I know how to revive the American economy.

[J.DavisNJ]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28354324/

Responsibly of course! While I'm in no way a liberal, if we could responsibly enact what California, Colorado, and Canada do...we could pump some serious cash into our economy.

Maybe it's just the hippie in me talking...

Thoughts?

-Joe

 

[LydonB]

haha I watched this special last night. Pretty interesting except for the fact that crime is on the rise in that part of California.

 

[J.DavisNJ]

haha I watched this special last night. Pretty interesting except for the fact that crime is on the rise in that part of California.

Yeah true. The same goes for the lax drug laws in Holland. My buddy from there told me that law enforcement finds it hard to persecute for harder drugs even though they are lax on the soft stuff.

I've been there and was regularly approached by shady ass drug dealers on the streets of Amsterdam. I'm sure the Dutch guys can chime in better than myself on this issue.

-Joe

 

[spioraid]

I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head on this one. Although I'm not too clear on the history of pot in America (when it first got in, how long was it 'legal', when was it formally illegal, etc.), I do know America has had it's flings with other drugs.

For instance, during the time of the American Civil War (1861-1865), about 30% of the population was addicted to opium. Why? It was the magic cure all for whatever ails you. It's also said that about 90% of the population took opium in one form or another, but had not yet acquired an addiction for it. I believe it was roughly 10 years after that opium was made illegal because of it's misuse and effect on the population. Should the American people be so responsible again (yeah, right) laws might be turned. This goes the same for pot.

But until we hit that point, I don't see pot becoming legal and/or boosting the economy anytime soon.

 

[J.DavisNJ]

Yep, I suppose you are right. The responsibility is key. Even though there are a good amount of dispensaries in CA, the Feds still try to shut them down.

there has to be some kind of middle ground though. Think about the minimal amount of resources that would be used by the government if private growers contributed? Maybe close monitoring of private growers would be key?

Perhaps I'm just talking out of my ass lol.

-Joe

 

[egan.]

I think maybe some of you are missing the point though. Violence is on the rise because of drug dealers in this case, not the users as can often be the case with harder drugs. Legalization would largely eliminate that violence because the dealers would be replaced by corporations. The flipside is that the value of the crop would be less because there would be no reason not to grow it.

I certainly don't think that this could heal America's economy but I think comparisons to opium are a stretch at best. On a side note, opiates represent a huge portion of prescription pain killers in the US. It's strange to recognize the positives of some drugs but not others.

Medical uses aside though, my feeling is that a regulated pot industry would be as safe or safer for users and the community at large than the massive alcohol industry.

 

[FarBeyondMetal]

It's just my humble opinion that the whole violence issue is blown way out of proportion, though it still exists, and that if the industry were regulated then crime and violence would go way down. The only reason people are getting killed over this is because greed, not the actual plant. And the news loves to glorify the violence at the expense of the dispensaries. A few months back I saw a news report about how three armed men busted into a dispensary, shot the security guard point blank in the head and robbed the place. Instead of putting out descriptions of the perpetrators so the public could help find them they just ranted on and on about how dispensaries are not safe to be in neighborhoods. All kinds of stores get robbed but you don't see the news trying to say that these places should be shut down. I guess my point is is that I live in the San Fernando Valley of California (what I consider to be the medical marijuana capitol of the state) and I can assure you guys that these dispensaries are a step in the right direction.

PS. Don't talk about medical marijuana or I will start ranting every time garaunteed haha

 

[Razzee]

hey, psst, stop talking about it and the people will start to buy things again. Its just stupid in my opinion ^^

 

[Chryst Krispies]

Legalizing pot would be no different to me than having alcohol be legal.

It would get rid of the shady underground dealers.
People's arguments that legal pot would cause stupid decisions or whatever, it's the same thing with Alcohol. Alcohol is probably actually worse as you can go home right now and kill yourself with alcohol but no one has any record of anyone smoking themselves to death in one sitting.

They could have commercials. SMOKE RESPONSIBLY. They had a little Marley in them.

As for economic help hahah. Don't know.

 

[spioraid]

That's kinda the overall issue though...can the American public be trusted to keep pot smoking (as a whole) to a responsible level? That's why I brought up the opium issue, it's misuse brought forth it's ban. Same with alcohol restrictions, they exist large in part because Bubba and his best friend/brother/uncles got drinkin' and thought 4x4ing over the Atlantic was a great idea and were never heard from again.

 

[Chryst Krispies]

That's kinda the overall issue though...can the American public be trusted to keep pot smoking (as a whole) to a responsible level? That's why I brought up the opium issue, it's misuse brought forth it's ban. Same with alcohol restrictions, they exist large in part because Bubba and his best friend/brother/uncles got drinkin' and thought 4x4ing over the Atlantic was a great idea and were never heard from again.

Well it's going to exist anyway so they might as well make it legal to keep all the other unpleasantries under control.

They should just utilize the same alcoholic laws or some shit similar.

And Opiates and Marijuana are vastly different. Opiates are far more dangerous.

 

[spioraid]

Quite true, but the overall principle of responsibility is the same. The larger the impact of the drug the greater the need is for responsibility.

 

[Chryst Krispies]

Well I'd consider weed below Alcohol personally.

I don't really use either but.

