So What Do You Think?

[IronBody]

  IronBody
     Class Schedule
     About IronBody
     FAQs
   Shaolin Do site

DragonDoor
Get Underground Strength Manual Now... Click Here!
New Tshirt Designs
LifeLine KBs
Get Cravers here!
Steve Cotter products
The Art of Strength
Mike Mahler
SandBag Training
RMax Products (Sonnon)
Perform Better
Turbulence Training

DragonDoor
FullKontact
Sonnon's Forum
Atlanta IronSports
T-Nation
IronGarm - Very Explicit but good training info

[BentMonk]

California wants to legalize and tax marijuana. It's been legal for medicinal use there since 1996. I believe there are medical benefits from marijuana use that will never be fully synthesized by man in a laboratory. That's why the Chinese were using it as a medicine in, 2000 B.C. With that being said, I still think that smoking anything is not a good idea. You can eat things made with marijuana in them and get the same effect. I guess it's like tobacco in that regard, some people just prefer to smoke. So do you think this is a good idea? It's common sense to me. It would make California and other states, Kentucky included a lot of money if the federal government finally realizes that like alcohol, people are going to use marijuana rather they're technically supposed to or not. Prohibition does not work. Here's a link to the story. Be sure to watch the video...great commercial. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090716/ap_on_re_us/us_marijuana_taxes

[Dave]

I'm for legalization and for it to be treated like alcohol. But I'm against smoking it. That wold cause more lung cancer & related issue than we have with tobacco.

If the can come up with a transport mechanism that is safe, like brownies  they they should legalize it.

However it is a Federal crime to grow or sell so the FBI & DEA laws over-rule states in this case. That's why so many people get busted in Ca for possession even though the have a scrip

[BentMonk]

I agree completely that smoking it is not good for you. The problem for most people who don't live in herb friendly states is that it takes more marijuana to make a brownie that gives the same effect as a few tokes. More marijuana means more risk of being caught and harsher consequences if you're caught. IMO the main obstacle to changing marijuana's legal status is the fact that the cops and the criminals make way too much money from the current situation, for either of them to let it change without putting up a fight one way or the other. If California manages to pull this off, it might wake people up. I suppose time will tell.

[Jerry]

You know, like most things... I think there's several angles to this.

You often hear marijuana classified as a "gateway" drug.  I feel this is largely due to the fact that most people who sell marijuana, sell other drugs to.  Pot smokers tend to get immersed in a drug culture to where it's a "us against them" attitude.  When you are in that sort of environment and surrounded by those types of people, the chances you'll dabble in other drugs IMO are pretty high.  I think legalizing would help address that and maybe aid in steering people away from the hard stuff.

On the other hand, marijuana smoke is horrible for your lungs.  Louisville has made some great strides to be smoke free.  You can leave most places now without having to air your clothes out the next day to get the smoke off of them.  I think if you legalized marijuana, you would probably see a rise in not only pot smoking but cigarette smoking in general.

Most importanly... if you think the 65/64 rush hour traffic is bad now, put a bunch of stoners on the road.  It would be comparable to the parking lot of any Krogers on seniors day.  That's a scary thought!

[BentMonk]

That's why instead of "smoke shops", there should be "special bakeries" lol I really don't think people would smoke more cigarettes if marijuana were legal. Why spend the money for something that doesn't pack near as good a buzz? lol

As to marijuana being called a "gateway" drug, I think that whole line of logic is BS. I see what you're saying Jerry, about availability when getting marijuana from a drug dealer who peddles more than marijuana, but most long time marijuana users don't use any other drugs. I know several who don't even drink. Most people who use marijuana on a regular basis also bear no resemblance what so ever to the stereotypical "stoner bud". You pretty much wouldn't know the toked up unless they told you. These people also have a very low opinion of those who adopt the "stoner bud" lifestyle and attitude because it's these idiots that give the anti marijuana people examples to parade in front of law makers while the chant, "Save the children."

It's not what you do, it's how you do it. Education, moderation, and responsibility will solve more "drug problems" than prohibition ever will. The government should have already learned this when they failed to stop people from drinking by making alcohol illegal. I actually think if marijuana were legal, fewer people would drink, or use prescription drugs. Alcohol, tobacco, and pharmaceutical companies stand to lose some profits if marijuana becomes legal again.

You have to remember that before the US and other countries got stupid, marijuana was (and still is) the most popular recreational drug in the world. To ignore the economical and medicinal benefits of marijuana in a society where so many other much more dangerous drugs are legal and prescribed by supposedly learned people, is absurd. As Frank Zappa said before congress in the 80s, "It's not a war on drugs. It's a war on personal freedom." It's not about saving the kids or anyone else from the evils of addiction. It's about money and politics. I will now step off the damn soapbox. lol

[Dave]

