoring
and oppressing the information by junking up the internet and media with arguments instead of solutions.

The millions of dollars spent lobbying for marijuana
and researching that is money that could have been spent on solutions nobody would dispute.

So on some level it is obstructing the free and equal access to information.

It isn't "legally" blocking it by banning it.
The closest I've seen to that is pushing by the Democrats
to make conversion therapy illegal without specifying the
difference between that and spiritual healing that has healed people freely naturally and voluntarily.
That's a separate issue.

The psychological block is the same.

Because people don't have knowledge or understanding of spiritual healing,
they push policies like ACA that are

 

[nodoginnafight]

It's hard to objectively quantify the benefits or drawbacks of pot because it is so difficult to get a consistent product to test. So many different strains with so many different properties. But I see no reason to make it illegal.

Just MHO.

 

[MikeK]

I find many like myself who believe in DEcriminalization which isn't the same as legalization.

You can decriminalize the use of medicines but still reserve them for prescription only.

This magical leap between decriminalization and freedom to use marijuana for recreational use is clearly biased by something other than medical concerns.

[...]

Marijuana was decriminalized throughout the 1960s and 1970s in New York City. Essentially, decriminalization is administrative suspension of prosecuting most but not all marijuana laws, which remain on the books and may be enforced at any time.

The problem with decrim is it does not allow for legal distribution, so the black market remains the primary source of bootleg weed -- most of which is contaminated with carcinogenic pesticides and growth-inducing hormones. Head shops remain a thriving source of bongs and rolling papers, but no weed. And not everyone is able to grow his/her own.

This restricted access to the plant consequently restricts access to quality-controlled products and developing awareness of proper and improper usage.

 

[Roadrunner]

I find many like myself who believe in DEcriminalization which isn't the same as legalization.

You can decriminalize the use of medicines but still reserve them for prescription only.

This magical leap between decriminalization and freedom to use marijuana for recreational use is clearly biased by something other than medical concerns.

[...]

Marijuana was decriminalized throughout the 1960s and 1970s in New York City. Essentially, decriminalization is administrative suspension of prosecuting most but not all marijuana laws, which remain on the books and may be enforced at any time.

The problem with decrim is it does not allow for legal distribution, so the black market remains the primary source of bootleg weed -- most of which is contaminated with carcinogenic pesticides and growth-inducing hormones. Head shops remain a thriving source of bongs and rolling papers, but no weed. And not everyone is able to grow his/her own.

This restricted access to the plant consequently restricts access to quality-controlled products and developing awareness of proper and improper usage.

The proper use is getting high.

The medicinal uses can be duplicated by other drugs; the high cannot.

It is all about the high.

I am ready for cheap, strong, legal hash oil e-reefer.

That is the stuff, let me tell you!!

 

[Skylar]

I'm completely pro-legalization of marijuana. The gov. could step in and sell pot making huge amounts of rev. in taxes, which can help pay off our debt. We'll also save millions by not having to fight the drug dealers and lock up men and women who sell the drug. Pot is medically useful and much less dangerous than alcohol.

Why haven't we legalized this drug yet?

Makes sense to me. I'm totally down with a society's authority to declare that a certain level of harm caused by drugs is too much and to criminalize it. But once you've established a level of acceptable harm and made it legal, logically any drug that causes less harm would also be legal.

If driving 65 mph is legal, then surely driving 63 mph is.

So....in what universe is pot more dangerous than alcohol?

 

[Carib Gyal]

 

[Silhouette]

I'm completely pro-legalization of marijuana. The gov. could step in and sell pot making huge amounts of rev. in taxes, which can help pay off our debt. We'll also save millions by not having to fight the drug dealers and lock up men and women who sell the drug. Pot is medically useful and much less dangerous than alcohol.

Why haven't we legalized this drug yet?

Who would the government sell the dope to? Who can afford pot? And if the government is getting in the cigarette business, won't Philipp Morris get grumpy?

Concentrating all the wealth of any industry into monopolies, one by one, as our country has been doing for many decades now, is gradually eroding the income of the middle class to such a low level that nobody can afford even the public transportation to their McDonald's burger-flipping job anymore...nor can afford their rent or basic food. There is no diversity. Pretty soon where will the very rich sell their wares? To a public that has no money to buy them?

That's when Houston has a problem. The dragon has finally devoured the end of its tail and dopers sit around cheering. Mike Judge was right, only he was a few years off in his prediction. We have arrived at Idiocracy.

 

[Skylar]

I'm completely pro-legalization of marijuana. The gov. could step in and sell pot making huge amounts of rev. in taxes, which can help pay off our debt. We'll also save millions by not having to fight the drug dealers and lock up men and women who sell the drug. Pot is medically useful and much less dangerous than alcohol.

Why haven't we legalized this drug yet?

Who would the government sell the dope to? Who can afford pot? And if the government is getting in the cigarette business, won't Philipp Morris get grumpy?

The government need no more sell pot than it does cigarettes. It needs only to tax it. And the folks that could afford it would be the people already buying it.

 

[MikeK]

The medicinal uses can be duplicated by other drugs; the high cannot.

