"Legalized" in Colorado.

[mister dog]

Just saw this article in a Belgian newspaper, of tons of people queuing at the pharmacies on the first day that you could buy marihuana legally in the state of Colorado :

http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/9097/Werel...2/2/In-de-rij-voor-een-jointje-in-de-VS.dhtml

Seems like the states are being more progressive than even Holland these days 👍; in Holland they tried to make it that only the Dutch could buy it with a weedpass etcetera; whilst a visitor of another American state can just buy 7grams there and a resident of Colorado 28 gram max

Opinions?

 

[Azuremen]

Living in the other US State that legalized weed (Washington) that delayed legal sales, it is good a thing. Curious to see how the tax system works on marijuana once all the distribution is setup in my state.

 

[Slash]

I was just reading, I think it was yesterday, it's been legalized on a federal level, and that the legal age has been set to 21, like the drinking age in some states. I'll see if I can find the link.

 

[BobK]

That sounds like something you'd find in The Onion.

 

[Omnis]

I was just reading, I think it was yesterday, it's been legalized on a federal level, and that the legal age has been set to 21, like the drinking age in some states. I'll see if I can find the link.

Pfft! Yeah right. It's not legal on the federal level.

 

[Rage Racer]

I don't see anything bad in legalizing Mary.

 

[Imari]

I just hope it spreads to the rest of the civilised world. I reckon the vast majority of the population of NZ and Australia either smoke or have smoked in the past.

 

[Daniel]

I just hope it spreads to the rest of the civilised world. I reckon the vast majority of the population of NZ and Australia either smoke or have smoked in the past.

In terms of prevalence (i.e. percentage of people who have consumed cannabis), New Zealand is tied eighth in the word along with Italy and Andorra. Australia is tied eighteenth with Spain and Antigua and Barbuda.

Quick comparison of some MEDC cannabis prevalence:
Czech Republic - 15.2%
Andorra, Italy, New Zealand - 14.6%
USA - 13.7%
Canada - 12.6
Australia, Spain - 10.6%
France - 8.6%
Scotland - 8.4%
England, Wales - 6.6%
Ireland - 6.3%

Considering that Ireland is ranked 45th, we're all pretty high on the board.

Pun not intended.

 

[Imari]

15%?!

Either that's way off, or it says a lot about the kind of people I come into contact with...

 

[DK]

Considering that Ireland is ranked 45th, we're all pretty high on the board.

Pun not intended.

Meh, it's better that we switch from booze to weed anyway. I think alcohol abuse costs the Irish economy something like €2bn per year (between sick days due to hangovers, hospital admissions, crime committed while drunk etc.), which is about 1.5% of our GDP.

 

[Keef]

I was just reading, I think it was yesterday, it's been legalized on a federal level, and that the legal age has been set to 21, like the drinking age in some states. I'll see if I can find the link.

It isn't and it won't be for the foreseeable future. That's not a bet I'd put a penny on.

 

[AlvaroF]

I've yet to create an opinion about this. Details about the effects of weed are foggy.

For me a drug should legalized if is does something for you, in the same way tabacco was legalized because it was thought that was beneficial. Nowadays, we know it's not. The same with booze. Although with booze it's different because it's a liquid a people use it for cooking (whiskey pudding come to mind), use it as an appetizer and so forth. It isn't beneficial but people would just make home made drinks because it's rather easy to do so. I'm 16 and I make licour with my parents and grandparents.

Weed supposedly is rather good for our organism and a rather efficient painkiller, but we still don't know about any serious side-effects. I say it's good they legalized it. It keeps people happy and moralized and they don't think about potential problems.

 

[Sage Ages]

They've had it here for years...

 

[mister dog]

They've had it here for years...

In Somewhere right?

 

[Sage Ages]

In Somewhere right?

As for legalization, I don't really think it would be a good idea.

 

[Grayfox]

I take it they will set some kind of law that says you cant drive for 24hours after taking the stuff since it can impair judgement.

 

[lbsf1]

In terms of prevalence (i.e. percentage of people who have consumed cannabis), New Zealand is tied eighth in the word along with Italy and Andorra. Australia is tied eighteenth with Spain and Antigua and Barbuda.