That's why instead of "smoke shops", there should be "special bakeries" lol I really don't think people would smoke more cigarettes if marijuana were legal. Why spend the money for something that doesn't pack near as good a buzz? lol As to marijuana being called a "gateway" drug, I think that whole line of logic is BS. I see what you're saying Jerry, about availability when getting marijuana from a drug dealer who peddles more than marijuana, but most long time marijuana users don't use any other drugs. I know several who don't even drink. Most people who use marijuana on a regular basis also bear no resemblance what so ever to the stereotypical "stoner bud". You pretty much wouldn't know the toked up unless they told you. These people also have a very low opinion of those who adopt the "stoner bud" lifestyle and attitude because it's these idiots that give the anti marijuana people examples to parade in front of law makers while the chant, "Save the children." It's not what you do, it's how you do it. Education, moderation, and responsibility will solve more "drug problems" than prohibition ever will. The government should have already learned this when they failed to stop people from drinking by making alcohol illegal. I actually think if marijuana were legal, fewer people would drink, or use prescription drugs. Alcohol, tobacco, and pharmaceutical companies stand to lose some profits if marijuana becomes legal again. You have to remember that before the US and other countries got stupid, marijuana was (and still is) the most popular recreational drug in the world. To ignore the economical and medicinal benefits of marijuana in a society where so many other much more dangerous drugs are legal and prescribed by supposedly learned people, is absurd. As Frank Zappa said before congress in the 80s, "It's not a war on drugs. It's a war on personal freedom." It's not about saving the kids or anyone else from the evils of addiction. It's about money and politics. I will now step off the damn soapbox. lol

Paragraphs M*&*&#F(*(*( do you use them? 

Jerry, I'm sure they would have the same DUI laws regardless of the intoxicant. Hell they could nail you for that on anti-histamines or cold meds if you were driving erractically.

With any drug, and that includes all alcohol, you're get to get the full gamut, the occasional
user who might partake a little each night or only weekends, to the guys who get trashed every night and everything in between.

Alcohol can be a gateway drug, so can over the counter meds or anything else.

Getting your pot from the government or from the "Smoke Shop" would take the dealers out of the equation. I go to the liquor store by a bottle of wine, a few doobies and go home & chill or get it powdered & make some brownies 

[JHedgespeth]

Dave would rather have a hanky and a can of Krylon...Gold of course!     Duuuuuude!!!

[Jerry]

Well I guess legalizing pot would be another source of revenue for the government.  The question is... would they make more money taxing pot or fining people for using it?

Paul, you brought up a good question when you mentioned prescription drug use.  As Fergie would say, is marijuana so two thousand and late?  Everyone is popping pills now, maybe the younger generation doesn't get that same twinkle in their eye that we did in our younger years 

I still stand by the fact that marijuana is a gateway drug though.  I know several people who fit the bill or a responsible user as you described.  Most of them, at one point in time, have done other drugs.  They're not junkies but they were exposed and they did try.  Marijuana itself is not the gateway IMO, it's the fact that it's illegal and acquiring it can immerse you into culture that can lead to bad decision making.

Dave brings a good point as well.  Any chemical that lowers your inhibitions could be a potential gateway to bad decision making.

[Dave]

it immerses you into the drug culture precisely becuase it is illegal. And Look at how much $$$ he government has spent on the "WAR" on Drugs? How many weekend users of pot have had their lives ruined because they got busted with a ounce of weed?

Not only would the government save $$$ it would make $$$ on taxation.

I just saw on MSNBC where Oakland is going to start taxing the Pot Stores where those with a scrip can get it legally. This makes it even more legit.

Oh yeah and we'd use less gas too. Do you know how slow stoners drive?
"Dude, we're like going so fast, WOW!" (speedometer - 25mph on I64) of course the old ladies drive that fast on the intestate too

[BentMonk]

I fixed my paragraph issue. I usually type everything I'm going to say, then revise and break it up. I was playing with the kids and typing, forgot to revise and just hit post. 

The immersion into the drug culture Dave mentioned, was one of the issues Amsterdam wanted to address when they made marijuana legal. They didn't want their kids going to dealers that peddled other things besides marijuana. The coffee shops were safer, and made Amsterdam a lot of money.

I think the reason pill use is up among kids is because the pills are easier to get, and pills have less of a social stigma than marijuana. Hell, some kids have figured out that they can fake some behaviors, and BS their way into a legit prescription. Then they've got their "legal" buzz and a potential second income if they sell a few to their buds. 20/20 did a great story on this trend in high schools and colleges.

I don't see Dave huffing the Krylon. He could be a new immortal though. Instead of a gourd full of wine, Dave could carry a hollowed kettlebell full. 









 

[Jerry]

So if marijuana was legal, would manufacturers start dumping additives in them similar to cigarettes?  You never know...

I do think that legalizing the drug could help stimulate the economy.  I'm sure the sales of Hostess, Frito Lay, and Pepsi would sky rocket creating more jobs and higher wages.  Koolaid gets stoners just as excited as five year kids.  Kroger would be next Microsoft sharing the seat with Betty Crocker.

[Dave]

So if marijuana was legal, would manufacturers start dumping additives in them similar to cigarettes?  You never know...

I do think that legalizing the drug could help stimulate the economy.  I'm sure the sales of Hostess, Frito Lay, and Pepsi would sky rocket creating more jobs and higher wages.  Koolaid gets stoners just as excited as five year kids.  Kroger would be next Microsoft sharing the seat with Betty Crocker.

 

[BentMonk]

ROFLMAO Jerry! Great one.

If they do legalize marijuana, they probably would needlessly add stuff to it. You know the Federal government always has to try and fix it, rather it's broke or not. I'll bet there would be a lot of private little green houses around. Kind of like the way microbreweries are now.