DEA to end medical marijuana raids

What's next medical crack? Why do we have laws in this country? Nobody has to follow them. Drugs are bad people just keep making excuses for them. What is this @!$%# about letting somebody have so much for personal use. The drug dealers are still out there. Isn't that like being a accessory. Yeah I drove the gut to the bank to rob it but he only gave me a little bit of the money for personal use. You people who support this are idiots.

There is no Constitutional power granted to the federal government to prohibit ANY kind of drug, let alone a naturally-occurring plant, bad bob.

That means that your tirade against people who choose to smoke pot for WHATEVER purposes is meaningless, and the law that you celebrate is ILLEGAL in the first place.

Read the Constitution, if you are literate, and tell me where it allows the Federal government to oppress people who are smoking a plant that has been used for thousands of years.

By the way, Jesus was anointed with a mixture containing Kaneh-bos (cannabis, or "fragrant cane" as English translations of the bible refer to it as). In fact, no King or messiah could be declared as such WITHOUT the plant.

If you don't believe me, look in Ezekiel.

i voted for medical marajuana and have much experience with it, the problem is its a completely abused program that is infested with non medical abuse from sales and growing to criminal activities like id's and fake identification. i worked with a guy that sold medical cards for use to anyone with the correct cash. its ripe with corruption and it doesnt suprise me that its been dealt with in this way by these people. it was never streamlined. we were all snookered. much like the indian casino's, and handicap placards. a great idea in a perfect world, but not in ours.

I think medical marajuana is a scam.

A scam for what Jane?

Marijuana was legal for thousands of years, and used for medicine, ritual, AND just to get high. Then Harry Anslinger came along and linked it with distrust and hatred of blacks and mexicans in the early 1900s and suddenly it became demonized. Not to mention the profit motives for the paper companies.

You can think it is a scam all you want. I'm just glad you aren't a doctor.

How much wine do you drink, by the way? Is that any of my business? Didn't think so.

And the Mexican drug gangs that use Marijuana as the cash crop that keeps their operations going are also celebrating.

The people who smoke medical marijuana aren't getting their smokes from Mexican drug gangs.

If you want to undercut those violent gangs in the REST of the country, LEGALIZE IT.

How many stoners have you ever known, if you've ever known any, got high and then shot or robbed someone? If your answer is greater than zero, I know you are lying.

Tim,

They sell fake ID's to the guys coming across the border, teenagers get fake ID's to buy alcohol, it happens. Most programs are abused in some way, there is always going to be someone who wants to get around the rules. If they would just legalize it for personnal use and sell it like cigarrettes, but at a higher tax rate, there would be money to pay down the deficit. It would free up law enforcement to concentrate on real crime (like the fake ID's) and relieve some of the congestion in our prisons.

Must be a catch, the Federal government allowing states to govern themselves??

The scam is in the law making the harmless ilegal and thus valuable to criminals.

Legalize and it no longer matters, there is no reason to support the criminals.

Tax it and all the better.

and please....free the prisoners.

And put a muzzle on the ignorant dumb asses who are bobbing around trying to tell everyone else what to do. The moral majority and the last centuries biggest @!$%#bird Nixon brought you all these years of wasted effort and money.

What is a freedom lover to do?

If you ask many in this country, including some on this board, you would jail otherwise law abiding citizens for smoking a plant.

There's freedom for you. Yeah right.

arebrown ?????

SOUNDS GREAT ! ! !

lets see because neocLowns....I mean republicans haven't stop by, wait until they show up and we will see this blog full of hatread.

Please, do not assume that Im a junkie or user, just happen that I refuse any kind

of arbitrary separatis identification for the social manipulation of society through the generation of fear and division has served to creat a controlled population,

utterly malleable in the hands of the few.

Divide and Conquer is the motto and as long as people continue to see themselves as separate from everything else, they lend themselves to the republicans game.

Wil democrats concebe every craving King G.O.P.

{"commentId":5636281,"threadId":"513993","contentId":"2486699","authorDomain":"Rubcanela"}

• ! #1.9 - Fri Feb 27, 2009 6:30 PM CST

what is this person drinking? peyote beer anyone?

let the self medication begin......

Well. I'm confused rightman1. What are you trying to say?

Thanks for clearing that up.

Prohibition creates jobs. Jobs for enforcement personnel. AND don't forget the best feature - black market drug cartels willing to KILL people because of the profit margins created by the prohibition. It didn't work in 1920 and it won't work now. This law justifies the spending of billions to attempt to stop a plant from growing.

Imagine for a few moments the end of organized crime, massive billions spent on drug wars and black market profits. Another benefit: If the pot smokers were released from prisons there would be room for child rapists, murderers and other more deserving types who are now routinely released early to make room for others.

Exchange this for people growing a few plants for their own enjoyment. I don't use the stuff myself but can see that the benefits of decriminalization FAR out weigh the few bad apples from "abuse" of smoking the stuff - these will find a way no matter how many law libraries are filled with legislation.

With a stroke of the pen, marijuana could simply be re-classified as a "schedule IV" drug - available via a prescription, and this nation's draconian approach to pot will finally be over.

I only copied and pasted what someone else said. so don't be confused. Stand up Speak out. (" Will democrats concede every single craving republicans KING G.O.P want to ? ") what " KING " there are NO kings in America.

Yes if you have a hanf nail, a tummy that hurts. Go see your local doctor and you can get three pounds of dope...but Obama will TAX it folks. Thats the name of the game, TAX, for California.

So if I'm a corporation spending millions "scientifically" cooking up various chemicals aimed at helping your "sleepless" symptoms or "blue-feeling days" and even advertise them that way on TV, its legal. Legal after a government agency "approves"(discussion for a whole other thread) your drug for either prescription or OTC and you begin making billions as a drug lab with a network of thousands of dealers.

But if its all-natural, costs pennies to produce, could be taxed and instantly generate millions in tax revenue and jump the GDP 10% overnight, and medically does the EXACT same thing as half the FDA approved "medicine" on the "streets" for a fraction of the cost, well that's illegal. Remember, its NOT a hallucinogen and less addicting then nicotine, so table the"then why not crack or heroin" bs that usually comes into a debate like this. Comparing marijuana to heroin is like comparing ice cream to Tuesdays.

I guess I've just never heard a valid reason for it being illegal other than the ever popular "because it is" answer.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LEGALIZE IT EVERYWHERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Take the tax revenue and shore up budget deficits , and fund drup rehab clinics for those that want help.

In America, we have the right to "Pursue Happiness"... if you want to blow the top of your head getting "high" , that is your Right. Have fun..

But, if you drive "high", etc... Just treat it like driving drunk...your Right's end where they jeopardize others safety.

I will go even a step further than saying the feds are stepping aside from state rights.

It is a personal right . A person should be able to choose if they want to smoke pot or not. However, I do not in any way condone driving while high or being on the job high. Just like alcohol, you should be able to do it in your private time. Do the hypocrits so moral people not know that alcohol IS A DRUG and once was ILLEGAL. They changed those no alcohol laws too didn't they.

It is about time. Maybe there's hope for this country after all.

Yes, america. The feds kicked it back to the states.

That sets Constitutional precedent for prohibition of ANY kind. The feds can't just do whatever they want, that is why we have a Constitution in the first place.

ConstitutionThumper, I only drink on Passover.

Medical marijuana's a scam so people can find a legal way to get high without getting arrested. Why do you think they call it "dope"?

You want to fry your brain and kill yourself, fine by me. I don't give a sh*t.

Conservatives would hate this one. Isreal is big into medical marijuana:

January 9, 2009. Medical Marijuana Donation Leveraged in Israel

For the last several years, MAPS has provided financial support for the development of the compassionate use of marijuana in Israel, in conjunction with a program of medical access developed by the Israeli Ministry of Health. The Ministry reviews applications from physicians on behalf of their patients and has licensed four different medical marijuana production facilities. These facilities have permits from the Israeli Ministry of Health to provide marijuana for free to Ministry-approved patients. Since the production facilities can only give marijuana away, they rely on donations to cover costs. An excellent article on the Israeli medical marijuana program was published recently in an Israeli newspaper, and has been translated by Dana Peleg, MA.

In November, MAPS offered $15,000 as a matching grant to Yohai Golan, who has one of the Ministry production licenses. In December, Yohai managed to obtain $15,000 as his match from Israeli donors and MAPS sent him our $15,000, provided by an anonymous donor. Over the last several weeks, Yohai has concluded negotiations with Israeli investors (not donors) who are providing sufficient funding (roughly $200,000 per year) to cover the provision of enough marijuana for 500 patients for the next two years. These investors are gambling that they can make money providing marijuana extracts to the pharmaceutical industry, since they can grow marijuana for this purpose as well as for free distribution to patients. In addition, they expect they will eventually be given permission to sell marijuana to patients, though how much research will have to be conducted first remains to be determined.

As a side project to the production facility, Yohai’s team will be producing organic cannabis oil tinctures that can be used as a substitute for smoking for patients who prefer not to – or cannot – inhale smoke or vapors from a vaporizer. The tinctures will use donated fair-trade organic olive oil produced by Palestinians in the West Bank and Israelis in Israel.

Yohai Golan has estimated that the value of the marijuana that they will give away is roughly $6 million per year, based on prices for legal Dutch medical marijuana and prices for medical marijuana in the US.

http://www.maps.org/mmj/#studies

I'm a 42 year old, highly strait, normal mom who found it to be 100% more effective than chem meds I had been prescribed when used correctly.

Now maybe the San Diego County Board of Supervisors will get off their crusade to not recognize California State Law.

bad bob-769378

What is this @!$%# about letting somebody have so much for personal use.

It`s called freedom.

Jane, it doesn't fry your brain. You've been watching too many propaganda commercials from the ONDCP. It certainly can't kill you.

And by your definition of dope, which is used as a derogatory term, anything that gives you pleasure could be called "dope." It is based on the word dopamine, which even YOU have in your brain, Jane, even though you don't sound like a particularly pleasant person.

Do you like to sew? You are then a dope fiend. Do you enjoy the endorphin release when you excercise? You are a dope fiend. Do you enjoy watching movies? On and on and on. You could argue that these ways of wasting time can be healthy, but obviously doctors believe the same about marijuana.

Why are you so hostile to people who simply seek a different state of mind now and then? "Dope" smokers are a heck of a lot more tolerant and respectful of the rights of others than you apparently are.

Marijuana is bad. Medical or not it makes you stupid, that's why it's called "dope". End of discussion.

Marijuana is bad. Medical or not it makes you stupid, that's why it's called "dope

Dope - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (clue=free)

Dope may refer to:. A dope, a person who is stupid; Dope, adj.: cool, nice, awesome; popularized by ... Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dope" ...

No, Jane, it is not bad. It doesn't make you stupid. It is not the end of the discussion.