Quick comparison of some MEDC cannabis prevalence:
Czech Republic - 15.2%
Andorra, Italy, New Zealand - 14.6%
USA - 13.7%
Canada - 12.6
Australia, Spain - 10.6%
France - 8.6%
Scotland - 8.4%
England, Wales - 6.6%
Ireland - 6.3%

Considering that Ireland is ranked 45th, we're all pretty high on the board.

Pun not intended.

Whilst that may be the official statistics I seriously doubt that it is that low. I live in an area which you would expect to be lower in usage (Middle class area) and I would still say that at least 20% of people have smoked weed within the past 2 years or so, and probably around 30% smoked it at least once in their life. Whilst the MEDC statistics are the best official statistics there are for comparing worldwide they are way off the mark in the actual numbers. It is difficult it is to gain information about its usage considering its illegal status because people arn't prepared to talk about it, or its difficult to get a fair representation of people questioned.

 

[Imari]

As for legalization, I don't really think it would be a good idea.

Out of interest, why not?

It's not any worse for you than alcohol. Both are mildly beneficial in small doses. Arguably it's better for society because stereotypically stoned people don't go out smashing stuff and getting into fights, they sit on the couch and eat chips.

It's one of those where there's not really any particular reason for it to be illegal other than that's the historical precedent.

 

[mister dog]

I take it they will set some kind of law that says you cant drive for 24hours after taking the stuff since it can impair judgement.

Makes you drive calmer actually.

 

[Wilbur]

I have kind of got into it recently on another board about this, I was one of a very very small few that really didn't see it as a bad thing. Mainly they wanted to think people wouldn't be responsible with it like driving after smoking, or high risk jobs, and things like that.

One person was asking me how many deaths after someone was high was acceptable. You know that's playing a HUGE what if game that you have no clue if it will happen but funny how we haven't heard of any big deals coming from having it become legal yet either.

My opinion is the people who do the reckless part of driving, going to work, or dumb things...they fall under the natural selection title for me. You can't fix stupid at all and we all have daily risk that we take no matter of other parties we cross paths with. There are alot worse things in this country that are abused or an issue for me than a natural product to help for multiple reasons, and I am one who is really against RX based meds for everything if there is a better/natural product out there that's going to do less damage in the long run. The older I tend to get the more I see what is actually in alot of products from food to RX to just stuff we put in our body and it's not pretty to see why we are such a sick nation in general.

The benefits to me are it allows growers to have their products legally and work on better formulas to help different needs, allows the average person a safe simple way to get a product they want without all the risk involved and government gets taxes off it to help all sorts of things.


I will say one thing, I have never actually done any drugs outside of what a doctor has given me. So I have no idea what it is like or possibly would do but a big issue for me is I have heard that people need to cope with life like a stressful job or whatever the situation may be instead of say after they get home from work, they take few minutes to relax by smoking a bowl/joint. I'm not going to get into alcohol or tobacco.

 

[lbsf1]

I have kind of got into it recently on another board about this, I was one of a very very small few that really didn't see it as a bad thing. Mainly they wanted to think people wouldn't be responsible with it like driving after smoking, or high risk jobs, and things like that.

One person was asking me how many deaths after someone was high was acceptable. You know that's playing a HUGE what if game that you have no clue if it will happen but funny how we haven't heard of any big deals coming from having it become legal yet either.

A very good counter argument to that is how many innocent deaths are exceptable due to the war on drugs, especially deaths due to drug cartels in South America.

 

[Turbotwin01]

Makes you drive calmer actually.

But wouldn't it slow your reaction time?

 

[mister dog]

But wouldn't it slow your reaction time?

Not that much, you just drive slower and watch out more at cross points. When i'm sober or after a few beers i always drive faster.

 

[Wilbur]

A very good counter argument to that is how many innocent deaths are exceptable due to the war on drugs, especially deaths due to drug cartels in South America.

Well I'm not always the fastest thinker but very valid point.

 

[mister dog]

A very good counter argument to that is how many innocent deaths are exceptable due to the war on drugs, especially deaths due to drug cartels in South America.

Not only that; if the gov. oversees the trade in weed, not only is that extra tax revenue for them, but all that money does not end up in the hands of the criminal circuit, like what happens now in a lot of the cases when you buy from the street.

