Legalization of Marijuana

[Rallywagon]

I also agree with FoolKiller. Drug users are not criminals and should not be treated as such. Regulate the manufacture, but don't criminalize and stigmatize the user. Providing programs and safe places is a far more humane and ethical way to go about treating addiction than jail cells and criminal charges. Especially considering many drug related crimes come with mandatory sentencing, where crimes like rape and murder don't... To me it's clear the only purpose to criminalizing use is to make someone somewhere money, but in no way to actually help an addict.

 

[mister dog]

What is worrying about it being legalized is that it becomes a ploy for the pharmaceutical industry to make even more money. At least that's what Jesse Ventura seemed to say.

Aren't people allowed to grow plants at home in those states that legalized it?

 

[Ken]

Aren't people allowed to grow plants at home in those states that legalized it?

From Colorado's law:

Coloradans can grow marijuana in their homes for personal use. Up to six plants are allowed per Colorado resident over age 21, with as many as three plants flowering at one time. Plants must be grown in a secure, locked location, not in a yard. Counties and municipalities can pass stricter laws.

 

[mustafur]

Funny how in one country you can have some parts that allow you to grow it in your home and others that can shove you in jail and the throw away the key for the same thing.

 

[Danoff]

Funny how in one country you can have some parts that allow you to grow it in your home and others that can shove you in jail and the throw away the key for the same thing.

Of course it's even more complicated than that. In Colorado police wearing a certain uniform (FBI) can throw you in jail for possessing pot while other police wearing a different uniform (local law enforcement) cannot.

 

[Rallywagon]

What is worrying about it being legalized is that it becomes a ploy for the pharmaceutical industry to make even more money. At least that's what Jesse Ventura seemed to say.

Aren't people allowed to grow plants at home in those states that legalized it?

I also think most states with medicinal laws allow for home growing, however, what mentions is A valid concern. Something similar was tried in Ohio, where only 4 companies would have been allowed manufacture MMJ. Luckily logic won out and that particular bill was not passed.

 

[Ken]

Of course it's even more complicated than that. In Colorado police wearing a certain uniform (FBI) can throw you in jail for possessing pot while other police wearing a different uniform (local law enforcement) cannot.

I wonder if that has ever come up though. I haven't heard anything about it.

 

[Rallywagon]

I wonder if that has ever come up though. I haven't heard anything about it.

And it's not likely to happen. Well, maybe if Trump is elected it might. Pence is scary like that tbh. At any rate, the DEA was given instruction not to go after users in states with legalization laws. Only focus harder stuff, or illegal manufacturing.

What I find interesting, and somewhat sad, is that hallucinogenics like ayahuasca, mushrooms amd MDMA are very likely to be recognized as a medicine before pot. So much so that, at least MDMA, is entering it third and final phase of trials.
I was listening to a Joe Rogans podcast where he was talking to a gentleman by the name of Rick Doblin (episode 782), whom is a part of a research non-profit called MAPS. One of the things he talks about is how such drugs became illegal in the first place. While a lot of us point to textile or pharmaceutical companies, the truth is a bit more sinister. Back in the Nixon presidency, him and one of his advisory type people where being completely flambeauxed by both the black civil rights movement and the hippy movement. Since he couldn't at that point make it illegal to be either black or a hippy, they did the next best thing they could think of. Criminalize the substances they were using instead. This is why we have a hugely hypocritical drug law system, where drugs such as mushrooms and marijuana, with little to no risk involved in its use, and with tons of medical and psychiatric properties are illegal, but things such as alcohol, cigarettes and for a time, even coke, where not. They were a part of the rich white mans cabinet.

 

[Danoff]

Last night CA, MA, and NV legalized recreational marijuana, possibly Maine. By my count there are now 7 states with legal recreational pot use, and bunch more with medical marijuana use.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Last night CA, MA, and NV legalized recreational marijuana, possibly Maine. By my count there are now 7 states with legal recreational pot use, and bunch more with medical marijuana use.

And rejected in Arizona. Go us. /sarcasm

 

[Danoff]

And rejected in Arizona. Go us. /sarcasm

From what I can tell, it's harder to legalize pot for states with a Mexican border. I remember the first time CA tried it there was a lot of concern/discussion about what it would mean for drug traffic across the border.

 

[Rallywagon]

Its a shame we have people like Pence getting the positions they are. for the next 4 years I cant imagine any drug changing scheduling. I see the DEA being ramped up, the fed gov getting tough on the states the have legalization and MMJ policies and research in other catagories, such as the psychiatric research being with shrooms and MDMA, getting trashed.

 

[Touring Mars]

Last night CA legalized recreational marijuana

The question is, will anyone notice?

 

[Rallywagon]

Probably just the ones sitting in jail on distribution or use charges...

 

[Blood Eagle]

Funny thing is I've always wanted a Marijuana plant because I think it's a beautiful plant. Now it's legal to have 6 with no permit. I'm definitely going to have one in the house now.

 

[Touring Mars]

Probably just the ones sitting in jail on distribution or use charges...

In all seriousness, it must be hard to take for someone who has spent or is currently spending time in jail for marijuana possession or usage in one state, when it is perfectly legal in another...

I recall my visit to an infamous bar on the Sunset Strip last summer where my friends and I were sitting opposite a couple of chaps with a large salt shaker full of grass and were smoking a joint so large that it resembled a 'Camberwell Carrot' and left a cloud of marijuana smoke so large that everyone within a 20 foot radius suddenly found everything slightly more amusing than it should be. I couldn't help but think that a girl-friend of mine from Florida who was jailed for possessing less than 20 grams of marijuana was a wee bit hard done by.

