Puerto Rico says NO to Marijuana Legalization

[Rush99]

Originally Posted by GJJG2012

Cannabis ("marijuana) does *NOT* cause half the health problems of alcohol. People don't die from cannabis, or even get sick. They certainly won't need liver transplants!

Many need cannabis for medical reasons. rxmarijuana.com/ lists 124 conditions it treats. Do prostitution or gambling treat that many medical conditions? Legal "pot" would reduce medical costs.

Valid studies do *NOT* show alcohol & "marijuana" are similar. Alcohol kills about 100,000 Americans a year, cannabis 0. Alcohol has more intense withdrawal symptoms, possibly fatal for some.

Sure, I agree with you Fed govt should spend less, but they give out $$ to police depts that says it must only be used to fight drugs. 22% of 11-15 y/o admit using, 1 out of 6 all ages admit to use. Kids are more likely to use cannabis than tobacco, are less likely to get drunk than use cannabis. Perhaps they care about their health & know govt lies when they hear/see them? Best wishes.

1) You are comparing apples and oranges. Alcohol is legal and part of our culture and pot isn't. More people by far uses alcohol than pot so of course there will be more health problems from alcohol than pot........your case is since alcohol has a worse record than pot we should make pot legal. Why make an addictive underground drug mainstream? 2 wrongs doesn't make it a right.


2) we know from our experience with currently legal drugs, prescription drugs (which are now the leading cause of accidental deaths), alcohol and tobacco , that legality means commercialization, normalization and wider access and availability that lead to more use and addiction. Legalization in the United States is likely to accompany a bombardment of promotion, similar to our other three classes of legal drugs. These industries will stop at nothing to increase addiction since their bottom line relies on it. In fact, we know that 80% of the profit from addictive industries comes from the 20% of users who consume most of the volume of the substance.




3) Big Tobacco tried for decades to conceal the harms of their drug, and millions of lives were lost as a result. We are naive to think that this wouldn't happen with any other drug that is legalized.


4) I have no problem if pot is used for medical purposes for cancer patients or to control pain if is tightly controlled by the DEA and doctors like any addictive control substance drug in the market but to make another drug mainstream legal for all for recreational purposes is something we don't need. We already have many people addictive to "legal" drugs and we are paying the price for it, we don't need another one.


5) Keep the POT HEADS as a low minority as possible and not make it mainstream.

Take care..xx

[GJJG2012]

Urine drug tests seem worthless if the goal of the employer is to test for possible impairment. Other testing methods exist that are more meaningful, maybe a saliva test. And not every job is as potentially dangerous as operating a forklift, some employers know this and will give cannabis users a different job. Employer participation in govt drug testing program to get help with employee insurance is up to them. Maybe pushes employees into alcohol & tobacco to relax, costing employers more.

If an employer drug tests, it may be before hiring, &/or random drug testing. Or it may be only after an accident, or it could be scheduled drug testing. So, some of these permit hiring cannabis users. For some people, cannabis makes them more able to work. For other cannabis users, they may have been disabled before they started using it (124 medical conditions helped at rxmarijuana dot com.

With cannabis legalization, the price can become much lower, even with a high tax. So users will have more money to spend on other things, creating more jobs, besides all the jobs in the "pot" business.

Originally Posted by Rush99

More facts:

On a Urine Drug Test, THC will appear as a positive within 2-5 hours of use. How long it will still show on a urine drug test is estimated based on frequency of use, but does not take into account the weight and body fat of the marijuana user:

• One Time User may show positive for 1-6 days
• Moderate User may show positive for 7-13 days
• Frequent User may show positive for 15 or more days
• Heavy User may show positive for 30 or more days
• Some Heavy Pot Smokers have reported being positive 45-90 days after quitting

if most employers in the government and private sector require DRUG TESTING even for flipping burgers, explain to me how legalizing pot and making it mainstream which will increase people smoking it will help the economy since their options are very limited in the job market and the government then has to take care of them with welfare and other handouts.

Puerto Rico already has a high unemployment to start and a large % of people on welfare, this will raise it more......how does this helps the economy again?

another legit reason to NOT make pot legal and mainstream............another angle that some of you didn't bother to research.

Like the Chinese say, BEWARE OF WHAT YOU WISH FOR!

[GJJG2012]

Alcohol was illegal many years & didn't stop use. Same with cannabis. It could be bought in various forms in pharmacies until 1937. Isn't nearly 50 million admitting use enough to count it as part of our culture? It's popularity is at least equal to tobacco, & it's infinitely safer. Alcohol is a poison, cannabis is non-toxic. How "underground" is it when several times a week there are new studies about safety & benefits, or news of more places legalizing & taxing it or reducing penalties, more investors wanting in "on the ground floor" of the new companies that will be part of the business.

