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I give Conservatives more credit than to believe that they actually think weed is a gateway drug. Most know better, and that it's a load of bull.
Conservative are against it because you zone out and have a good time....and they don't like it. Period, point blank. It has a stigma attached to it that says "loser, slacker, malingerer, bad guy, druggie, etc." They simply can't abide it...Jesus would NEVER smoke it.
Besides, stomping on folks' rights and telling them what they can or can't do is right up their alley. It's just a part of their overall outlook.
I give Conservatives more credit than to believe that they actually think weed is a gateway drug. Most know better, and that it's a load of bull.
Conservative are against it because you zone out and have a good time....and they don't like it. Period, point blank. It has a stigma attached to it that says "loser, slacker, malingerer, bad guy, druggie, etc." They simply can't abide it...Jesus would NEVER smoke it.
Besides, stomping on folks' rights and telling them what they can or can't do is right up their alley. It's just a part of their overall outlook.
I'm not above the occasional toke, and I certainly am not a bad guy, nor am I a slacker. Furthermore, I know several people who could certainly benefit from a toke or two every once in awhileto calm their a**es down!
Not to mention, oxycotin and other prescribed meds, as well as otc drugs such as aspirin! In fact name one drug OTHER than marijuana legal or illegal that DOESN'T have a risk of overdose and the possibility of death? I'm willing to bet the authoritarian types on here cannot!
Great Post! There really is no logical argument for continuing the prohibition of marijuana. It is extremely frustrating when people push these outdated lies that have been fed to us for decades.
In fact, the prohibition of all drugs is narrow sighted. Imagine that there was a legitimate and legal "Crack Store", where an adult could enter and purchase crack.
Don't you think there would be a decrease in usage when adults would have to go into a store run by medical professionals and ask the clerk for their fix? You know, instead of meeting criminals in secrecy?
The Government saying some drugs are good and some are bad is very harmful for society and causes more problems than if everything were legal.
Alcohol, tobacco, Oxycontin, Percocets, Xanax, etc. are not exactly what I would call "light drugs" but they are seen that way because of our laws. Weed on the other hand has been around and used for thousands of years. Our brains actually produce natural cannabis to cope with stressful situations which further leads me to believe that the plant was put on this Earth for us to enjoy. What makes someone believe a powerful synthetic MANMADE drug is safer than a natural plant is beyond my comprehension.
This confusion over the severity of drugs has caused more overdose rates from drugs than any other time period in history, and LEGAL DRUGS ARE CAUSING THE OVERDOSE SURGE. Yet, there is no "War on Pharmaceutical Companies"...Wonder why?
Great Post! There really is no logical argument for continuing the prohibition of marijuana. It is extremely frustrating when people push these outdated lies that have been fed to us for decades.
In fact, the prohibition of all drugs is narrow sighted. Imagine that there was a legitimate and legal "Crack Store", where an adult could enter and purchase crack.
Don't you think there would be a decrease in usage when adults would have to go into a store run by medical professionals and ask the clerk for their fix? You know, instead of meeting criminals in secrecy?
The Government saying some drugs are good and some are bad is very harmful for society and causes more problems than if everything were legal.
Alcohol, tobacco, Oxycontin, Percocets, Xanax, etc. are not exactly what I would call "light drugs" but they are seen that way because of our laws. Weed on the other hand has been around and used for thousands of years. Our brains actually produce natural cannabis to cope with stressful situations which further leads me to believe that the plant was put on this Earth for us to enjoy. What makes someone believe a powerful synthetic MANMADE drug is safer than a natural plant is beyond my comprehension.
This confusion over the severity of drugs has caused more overdose rates from drugs than any other time period in history, and LEGAL DRUGS ARE CAUSING THE OVERDOSE SURGE. Yet, there is no "War on Pharmaceutical Companies"...Wonder why?
You and I are on the same page. I don't condone use of hard drugs what so ever, but to each their own. And furthermore if someone gets hooked on crack, I'd rather try and find positive ways to rehabilitate them than throw them in prison for possession. How is that solving the problem? Sure you can't save everybody, and there are those who will continue to self-destruct no matter what, but locking them up for a victimless crime is not the solution! Now, if said crack head knocks over a convenient store, or kills someone in the process, then by all means, throw them in prison! But posession shouldn't be a jailable offense! And that goes ESPECIALLY for POT!
I'm not above the occasional toke, and I certainly am not a bad guy, nor am I a slacker. Furthermore, I know several people who could certainly benefit from a toke or two every once in awhileto calm their a**es down!
Liquor sales are much higher per capita in red country. It's 'respectable' surely as smoking cigarettes is 'manly'. Conservatives get high in socially acceptable means marketed to them. Meth trailers and oxycontin abuse are not socially acceptable but it plagues red country as hard as crack plagued blue country urban centers in the 80's.