One eminent exception to that commonly held belief is that of enabling the ingestion of solid foods by chemotherapy patients.

One critically negative effect of the daily chemotherapy endured by many cancer patients is loss of appetite and the inability to eat because they regurgitate anything they attempt to swallow -- including medication in liquid or tablet form. But inhaling a small amount of marijuana smoke not only awakens the appetite for food, it enables the patients to eat as much as they care to.

Also, marijuana extract has been shown to eliminate the daily epileptic seizures suffered by several children for whom no other medicine or medical approach has been successful. For these kids, marijuana is a wonder drug.

Parents say Charlotte s Web pot helps kids suffering severe seizures - CBS News

Also, you might be interested in reading, Marijuana, The Forbidden Medicine, by Dr. Lester Grinspoon, MD, PhD, Professor of psychiatric Medicine, Harvard Medical School. (Available from Amazon.)

the euphoric effect of marijuana is by no means its only useful property. The simple fact that there is no more effective tranquilizer available at any price should be sufficient to convince you of that.

Pot is an important medicine. So don't allow the Reefer Madness interests to obscure that awareness.



[/U][/U]

 

[MikeK]

[...]

I am ready for cheap, strong, legal hash oil e-reefer.

That is the stuff, let me tell you!!

I believe that will be an excellent alternative to smoking joints, which is potentially harmful to the lungs.

At age 78 I don't dare smoke anything. But I would like to try a hash-oil E-cigarette. Even better, a vaporizer.

 

[Silhouette]

The government need no more sell pot than it does cigarettes. It needs only to tax it. And the folks that could afford it would be the people already buying it.

Tax it eh? So then we'll have little teenagers and pre-teens playing "hey mister" at the local mini mart to get pot cheap and easy and abundantly? Kewl.

In idiocracy, politicians act first and think about the ripples in the pond later.

Alternative theory: when pot is free and abundant and completely under the control of Monsanto, it won't be "kewl" anymore. The kids will turn to molly, meth and heroin like the epidemics that have already begun...right about the time pot was first legalized in Cali. I saw a young woman wobbling around in a grocery store the other day, she couldn't have been over 22 years old. Someone told me she had done too much "molly" and now her nervous system is completely gone.

Sweet. Legalize pot. What could go wrong? If that girl had just smoked a joint at a party, she would've maybe gotten fat eating snacks or something. Now she is disabled for life.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Reading about cannabis requires that only pro cannabis propaganda be considered. Otherwise you find out about the strokes and damage to developing brains.

Read about the medicinal benefits of cannabis. It has been used for centuries.

Read about the medicinal benefits of opium, it's been used for centuries too. How about the medicinal effects of belladonna? How many poisons do NOT have a medicinal effect? It's a false argument. Marijuana is used mostly to get high. It is being used by younger and younger children. It is damaging their developing brains at younger and younger ages. Strokes and heart attacks are happening to younger and younger people.

Marijuana Use Linked To Higher Risk Of Stroke

The most popular illegal drug, marijuana, may double the risk of stroke among young adults, according to findings revealed at The American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2013.

Sure you want to read about the medicinal effect of marijuana, but ONLY what supports marijuana use. You won't even address the damage it does.

Heavy Marijuana Use May Damage Developing Brain In Teens, Young Adults

Now you might feel obligated to find a dozen pro pot articles out there to massage away the facts and make you feel better, but it is what it is. Meanwhile we have a growing population of young people who are getting lower on the functioning scale.

If you want a drink, you can go into a bar or store and buy it, although it is bad for you and society in general. The same goes for tobacco. Putting people in prison for smoking cannabis is ridiculous, just as ignoring the beneficial medicinal properties is ridiculous. Comparing cannabis and opiates, which are addictive, is ridiculous. If someone wants to smoke a joint and it us not effecting anyone else, they should be allowed to. If someone wants cannabis to fight off the sickness of chemo, they should be allowed. If someone wants to use it for glaucoma, MS, or a terminal illness, they should be able to. The War on Marijuana is not working. Cannabis should be sold and taxed, it is a huge cash crop and no taxes are paid on it. In a perfect world, people should not drink or smoke, or take drugs, but this is not going to happen. Forget the War on Cannabis, it is lost. It is part of society and should be legal for adults who choose to use it. Prohibition has failed.

Decriminalization and medical marijuana like many states have do all those things without legalization.

 

[Dana7360]

I'm completely pro-legalization of marijuana. The gov. could step in and sell pot making huge amounts of rev. in taxes, which can help pay off our debt. We'll also save millions by not having to fight the drug dealers and lock up men and women who sell the drug. Pot is medically useful and much less dangerous than alcohol.

Why haven't we legalized this drug yet?

Recreational marijuana has been legal for everyone 21 and older since 2012.

Medical marijuana has been legal here since 1998.

We're just waiting for the rest of the nation to catch up.

It seems that my state has been ahead of the nation in many issues for a long time. We're just waiting for the rest of the nation to come into the 21st century. I wish they would stop taking their time because I can only go to states that have legal medical marijuana or I could be arrested for trying to save my life.