<p>All drugs should be legalized and access strictly regulated and the products heavily taxed like alcohol and cigarettes. There will still be an underground but most use will be above ground.</p>
<p>Of course, companies could still drug test and demand that workers be drug free. We can also target drug users for higher health and life insurance premiums.</p>
<p>It would put the violent criminal gangs out if business and also free up law enforcement resources. Finally, abuse and addiction would be dealt with as a health problem, not a legal one.</p>
<p>It’s amazing what a libertarian policy would do.</p>
<p>I am staunchly against changing the current status of pot, as I view it as a gateway drug. I have a nephew who at the young age of 15 fell into the proverbial “wrong crowd” and began using pot. That pot use led to him wanting “more,” and now a few years later he is an adult and behind bars for consuming cocaine. I have no doubts in my mind that the two are connected. It is perhaps unfortunate that there are many nonviolent people behind bars but we need to get it through our heads as a society that pot is by no means a “light” drug that has no effect on its users. It is a known gateway drugs. We must stop glorifying it in movies, TV, etc.</p>
<p>I used marijuana when I was 17-20. This was about 1974-1977.
I sporadically used it at that time- I didn’t really like it. I preferred more exotic substances.
I did not use marijuana ( or anything else not prescribed by Dr) again until about two years ago as a last resort when I did not want to keep increasing the dose of my prescription pain medicine. I do have a prescription however from a naturopath who has been treating our family for 25 yrs.</p>
<p>Its a shame some people become addicted to cigarettes or pain relievers or other medication.
But pot is nothing like cocaine. Its the opposite actually.
Blaming his peers or the drug for his behavior sounds like something an addict does before they learn to take responsibility.</p>
<p>Marijuana isn’t physically addicting & you can’t kill yourself with it even if you take so much, you can’t walk or talk or swallow.
The next day you wont even have a hangover!
:o
( moral is : I now make my own medibles)</p>
<p>Perhaps not in the short term, but the usual means of use is smoking, so long term use can have the usual effects that smoking (anything) has (e.g. lung cancer).</p>
<p>Not really. [Marijuana</a> And Cancer: Scientists Find Cannabis Compound Stops Metastasis In Aggressive Cancers](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>Marijuana And Cancer: Scientists Find Cannabis Compound Stops Metastasis In Aggressive Cancers | HuffPost San Francisco)
People are also finding that it goes much farther if you vaporize it or if you use it in edibles.
Its expensive. You could smoke a gram which might last a couple days, or you could vaporize it & have it last a week. Or you can have a couple cookies and the effect will last all day.
Its also illegal to smoke indoors, plus stinky, but canna butter snickerdoodles just smell like cinnamon & sugar.
:)</p>
<p>Caffeine is probably the ultimate gateway drug. Let’s ban that. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>The real moral of the nephew story above is that he should NEVER have been jailed for drug use. If it was a problem for him, he should have received therapy and continued on with his life.</p>
<p>Some people can’t handle alcohol. Let’s ban that.</p>
<p>Some people can’t handle driving. No cars for anyone!</p>
<p>Some people abuse pills. No need to give it to those who need them because they MIGHT become addicted. </p>
<p>Look, I’m sorry about your nephew. I lost my uncle and a good friend to drug abuse. But making it illegal did nothing to help them other than throw them in jail rather than getting the help they needed. I also don’t believe that it’s a gateway drug and facts support this.</p>
<p>Adults should be allowed to make their own decisions provided they harm no one else (ie still no driving under the influence). </p>
<p>Look at the history of why marijuana became illegal and the propaganda that’s kept it illegal. You might be shocked at what you find.</p>
<p>Oh and I don’t partake. I just don’t believe in jailing people because of a plant.</p>
<p>The problem with a DUI with pot is that it is harder to test for, quality levels vary, and while traces stay around longer the max effect does not last as long as booze. It makes for a difficult policing problem.</p>
<p>I used to track accidents (and deaths) related to alcohol and other drugs in Washington State before I retired. Alcohol by far and away the worst problem. There were pot-related accidents and deaths, but they were far outstripped by prescription medications, both used legally and illegally. And almost all of the recent increase in accidents was related to the prescription meds. </p>
<p>The new marijuana law in Washington creates a testing standard. It is rife with problems, as medical marijuana users often meet the limit. Yet, there have been relatively few incidents involving medical marijuana users. It does create a policing problem - but I doubt a difficult one, as for the most part I think cops will ignore it.</p>
<p>Until now at least in theory you had to have some serious medical problems to get med pot and I don’t think many of these folks did much driving. With much broader usage possible I think it could be a larger issue in the future. And banning any phone use while driving–fine with me.</p>
<p>Since you mention that you legally use medical marijuana for chronic pain, I was curious if a person with arthritis can be prescribed marijuana in the state of Washington? I’ve read that it can be effective, but I don’t know if there is any research to back up that claim.</p>
I wonder how many traffic deaths are caused because people relied on caffeine or other stimulants to try to keep from falling asleep while driving–but fell asleep anyway.</p>
Gateway drug to what? Do you think it frequently leads to use of stronger stimulants like narcotics or something? I don’t see caffeine as a gateway drug at all. Caffeine can be abused but I don’t think it leads to cocaine, heroin, meth, or whatever use.</p>
<p>
Maybe not as many as people reaching for the radio to change the station, or operate their iPod, or drop their cigarette in their lap, or fuss with the double whopper they’re trying to eat.</p>
<p>But none of that is relevant to the fact that marijuana does affect a person in a way that decreases the safety of operating a vehicle.</p>
<p>I actually posted a thread a couple of weeks ago about my elderly mother who is seriously addicted to coffee and energy drinks. She started with coffee. She’s now up to about a dozen cups a day. Then she added energy drinks and energy shots. She drinks about 4 of these a day. Recently, she told me about an elderly friend who was prescribed Adderall to improve his concentration. She expressed an interest in taking it. So there you have it!</p>
<p>I think it’s entirely appropriate for law enforcement to - surprise!- enforce the law. Adults should know the law and be prepared to deal with the consequences of lawbreaking.</p>
<p>Not going to talk about legalization, decriminalization, or anything else here.</p>
<p>Bingo! That’s the main thing. Whether or not my nephew SHOULD have been put behind bars is a separate question, the reality is that he knowingly broke a law and is now facing the consequences and likely will be doing so for the rest of his life. Police officers aren’t there to enforce what SHOULD be the law, and sometimes that’s bad (the whole little Eichmanns thing), but most of the time it works quite well and benefits society. As long as the law is there, people should strive to abide by it, especially with something like this. Smoking pot in your mother’s basement is hardly an act of heroic civil disobedience.</p>
<p>ETA that I don’t discount the fact that society views pot smoking among college students as normal but views it as pathological when it comes to “ghetto” youth such as my nephew. It’s ALL bad and it should ALL be stopped. This is my opinion.</p>
<p>Tha’s right, noimagination, like facing jail time for aiding runaway slaves. Because the laws are ALWAYS rational and good. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>And no, I am not seriously comparing pot smoking to slavery. But the effect of our nation’s ludicrous drug laws is probably one of the major things responsible for the incarceration of an appalling percentage of black men, so maybe it isn’t so far off the mark after all.</p>
<p>Please read over my post again, where I markedly said that sometimes blind obedience of the established law is not good. And then read over it a third time to catch the part where I said that the double standard (“students will be students” rhetoric vs. “dangerous urban druggie” rhetoric) is unacceptable and that all drug use should be curbed as much as possible.</p>
<p>ETA that you weren’t talking to me. Sorry :)</p>