Beyond all categories of substances, beyond red and blue, there is a more intelligent way to go about all of this. We're never going to get there if you're defending pot to a fault. This debate, like all others, is more than a little disingenuous when none are willing to be forthcoming about what it is they really mean to protect.
2e, I agree there is no war on pharma. There is no war on medical malpractice to be a legalized drug pusher for profit either. But back to what I've been saying all along, including the post to no1browns-- how has any policy we've engaged or neglected facilitated any citizen to be responsible for themselves? Start the conversation there, then we'll make headway. If you're not willing to be intellectually honest about it comprehensively you've made yourself part of the problem facilitating the stalemate.
2e, I agree there is no war on pharma. There is no war on medical malpractice to be a legalized drug pusher for profit either. But back to what I've been saying all along, including the post to no1browns-- how has any policy we've engaged or neglected facilitated any citizen to be responsible for themselves? Start the conversation there, then we'll make headway. If you're not willing to be intellectually honest about it comprehensively you've made yourself part of the problem facilitating the stalemate.
I feel that an all around policy of personal freedoms would force people to be self-governing and have much more personal responsibility. It is basic sociology when you think about it and the reason for our country's existence.
This is what our Constitution was based on. Our Forfathers favored as little government as possible. We have ventured so far away from the original ideals of our country it is sad.
End the War on Drugs and End Wars Abroad! Return the power to the States!
I feel that an all around policy of personal freedoms would force people to be self-governing and have much more personal responsibility. It is basic sociology when you think about it and the reason for our country's existence.
Agreed. How is that possible when people interpret their 'rights' as the right to prey upon all others? The implications of what I'm saying are broad based. The 'right' of the well heeled property rights to trample the property rights of all others. The 'right' of religious to inflict their beliefs on other religious (or non religious) groups, the 'right' of social conservatives to social engineer universal law, the right of males to oppress females through writ... it's a long long list of historic abuses that persist.
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Originally Posted by 2e1m5a
This is what our Constitution was based on. Our Forfathers favored as little government as possible. We have ventured so far away from the original ideals of our country it is sad.
IMO we've never fully realized the constitution. Ever. Pining away for some distant fantasy that never was is where conservative thinking shoots itself in the foot. Realizing the constitution fully as a people and as individuals is vital to it's preservation (and the sanity of conservatives).
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2e1m5a
End the War on Drugs and End Wars Abroad! Return the power to the States!
I agree the war on drugs is a spendthrift program. The war is better fought as a war on addiction transcending superficial choices such as beer or pot, extending out in all directions from huffers, meth heads, prescription drug abusers etc etc.
There's a dynamic that's being ignored stigmatizing one but not the other. Addictive personalities are the John the pimps sell to. Start there and watch how quickly prostitutes go broke. Continue to ignore the problem and find out how many Columbian refugees will arrive on our shores because the American appetite for cocaine is so out of control that drug cartels are destroying the sovereignty of whole nations over it. Western culture had the door slammed shut in it's face for a century over opium wars. Think about that. It's an epic joke we can't sweep our own porch yet persist 'installing' democracy anywhere on this planet. So I do agree in part, just for vastly different reasons.
The states right argument is seriously flawed. Typically it's an abused tool to do an end run around other constitutional issues printing a license for mob rule through police force. That amendment never went anywhere but lack of creative application is OUR (local) bad. Not the federal, the rest of the constitution or that amendment.
It all reverts back to the first paragraph answer. Are we focused on behaviors & personal responsibility, or are we OCD focused on averting responsibility/ using legislation to scapegoat? Just look at it. You can't move forward until you own it. When inadvertently aping the same behavior that created the problem, it perpetuates & rebrands the same problems to utter exasperation.
Generally conservatives dont seem to be in favor of legalizing marijuana. You would think wanting less government intervention and smaller government would mean legalizing it. A.
The gov should stay out of peoples business when it comes to waht they want to smoke. B. All the government agencies surrounding stopping the marijuana industry cost a fortune and dont really accomplish anything.
Just curious waht your take on this is?
I have two ideas, A. Concservatives tend to be more of a family of values, family. The other thing is the prison industry is a huge industry, we have more people in prison than any other country and private prisons make a fortune off locking up non violent marijauna offenders. Not saying Republicans are in business's pocket because dems are as bad if not worse but its a big money maker locking up people for a plant.
A lot of them are uneducated on how harmless it really is. Anti-drug campaigns have grouped marijuana with other drugs like cocaine, meth, and heroin so most people who know nothing about it assume its that bad, and those people make up the bulk of the Republican party's base.
And furthermore if someone gets hooked on crack, I'd rather try and find positive ways to rehabilitate them than throw them in prison for possession.
There is no positive way to rehabilitate them. 96% would require intensive behavior modification therapy, which is not permissible under current laws, thanks to Liberals.