 

[Grayfox]

Not that much, you just drive slower and watch out more at cross points.

not all people the think in that manner.

 

[mister dog]

not all people the think in that manner.

Well it depends, if you never smoke and then you try a J and get behind the wheel directly, that won't be very recommendable . But most people that smoke regularly are not as affected by it that much so it would impare on their driving, and the effect is the opposite of using alcohol. With alcohol you don't give a ****, but when being stoned you drive calmer and as a consequence more careful IMO.

Cruising as they would call it just like Cheech and Chong .

 

[lbsf1]

Well it depends, if you never smoke and then you try a J and get behind the wheel directly, that won't be very recommendable . But most people that smoke regularly are not as affected by it that much so it would impare on their driving, and the effect is the opposite of using alcohol. With alcohol you don't give a ****, but when being stoned you drive calmer and as a consequence more careful IMO.

Cruising as they would call it just like Cheech and Chong .

Agreed to an extent, cannabis impairs your vision so it can't be good for driving. However it has been shown that you drive slower when stoned because of this. Alcohol on the otherhand makes you drive faster and more recklessly.

A couple of months back we had a lesson at Sixth form where our form tutor (A person who takes one lesson with you every 2 weeks to do general stuff) had to teach a lesson about safe driving and thus drink driving was a key part. This teacher said "Studies have shown that regular cannabis users should not be allowed behind the wheel at all due to the residual effects in their body", I have looked it up and no such study exists, and with how misleading a lot of the other stuff that was said (Including not knowing whether a Nissan Micra was 4 wheel drive or not) then you do wonder about the quality of "drug awareness" teaching in this country.

 

[Tesla]

Makes you drive calmer actually.

If by calmer you mean less attentive, slowed reactions and poorer coordination. Just because you think you can drive fine under the influence doesn't mean you actually are driving well. You're not just endangering yourself when you drive poorly.

 

[CarBastard]

I live in a country that was and still is torn and ravaged by drug trafficking, and I receive this kind of news with a smile.

The only thing prohibition has done is bring misery and war to the countries that produce and traffic the drugs. Behind most hippies that think they are oh-so-alternative, there is a druglord here that made life for his neighborhood a living hell. Words can hardly describe, specially in a brief post, how much drug trafficking has corrupted and penetrated my country's culture and mindset, the kind of scars it has left on us as a society. Put it this way: Pablo Escobar was to Colombia was Adolf Hitler was to Germany; a ruthless monster that wrecked our society and tied us forever to an awful stereotype. If Hitler's flag was hating everything different, Escobar's flag was amassing easy, dirty money no matter what stood on your way. And that's a mindset that to this day, sadly, lives on in most of our political class and the lower working classes.

I've tried drugs a couple of times, LSD and marihuana namely, and I didn't liked the experience. Different strokes for different folks I guess. I don't think drugs are as bad as they make them seem but I don't buy all the naturalistic ******** on the other side of the fence either: it's not a godsent herb that fixes everything physical and spiritual. Some drugs are undeniably a threat to health like heroine, cocaine or the now in vogue krokodil but I don't think marihuana is much different than alcohol or tobacco in terms of self-destruction. Given that, if I'm allowed to walk into any store and buy enough alcohol to bring myself into an unbelievable stupor...why shouldn't someone who prefers to do so with marihuana? Hard drugs are a completely different story, but I honestly see nothing wrong, and nothing good either, with marihuana.

Please USA, your war on drugs failed. And I know because I live in the exact place where it failed. I know it because that money you gave to my country only made the war worse and drug trafficking and drug addiction is as bad as it's always been. If people are allowed to buy marihuana legally and even plant their own weed, they're effectively taking away the business from druglords around the world that only use that money to ruin their own communities. The next time you smoke a joint think for a second where did it came from: did it come from the backyard of some dude who hasn't wronged anyone or is it stained with the blood of innocent citizens of the third world?

----

Oh, and on the subject of ganja and driving: it's stupid. A friend of mine did it once and he almost nailed the back of a cab. We all were warning him and just laughed and forgot to brake in time. It was such a close call that he, even in his high, admitted someone else should take care of the driving. If you're not allowed to drink and drive because it alters you, you shouldn't be allowed to smoke a joint and drive. Both substances impair your judgement, perceptions and reflections. Period.