Cannabis can help many quit pills, tobacco & reduce alcohol use, lowering health care costs. One third of alcoholics admit to sometimes being violent. Cannabis is less intoxicating than alcohol, less addicting than many pills, alcohol, tobacco, even less addicting than caffeine. Some European expert said 2% are "addicted". But it's the best drug for helping many. Is smoking marijuana worse than committing suicide? Better dead than "addicted"? Why don't we show more concern about what kills than what is
"addicting"? Any pleasant activity, people want to repeat it frequently.

Tobacco companies had plenty of help from govt, who gave them sole rights to do tobacco studies for about 50 years. Cannabis can get people away from more harmful drugs & treat a great many medical problems. Recreational use is not only for fun, though that may be part of it. Many use it to control anxiety, anger, depression, but may still call themselves recreational users. Best wishes.

Originally Posted by Rush99

1) Alcohol is legal and part of our culture and pot isn't. More people by far uses alcohol than pot so of course there will be more health problems from alcohol than pot........your case is since alcohol has a worse record than pot we should make pot legal. Why make an addictive underground drug mainstream? 2 wrongs doesn't make it a right.


2) we know from our experience with currently legal drugs, prescription drugs (which are now the leading cause of accidental deaths), alcohol and tobacco , that legality means commercialization, normalization and wider access and availability that lead to more use and addiction. Legalization in the United States is likely to accompany a bombardment of promotion, similar to our other three classes of legal drugs. These industries will stop at nothing to increase addiction since their bottom line relies on it. In fact, we know that 80% of the profit from addictive industries comes from the 20% of users who consume most of the volume of the substance.




3) Big Tobacco tried for decades to conceal the harms of their drug, and millions of lives were lost as a result. We are naive to think that this wouldn't happen with any other drug that is legalized.


4) I have no problem if pot is used for medical purposes for cancer patients or to control pain if is tightly controlled by the DEA and doctors like any addictive control substance drug in the market but to make another drug mainstream legal for all for recreational purposes is something we don't need. We already have many people addictive to "legal" drugs and we are paying the price for it, we don't need another one.


5) Keep the POT HEADS as a low minority as possible and not make it mainstream.

Take care..xx

[Rush99]

Originally Posted by GJJG2012

Alcohol was illegal many years & didn't stop use. Same with cannabis. It could be bought in various forms in pharmacies until 1937. Isn't nearly 50 million admitting use enough to count it as part of our culture? It's popularity is at least equal to tobacco, & it's infinitely safer. Alcohol is a poison, cannabis is non-toxic. How "underground" is it when several times a week there are new studies about safety & benefits, or news of more places legalizing & taxing it or reducing penalties, more investors wanting in "on the ground floor" of the new companies that will be part of the business.

Cannabis can help many quit pills, tobacco & reduce alcohol use, lowering health care costs. One third of alcoholics admit to sometimes being violent. Cannabis is less intoxicating than alcohol, less addicting than many pills, alcohol, tobacco, even less addicting than caffeine. Some European expert said 2% are "addicted". But it's the best drug for helping many. Is smoking marijuana worse than committing suicide? Better dead than "addicted"? Why don't we show more concern about what kills than what is
"addicting"? Any pleasant activity, people want to repeat it frequently.

Tobacco companies had plenty of help from govt, who gave them sole rights to do tobacco studies for about 50 years. Cannabis can get people away from more harmful drugs & treat a great many medical problems. Recreational use is not only for fun, though that may be part of it. Many use it to control anxiety, anger, depression, but may still call themselves recreational users. Best wishes.

1) Alcohol was only illegal from 1920 to 1933, I hardly call that many years. Before that it was part of many cultures for centuries. That's why it was impossible to make it illegal, like wine for many European countries its part of their culture at the dinner table and its a must. Food with alcohol even in small amounts is part of the cuisine of many cultures. Pot is not.



2) I don't know where you get your facts that POT can cure other addictions and diseases. Under U.S. law since 1970, marijuana has been a Schedule I controlled substance. This means that the drug, at least in its smoked form, has no commonly accepted medical use. THC is manufactured into a pill available by prescription that can be used to treat the nausea and vomiting that occur with certain cancer treatments and to help AIDS patients eat more to keep up their weight. According to scientists, more research needs to be done on THC's side effects and other potential medical uses.




3) There are currently no medications for treating marijuana addiction.

[AntonioR]

I didn't said that life in Jamaica is worry free, just smoking a joint is. Lol