Marijuana for everyone!

Published

  1. Should marijuana be legal?

    • 48
      It should be illegal/criminal
    • 136
      only legal for medicinal use
    • 286
      should be legal (and taxable)

470 members have participated

What is your take on the issue of legalizing marijuana?

Dont Debate it

light one up and pass it around

Yes teeituptom. You've got the right idea I bet if I smoked some weed I wouldn't be so uptight. :chuckle

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Not only is marijuana safer than cigarettes or alcohol, it's far less addictive than either. Regardless of what the good stuff is used for, how about industrial hemp; a valuable cash crop that we're not allowed to grow but we import milliions and millions of dollars worth of the stuff to make our textiles, make up & cars? If we could grow it, we would have access to safer and more environmentally responsible food, fuel, paper, cloth, cosmetics, carpet and even car door frames than the ones we're making now!

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0625-23.htm

"Oh, the druggies might grow real pot next to it," says the DEA. Not a problem for Canada or any of the other industrialized countries that grow it. Drug growers don't want their plants cross-pollenated with hemp that has .003 the concentration of THC of the good stuff.

As for the topic at hand, marijuana is a drug. It has proven beneficial effects as do caffeine and alcohol and it has it's potential bad effects. But it is far less dangerous than tobacco and alcohol. The reason we are allowed to use these other more dangerous substances is that the pushers for these drugs have been more politically influential.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
Dont Debate it

light one up and pass it around

No thank you, i'd rather stay in reality and enjoy it without the stank buzz.:rolleyes:

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
Legalize & tax the hell out of it.

STILL waiting for an explaination on just how well taxing it is going to work out.........

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Specializes in Intermediate Care.
STILL waiting for an explaination on just how well taxing it is going to work out.........

Taxing it will increase the government's income (tax base), giving them more money to do as they please.

The tax levied on gas is used for the upkeep of the interstate system, and help with the importation of crude oil.

Very similar to that, a tax on MJ would ideally be used towards programs similar to AA, to help subsidize the cost of research on the neuropathology of MJ, and to pay our law enforcement agencies to fight the illegal smuggling of MJ. Cigarette tax revenue is used for many of the same reasons.

If MJ were legalized:

- Fewer law enforcement resources would deal with the users & distributors, only the ones driving under the influence and/or smuggling illegal pot into the country. They could shift those resources elsewhere.

- Jobs would be created in the arenas of manufacturing, packaging, and sales, as well as the trickle-down from those areas.

- The product would not be laced & THC content controlled by the FDA.

- We could thoroughly research its' health effects using a greater sample of MJ users, because research subjects would no longer fear prosecution. This would further deepen our understanding of the drug and its' effects.

- The allure of trying something illegal would be lost except on the idiots who would try hard drugs anyway.

Of course, this is all pure speculation, but I think pretty reasonable speculation. We won't truly know if it works unless we try it out. I think decriminalization or legalization will happen in my lifetime, just not within the next decade.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

When i've known someone who grew it in their back yard in the vegetable garden, this is why i don't see taxing as a method that will work lol.

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not only is marijuana safer than cigarettes or alcohol, it's far less addictive than either. regardless of what the good stuff is used for, how about industrial hemp; a valuable cash crop that we're not allowed to grow but we import milliions and millions of dollars worth of the stuff to make our textiles, make up & cars? if we could grow it, we would have access to safer and more environmentally responsible food, fuel, paper, cloth, cosmetics, carpet and even car door frames than the ones we're making now!

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0625-23.htm

"oh, the druggies might grow real pot next to it," says the dea. not a problem for canada or any of the other industrialized countries that grow it. drug growers don't want their plants cross-pollenated with hemp that has .003 the concentration of thc of the good stuff.

as for the topic at hand, marijuana is a drug. it has proven beneficial effects as do caffeine and alcohol and it has it's potential bad effects. but it is far less dangerous than tobacco and alcohol. the reason we are allowed to use these other more dangerous substances is that the pushers for these drugs have been more politically influential.

as pvt. parts said - we have dueling information . . .i was reading the paper today during lunch at my neo-natal resuscitation class and came across the following, which refutes much of what is written above - especially the part about pot being safer than cigarettes and/or alcohol.

june 27, 2005

'medical marijuana' doesn't pass the basic scientific test

by gordon d. taylor

june 27, 2005

within the past five years, the u.s. supreme court twice has said "no" to the "medical marijuana" argument. this has led pro-marijuana advocates to spread misinformation on the subject as they seek to push their agenda forward. it is time to set the record straight.

first, the scientific and medical communities have determined that smoked marijuana is a health danger, not a cure. there are no food and drug administration-approved medications that are smoked, primarily because smoking is an unsafe and ineffective way to deliver medicine.

americans today have the world's safest, most effective system for approving prescription drugs, which must undergo rigorous fda-approved scientific research. they must be proven to be both safe and effective for medical treatment. smoked marijuana has not passed the safe and effective test, and therefore remains a prohibited substance under federal drug laws.