You do not dictate to me what I put in my body, or what I am going to think. Okay? We have a 1st Amendment for a reason. For open discussion. For the freedom to pursue whatever spiritual or religious feelings you have, as long as you harm no one else. For the freedom to experience whatever state of mind one desires! A thought, a concept of God, altruism, happiness, music, art... these are all STATES OF MIND in one way or another. You wish to control that state of mind? You are a tyrant, plain and simple. And you refuse to even engage in a rational conversation about something that you condemn. It is like a witch-hunt with some of you ultra religious types.

Did anyone learn from the Salem witch trials? The Inquisition? Those were also about the freedom of mind-states and the attempted imposition of one mind state on another. That is inhuman at best, evil at worst.

You want to close the discussion based on your own ignorance and you are unwilling to even listen to rational arguments.

You really need to learn more about the PLANT and not the PROPAGANDA. NOW the discussion between us can be over, since you are so rude and quick to condemn.

I'm no being rude, you are.

Marijuana makes people stupid and dulls their judgement.

I'm putting you on ignore because this discussion is stupid and so is marijuana.

Then why don't you go discuss something else?

Your arguments contain less intelligence than it takes to even THINK the word marijuana.

Good riddance.

Religion can also dull people's judgment, as it apparently has dulled yours. But I am not calling for the banning of religion, am I?

If you don't want to smoke marijuana, then don't, but don't complain or insult me if I want to. I won't then complain or insult you if you drink alcohol during Passover. Alcohol dulls judgment even MORE so than marijuana. But reason is lost on willing ignorance.

Passover isn't a holiday to get drunk. I barely even drink more than a teaspoon of wine. Back off. This conversation is over.

Marijuana is called "dope" for a reason.

So is heroine and cocaine, but they are not all the same now are they? What does the word "dope" have to do with anything? It is just a word given to it by people as ignorant as you.

It doesn't matter if you get drunk. You are still consuming alcohol. I won't back off if you keep this nonsense up.

You don't sound like you are even old enough to legally drink wine... so I'll just leave it at that.

jpooch,

I'm sure inall other areas of Obama's liberlization, you are entirely anti-change. Hypocrit.

Marijuana is bad. Medical or not it makes you stupid, that's why it's called "dope". End of discussion.

You are wrong! Tell me...how much does one need to smoke to become "stupid"? For how long do they need to smoke it? High quality? Low quality? It gets called "dope" because uninformed people like you call it that, even though you have zero practical knowledge about it. Marijuana is a naturally growing plant, it's thick in the Midwest in the wild, and in this form requires nothing in the way of preparation to smoke it aside from picking the leaves from it (or in the case of high quality, indoor metal halide grown plants, picking or trimming the buds from it and drying them) and either putting it in a pipe or rolling it using common cigarette papers. This is unlike things like meth, which causes true addiction, which needs plenty of preparation time and uses potentially toxic chemicals to do so. Yes, meth -- and crack, heroin, LSD, etc, -- needs to remain illegal. None of those have any redeeming value, nor any medical uses. Marijuana does.

NEWS FLASH: People like you (and the collaped "bad bob" in post #1.1, and I'm sure a few others) need to stop believing that the movie Reefer Madness was a health documentary produced by the FDA. Contrary to what your "documentary" taught you, people don't smoke out in a closet and then come out and play wildly on the piano. They don't get wild eyed, attempt to rape teenage girls, then shoot them when they turn them down. And they don't black out for extended periods of time, then wake up believing they have shot their girlfriend. You are mistaking propaganda for facts!

You want to fry your brain and kill yourself, fine by me. I don't give a sh*t.

Now I realize that your knowledge of me consists of what I've written here. Some factual information, some first hand, practical knowledge, a little bit of sarcasm...so tell me, o wise one, how much pot does it seem like I've smoked in my life? For how long? How far gone does my "fried brain" seem to you? I mean, it seems like you know all, at least what you learned from watching Reefer Madness...so how "stupid" and/or "fried" do I seem?

Marijuana makes people stupid and dulls their judgement.

People who smoke pot don't normally go out and shoot people. They don't congregate in large groups and go around randomly assaulting people. They have better judgment than that! Most commonly, when a group of people are together smoking pot, they prefer just sitting around listening to music or some other relaxed activity. If it's time to go to work, they go to work, perform their job, then go home. The same can't be said for meth heads, crack heads, and the like. The absolutely ridiculous drug testing policy in this country dictates that you can go home, get completely $#|+ faced drunk, drink all night, then report to work if you can with no penalty. But if you take two hits off a joint at the neighbor's place on a Friday night, you can lose your job because of failing a urine test two months after you smoked just two hits from a joint, because it stays in your system that long! Is that right? Of course not! But it's a reality.

So after my rant, I'll ask the question again: how much pot does it seem like I've smoked in my life? I won't keep you in suspense: I've smoked it almost every day since the age of 20. I've stopped a couple of times, but chose to start again. I don't smoke a huge bag every day...I smoke the high quality stuff, from a pipe, and have at most two hits a day. Not every day...but most days. A small amount (1/8th of an ounce at a cost of $40) lasts me almost three months...so I don't have to go out and burglarize people's houses to "support my habit". As a matter of fact, I have no criminal record whatsoever! Oh, for how long have I smoked, you ask? You can do the math...I turned 53 last month...

I don't like pot and I detest people who use it, because I spent 5 long years cleaning up mistakes by people who got high on their lunch hour, and that was in the 1970s, before most of you were born.

However, I do believe that if you want to get rid of the drug dealers, make that crap legal and tax the living daylights out of it. Alcohol and tobacco are just as bad for you and the tax on cigarettes brings a lot of revenue to states that tax it. (Are there any that don't tax it?) People who want this drek are going to get it and use it, so they might as well contribute to the tax revenues while they're getting loaded. Prohibition didn't work with liquor, it just made the owners of speakeasies richer and richer. Joseph Kennedy, Sr., Jack Kennedy's daddy, made a huge lot of cash running booze for speakeasies during the era of Prohibition. Moonshiners escaping from revenuers fathered race car drivers.

I'm just saying that people who want to poison themselves with that garbage are going to do it, whether it's legal or not, so make it legal and tax it.

My brother and a couple of friends smoke pot nonstop, it's done nothing but cause trouble for them and me, my family and their family and friends.

Half the time while my mom is at work my brother calls her up on the phone and screams at her for more money which he either blows on pop or crap for his car. Not one cent of it goes into his college fund, which is where he should be.

have them arrested its not medical.. as i know as fact it works, with far better side effect than any drug made by man, including the ones they made already,, while saying there is not medical use, but they make a pill?? 2500$ per pill in any hospital. Quit affordable compared to an ounce for 400+- that last weeks...not hours! Open your mind to the medical side,textile,energy,paper,and even the Constitution is written on hemp.. so guess what our FOUNDERS grew,AND used??

There are two legal drugs on the market: alcohol and cigarettes. Yes, they are drugs. In fact the officers that come to our school to educate us about drugs and what to look for in students using, say that pot is not the gateway drug but cigarettes are. Thousands of people die daily from long term use of alchohol and cigarettes, I have not heard a whole lot in terms of either being beneficial to one's health. Well, except red wine is suppose to be heart healthy. Marijuana is apparently conducive on many levels and I read recently that they have found that alzheimer's patients are responding well to it. The point is...I have never heard of anyone dying from prolonged use of MJ and it has been around long enough that we would know of those effects by now. I don't like the effects I see that it has on my students, as they are not old enough to take responsiblity for its use, just as I don't like the effects of the other two drugs mentioned on this post. There should be an age limit for all three drugs...but the buggers will find a way! I am not a user, but I can think of worse things, truly, than MJ. And better things, like taxing it up the wazoo and bringing this country out of its misery. Hopefully, it will help, medicinally, of course, to bring it out of its misery and toward health and prosperity! And Jane your brother is doing more than smoking pot if he is so hostile and in so much trouble. Or perhaps hostility just runs in the family.

@Jane1989

how about you go and tell the people wasting away from chemotherapy or aids, or those that have crohn's disease and say, from actual experience, that it is the only thing that releives their pain. and go ahead and swallow that government propaganda i am sure you hold so dear. but the fact is, it is my body, and i will put whatever the hell i want into it. if that means you think i am killing myself and frying my brain, so be it. but your comments just show how completely naive and ignorant you are. there are thousand and thousands of good and productive american citizens that enjoy smoking pot recreationally, and it has no effect on their ability to function. i smoke weed jane. i am a computer engineer with a graduate degree. i am very sure that i am much smarter than yourself on every possible level. so what happened to my brain being fried? how about you stop worrying about what others choose to do and work on fixing your own vices. you are not perfect and are in no position to judge other because they choose to smoke a plant. so take your naive and ignorant views elsewhere cause nobody cares what you think.

Jane, you REALLY need to do a little research and look at the studies that have been done on the medical use of marijuana. It has been proved in extensive clinical trials to help with glaucoma; to lessen the side effects of chemotherapy; and to help people suffering from "wasting syndrome" by improving their appetites and ability to take in nourishment. These are just the studies I know about - I'm sure there are many, many other conditions that medical marijuana helps.

Using your brother as an example of the effects of marijuana isn't exactly a valid argument, either. There's a vast difference between people who are constantly high (which sounds like the case with him) and people who occasionally use marijuana for medical reasons. In fact, a lot of people don't actually smoke marijuana - they take THC, the active ingredient, in the form of pills or injections. Making a blanket statement about marijuana use based on the actions of someone who abuses it is like saying that anyone who has a glass of wine once in awhile is an alcoholic. Please don't let your rational judgment be clouded by your disappointment with your brother's actions.

smokeysmom,

You detest people who use it? That is an arbitrary reason to loathe another human being. Just because you found some messy potheads in the 70s doesn't mean everyone who smokes marijuana is an inconsiderate raucus d$*^&!bag. Almost all the pot smokers I have ever known are extremely considerate of other people... and far less judgmental than you at least.

I don't understand how people can detest other people for doing something that harms no one. It is that Puritan aspect of American society that just refuses to let freedom exist for all. It pollutes and delegitimizes justice. It is fundamentally un-American, in a Declaration-of-Independence-&-Constitutional sort of way. Yeah, I said it.

And I disagree with the hypocritical argument that it is only a "medicine." It is not. It has never BEEN only a medicine. It is a plant with MANY uses. We drink beer just to get high... not for any health effects. Why can't I smoke marijuana just to get high? Why is that so stigmatized? If you can't function when you are using marijuana, that is your own problem. Many of us can. I am not saying go out and drive, of course. But it is nice to smoke and then listen to music while cleaning the house. Or to smoke and go take a walk or meditate.

I will never bow to unreasonable, hypocritical, and un-Constitutional ABUSE of science or religion to tell me my natural rights somehow are no longer valid.

I keep seeing Jane say this discussion is over, is stupid, putting people on ignore, etc.

If she feels this way, then why is she participating in the discussion at all?

About phucken time! Now get on with legalization, will ya?

Damn, is it me or does Jane sound like a child who wants to be Hall Monitor so she can boss everyone around? Her only "facts" happen to be her brother smokes pot, illegally. No reason to look further into the Medical usage of a plant used for at least 10,000 years and only made "illegal" just about 100 years ago.