"Stay the fuck out of my house. ALL OF YAS. The potheads, and the government." Hha

 

[Metaltastic]

It's hard for me to gauge the relative impacts of the two; I've known people who are able to drive while baked out of their minds, so that right there is a pretty good indicator that weed is less potent in some respects; on the flip side, though, its effect is a lot more sense- and perception-distorting, which is why I think of it as much more of a drug in the traditional sense, as opposed to alcohol, which IMO just slows the senses and perception, rather than altering them (which is why I get smashed pretty much weekly, but don't like smoking at all)

 

[006]

Put it this way, my friend Matt is an alcoholic. He will most likely get liver disease and die from it unless he cuts the fuck back and/or stops altogether. He's got a kid coming in 7 months! He can drink enough to where he literally cannot move on his own, I have been called by the bar staff to come up to the bar and get him because he can't even walk. That's a "light" night for him and he pretty much gets plastered every night. His woman works at a restaurant that has a bar as well so... His father died when my friend was like 3 or 4 - from liver disease, he was an alcoholic.

I can smoke enough to make an elephant pass the fuck out and still god damn walk.

I'm so sick of hearing about how alcohol is ok but weed isn't. Bullshit. YOU CANNOT FUNCTION WHEN YOU ARE DRUNK. That's just how it works. That is exactly what alcohol DOES. (this is not directed at you Marcus, )

And also, I can drive perfectly fine stoned. I can do any activity I normally do when I'm stoned and most people don't even notice that I'm baked. I've never seen double, never felt nauseous, never had a hangover or god awful headache, never been too fucked to drive or do anything else when smoking weed. I just felt good and nothing bad ever happened. Can't say nearly as much for alcohol...I would have to completely disagree with you on the idea that weed distorts perception, in my experience it's the exact opposite, as explained in my last sentence. My perception is not distorted in any way, my reactions may be slower, but not like "holy shit dude, you didn't see that kid run out in the street?!?" Alcohol does distort your perception (double-vision, etc.) and your reaction time is exponentially decreased. Again, this is exactly how alcohol affects your body. Not if you have a couple of beers (i.e. TWO or THREE), but I can smoke a shitload of weed and have no problems. Let me chug 5 or 6 beers and you'd better take my keys away. Case in point right thurrrrrrrr.

SMOKE WEED. YOUR LIVER WILL THANK YOU.

~006

 

[colonel kurtz]

haha I watched this special last night. Pretty interesting except for the fact that crime is on the rise in that part of California.

yes, but most of the crime related to marijuana grow ops comes from the mexican mafia, who are now growing massive outdoor crops and using the money from that to fund their meth/cocaine/heroin operations

if the shit was just legalized already, the MM(and other criminal elements) would largely be cut out of the equation, just like with prohibition in the 20's

in the end, i believe that marijuana will be decriminalized for adult consumption in the next 10 years. the majority of the population either smokes weed, has smoked weed, or doesn't care if other people smoke weed, and at some point or another the majority opinion of the population will be reflected in some sort of legislation.

hopefully when that times comes, they choose to regulate it in a manner following CA's dispensary/co-op model, where you pay a membership to a club, which allows you to both supply and buy from the club, or pay some sort of annual fee to the government that allows you to grow your own shit. either way, i hope that when the fight to legalize cannabis is over, it doesn't end up being controlled by a bunch of corporate fucksticks.

 

[006]

Oh but it will kurtz...that's the shitty part. Also, there is a lot of speculation about the government's involvement if it gets legalized. Unless they allow certain people to grow and supply good strains, a lot of people feel like the gov. will basically have nothing but dirt weed available. Or they will charge an arm and a leg for it. Or it won't ever get legalized. Not in my lifetime...but I'm trying to be very optimistic because I want to be legalized. I don't feel like I'm being stopped from doing anything I want when it comes to weed, I smoke whenever I feel like it. In my house, driving around, at my friend's houses, at shows (both as audience and as a band on the bill)...I don't feel paranoid that a cop is about to bust me. I've had some close calls but turned out to be no big deal in the end. Having it legalized actually wouldn't change anything for myself, but a lot of people out there wish they could smoke anywhere, anytime like with cigs...I'm not all into that but it's w/e.

What it will take is educating the huge majority of completely misinformed people in this country on how shit really is when it comes to weed. I laugh at those commercials "just tell your parents you were high" and it's insinuating that the little girl fell into the pool and the brother/sister was too stoned to save her or watch her. Bull. Fucking. Shit. The actual situation would have been just this: nothing bad would have happened. A child getting away from you and falling into the pool can happen just as easily if you were completely sober. Little bastards move quick and can be quite ninja-like in their sounds when trying to get away. Those commercials are ludicrous and unfounded. So I just laugh. Because to me, it's just a joke.

My chick gets stoned and plays soccer at uni occasionally. She's excellent on the field. No worse of a performance compared to when she is sober. Couldn't say that much if she drank before a game

~006

 

[JeffTD]

Yeah, because Pot has *totally* helped out the economy in California!

We're more fucked than most states - just look at the budget crisis we just had. They might be shutting schools down a week early this year because they don't have enough cash to keep them running.

That said, I've honestly never seen the appeal of weed. I've smoked it a few times, and I'd still much rather get buzzed or drunk than high.

 

[colonel kurtz]

^the MSNBC special "marijuana inc." that just ran this week said that dispensaries actually ended up paying $11 million in sales tax to the state last year

now imagine that ALL marijuana that was consumed in the state of CA was being taxed...there'd be more than enough $$ to keep schools open - and probably to give the teachers a raise while they're at it

personally, i wouldn't be surprised if obama pushes congress for reforms of our drug laws, but that would likely be a 2nd term sort of undertaking

 

[colonel kurtz]

My chick gets stoned and plays soccer at uni occasionally. She's excellent on the field. No worse of a performance compared to when she is sober. Couldn't say that much if she drank before a game

in all honesty, i think athletics is the one thing in life that doesn't along with smoking

not to say that you can't perform under the influence, but if i was seriously involved in athletic competition at any level, i wouldn't want my lungs crusted in bong resin...but yea, aside from that, everything that i can do while sober i can do just as well, if not better, when i'm high