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Originally Posted by no1brownsfan
Sure you can't save everybody, and there are those who will continue to self-destruct no matter what, but locking them up for a victimless crime is not the solution!
You're right, you cannot save everyone, and trying to do so is too costly to society. That's brown-bag lunches, $10 bills, parachutes, and C-130s exist.
There is a point to locking them up, but the police do not take advantage of that, because there has never been a war on drugs.
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Originally Posted by Roadking2003
So, you don't take any drugs?
Of course I take drugs.
I take neurontin, methacarbamol, oxycodone, hydroxyzine and 500 mg ibuprofen every day.
That's the price people like me pay to make sure you are bathed in oil.
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Originally Posted by Roadking2003
Hundreds of millions of people around the world take drugs and go to work and have no issues.
No issues that you're aware of.
When someone is terminated for killing/injuring another on the job, or for causing damage, it doesn't exactly make CNN Headline News.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roadking2003
Nobody should be drug tested for any reason whatsoever. Drug testing should be outlawed.
In the State of Ohio, you will take a drug test if you file a worker's comp claim or even if you are injured on the job, or worker's comp will not pay.
I'm not paying jack squat because Bill Idiot smoked a doobie at lunch and then fell of the dock and got injured.
Bill Idiot can suck it up and pay the hospital/bills medical bills, and then go find a new job.
Quote:
Originally Posted by no1brownsfan
In fact name one drug OTHER than marijuana legal or illegal that DOESN'T have a risk of overdose and the possibility of death? I'm willing to bet the authoritarian types on here cannot!
LSD.
You can't overdose on LSD.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LogicIsYourFriend
The number of chemicals means nothing about its harm inherently.
No, but those chemicals are incredibly complex and the majority are unique, meaning they only exist in marihuana plants.
It can take your liver up to 90-120 days to metabolize them (depending on your personal metabolism -- that's how complex they are) and the by-products are also unique.
I just assumed you knew how urine drug tests worked. Sure, the cheap ones detect only THC, so the not-so-cheap one all of the cannabinoids, and the really expensive once don't even bother with THC, they look for the metabolites.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LogicIsYourFriend
Which chemicals are carcinogens? You know, there have been recent studies to show that marijuana actually fights cancer! Google it.
And while you're at it, see if you can find ANY instance of ANYONE overdosing on marijuana. It's kind of a snipe hunt, because that just simply doesn't happen. That's why I say it's harmless.
But it isn't harmless.
It is only harmless if it never ever costs me a dime ever.
Go get a job as a private investigator and then go investigate worker's compensation insurance claims and injuries in the work-place, and then tell us how harmless it is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LogicIsYourFriend
For comparison, alcohol (the legal but extremely harmful drug) causes overdoses and death quite regularly.
I never said alcohol wasn't harmless.
If it were up to me, there would be much more severe restrictions on alcohol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LogicIsYourFriend
Maybe you think there should be small government in other areas, but in terms of personal freedom of ownership, you are a big government anti-freedom person.
When your "freedoms" infringe on my freedoms, that's where we draw the line. You can try to hide behind personal freedom all you want, but it's just smoke and mirrors.
I would rather commit suicide than admit I was so pathetic that I couldn't feel good or have a good time without getting drugged up or drunk.
There's a big wide world out there; you might try exploring it just once in your life.
No, but those chemicals are incredibly complex and the majority are unique, meaning they only exist in marihuana plants.
It can take your liver up to 90-120 days to metabolize them (depending on your personal metabolism -- that's how complex they are) and the by-products are also unique.
I just assumed you knew how urine drug tests worked. Sure, the cheap ones detect only THC, so the not-so-cheap one all of the cannabinoids, and the really expensive once don't even bother with THC, they look for the metabolites.
Neither the amount of chemicals nor the length they stay in your system mean they are inherently harmful. Got anything substantial?
Quote:
But it isn't harmless.
It is only harmless if it never ever costs me a dime ever.
Go get a job as a private investigator and then go investigate worker's compensation insurance claims and injuries in the work-place, and then tell us how harmless it is.
I never said alcohol wasn't harmless.
If it were up to me, there would be much more severe restrictions on alcohol.
When your "freedoms" infringe on my freedoms, that's where we draw the line. You can try to hide behind personal freedom all you want, but it's just smoke and mirrors.
I would rather commit suicide than admit I was so pathetic that I couldn't feel good or have a good time without getting drugged up or drunk.
There's a big wide world out there; you might try exploring it just once in your life.
You sound pretty high-and-mighty, you realize that right?
Which freedoms of yours would be infringed upon if we stopped imprisoning, stealing from and blacklisting people for possessing a harmless plant? Seriously?
Even if you had a valid response, I doubt it's anywhere close to being imprisoned, stolen from, or blacklisted.
Step outside of your ego for a bit and see things from a more objective perspective.
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