As someone who suffers from Degenerative Disc Disease, Fibromyalgia and various arthritis-related ailments as a result of soft tissue damage caused by a very bad car accident when I was 19, and have had to go through painful back surgeries, bouts of physical therapy and depression caused by being told at age 32 i would be disabled for life, if my various doctors suggested marijuana as an alternative to the 3 pain meds I am currently on, two of which are opiates and give me horrible side effects, I would jump at it. Munchies are a hell of a lot better side effect than are weight gain, both drowsiness combined with insomnia, constant constipation, dry mouth, dry eyes, sinus issues, and the list goes on.

So thanks Jane, for deciding that I should have no other options even though I live in a State that allows medical marijuana because it's just "dumb and makes you stupid and stuff". You show real class and compassion for those of us who suffer every day.

BTW, if I wanted it to get high, the Oxycontine and Vicodin I have would already do that if I took more than my dosage. I got high once, many years ago, as a result of being over medicated. I don't ever want to experience that again.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any Drug when used improperly can cause problems for the user as well as those around them who might have to suffer the consequences !

My point is that whether you are a Pot smoker or an excessive alcohol user and go into the public domain, then you can put others at risk. (Driving vehicles, do jobs or attempting to do your job at work while "High" can be a problem!)

Oh ! Did some of you remember that we are trying to eliminate "smoking" in this country completely, because there is statistical data to show about 200,000 people per year die of smoking related diseases?

Also that is very weak argument to use the pain control effects of "pot" as an argument to justify being allowed to get "high".

The most politically conservative position would be to let people mess up their own ****ing lives if they want to.

I don't do any recreational drugs because I think its stupid, but we should reserve our right to make that decision. Likewise, its illegal to commit suicide. Who the **** is the government to say if and when I can cash out? My life belongs to me, not my neighbors, not the government. Everybody in this country is preoccupied with dictating how everyone else should live. In the great American tradition, here's a fat screw you to all of them!

Geez, whats all those law enforcement folks gonna do now? Police work? maybe..........

jane1989

you sound like the lady that started prohibition in the 20's. i believe the woman was upset because her husband got drunk and made her life miserable. instead of putting blame where it belonged(her husband) she said it was alcohol that was the problem.she cold not face the truth that her husband was a jerk. maybe you can not face the truth and realize your brother is a spoiled punk and needs to grow up!!

When are you going to allow Utah citizens to have as many spouses as they would like?

Hate to burst your bubble bigarchman, but your hero W used cocaine too.

Miss Jane, you are obviously very young and inexperienced. Sorry your brother is such a brat, but now whose fault is that (your parents maybe?) I agree with the person who theorized that if he is displaying such hostile behavior, he is probably doing something else besides marijuana. There has never been a case of lethal overdose of marijuana, it CANNOT happen, UNLIKE ANY pharmaceutical concoction, even asprin or tylenol.

Until you have watched a loved one waste away to skin and bones from cancer, and then regain their apetite and strength with the use of marijuana, stop sitting in judgement of others whom you do not even know. Or lived with a person with Bipolar Disorder, and witnessed with your own eyes how much it calms them down when they get manic, stop sitting in judgement of others whom you do not know. You've got your own problems, deal with them. Let us deal with ours the way that we find to be effective for ourselves.

ConstitutionThumper, I only drink on Passover.

Well;..that pretty much explains it. Another neo-con Religous Zealot. Think "Self-Righteous".."Intolerant" .."Judgmental"

ConstitutionThumper, I only drink on Passover.

Well;..that explains everything. Another neo-con Religious Zealot. Think "Self-Righteous"

"Intolerant" "Judgemental"....Miss Jane;...apparently your indoctrination was a success

arebrown is an idiot. Try putting a sentence together that people can understand.

Obviously "Jane" and others of her opinion do not have a medical condition that medical marijuana would benefit, or else they haven't tried it. Instead, they've bought into the fear-scare tactics of the government, schools, and legal system. But even the Mayo Clinic once had a page on its web site concerning medical marijuana use.

I know a man with osteo-arthritis who can barely move around, due to pain. He was just like Jane almost all his life, thinking marijuana was horrible and demanding that his children shouldn't use it. After developing osteo-arthritis in his spine and elsewhere and going through several surgeries, this man became addicted to legal, narcotic pain medications and had to stop taking them.

Now he uses marijuana instead. He finds that it works as well or maybe better than the narcotics and refers to it as his "medicine." It's easy to see that he can move around much better and feels much less pain after smoking even a small amount of pot. He has no need for narcotics as long as he has marijuana. Yet he risks being put in jail because it's not legal for medical use here.

None of us knows what medical problems we may eventually develop, so we should not demonize a drug that provides as much medical benefit as marijuana, especially for pain relief. I myself have a type of chronic pain for which marijuana works better than legal narcotics, but I don't use it because I don't like the "high" it produces. If it were not so badly demonized, maybe the effective ingredients could be extracted or synthesized and people could use this without feeling like "a stoner," as some people call it.

Constitution thumper, I said I detest people who use pot because I had to clean up their mistakes and you don't undestand why that would make me so annoyed. OK, I'm sorry I didn't make that clear, so here you are:

The first job I had in 1975 was at a graphic arts company that produced slide shows for corporate meetings. It was run by a husband and wife team and everybody worked hard. Both owners smoked dope and snorted coke, but only on their own time, not at work, and their rule was that employees were not to come to work high or get high during work hours, on the premises. They even made their dog get high on coke. I saw them do it. They were, however, very specific about "on the premises". So all the freelancers and graphic artists would go across the street on their lunch hour and light up a joint, and then come back to work, stoned out of their minds, and since I ran the cameras and shot the slide shows, I got the results of their visual abilities impaired by the side-effects of marijuana. All those people left by 5PM, and gave me large chunks of their final artwork by 4PM, and it was ALWAYS full of typographical errors, pinholes, misplaced text, cutmarks in the copy -- they were so intoxicated that they couldn't see clearly what they were doing. They were, in effect, judgementally impaired, and I spent far too many hours cleaning up their crappy artwork, which was NOT camera-ready at all, and getting the slide shows onto film so that the photo lab could process it and have it ready the next morning at 7AM. I frequently worked over 100 hours a week, on my feet the entire time. I would work until 2AM, go home, get a shower, catch some shut-eye, and get to the film lab by 7AM, so that I could check the slides I had shot. When I complained about this problem, my bosses (both of them) told me I just had to put up with it, and that there were lots of photographers walking around looking for jobs. (That got old real fast.) I did that for five long years, then I finally found another job and walked out. That company nearly collapsed when I left. I was absolutely fried by the time I left; it took me six weeks to stop passing out at 6PM because I was so exhausted I could hardly get up the energy to take my dog for walks.

There was one period of about 3 weeks when the wife went to spend some time with her mother, who had just gotten out of the hospital. The husband offered all of us marijuana to sell on the streets instead of our paychecks. Oh, and I was routinely made fun of for not being "cool" because I didn't want that crap.

Last but not least, I was hired by another company about a year and a half ago. I thought it would be a nice retirement job -- you know, work until you squirrel away the remaining amount you need for retirement, then dump ithe paycheck world and go do your thing. I found out that my boss would go out of the building to the plaza at street level and smoke a joint, or else she'd go to the bar in the restaurant on the ground floor and drink her lunch. I saw her doing it, and besides, I know a drunk when I see one and I know when someone is stoned out of her mind. And she knew that I knew when she was skunked, which made her really dislike me, and eventually, I lost that job because she said I "just didn't get it". Actually, it was because she missed a meeting that she had called and I had to run it without the figures the other people needed; then she appeared in the hallway, nibbling on candy, as we were leaving, and asked where we were all going. The department head who had called the meeting asked her where she had been, and she gave me the most hateful look I've ever seen coming from anyone. I lost that job shortly after that.

Now do you understand why I detest people who smoke pot? There was nothing decent about any of these people, their only interest lay in getting stoned or drunk or both. I was happy to leaveboth of those jobs. Now I'm retired and I'm going back to school to get a career change going.

Ok, Smokeysmom, the first boss whom you disliked also did cocaine, and the second was also a drunk. Yet you blame pot. Uh-Huh. And the other coworkers you mention in the first part of your story were probably coked up too, especially given the time period and the industry.

Ive worked for drunks and cocaine addicts before too, there were times that were not so much fun, having to tell them things over and over because they forgot, but I do not detest them for it.

Sounds to me like the coke probably did it smokeysmom.

How can you demonize marijuana smokers who DON'T snort coke? You can't just wave your hands and decouple the effects of one drug from the marijuana and condemn the marijuana part.

Coke is like a caffeine overdose mixed with a hallucinogen from what I've seen... people are truly crazy on that stuff.

If those people had just gotten high at home instead of acting irresponsibly at work, you never would have known. One has nothing to do with the other.

For those of you that have a problem with people getting high from this plant, I say again and again, read your CONSTITUTION!!! WHAT PART OF LIBERTY DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?

This is one reason this country is going down the tubes... ignorance is used as an excuse to change the law to persecute otherwise law-abiding, honest citizens. Science and religion are exploited to remove freedoms to make people "easier" to control, or at least to control the possible mind states they would otherwise experience. That is ABUSE of science and religion. That is Tyranny, with a capital "T."

Those of you in favor of prohibition need to get your nosy little heads out of other people's peaceful and private business. If they hurt you or mess with you, then you have a case. If they don't, you are infringing on their natural rights, plain and simple.

You don't have to like it, but your preference should never be law. Any law that removes freedom from peaceful, otherwise law-abiding citizens is UNETHICAL and a MOCKERY OF JUSTICE.

Please, provide some other argument besides "it makes you stupid," or "I don't like it," or "it is better to drink yourself to death and get cirrhosis of the liver..." oh wait, no one said that. Argue FACTS not opinions. And if you value your OWN liberty, you won't SCREW with the liberty of others.

Looselucy, I blame the use of all of it, not just cocaine. ALL the people who worked at that first job, except me and the two owners, smoked pot during working hours. The owners snorted coke after hours, and not on the premises.

CT, I'm not demonizing anyone. I'm just explaining (I thought clearly, maybe not) that my experiences with people who used it were related to jobs, not what they did at home and that it made MY life miserable, and that I lost a job because I had boss no. 2 scoped out, and she knew it, and she also knew that she would get fired if I blabbed on her. Did I mention the jobs I've had where no one used that stuff at all? No, because they were where people did their work and if they did anything like smoke pot, it was not AT work. I truly don't care what other people do as long as it isn't forced on me and I don't have to put up with the side effects when I'm working. I'm sorry that you misunderstood me, but I thought I was clear on that.

Which means you have your collective heads up your collective butts.God I wish we had W back..

"BigArch", it's no wonder your comment was collapsed. The quote above is the most idiotic statement I've heard in years!