 

[Danoff]

In all seriousness, it must be hard to take for someone who has spent or is currently spending time in jail for marijuana possession or usage in one state, when it is perfectly legal in another...

I recall my visit to an infamous bar on the Sunset Strip last summer where my friends and I were sitting opposite a couple of chaps with a large salt shaker full of grass and were smoking a joint so large that it resembled a 'Camberwell Carrot' and left a cloud of marijuana smoke so large that everyone within a 20 foot radius suddenly found everything slightly more amusing than it should be. I couldn't help but think that a girl-friend of mine from Florida who was jailed for possessing less than 20 grams of marijuana was a wee bit hard done by.

I've long held that it is likely that colorado (which has federal prisons) houses people who are in jail for marijuana possession, usage, or distribution in the very state where doing so is now legal (despite it being illegal federally). So the wardens of the jail may be legally engaged in the very activity that put the people they are guarding behind bars.

 

[DDastardly00]

The Marijuana Industry is quickly becoming the next big economic boom, last year it created 18,000 new jobs in Colorado alone and generated 2.4 Billion dollars in economic activity there. Now imagine those numbers on a national level, if taxed right and regulated properly, it could single handedly lift us out of the economic stagnancy felt since 2008. If you use the Beer and liquor industry as an example, you get and idea this will be far bigger than the Micro-brew revolution that occurred 10 years ago, it will eclipse it.

 

[Rallywagon]

If we could get the"Puritans" out of the executive branches, we should be able to get the Fed gov to also pardon people whom are jailed solely on pot charges.

 

[shoemaker]

Meanwhile in the UK, so many people are now smoking/vaping bud, there is more than ever and the streets are flooded....at least it brought the price down to £150 per ounce. The quality sure is getting better too, i put this down to liberal us laws which allow more people to grow, cross strains and come up with new strains, which we end up getting over here now....Ghost train haze being the latest in my town. Shatter is now starting to appear aswell. People want stronger and stronger and are getting more fussy about what they want. I just hope that one day i can walk into a dispensary in the UK, not looking like that will be soon though !

 

[Rallywagon]

Strange that US law is having more effect on the UK than places like Amsterdam. If trailer park boys are to be believed (yes yes, I know...) Germany seems to be laxing up on their laws as well.

 

[Obelisk]

What is worrying about it being legalized is that it becomes a ploy for the pharmaceutical industry to make even more money.

This irritates me so much because it's true.

Massachusetts had to vote on fully legalizing and industrializing marijuana. Yes would basically derestrict everything here while No would block the petition.

It passed overwhelmingly with a Yes. Now here's the issue: The laws in question were written by the people and companies looking to produce marijuana. As in, they wrote it for themselves.

How nobody in the state noticed this is beyond me...It's basically a ploy to get profits.

 

[mister dog]

This irritates me so much because it's true.

Massachusetts had to vote on fully legalizing and industrializing marijuana. Yes would basically derestrict everything here while No would block the petition.

It passed overwhelmingly with a Yes. Now here's the issue: The laws in question were written by the people and companies looking to produce marijuana. As in, they wrote it for themselves.

How nobody in the state noticed this is beyond me...It's basically a ploy to get profits.

Do people get to grow their own plants without being prosecuted at least?

 

[Obelisk]

Do people get to grow their own plants without being prosecuted at least?

That I do not know.

 

[BobK]

Do people get to grow their own plants without being prosecuted at least?

The Massachusetts referendum allowed for individuals to grow up to six plants for their own personal use.

The proposed law would authorize persons at least 21 years old to possess up to one ounce of marijuana outside of their residences; possess up to ten ounces of marijuana inside their residences; grow up to six marijuana plants in their residences; give one ounce or less of marijuana to a person at least 21 years old without payment; possess, produce or transfer hemp; or make or transfer items related to marijuana use, storage, cultivation, or processing.

 

[Rallywagon]

That's the caveat to me. I full expect companies to do this. Companies are the reason it was illegal in the first place, it would make sense that in the end, they would be the ones to lobby, in their favor, to have it legalized. I'm neither surprised nor caring of this, so long as you can grow your own. TBH if I were of a mind to buy instead of grow, I would rather get it from a company that has to both follow purity regulations and responsibilities to make sure they get a clean, good product out, rather than from the dude growing in his basement with spiders, cat and or dog hair, dust and the alike getting into the product, or doesn't understand how to flush a plant before harvest and leaves it full of chemicals.

 

[stonesfan129]

I don't see a big deal. Treat it like they treat alcohol. Do it at a private residence or at a business that sells it. Get behind the wheel of a car after and you get a DUI/jail time.

 

[shoemaker]

Serious question for us sports fans. If your team is from a state where it is legal, can/have any players done weed and carried on playing ? Can you be penalised by the league if it is not illegal in your state ?, nor is it performance enhancing.I can't see any issues myself, is it treated like alcohol by the leagues ?

 

[Northstar]

Serious question for us sports fans. If your team is from a state where it is legal, can/have any players done weed and carried on playing ? Can you be penalised by the league if it is not illegal in your state ?, nor is it performance enhancing.I can't see any issues myself, is it treated like alcohol by the leagues ?

The various leagues are still trying to figure out how to handle it, but for now it's still considered a banned substance by most leagues.

 

[fatkrakr]

Serious question for us sports fans. If your team is from a state where it is legal, can/have any players done weed and carried on playing ? Can you be penalised by the league if it is not illegal in your state ?, nor is it performance enhancing.I can't see any issues myself, is it treated like alcohol by the leagues ?

There not testing athletes for marijuana now, why would they start after its legalized. If they where testing for marijuana in our athletes pro sports would be dead.