Virginia legalized pot. Every Republican said no. Why? (cocaine, racist, cost)
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How does big pharma factor into this? People self medicating instead of pharmaceuticals?
People have been self medicating with alcohol since forever.
Think the alcohol industry is well positioned to get into cannabis production in a big way, once legal barriers are eliminated.
Agree the industrial prison complex likely to be the big loser.
I dont think 'Big pharma' cares about this at all...
Look at their response when the Govt came in and cracked down on opioid pain killers...they did NOTHING to challenge the new laws. (even though opioid painkillers were selling like hot cakes!)
Not being able to pass a drug test is personal choice.
What substances are tested for is also a choice.
Such testing routinely excludes alcohol. Why would cannabis not be excluded, if legal?
I live in a legal state so maybe I can help. In my state a company CAN test for marijuana. I work in the software development industry, and years before legalization my industry stopped testing for it. Getting a software engineer was hard enough, trying to find one that didn't use marijuana was incredibly hard. So they just stopped. Now? Only a few places test for it. School bus driver, that sort of thing.
And edibles tend to be popular because honestly, the stuff smells nasty. You can get edibles where you cant even taste it. Plus I have to say, it helped me through chemotherapy a ton, but the smell would have just made me barf non stop.
Agreed. Even in states where marijuana is legalized, it's not regulated very well. I've read a lot of stories and heard first hand accounts of people who bought legalized marijuana, and because the product is not very well regulated at all, they suffered bad reactions, or were unexpectedly stoned for hours.
Despite some popular perceptions, marijuana is not a risk-free drug. Edibles in particular pose a threat to novice users because they deliver larger doses of THC than inhaling, and, once ingested, the user has little choice but to ride it out.
Sure, you can ride it out, but what if you were in your car, or you alone at the time, or in unfamiliar surroundings? It's very difficult to label marijuana so that a person knows what to expect. You can drink one beer, but at least you will not unexpectedly find you are drunk off your ass for the next eight hours. Also, because some highs can last for hours, will we have sufficient laws and regulations to determine what is, and what is not impaired driving? Will consumers even be able to determine if they are able to legally drive?
It's difficult to even find articles that discuss this, because 99% of every article is written by people who just want to legalize pot, and that's where it ends. there is absolutely no thought as to how to properly, and safely regulate it so people know what to expect when they make a purchase.
According to the people I know In my neck of the woods, the dispensaries spend a lot of face time educating customers and products come with warnings about driving and consumption.
The old timers, baby boomers, walk in expecting a one size fits all and are shocked by the nuance and choices and time invested matching product to the consumer and event.
William Randolph Hearst (Citizen Kane) (Democrat) and the Hearst Paper Manufacturing Division of Kimberly Clark owned vast acreage of timberlands. The Hearst Company supplied most paper products. Patty Hearst's grandfather, a destroyer of nature for his own personal profit, stood to lose billions because of hemp.
In 1937, Dupont patented the processes to make plastics from oil and coal. Dupont's Annual Report urged stockholders to invest in its new petrochemical division. Synthetics such as plastics, cellophane, celluloid, methanol, nylon, rayon, Dacron, etc., could now be made from oil. Natural hemp industrialization would have ruined over 80% of Dupont's business.
Harry J. Anslinger, was appointed to head the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs by FDR and approved by the democrat controlled congress
A media blitz of 'yellow journalism' raged in the late 1920s and 1930s. Hearst's newspapers ran stories emphasizing the horrors of marihuana. The menace of marihuana made headlines. Readers learned that it was responsible for everything from car accidents to loose morality.
Films like 'Reefer Madness' (1936), 'Marihuana: Assassin of Youth' (1935) and 'Marihuana: The Devil's Weed' (1936) were propaganda designed by these industrialists to create an enemy. Their purpose was to gain public support so that anti-marihuana laws could be passed.
Reefer Madness did not end with the usual 'the end.' The film concluded with these words plastered on the screen: TELL YOUR CHILDREN.
In the 1930s, people were very naïve; even to the point of ignorance. The masses were like sheep waiting to be led by the few in power. They did not challenge authority. If the news was in print or on the radio, they believed it had to be true. They told their children and their children grew up to be the parents of the baby-boomers.
On April 14, 1937, the Prohibitive Marihuana Tax Law or the bill that outlawed hemp was directly brought to the House Ways and Means Committee. This committee is the only one that can introduce a bill to the House floor without it being debated by other committees.
In September of 1937, hemp became illegal. The most useful crop known became a drug and our planet has been suffering ever since.
Congress banned hemp because it was said to be the most violence-causing drug known. Anslinger, head of the Drug Commission for 31 years, promoted the idea that marihuana made users act extremely violent. In the 1950s, under the Communist threat of McCarthyism, Anslinger now said the exact opposite. Marijuana will pacify you so much that soldiers would not want to fight.
…POT IS ILLEGAL BECAUSE LIBERAL BILLIONAIRES WANT TO REMAIN BILLIONAIRES!
I was not aware of the history behind this film. I first became aware of "Reefer Madness" in the 1970s as a teenager and have been mocking it ever since. Very interesting backstory. Thanks for the informative post!
As stated on the first page of this thread by a poster: 'taxes' equals revenue.
Follow along for a walk thru history:
Alcohol, prohibition. Tax it make it legal. Years later when the abuse of alcohol is recognized, states decide, hey! Let's make more money by creating rehab centers that will generate more revenue tax for us!
And that is how the system remains.
My state (republican controlled) is salivating at getting mj passed. And the governor stands in agreement on having it signed. It's the only time where agreement to follow this revenue path is seen as a win!
I do not support this as it's a constant push to accept further reform on drug use and letting the states play money bags . Revenue, rehab, rinse repeat.
Find another way to budget. This passing the joint is not the answer.
I find myself siding with Republicans more in the last few years than I have in the past, but their continued opposition to marijuana legalization baffles me.
Law enforcement and private prisons make a ton of money on marijuana being illegal.
There will be a black market which gives people options. And yes it will be for less since there are no taxes.
So is moonshine. It's just that trusting your health to something sold out of the back of a truck by someone who may or may not know how to get all of the wood alcohol out is a bit - risky.
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But what proof do you have that it will be inferior? Overall?... Are the oranges sold on the side of the road inferior?
There's no quality control.
Also, it's just more pleasant to go to a dispensary with the ambience of an Apple store and peruse a lot of options, instead of meeting someone in a dark alley.
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I'd rather have the black market.
At the human (and economic) cost of thousands of people being incarcerated?
I was not aware of the history behind this film. I first became aware of "Reefer Madness" in the 1970s as a teenager and have been mocking it ever since. Very interesting backstory. Thanks for the informative post!
The same exact thing is being done to 'opioids' today!
Its amazing that so many people cannot see this when its happening, it takes them years, decades to recognize these 'tactics'.
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