Constitution thumper, I said I detest people who use pot because I had to clean up their mistakes and you don't undestand why that would make me so annoyed. OK, I'm sorry I didn't make that clear, so here you are:

No, here you are: I once worked as an electrician in a federal housing project which was being remodeled. While working there for nearly two years, our entire crew, which varied from four to ten people at a time, smoked pot daily. Our supervisor knew, the Housing Authority supervisor knew...nearly everyone on the job site knew. We didn't make any more mistakes than a straight crew would have made (and our mistakes were minimal and infrequent) and our pace of work, dictated by the pace of the plumbers, carpenters, etc. who also worked there (who didn't smoke pot because they had the same prudish attitude as you and Jane) was exactly what the supervisor wanted...we didn't impede anyone else's progress, nor did we run up the backs of anyone else. Our jobs always passed inspection the first time, with very few exceptions, and there has never (to the best of my knowledge) been any problem with the work we did. On that two year job we completed remodels of around 600 units, which are still in use. We completed that job 30 years ago. We must have done good work, or we wouldn't have passed inspection and the units wouldn't still be standing and in use.

My suspicion is that you have had poor judgment in your choice of jobs. Did you ever think that maybe, at that graphic arts company, that your fellow employees knew a sucker when they saw one and deliberately chose you to finish their work, knowing you were gullible enough to do so? You did always have the option of quitting instead of being taken advantage of for "five long years"...that part is squarely on your shoulders.

I know a drunk when I see one and I know when someone is stoned out of her mind

How do you know when someone is stoned? You know...in an ideal world, I'd like to meet you (well, not really, but play along if you will) when I'm stoned and see if you can figure out if I am. I don't sit there and giggle or laugh hysterically. I don't eat boxes of Twinkies. You might be able to tell by smell if the stoned person has shared a joint with someone, but I use a pipe and exhale straight up, toward the ceiling. You would not smell it on me. I don't stagger under it's effects (but that's not a valid way to judge it with me; I'm in a wheelchair), I don't slur my words...what other ways can you think of? Where I live, no one -- I mean no one -- knows that I smoke it. And it's not as if I have no interaction with people: my wife manages the apartment complex we live in, and people regularly come to our door when she's out of the office, plus I answer the phone when she's out (her bosses at the management company she works for are too cheap to get her a cell phone!)...so I'm not a hermit that lives in a closet.

So how would you know? Or are you just saying that so it'll sound a little more like you know what you're talking about...

smokeysmom

c'mon you worked 100 hrs a week at the first and the second boss calls a meeting and you had to "cover" for your boss. So pot made you do this. Sorry but i must tell you that you must blame yourself. you need to stand up for yourself more or quit the wishy washy. i have worked for places like that and believe me i nip that crap. 1st job would be taken care of when i demanded my 60hrs of O.T. or i leave on time and the second boss, i would not done anything because my boss wanted the meeting not me. you can say what ever you want but i know who is to blame. its better to be passive aggressive than aggressive aggressive.

What if people smoke "medical" marijuana while they're pregnant?

What if they drink alcohol while they are pregnant, or take morphine, or any other LEGAL regulated drug or even get a MASSAGE?!

Marijuana has nothing to do with that situation. Personal judgment and responsibility does.

This is from www.merck.com, a drug company with an interest, I would think, in keeping marijuana illegal. This is what they have to say about ingesting marijuana while pregnant:

Marijuana: Whether use of marijuana during pregnancy can harm the fetus is unclear. The main component of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol, can cross the placenta and thus may affect the fetus. However, marijuana does not appear to increase the risk of birth defects or to slow the growth of the fetus. Marijuana does not cause behavioral problems in the newborn unless it is used heavily during pregnancy.

Jane honey I hope you never get sick or have to watch someone you love die slowly and painfully. My grandmother would go for a week at a time without eating, she couldn't. We lost her two years back, kidney cancer. Pot would have helped, but we live in TN, and here it is not legal.

I have known many people in my life who smoke/used to smoke pot. The ones that only smoke pot are all great people. Most are college educated some are doctors, or lawyers, teachers even a few politicians. It sounds like your brother is at the very least a pill head. Mood swings are not a symptom of pot use.

The only reason pot has not been legalized is because it stays in the system so long you cannot pinpoint time of use with current drug testing methods. Unlike alcohol which leaves your blood stream at about the same time its effects dissipate, THC will remain in your system up to thirty days depending on your BMI.

I see absolutely nothing wrong with medically prescribed pot or recreational if it were legal, by a consenting adult.(I see no difference in it and alcohol) If anything alcohol effects more people because it is both highly addictive and legal.I have to add I am a conservative registered republican and many of my fellow republicans feel the same way. I don't do it myself but I'm not gonna say I haven't. I just choose not to at this time.

Hey MINIme,

You are soooooo fulla crap! I voted for Obama and I am in total support of everything he stands for and all of his policies. So how 'bout you just bite me.

Marijuana brings nothing but problems.

RISS1977 - Jane honey I hope you never get sick or have to watch someone you love die slowly and painfully.

I have to sit back and watch my grandma and my mom cry every day. I had to sit back and watch and hear them cry every day when my Uncle was dying of liver cancer and salmonella. Everyone in my family is still hurting, and he's only been gone for two years.

I had to sit and watch my stepmom suffer and be in pain for nearly 5 yrs before she died when she was backing out of the driveway and she had a heart attack at the wheel and the car slipped backwards off the driveway and flipped over with her in it. Since she died my family has fallen apart.

I had to watch my dog, my baby, suffer from tumors and cancer.

My other grandma can barely get out of bed.

My brother nearly died in the hospital because his appendix burst and puss got all over his organs. He spent months in the hospital hooked up to machines, all the while he just got thinner and thinner.

Jane,

It sounds as if a couple of bong hits could help you get over the pain of dislodging your head from your AZZ.

Jane, you say "Marijuana causes nothing but problems", and then you list a bunch of stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with marijuana, you are not helping your argument at all.

Marijuana probably would've helped in most of those situations, if you and your family were not so closed-minded. As for your question about pregnancy, it does help with morning sickness, and there is no evidence (only speculation) that it causes birth defects at all. Ive known many women who used it while pregnant, and all of their kids are fine, some of those kids are even adults now, got full scholarships to universities, are very productive members of society.

And Smokeysmom, Ive got one for you too. I'm in the art biz too. Ive smoked pot nearly every day since I was 17 years old(more than 20 years at this point); I have ADD, I find that it helps slow me down so that I can focus on the task at hand. I work with razors, and on ladders, and with machinery that is potentially dangerous, and have never had an accident, not even a minor one, I never even spilled paint on the floor. My hands are steadier, and I make fewer mistakes than when I dont use MJ. My bosses over the years have been aware of my habits, and did not have a problem with it, my work was always more than satifactory to them. I worked long hours, 10-12+ hour days sometimes, under pressure to finish projects dropped in my lap at the last minute, and I got them done without help. Put even one beer in me though, and I dont accomplish anything. I'll bet anything that there were people whom you worked with at the other jobs you "didnt" mention who did use pot (without coke or alcohol) and you did not know it.

Sounds like you have some anger issues, I know what might help with that!

I am in NY State, and when my sister was going through Chemo she asked about Med. Mar. She was not allowed due to our wonderful legal system. I was ready to buy it off the street for her, unfortunately the Chemo got to her first. It was fine for the Drs to load her up with toxins, but she wasn't allowed something that could have helped her feel better?

And Jane, if someone has terminal cancer, what is so wrong with dulling the senses? My sister was a graduate with honors of Cornell, full scholarship to SU,and the finest, most spiritual person I will ever know. Yet you judge her at the end of her life for wanting to ease her pain and sickness. Shame on you.

I didn't judge anyone. I said marijuana causes problems, medical or not, which it does.

Are they going to start giving marijuana to teenagers and little kids who are in extreme pain?

If someone's in agonizing pain they should just end their life.

Jane, you are the most disgusting person I have ever seen on these posts. You have NO right, you smarmy, holier than thou azzhole, MY SISTER helped more people in her short life than you could ever hope to.

I didn't judge anyone. I said marijuana causes problems, medical or not, which it does.

Sheesh.

I notice that, while you say you didn't judge anyone (you did, by the way), you also conveniently ignored my post #1.41, which was directed specifically at you. What's the matter, no coherent argument you can make?

Are they going to start giving marijuana to teenagers and little kids who are in extreme pain?

Who said anything about that? You're reaching now...

If someone's in agonizing pain they should just end their life.

Does that go for your uncle, stepmom, grandma, brother, and even your dog? You talk about them in post #1.76...would you have had any of them end their own life? No, probably not...but you'd just as soon see them suffer rather than smoke a little weed so their pain would subside. I see zero logic in that! Besides...except for a few more progressive states, it's illegal for you to end your own life. Where I live assisted suicide is legal as of very recently. If it had been legal years ago, maybe my mom, who had pretty serious cancer, would have chosen that route. My dad too: he suffered greatly for nearly a year with untreatable cancer, so much so that my stepmom had to take all the guns out of the house. As well, my stepsister, who lingered for three years with the debilitating effects of ALS. None of them chose to alleviate their pain with a little weed, even in the case where it was offered: my mom and dad didn't because they were from the Reefer Madness era and wrongly believed that pot is evil incarnate, and my stepsister because it was contrary to her religion. They made the choice...the same choice to would deny to others.

See, you aren't the only one who has had to watch loved ones suffer. You are in no position to judge -- even though you do -- and you aren't the only one who's had a loss in their lives. How sanctimonious of you to judge anyone here who's made a considered choice...

Jane- To be honest with you, you sound very young. I am sorry you have had to deal with all that you have had to deal with in your very short life. Let me ask you this did you daily take care of any of the people (dog not with standing) and witness first hand what they went through. Did you bathe them or feed them. Did you have to change beds on a somtimes hourly basis because the chemo made them vomit or defecate so harshly that the the bedding had to be discarded rather than laundered. Did any of them ever beg you to help them go home because they were tired and hoarse from begging GOD to take them. When the cancer was at its worst and they would not eat ANYTHING for sometimes a week at a time because when they did they would vomit so badly they vomited blood. The doctors even said yes they would benefit from it but they could not prescribe it.

You talk about your family crying all the time over your brother, get him some help, quit enabling him. I grew up in an abusive home with a father who is former mil. he used every drug you could imagine (EXCEPT POT) to combat PTSD and severe depression. You ain't seen noting till you dad pointsa fully auto. AK-47 at you. He is finally sober 10 years now but we all had to basiclly abandon him to get him to seek help. I guarantee your brother is on more than pot, if he is the appendix person he was given Oxy-contin in the hospital and if he has an even slightly addictive personality then he liked it and is now severly addicted to it. Oxy-contin is more addictive than crack cocain and manifests all the personality issues you have described I would say that is what your family cries about and they don't want you to know.

You have on this board and many others shown a very narrow point of view perspective that speaks of very little life experience. When I say this I do not mean to be insulting, and I am sorry if that is how you take it.

No one in my family would ever touch marijuana, even if it was medical. None of them have ever used it and they never will. My brother's the exception and because of it no one wants to be around him or to help him or even speak to him.

