Do you support marijuana legalization in California? (San Diego, San Francisco: apartment, rent)

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Your impression is yours and certainly not my experience: that pot smokers smoke during all their free hours. Some do. Many don't. The majority don't. And that is backed up by studies that define percentages of heavy, moderate, and light / occasional users. Just like alcohol drinkers.

I am also curious about your statement that you smoked pot back when but "grew out of it." This is a comment that has been made many times by many people in these pot threads. Not an attack question from me. A sincere curiosity question: Are you inferring there is something immature about marijuana use - as contrasted with drinking (which you say you continue to enjoy).

Personally, I know many aging professionals including doctors and lawyers, educators, psychologists, right along with machinists and house painters. who continue to smoke pot recreationally in their 60's, 70's and 80's. They are neither constantly high in all their free time nor a bit immature. Some of them also enjoy their wine in the evenings, as you say. Some have given up on the drinking altogether long ago (as I did) having found it more troublesome and damaging to their health than pot. So I am curious when I hear your comment and the same from others. One person's experience is not always another's in life, of course.

There certainly is a lot of pot smoked up in Humboldt towns. But I think it's a stretch to so broadly categorize the "townspeople" as a whole.

All of the pot smokers I know, consider it normal to light up in the morning on their day off. The only alcohol drinkers I know who will drink first thing in the morning on their day off, are serious alcoholics, who probably also can't hold down a job.

Among pot smokers, they don't think it's weird to light up first thing in the morning on their day off. Among both drinkers and pot smokers, it's considered to be problem behavior if someone starts drinking first thing in the morning on their day off. It's ironic, but pot smokers are very judgmental of alcohol drinkers, and will consider it a problem if someone drinks wine every evening, even thought they are stoned every evening, and all weekend from breakfast to bed.

Also, pot smokers don't think other pot smokers have any kind of problem. But, they all pretty much think anyone who regularly drinks - even if just in the evenings - has a problem. It's the belief system that getting high more often on pot than someone who drinks alcohol - is not problematic or bad for your health. And they usually don't even think of it as becoming inebriated or impaired. Most will light up and go driving, without thinking twice.

My experience with everyone I know who smokes pot, is that I spend more time around someone inebriated, than they do. Because, even though I like a couple glasses of wine every night, if I spend the weekend with a friend who smokes pot, all of their waking hours will be stoned. So, I'm hanging around with someone who can't follow my conversation, or who thinks they can drive even though they are impaired, who will stop and have rambling conversations with strangers and I'm trying to pull them away and keep them focused, they gets the munchies constantly....and I'm talking about friends and family of all ages.

Whereas, if I spend the weekend with drinkers, we can go shopping and organize a barbecue, etc., be sober and coherent all day, and then enjoy getting a buzz that evening. I guess this is an example of "growing out of" smoking pot, which is kind of like still being stuck in the party animal phase forever.

It's a culture that says it's okay to be stoned as often as possible. I don't think that's a good thing. And no, people who enjoy drinking, unless they're blatant drunks, do not find drinking during all free time from sun up to sun down to be acceptable. So, it's not the same.

If you go to Napa, for instance, you don't see drunks walking around everywhere you go. You don't smell alcohol on people everywhere you go, from morning to night. Now, go to Arcata and see the difference with the pot culture, as opposed to the wine/alcohol culture. It's vastly different. People reek of pot wherever you go, and you will often walk by people who are smoking it, whether in a parking lot or a park.

[tikkasf]

I voted yes......although I don't use MJ and would not hang around someone smoking it in my presence

[jbunniii]

A chance to remove another victimless "crime" from the books? Of course I voted yes.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by NoMoreSnowForMe

All of the pot smokers I know, consider it normal to light up in the morning on their day off. The only alcohol drinkers I know who will drink first thing in the morning on their day off, are serious alcoholics, who probably also can't hold down a job.

Among pot smokers, they don't think it's weird to light up first thing in the morning on their day off. Among both drinkers and pot smokers, it's considered to be problem behavior if someone starts drinking first thing in the morning on their day off. It's ironic, but pot smokers are very judgmental of alcohol drinkers, and will consider it a problem if someone drinks wine every evening, even thought they are stoned every evening, and all weekend from breakfast to bed.

Also, pot smokers don't think other pot smokers have any kind of problem. But, they all pretty much think anyone who regularly drinks - even if just in the evenings - has a problem. It's the belief system that getting high more often on pot than someone who drinks alcohol - is not problematic or bad for your health. And they usually don't even think of it as becoming inebriated or impaired. Most will light up and go driving, without thinking twice.