marijuana advocates often cite the 1999 institute of medicine report as justifying the use of "medical marijuana." however, they fail to mention the study's finding that "marijuana is not modern medicine." the study concluded, "there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication." while the study recognized that a compound in marijuana might be potentially therapeutic for some conditions, it recommended that further research be conducted.

to that end, the dea has approved and will continue to approve research into whether the active ingredient in marijuana can be formulated for medical use. during the past few years, the dea has registered every researcher meeting fda standards to use marijuana in scientific studies.

the dea and medical science do not fear any compound, even those with a potential for abuse. if any substance has the proven capacity to serve a medical purpose, then it will be accepted. the key term is "proven capacity." only if compounds from marijuana pass the same tests of research scrutiny that all other drugs must undergo will they become part of the modern medical orificenal.

unfortunately, there are many people who view marijuana as a harmless or soft drug. information from tests and studies suggest otherwise. on average, the marijuana today is eight times more potent than it was during the early 1970s.

recent studies show that more teenagers enter drug treatment for marijuana abuse than for alcohol and all other illegal drugs combined. marijuana-related emergency room visits for teenagers more than tripled between 1994 and 2001. these statistics directly contradict the claim that marijuana is a harmless drug.

contrary to what legalizers contend, the dea targets, not the sick and dying, but criminals engaged in cultivation and trafficking of illegal drugs. in many instances, those who provide considerable funding to the "medical marijuana" movement use the sick and terminally ill as a smokescreen to hide their true agenda, which is across-the-board legalization of marijuana.

"medical pot" users often cite minor ailments as their justification to use marijuana, such as anxiety, premenstrual syndrome or sleeplessness. these users, and many like them who use marijuana for so-called medical purposes, are simply exploiting california marijuana laws to shield themselves from local law enforcement and to disguise their desire to get high.

the recent u.s. supreme court decision on marijuana should prompt parents to discuss with their children the problems and hazards associated with marijuana use. we owe it to our children to tell them the truth about the dangers of marijuana and help them see through the "medical marijuana" smokescreen.

gordon taylor is assistant special agent in charge for the u.s. drug enforcement administration's sacramento district office, with oversight of dea operations in 34 counties throughout the central valley and northern california.

http://www.redding.com

also, there was this lovely story today . . .

man jailed after tot strays

sheriff's deputies searching for parents find baby playing with bag of marijuana

by constance dillon, record searchlight

june 27, 2005

shasta lake -- two children are in protective custody after one was found wandering in the street sunday and another was discovered playing with marijuana while his caretaker was passed out on the couch of a shasta lake home, shasta county sheriff's officials said.

the man in the house, who reportedly told deputies he was the baby sitter, was arrested on suspicion of multiple charges.

sheriff's deputies went to the area about 10:30 a.m. sunday after the first child, who is about 18 months old, was found walking alone on central valley avenue, said sheriff's sgt. tonya clemens.

when deputies tried to find the parents, they were directed to a central avenue residence but were unable to rouse anyone there.

deputies later returned to the residence, but still no one came to the front door, clemens said.

a deputy looking through a window saw an infant, about 6 months old, on a couch playing with a plastic shopping bag while a man lay passed out on another couch, clemens said.

the man did not respond to the deputies' calls, and finding the door unlocked, they entered the home, clemens said.

the bag the baby was playing with contained marijuana, clemens said, and the child was taken to mercy medical center in redding to be checked for ingestion of marijuana. the child then was taken into custody by children's protective services, clemens said.

marlon clark roberts, 34, was booked in to shasta county jail on suspicion of child endangerment, maintaining a residence for sales of drugs, possession of marijuana and possession of controlled substance paraphernalia. his bail was set at $50,000.

*********************************

oh yeah, if we made pot legal this man could just go on with his drug business and to heck with the kids. remember, pot isn't harmful - even if it is being played with by a 6 month old.

steph

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Specializes in Intermediate Care.
When i've known someone who grew it in their back yard in the vegetable garden, this is why i don't see taxing as a method that will work lol.

Not on them, obviously! :D

If it was legalized, I would think that this would be less common than people who grow & eat their own corn.

It would be fairly easy for the FDA to control seeds if necessary.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.
It would be fairly easy for the FDA to control seeds if necessary.

Oh, yes, they've done such a great job of it so far.....

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Specializes in Intermediate Care.
Oh, yes, they've done such a great job of it so far.....

They do a heck of a lot better regulating food than drugs because most farmers don't have a whole lot of desire or money to bribe/corrupt officials with. ;)

And let's not forget the USDA would have to be involved as well.

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.

What you do to your body is none of anybody else's business. Why are some people insistant upon legislating what is and what is not appropriate for others to do to themselves?

"Hey! You there! Eating pork chops and weiners has been shown to lead to increased rates of heart disease. Therefore, it is illegal to do so"

The argument against drugs is equally as silly.

Legalise it and be done with it.

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.
STILL waiting for an explaination on just how well taxing it is going to work out.........
Why do you want to tax it?
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