Pharmaceutical companies want you to pop their pills instead of smoking pot.

"Jane1989- My brother's the exception and because of it no one wants to be around him or to help him or even speak to him. "

Well then you obviously never loved him in the first place. Anybody that would give up a family member over something so stupid wasn't really family to begin with.

Sounds to me like your life has been predetermined already by your family's ritualistic mindframe and stereotypes. If you don't 'follow the rules' of the family then you're not a member anymore. It's pretty sad that your parents never allowed you to be a free thinker.

My brother nearly died in the hospital because his appendix burst and puss got all over his organs. He spent months in the hospital hooked up to machines, all the while he just got thinner and thinner.

No one in my family would ever touch marijuana, even if it was medical. None of them have ever used it and they never will. My brother's the exception and because of it no one wants to be around him or to help him or even speak to him.

Then I feel sorry for your brother. In the first paragraph you lament his deteriorating health, then in the second you quickly turn your back on him as if he were radioactive or something. If you and your family would reject your own brother because he had maybe found a method to alleviate his pain, then your puritanical beliefs about the "evils" of marijuana must be stronger than the (family) ties that bind.

Time for you to watch Reefer Madness again...here, let me help you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZdhcNegZgU

It's all there, in it's entirety...take it to heart...

Jane, it sounds as if your brother has some form of mental illness.

I wonder if he is self- medicating with drugs, probably not marijuana.

It sounds as if his behaviour is intolerable, and very hard to suffer through.

Having said that, I find it hard to believe marijuana is causing his life to be such a mess.

He recently split his head open on a police car after he was arrested for domestic violence. He's currently being held on a 72-hr psychiatric hold.

And it's not just marijuana that's messing up his life. My mom is afraid he'll kill himself.

I doubt this "jane" person even exists (in the way they say they do). I can come on and say I'm a four armed three eyed grad from MIT, and who could prove otherwise, so you gotta take the trolls for who they are.

I've known MANY people who get high on MJ, I've sat around with them as their taking hits and just chilling. I can say without a shadow of a doubt, these guys couldn't hurt a fly. Seriously MJ makes you so chilled out you couldn't possibly contemplate violence. I mean has ANYONE heard of a time when someone smokd pot, then went and beat their wife / children, or killed someone in a car. You want to know what happens if someone is high on MJ and drives ... they go like 15-20 MPH, maybe 30 at the most. Its like life is slowed down to a crawl for them.

"Jane" is just a troll with no life. Probably just some sad little nerd living in his mother's basement. Pretty pathetic, really. If you just ignore this person's BS, they'll go away.

You want to know what happens if someone is high on MJ and drives ... they go like 15-20 MPH, maybe 30 at the most. Its like life is slowed down to a crawl for them.

Well...not exactly. Way back, when I was in my 20s, one of my favorite things to do on a Saturday morning was get in my 1978 Z28 Camaro (http://rainydaydreams.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/78camaro.jpg) and go for a drive. I'd get on the freeway, travel south to the next freeway, then head east. At the next freeway I'd go north, then to the next one and head west, toward home. It was maybe 40-50 miles, the stereo at full blast en route (Foghat, Aerosmith, etc), and it would get me out of the house for awhile. No speeding...and no weaving around, no obstructing others, just out for what used to be called a "Sunday drive"...

Why do all the smart people get their comments collapsed? Are the "dopes" afraid of what we are saying? You people can sit there and tell me that people who smoke pot are totally innocent. Never did anything wrong when they were high. Like I said before," you people are idiots." You make up so much stuff, to make yourselves look right. I know alot of people who smoked pot. Guess what they were smart enough to quit. Why do so many people who do this when they were young quit. Because it is wrong. I know some people who didn't smarten up. They are worthless to society. They spend all they can on dope, and make their families do without. But that's O.K. in your eyes. Why can't they use some other pain medication. One of my friends just died of lung cancer. 38 years old. Somebody offered him some medical marijuana for the pain. He said he would rather deal with the pain then to drop down to the level of using. You people are just trying to use any means to get it legalized. This country is falling apart because people like you have no morales, and the most important thing on your agenda is legalizing pot. Put that much effort into doing somrthing good for everybody in this country not just a few potheads. Think about everything else that's bad. Not just ,"I can't have my weed."

Hey Bob,

I believe that I can answer the question in your first sentence: It's because you are so obviously ignorant on this subject and people just don't give a flyin' f**k about anything you have to say.

I know that's how I feel about your BS, anyway.

Cordially,

jpooch00

Why do all the smart people get their comments collapsed?

Mine aren't collapsed. I speak logically, and I tell the truth.

You people can sit there and tell me that people who smoke pot are totally innocent. Never did anything wrong when they were high.

What I might have done that's wrong, or illegal, is minimal. I may have gone over the speed limit on the freeway, but I never caused an accident nor even was involved in one. I never have broken into anyone's house or business, stolen or shoplifted anything, or assaulted anyone. In fact, I have no criminal record whatsoever. So yes, when I've been stoned I've been innocent as far as having a criminal record of any sort, and the only law I've broken is the fact that, yes, I have and still do smoke weed. So sue me.

Like I said before," you people are idiots."

Speak for yourself.

I know alot of people who smoked pot. Guess what they were smart enough to quit. Why do so many people who do this when they were young quit. Because it is wrong. I know some people who didn't smarten up.

"Smarten up"? By who's definition? Yours? I know many people who would disagree with you. I am one of them.

They spend all they can on dope, and make their families do without.

If you define $40 every three months as "spend(ing) all they can on dope", then color me guilty. At age 53, I raised my only daughter, with very little help from her mother, and she never went without, so long as I could afford it. She always had plenty of clothes, never went hungry, and had all the accessories she wanted...except I never could afford that Porsche she wanted, but then again, I couldn't afford it for myself either. I have a very good relationship with my daughter, her husband, and my four grandkids. Yes, my son in law has a good job, and no, none of them smoke weed, and they don't hold the fact that I do against me.

You people are just trying to use any means to get it legalized.

"You people"? Is that intended as an insult? The fact is, for medical purposes, weed is legal in several states, and has been decriminalized in several jurisdictions, which means that if you get caught with it in small portions, usually an ounce or less, you have it confiscated and get a ticket...making it no more criminal than a traffic ticket. That is a fact...get used to it.

This country is falling apart because people like you have no morales, and the most important thing on your agenda is legalizing pot.

By "morales" I assume you mean "morals". And by the mere fact that I and many others are here debating the issue with the blockheads should be an example of the legalizing of pot not being "the most important thing on (our) agenda". The vast majority of people who favor legalizing weed understand that there are far more important things that we need to be concerned with...like the troubles with the economy, the fact that the previous administration broke numerous federal and international laws, and the facts about global warming. Oh, I forgot...because there has been a snowstorm on the east coast -- in winter, mind you -- global warming doesn't exist. I suppose the naysayers will blather about the same thing when there's a day in August where the temperature doesn't exceed 80 degrees.

You, and other people here who have zero understanding on this subject (Jane and smokeysmom come to mind), have demonstrated clearly why you are wrong, or at least misinformed. The "reasons" you give sound like DEA propaganda, since if the DEA can't fight the failed "war on drugs" without including weed their funding would go way down. I've said it before in this thread, and I'll say it again, just for you: the movie Reefer Madness is not a factual documentary produced by the DEA and the Health Department. It is almost 75 years old...and 75 years out of date. You probably believe some of that propaganda, but that does not make it true. But in the interest of equal play for both sides, here is a link to that "documentary", in it's entirety:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZdhcNegZgU

There you go...watch it, then quake with fear. I need to go now, so I can play the piano with wild eyes (watch the movie; you should get it), shoot girls who won't sleep with me, and become an axe murderer...

Bob,

The only people making things up are the ones who wish to demonize marijuana smokers. You don't have ANY arguments to make besides "marijuana is stupid and so is anyone who uses it." That isn't an argument, it is a temper tantrum.

You obviously ignore anything that doesn't fit into your worldview... you condemn people based on your own ignorance... and you want people to just shut up and do what YOU want them to do. Sounds to me like YOU are the "stupid" one.

You judgmental, childish tyrant.

Hey CT,

Well said, my man.

Ol' Bob just spouts stuff that his mama and the government has poured into his poor, straight, self-righteous brain since he was born. Sadly, the poor guy actually believes all that crap! It's a testament to the power of propaganda.

Just say No to the War on Drugs, it's a lost cause.... LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

If you think is getting one's country back, you must be high and not seeing the other hundreds of things that are removing the country from people's hands. This is called a distraction.

Eduardo, it is a step in the right direction to restore some freedoms lost.

Everything is a distraction when you choose to ignore it.

This is a natural individual right. Pot smokers aren't cooking up meth... they are using a plant that grows out of the ground by the grace of God, or whatever creative power you wish to call it.

Now that the Democrats have elected an admitted Cocaine abuser to sit in the Oval Office, who knows what will happen. Joe Biden will continue to follow his gun control agenda, like the 1995 "Biden / Feinstein "crime bill" (formerly known as the Brady Bill ). and I am not even a republican. Clue,...when you use words like "neoclowns" do you really think that people won't recognize that you are off the wall?

As a conservative, I applaud Mr Holder for making a prudent decision. The next step is to legalize marijuana in order to de-criminalize a harmless product (not nearly as harmful as alcohol) and let people do what they are already doing all around us.

The Fact is (and I am not a current user) marijuana users are much less harmful than alcohol users plain and simple. Are there problems with MJ? Sure. But honestly, how do we justify legal and widespread use of alcohol that actually causes ten's of thousands of deaths each year (much more than the Iraq war) and at the same time make criminal the use of a much less harmful product?

Let's focus on the important stuff and stop policing what is clearly private behavior.

Sorry I don't fit into your comfortable bigoted view of what a conservative is.

Right (and I mean far far far right. Like John Birch far right)dude

You wanna get into that crap Here's one Your idol Boy George snorted coke for years and years. 'Couse the only way the drunk could stay half arse cognizant of where he was, with his drinking his sorry elitist platinum spoon fed arse under the table nonstop, was by snorting coke by the ounce. He admitted being a drunkard and a coke user. Don't throw stones, neo-conazi, or you're gonna bean your glorious drunkard coke snorting sorry arsed nazi leader. He's brain dead anyway from all the alcohol and drug abuse he's been through so beaning the drooler isn't gonna hurt him but you wouldn't want to get you're silly arse shot by his handlers now would you.

right

JimC2 -You might be really drunk right now.

Stay in tonite, o.k. ?

neo-conazi ??? is that Ebonics.??? I am no republican so explain this to me. see this at the site here dhfs.wisconsin.gov/medicaid1/recpubs/erp/phc13032.htm (Clinton 1996) seek help. it is to be continued by Obama* and coming to a state where you live. To take what you have. was that BOY GEORGE who sang at the DNC?

JIM...You need help.. Really, get it with the Obama* healthcare act.