My experience with everyone I know who smokes pot, is that I spend more time around someone inebriated, than they do. Because, even though I like a couple glasses of wine every night, if I spend the weekend with a friend who smokes pot, all of their waking hours will be stoned. So, I'm hanging around with someone who can't follow my conversation, or who thinks they can drive even though they are impaired, who will stop and have rambling conversations with strangers and I'm trying to pull them away and keep them focused, they gets the munchies constantly....and I'm talking about friends and family of all ages.

Whereas, if I spend the weekend with drinkers, we can go shopping and organize a barbecue, etc., be sober and coherent all day, and then enjoy getting a buzz that evening. I guess this is an example of "growing out of" smoking pot, which is kind of like still being stuck in the party animal phase forever.

It's a culture that says it's okay to be stoned as often as possible. I don't think that's a good thing. And no, people who enjoy drinking, unless they're blatant drunks, do not find drinking during all free time from sun up to sun down to be acceptable. So, it's not the same.

If you go to Napa, for instance, you don't see drunks walking around everywhere you go. You don't smell alcohol on people everywhere you go, from morning to night. Now, go to Arcata and see the difference with the pot culture, as opposed to the wine/alcohol culture. It's vastly different. People reek of pot wherever you go, and you will often walk by people who are smoking it, whether in a parking lot or a park.

Whew! That was quite an answer. Interesting that your personal experience has been as you describe. I don't question your feelings because you have presented them as just that: your personal, subjective impressions. But I wonder if you really assume that your pot smoking acquaintances are representational? Have you ever found research to support your associations as typical of marijuana users?

I ask because my own subjective experience is that I certainly see and meet pot-heads as you describe - but by no means find them to be typical of the range of pot smokers I know, few of whom act at all as you describe. As I wrote previously, I know psychologists, doctors, lawyers, educators, and many other professionals who continue to smoke weed recreationally on an occasional basis, and some who smoke quite regularly, much as many folks have a glass of wine or two in the evening. Their use hasn't limited their careers or parenting or general productivity in life at all.

It is also curious that the rates of dependency ascribed to marijuana use - which pretty much fits the scenarios you described - runs at under 10% of users. Far lower than any other drug use, and lower even than for alcohol users. Here is a very deep study of addiction rates and influences by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) . Covers a lot of the bases relative to this conversation.

[njbiodude]

Originally Posted by notmeofficer

I
People..drug users are selfish and don't realize or care their sickness permeates everything around.

Most parents are pretty selfish. They use the child tax credit and vote for schools which suck up tax dollars and a lot of women have kids to "spice up their marriage" without thinking of the consequences.

Most automobile drivers are selfish. They use up valuable fossil foods and pollute our air...

You see anything can be used by selfish people. Marijuana isnt healthy but not everyone that does it smokes a ton and is a drain to society.

[wac_432]

Originally Posted by njbiodude

Marijuana isnt healthy but not everyone that does it smokes a ton and is a drain to society.

Yes you are.

[C24L]

I support it

[LynnBear]

I have a somewhat selfish view on marijuana legalization. I am all for it, 100%, but - only if at least 30 or 35 other states legalize it all at the same time. I think most of the young pot smokers who have flooded the western states like Washington, Oregon, especially Colorado, and to an extent California (especially NoCal) are transplants who moved here from other parts of the country so that they can just spend their entire existence walking around stoned and wearing dirty clothes. If it was legal where they lived, they would stay there (because most of them are too lazy to move across country without a very good reason), and we wouldn't have to put up with them. If they ever make California completely legal, I dread what life will be like here in the Bay Area.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by LynnBear

I have a somewhat selfish view on marijuana legalization. I am all for it, 100%, but - only if at least 30 or 35 other states legalize it all at the same time. I think most of the young pot smokers who have flooded the western states like Washington, Oregon, especially Colorado, and to an extent California (especially NoCal) are transplants who moved here from other parts of the country so that they can just spend their entire existence walking around stoned and wearing dirty clothes. If it was legal where they lived, they would stay there (because most of them are too lazy to move across country without a very good reason), and we wouldn't have to put up with them. If they ever make California completely legal, I dread what life will be like here in the Bay Area.

Because lazy stoners will rent all the $5000 a month apartments with all that money they don't make because they are too stoned all the time to work?

[njbiodude]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Because lazy stoners will rent all the $5000 a month apartments with all that money they don't make because they are too stoned all the time to work?

True. If most tech workers in this area smoke, its very infrequently.