Rightman, I find you to be very rude and crass. Beyond that your arguments have little to no basis in facts, however I do hope Vice President Biden does continue to work to wards ending the stupidity of civilian gun ownership here in the US. Assault rifles and handguns are not hunting weapons. they are designed for one purpose only, and that is to kill people. Additionally, the Neo-Con Fascists on the Supreme Court were 100% wrong in their ruling on the gun issue. The Constitution clearly states that the right to bear arms is solely the privilege of "well regulated militias", such as the Armed Forces and Police/Crime deterrent forces (FBI, ATF, Homeland Security, etc...)

Now please leave, so that others might have a civil discourse on this matter without tin-foil hat wearing people such as yourself interjecting your insane notions into the thread.

99% of the war on drugs is just an excuse to smash in doors, seize vehicles, property, money, search homes and persons, and as such it should be eliminated as a threat to personal liberty. Non-drug users suffer under this environment; this is enough reason to reconsider the approach.

NPA you really remind me of so many clueless, ill informed,simple minded follower. can not think for themselves. i say this because you do not know what a militia is.

JimC, perhaps you would give any proof you might have to show that George W snorted coke. He admitted to being a drunk not a coke snorter. Your hero b hussein obama has admitted being a coke head.George was a drinker and those drinks are legal. b hussein obama snorted coke and cocaine is illegal. So why not grow up and stop acting so very child like.

No Party Alliliation. The 2nd Admendment is a right of each of us American citizens to own guns.The US Supreme Court has recently ruled just that point. The whole purpose of the 2nd Admendment , as discussed by the writers of the Constitution, was to give the people the power to control our government.Would you want to be in the shoes of the nations that have had their guns taken away.Nations like the USSR,North Korea,Vietnam,China.Would you like to be in the shoes of the people of Africa where any group can rise up and kill another group because they have the weapons and you don't? You also need to grow up and realize that when you call the police they always get there in time to take nice pictures of the victim.I know, I took the pictures.If you are going to be safe you need a gun. I carry a gun because I cannot carry a policeman.

Despite what the naysayers say, I've never heard of anyone causing or being killed in an automobile accident due to marijuana intoxication. Those who condemn marijuana are hippocrites - it's OK to get "drunk", but not OK to get "high". Getting "drunk" is just the alcoholic term for "high" - the difference is that marijuana doesn't kill people - alcohol has a long standing record of murder.

In response to "rightman1" who says the Democrats have elected an "admitted cocaine user" who will ban the ownership of guns -- I know nothing of that but do know we just suffered through eight horrible years of a former cocaine user and alcoholic who messed up this country royally. And the Democrats didn't put him in office. Considering how many Republicans I've met who also hated him, I am not sure how he got "elected" for a second term. Bush single-handedly made me distrust our government.

It's refreshing to have a President who seems to respond to the needs and desires of the U.S. people, at long last. Bush only responded to the desires of the rich, which means 99 percent of us had no representation in the Oval Office. I think Obama is an idealist who wants a resurgence of the Constitution and Bill of Rights that Bush eroded for the past eight years, and one of those rights is the right to bear arms. I somehow doubt that Obama will allow Congress to take away that right, though it's possible guns may become a little harder to get.

Of course, all of this is off-topic, but you did bring it up. Addressing the topic -- I support medical marijuana use and can vouch for its benefits, especially for pain control. It works much better than other drugs for nerve pain, especially. I have chronic and disabling nerve pain but don't smoke pot for it because I don't like the "high" it produces. I wish I could tolerate it because it is very effective. I am definitely not "a stoner."

I'm in a lot of pain as I write this, though I just took four types of legal OTC and prescription (opiate) pain meds. Most legal meds do not work well for nerve pain. Marijuana would immediately and totally relieve this pain, but I don't use it. Nonetheless, I think it should be legalized for medical use nationwide.

Like other pain meds, I'm sure there will be some who abuse medical marijuana or obtain it illegally. But there will always be people who use pain meds and do truly need them. Without pain meds, I cannot do even the most routine of activities, such as cleaning house and grocery shopping. I'm glad the DEA will now apply its time and resources to "real" drug problems.

Kudos to Obama for admitting he experimented with cocaine and smoked pot.

He gets my respect for being honest about it.

You can bet your farm GW partied hard.(DUI,AWOL).

I'd bet many Presidents have used licit or illicit drugs in their lives. Remember that opiates were legal and made up the ingredients of many prescriptions many years ago.

No Party Affiliation, The 2nd Amendment and handguns and AK47's have nothing to do with hunting.

The 2nd Amendment and handguns and AK47's have everything to do with "We The People" keeping the government honest and scared of the populace.

I do have a staunch affiliation, hardcore Democrat, who cringes everytime someone is so ignorant, stupid or scared to give up the only RIGHT that has any TEETH.

Without the 2nd Amendment , the rest of our Rights might as well be toilet paper.

As a conservative I do support this move but don't let it make you think everything is falling back in line. Each side of the American political coin has rights they choose to ignore conveniently. True Americans should be appalled by this but we're too busy fighting for or against party lines.

Maybe it's time we collectively go our stuff together and not let some rights be promoted as others fall by the way side. Maybe it's time we choose respect and understanding over blind bashing and the convenient little labels we put on people so we can just put them into nice little slots in our minds and automagically assign them a "good" or "bad" tag. Maybe we can start to be humans instead of the types of automatons that keep the power at the top by endlessly keeping us in a game of tug-of-war that really shouldn't exist in the first place.

Is this so hard for us to do?

Mr. Holder is beholden to the ganja smokers.

Simple. In California, Oregon, Wasthington and Nevada, most democrats under the age of 60 are recreational users of marijuana. As such, such a policy gets votes.

The obvious problem is the effects of marijuana on people and the lives it destroys, but no one seems to worry about that at the state level any more.

Neb: These people believe in killing people that are too old, not even born yet, taxing everything in existence and penalizing people who work for a living. They let killers go free and punish people who obey the law. Why would they care about lives that are being destroyed?

I don't believe in any of those things Ed.

And pot doesn't destroy lives. Get a clue. You sound like Harry Anslinger.

The only reason pot is illegal at all is based on racism. Look it up.

I am tired of hypocrites who love to get drunk bashing on people because they prefer something more natural.

I trust a plant more than I trust a processed drug like alcohol. I do still drink alchohol, though : ).

You don't believe in those things? Then can we count on you to vote against them by voting against the Obama gang as soon as possible?

Though maybe you don't respect my opinion, since I've never gotten high or been drunk. But I know way more real people who's lives were ruined by pot than by alcohol, and that's not an observation that's connected at all to racism -- almost all of the druggies I knew were white. Doesn't matter how it started - what matters is what we have now.

I believe in freedom Indy. Oppressing people because they choose to smoke a plant is NOT freedom in any sense of the word, except maybe freedom for tyrants.

Did you ever think that those people who smoked pot and never went anywhere never would have gone anywhere ANYWAY? I know PLENTY of people who smoke pot on a frequent basis and are quite successful. It has nothing to do with the plant. Carl Sagan smoked on a regular basis. George Carlin, Thomas Jefferson smoked. George Washington at least grew the stuff and probably smoked it.

And it DOES matter where the law came from. Almost every government study has recommended the legalization or at least decriminalization of marijuana, yet the federal government ignores those. Even under REAGAN these recommendations were made.

Alcohol destroys FAR more lives than you could possibly argue that marijuana has (if I just assume it has destroyed ANY lives at all- which I find difficult to believe), and that is not just legal, it is PROMOTED.

Uhm....Nebuchadnezzar. I live in Washington on a private street with five other neighbors. I am the only Democrat while the rest of my neighbors are Republican. I am the youngest at 43. All of us have kids that have graduated high school and have gone on to college. Two of my neighbors are now Grandparents. All of us have sat around the fire pits in our large back yards on weekends eating good food, drinking beer (or soda for the ones that don't drink) and occasionally smoked a joint.

When you say it is only young democrats that smoke pot you are really stating that you do not have a clue.

"Though maybe you don't respect my opinion, since I've never gotten high or been drunk. But I know way more real people who's lives were ruined by pot than by alcohol, and that's not an observation that's connected at all to racism -- almost all of the druggies I knew were white. Doesn't matter how it started - what matters is what we have now. "

You really need to get out more..try going to school and learn to use a spelling checker. or something. The worst thing about Marijuana is the law.

The only thing I can think of is that they are paving the way to legalize it for any use and allow it to be taxed. This is the ONLY thing that makes since. Holder and this administration would not do anything in the name of "states rights". Everything we see being done at the federal level are just small pieces of a larger goal.

"But I know way more real people who's lives were ruined by pot than by alcohol"

I don't know what kind of people you associate with but maybe you should check some statistics.

If states rights are going to trump federal regs then that whole Emancipation Proclamation deal is going to be a real problem along the Mason/Dixon line. The recent unpleasantness with our Northern brothers can continue. The South will rise again!!.

14-

then all those unemployed veterans and blackwater mercenaries can have jobs fighting a civil war in our own country!

Now, thats some good planning.

The north will employ the veterans, and the Republicans will outsource to blackwater, thus creating thousands of jobs, and keeping it all in the U.S.A.

Iny TX says he's never smoked or drank and he knows so many people whose lives have been ruined by pot...blah blah blah.

How many times have you guys heard a post like that? The drug free teetotaler with a bunch of friends whose lives have been ruined? This type of anti-cannabite is all too common...and laughable.

The only way pot can ruin someone's life is if they get caught selling, possessing, or smoking it. And that problem can easily be remedied by decriminlizing it.

Get out of your parent's basement once in a while Indy TX.

Indy TX , you are so full of chit, your eyes are brown, or your a brown eye...lol...

If you count people who go buy pot, then meet someone selling coke or meth, then yeah I'll grant you that one. Even more reason to legalize it and dispense it away from hard-drug users.

I've never ever seen someone smoke pot beat their wives, start fights, or rob someone for more. I've seen a ton of that action based on alcohol.

Holder had his balls handed to him. Obviously the DEA cannot override State law. The next step would be the Supreme Court. That might lead to (gasp!) legalisation in all 50 states. Obama called his bluff and the DEA faggot backed down.

@14yearoldsmartass,

Ahh you just show how ignorant and uneducated you are. Maybe you should go and read the constitution. It might teach you some things about the way our government is supposed to function. More specifically, i recommend you check out the 9th, 10th and 13th amendments.

9th Amendment

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

10th Amendment

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

13th amendment

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction

So your premise that the mere existence of states right would allow the re-introduction of slavery is completely bunk. Let me break it down for you... the 10th amendment says that ANY POWER not specifically granted to the feds by the constitution, is reserved to the states and the people. The 13th amendment specifically grants the fed the power to abolish slavery. So, you see, there is no conflict between the abolition of slavery and the rights granted to the states by the constitution. And lastly, the 9th amendment states that no enumerated rights granted to the people by the constitution can be infringed upon by the states or any other entity.

So tell me, 14yearoldsmartass, exactly where in the constitution does it give the federal government the right to regulate any drug? Please enlighten me with your 14 years of wisdom.

What's that? You can't find it? Right, that is because it is not in there. Run along back to your 10th grade civics class. And this time, try to stay awake. You might just learn something and stop making statements about something that you obviously have no clue. it was a nice try though, really, it was.

The fact that it is only medical is not right........now people must go through changes to get a prescription, to obtain the stuff from a reputable place, we need it legalized. There are more important crimes that requires more attention and can generate income for the courts and prisons. Although medical is a step in the right direction, legalizing MJ across the board would generate income for all the states. Unless the goal is to fill the system will potheads so they don't have time and room for the real criminals. The economy is not in a crisis where all options should be weighed.

I strongly suspect that those individuals speaking against medicinal marijuana do not live in one of the states that have it. Another possibility is they have never had a family member, a loved one or they themselves suffer a serious enough illness whereby they found the beneficial properties of such treatment.

@ceanf, OK ,a$$hole, I'll play. I take the liberty of calling you names since you take the liberty of calling me ignorant and uneducated.

I direct your attention to the first word of my post, which you so conveniently ignored, that word being "IF". Try to keep that word in mind as you reread. My comment was about States Rights and its subsequent effect on history.

The 9th and 10th Amendments were both ratified on the same day, December 15, 1791, to limit the powers of the Federal government. Their passage made additional amendments necessary for such things as the abolition of slavery or the prohibition of alcohol because without those additional amendments, Congress had no authority to do those things. Neither was at issue in 1791.

Congress can not directly compel states to enforce Federal regulations, without one of three alternatives.

1. Pass an amendment.

2. Coercion by withholding Federal money, such as Federal highway funds if the states don't enforce a national 55mph speed limit.

3. This is the one that applies to our little discussion. You want to know EXACTLY where the Constitution gives the Feds the right to regulate any drug? You ask for enlightenment? Try reading ARTICLE 1, SECTION 8. Its called the Commerce Clause and is intended to regulate and maintain national economy( Interstate commerce). It is supported by Supreme Court decisions WICKARD v FILBURN, 1942 and GONZALES v RAICH,2005, when Cannabis plants were declared an Interstate commodity. The arguement is that they have the ability to influence national commerce even though they are not sold or traded in any transaction.

Even though the 13th Amendment has no relevance in this discussion, you may want to re-read it,too. Even the abolition of slavery has its exceptions.

So

C-learly,

E-litist

A-ttitude

N-ot

F-unctional

here's a bit of advice for you. Don't make stupid assumptions about screen names. It leaves your belly open. If you plan on flaming someone, you pompous pr*ck, you better have your sh!t wired tight.

Just cause you don't like what I say doesn't make it not true.

If you go to school, you see lots of people drink and smoke pot. I decided not to get drunk because when my friends got drunk, they'd say some really hateful things. I preferred to be in control. The booze damaged relationships. The pot smokers I knew were way more obsessed. I saw some really talented people fail their classes and have to leave school.

Sure, I can't say for sure that their lives were ruined, because I lost track of them after that. I hope they got their lives turned around -- but what are the odds? And I'm not defending the drinkers, either, and I didn't say that they didn't have their own problems or cause problems. I'm just saying that you're closing your eyes if you try to pretend that smoking pot is harmless or try to defend it by saying an acceptable activity is bad thus this activity should also be acceptable. If you want to argue for legalizing pot, then you need a better argument.

I agree that decriminalizing and taxation has attractiveness. The thing that has always concerned me about that plan is marketing. Are you going to argue that smoking isn't harmful? Or drinking isn't harmful? But look what marketing can accomplish (even when it's prohibited on TV and radio in tobacco's case).

If you want to discuss the topic and ideas intelligently, you can reply. If you just want to flame me instead and get defensive, then just move on. Maybe I'll come check this thread again in case any in the first category show up.

Your comments and observations all seem to be about people who used in the extreme. People who have a glass of red wine at dinner have lower risks for heart disease, people who drink the entire bottle have a higher risk of dying for several reasons...its all about moderation. I take percoset for chronic and challenging pain, just to function. I would hazard a guess that the amount of legal medication I am taking is far riskier to my health then the amount of medical marijuana smoked by a person with a terminal illness. Or by the casual user for personal enjoyment, just like the glass of wine.

Again, its about abusing the alcohol, drug, etc.

when my sweeet old fashoned grandmother was in late stages of cancer, she was in so much pain, and, she didnt like the way morphine or other painmeds affected her. I brought over some weed. and guess what, she took a puff, and it was the first time i saw her smile and laugh in a long time.

bodo1152

Legalize this crap and tax the hell out of it?

It should have been legalized a long time ago! As far as taxing the hell out of it would just mean that most folks would just buy it as they do now.

A small tax like $5.00 on a bag that would make 20 joints would seem a lot more reasonable. That $5.00 multiplied would be a huge revenue boost and taxpayers dollars used now to chase down users could be put to far better use.

Marujuana isn't crap. It has a useful purpose. Beats the hell out of addictive prescription drugs for a start and it is natural. Alcohol has always been a major problem because it can get out of hand and ruin both the user and their familiy's lives. Having a toke or two causes nobody any harm.

It is sad when you read about people with surpressed feelings and idealogies discussing something like pot when they have never tried a blunt themselves. Just more people with little data or first hand knowledge offering an opinion.

It is used by all walks of society.

Colon in canada. (not a mistype) maybe we should tax the hell out of any meds you or any of your family might take. Science and dr's have said it is beneficial to paitents with chronic pain. Who are you to say they are wrong. You are an idiot sir.

well if you believe in legalizing it, thats an argument, but if you think its wrong and do it only to reduce the debt, you are a sellout like the politicians in this country. when i was a kid i said i would never smoke pot, when i was 11 yrs old i started and continued to look for ways to get a better and better high for many years. legalizing it isnt the answer, its great for the true sick people that need it to help their remaining years , but for people that want to leave reality and stray from the law, i say no way. and to above, alcohol is worse in my opinion so lets not try to make one drug okay at the expense of another. we do have laws and some of them suck, but we make em', time to obey them.

No chance at this bringing down the national debt.

Even IF it did, it would be wealth transfering from the middle class and poor to the elites and banks.

Kind of like our income tax system now.

Buy it !???! Tax it??!! Unlike gasoline, I think I'll grow mine in the living room.

spending trillions to "Reduce" the deficite. Tax and Spend. 3 trillion in less than a month. your 401K will soon be a -401k

Rightman1

Did you mean a 420j ?

@Mr Rogers,

The top 5% of earners in america pay almost 95% of taxes. So please explain to me how our income tax system transfers wealth from the poor and middle classes to the rich and elite? Seems to me that the only transfer of wealth lately is going from those who pay taxes, both the middle and upper classes, to those who pay no income taxes. Don't agree with me? Then why is our government cutting rebate checks to those who pay zero income taxes? That is the re-distribution of wealth. That is welfare.

scuba.jason:

you wrote:
" Say for instance, selling a 3 or 4 joint pack for around $25-$30 per pack. With $20 of that going to a national health care fund."

Those prices sounds ridiculous, at that rate the dope dealers would still have a substantial clientele. The Gov would have defeated the purpose. I'm hoping you meant hypothetically speaking.

The top 5% of earners in america pay almost 95% of taxes. So please explain to me how our income tax system transfers wealth from the poor and middle classes to the rich and elite?

Try a 15% capital gains tax , which is where most of the truly wealthy's income is made. Why should a wealthy person whose income consists of money made solely through capital gains be taxed at 15%? You simply don't understand the tax code or thet most wealthy people don't get W2s or 1099s.

conservs sure like posting that stupid statistic all over the place though.

btw, the poor working people DO pay taxes...no one who hasn't paid into the system is getting a check from the government. What your really p.o'd about is that they get the EIC.

listen to these pathetic conservs....." oh MY GOD *gasp* someone MIGHT get something for FREEE!!!! Waaaaaahhhhhh and it isn't meeeeeeeee!!!!! " it's miiiine , my preciuous.

The wealthy (and their families) should have to live off the wages paid to the lowest paid employees in the nation, for at least two years. They can even use welfare programs.

These pansies would be crying and begging for more money within the first month. Yet they expect others to raise their families on these same pennies year after year.

Back to the topic at hand...Marijuana

puff puff.... pass

You don't tax the drug you tax the user. In the case of recreational usage you can create a permit with a fee. Make the fines for getting caught growing, using or holding the drug so high that you'd be insane to not just pay for the permit outright. This way home growers will pay their way too and we won't need to make the drug so expensive that criminals still hold the upper hand.

So please explain to me how our income tax system transfers wealth from the poor and middle classes to the rich and elite?

Our income tax system transfers money from the middle class into the hands of bankers and banks affiliated with the federal reserve with the help of our congress in the form of interest payments for every dollar we print.

These pansies would be crying and begging for more money within the first month. Yet they expect others to raise their families on these same pennies year after year

I won't punish someone because they are hard working and successful. That is plain stupid. You can't hate on the wealthy just because they are wealthy.

...maybe you should practice your aim...

Shade, clearly you don't know a damn thing about marijuana except for the propaganda you've been brainwashed by.

Jesus was anointed with a mixture containing "fragrant cane." If you look at the original Hebrew for the translation of "fragrant cane," it is kaneh-bos. Cannabis. Look it up.

This isn't about compassion or tolerance, it is about reversing the government's policy of oppressing people for smoking a damn plant that has been used for thousands of years.

You can't die from marijuana use, except maybe lung cancer if you choose to smoke it, but alchohol is almost guaranteed to kill you or mess your brain up if you abuse that.

GUys come on! Shade was obvously being sarcastic, you should have read it more carefully.

Lol, you're right. I read it very quickly and was trigger happy. My apologies. But the rest of my post still stands, without regard to Shade. Sorry Shade.

I got a pretty good kick out of shade's post .haha

I know how you can get over missing Bush. Take a look at your 401K. The numbers don't lie.

Now, if there only was a cure for Brainwashing....

what we have here is simple hypocrisy. The same dickweeds (no pun intended) who complain about someone smoking an "illegal" substance are the same folks who think they have a god given right to carry an AK-47 to McDonald's to pick up their happy meal, the same group that feels that in order to protect the unborn, it's OK to bomb the clinic or murder the doctor, it's the same group of people that will use any argument in their quest to force their "freedoms" (religion) onto other cultures, the same group that is too stupid to see that by letting others use what mother nature placed on this earth without judgement could be a taxable opportunity, but solving problems isn't the goal of these folks, forcing their prejudices and opinions is much more important. ConstitutionThumper is exactly right.

I.E. "The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed " I never saw anyone at McDonalds with an AK47. Glocks and Walther ppk,( in a means provided by law) but no AK47s. by the way To get a real AK47 you need to fill out a transfer form and pay a fee to the ATF and pass a very detailed Criminal Backround check. They do not sell Real AK47s at a gun show. The ones there are Replicas (semi automatic) pull the trigger one time and one round will fire. There is a difference.

shade. GW is likely at his ranch in Texas rolling his fifth blunt of the day.

Sometimes I miss him also. Say what you will about the man, he was always good for a laugh.

I am a hardcore Democrat and a staunch defender of the Constitution. Therefore a life member of the NRA. My fellow Democrats astound me when they willing give up the only Right that allows the preservation (and enforcement- if it comes to it) of all our other Rights.

Kooks and criminals should not be the basis of decisions made pertaining to gun laws. More women need to be trained with weapons. My niece, mom, sister etc. don't need a AK47...with their .22's they can't miss on a headshot. Be careful who you attack dear nut jobs and rapists.

Constitution,

Smoked Cannabis does not cause lung cancer. There is not one documented case! In fact in 2000 Dr. Manuel Guzman of Complutense University in Madrid Spain re-discovered what our ancestors knew thousands of years ago, that THC destroys tumors with no negative side effects whatsoever. His team also irrigated the brains of healthy rats with high doses of THC for seven days and again found no negative effects.

In 2005 Dr. Xia Zhang of the University of Saskatchewan discovered that THC actually promotes the growth of brain cells. The same year researchers at the Scripps Institute reported that THC is a superior inhibitor of the plaque that causes Alzheimers. All these results have since been duplicated around the globe. Cannabis has been shown to treat hundreds of diseases. It is the botanical Messiah.

Anything made from oil, coal, timber, or cotton can be made ecologically friendly with cannabis hemp. Its seed is the single most nutritionally complete food source on Earth.

The ancient Egyptians called it Shemshemet, the Sumerians A.ZAL.LA, the Chinese Ma, the Zoroastrians Haoma, the Persians Shadanaj, the Hindus Bhang, and yes, the Hebrews Kaneh bosm!

Food, fuel, shelter, medicine, pleasure, Spirituality, Unity!

The Tree of Life!!!

I'm one of those nutcases who believes in my right to own an AK-47 TAW57 and I believe in marijuana legalization. What label do you have to put on me so that you don't have to see me as a human being who doesn't do a party line goose step?

And rightman1, I don't know where you're from but where I'm at, Pennsylvania, you see plenty of select fire AK 47s are gun shows. Please don't spread misinformation about what is and is not legal.

Got news for you picguru. Mexican dirtweed is near worthless. It's the smoke of "no choice". The Mexicans today are distributing mostly cocaine, and crystal meth imported from north Korea. Most American smokers prefer hydro, some of which is domestic, the best is from B.C.

As far as two-bit drug dealers, that would be the Pharmaceutical Industry; and the thugs are the DEA.

picguru - I have a question ...

Where do you think all the drug dealers and thugs are going to turn once their all out of business? Cause they sure aren't interested in earning an honest living. That thought might give cause for concern. Don't get me wrong. I am not validating their practice. While I do endorse legalization I do not think it should be across the board for all drugs. I'm just curious. I'd prefer to see.... MUNICIPAL MARIJUANA instead of medicinal marijuana.

I agree. Forcing the states to set up programs that are temporarily funded by the federal government as dictated by the stimulus package only sets these states up for additional financial hardship with the federal dollars run out. States should be able to choose which programs they want to implement. Of course, states' rights are only important when you agree that they should be upheld, right?

(Afghanistan and Iraq come to my mind)???? is that related to 9-11 ?? WTC attack. do you remember that at all? ScubaJason. you might want avoid the nitrogen narcosis. I did not even know that Bin Ladin was a democrat..

Are you one of these FOX News watchers that STILL believes Iraq was behind 9/11??

How about staying on topic..........?

I am conservative and have nothing against the use of pot. I may need a big fat doobie to get through the next 4 years.

You can't grow cigarets and booze in your living room. How are you proposing to tax something like that? Once it's legal it'll be growing in the flower bed at the police station. Why do you think they call it "weed"?

yes agree

Ah, at last a REAL conservative! I applaud you sir. I myself am a democrat, but I suspect we have much in common. More than the dividers would like us to believe. Perhaps you can educate these pretenders, to what your party actually stands for.

Scuba, what in your mind says a conservative can't be pro legalization? I think you have a narrow view of what liberal and coservative really mean. Maybe even to the point that you're not what you think you are.

Not in Texas.

And abused Alcohol!!!!

obama was also a coke head. was is the difference betweeen using cocaine for pain and pot using obama's theory. I'd like to see all the members of congress and the white house drug tested

According to the story, our president puts it in the same category as other pain relievers like morphine. He needs to roll up a nice fat one and then go get that root canal. After that , he would legalize heroin.

How horrible. Those who did that to her will get theirs someday...

I have a daughter who is very, very sick with Crohn's disease.   The disease causes extreme nausea, vomiting and other nasty things.  After losing 40 pounds and becoming too weak to walk around unassisted or drive a car, her Dad talked her into trying marijuana.  It has been a miracle cure for her.  We almost lost our beautiful daughter.  She was literally starving to death.  Please, please people - count your own blessings and pray that YOU will never be sick enough to try ANYTHING to feel better.  But, all that being said, it's a crying shame that we have to worry about her being arrested and criminalized. 

Arizona Grandma, my heart breaks for you. I can't imagine having to go through that with my child. Your beautiful daughter is a perfect example of why medical marijuana should be legal. She obviously is not someone who would have ever used marijuana under normal conditions. But as you said, she reached a point where she would have done ANYTHING to feel better. I'm sure there are prescription drugs that might have helped - but they would be more expensive, less natural, and less effective than marijuana. I'll be praying for your daughter and for you as well.

Hey AZ Grandma, My niece is going thru the same thing with Crohns and dropped out of regular school, was isolated and sinking fast. Finally she was forced to get past the bogus stigma of marijuana. She has regained weight and is working, as well as taking advanced classes at college and home schooling to finalize her high school degree (she wants the degree very much, as she refuses to take any short cuts (ged)). Your grand-daughter should be here in CA, until AZ changes its draconian laws and enforcement.

My niece has her Prescription and now has no fear of being prosecuted for trying to survive while a cure for Crohns is found.

I did all manner of drugs as a teen in the 70's/80's and I wasn't experimenting I was into full blown research, I was blown out all the time. BUT I NEVER EVER wanted my kids to bother with this crap, Marijuana included. However, Marijuana does serve a legitimate purpose, you can see it in the fact people who access to morphin, choose marijuana instead.

Ditto, I Second it! Never thought the Feds would back off----Maybe they FINALLY REALIZE that the only way to cripple the Mexican Drug gangs is to make Pot LEGAL--And let the STATES set their own Policies concerning Drugs.

How ya gonna tax it????

IT"S A WEED!!!!!

14 year old,

you can make alcohol and guess what you get caught doing it you are busted.

Samething could be applied to Pot.

I don't give a damn. I'm going to brew moonshine anyway. Triple distilled, it's ethanol. Let's see the Feds tax that.

It's a WEED!!!! I'm not gonna grow it!! I'm gonna mow it!! Once it becomes legal, it will be everywhere!!! It will be growing in the cracks inthe sidewalks. You won't be able to tax it. It will be like dandelions. You can't put the whole country in jail.It's a WEED!!!

Wow. It must be something else in the world you apparently live in. Get a life.

And what is wrong with Smoking dope, drinking booze, and visiting the corner brothel and every one have a bang up good time as long as it is taxed.

Go to church and they tax you there too isn't for everybody!! ...time TO Change!!

You heard strawberry....lets all get f'cked up and laid !!! I was starting to think you were totally uptight there for a second , strawb.Now I see you love a good time as much as the next person. Hehehehe

You seem to have a weird obsession with Obama.

Correction Mr. Strawberry. It is President Obama. He is not a King. He was elected to that position and he is trying to make things work for this country and all of us. He is not a socialist, just a Democrat. And this country is still a Democracy and will continue to be so. He love America, I love America, and I suppose that You do, too. So let's start acting like it.

It is President* Obama. get it right. it is the SocialistDemocratic Party. didn't they tell you yet? google it. ( So much for Full Disclosure ).

What he said.

And let's drop that pu**y tax idea ,too.

your way out there in the field huh Strawberry

It is NOBODYS business what I want to do with MY OWN BODY. PERIOD.

If you don't like drugs then educate yourself and your children not to take them.

DON"T make decisions for me and the rest of the Country. Time to stop making so many laws we can't follow. NOBODY wants to be trapped in a world of rules and laws that aren't natural.

I do not need my government to tell me what I can and can not do to my own self. I want our government to worry about bigger things than something that has been here longer than we have. Pot is a non violent plant when smoked. To me A LOT of people could use a toke! CHILL OUT

You want true freedom? we aren't even close.

This is a big stride, the dea should concentrate on Crack and meth.

Look what alcohol does???

TALK ABOUT DOUBLE STANDARDS AND HYPOCRICY. TIME FOR AMERICA TO WAKE UP

Holy cow strawberry, it must suck to be you!

you moron look what the h-ll we just went through these past 8 yrs

I thought strawberrys were sweet. You might got a worm in you.

Strawberry fields forever, WOW you took that song very seriously. You and Ozzy have one thing in common except Ozzy came down

Conservativebut, you are an Awesome Republican and a fresh breath of air coming from the Right. I agree with you whold heartedly. also, you are right about the right pushing religion too much. I'm a christian but Hate religion. Marijuana is good and Jesus is cool with it as GOD made it. nuf sad

I love you man! Lets make America great again, together! You and liberal me!

Conservativebut,

You are not the only Republican that thinks as you do......well said Sir.

Glad to hear you support laws written out of racism and greed. Way to go.

Look up Harry Anslinger and do a little research. You clearly have no clue what marijuana even is. Did you grow up in the 30's?

UH,

I live in California. Great State full of Liberals who believes in absolute freedom. Not a bad place to live.

I will tell my grandmother who has cancer and smokes to get an appeitite to keep healthy and to gain weight that people like you call her a stoner.

I laugh at you and so would she

She can do whatever she wants in my book IT"S HER BODY and HER CANCER.

Lets hope you never get cancer because you would be eating your own words.

Huh lets see take a whole bunch of chemical drugs that screw you up more OR smoke a little reefer

what do you think? Time to worry about yourself and stop butting in on someone elses life you have no clue about or any right commenting on.

Tom-861005

Legalize it...No "Medical Marijuana" cards.....No Mess!

Get your State Tax Refund yet?

(sorry ex californian and that place was so screwed up).

Tom,

You need to talk to Arnold and the rest of the state officials. Last I knew they were the ones running the state. Not the stoners. Get a life

California is a train wreck but what a beautiful ride it is. Face it, we're all dead man, what you do in this tiny flicker/glimpse of life is between you and God. Getting high is between you and God, as long as you aren't injuring others to do it. Period.

I live in California. Great State full of Liberals who believes in absolute freedom. Not a bad place to live.

Yeah, as long as you don't believe in the second amendment as a freedom.

Why is it if a woman gets pregnant she can get an abortion and call it a "choice" but if she wants to get paid for sex it is illegal? In todays society, why do we even have vice laws anymore. We are scrambling the definition of marriage. Why not just let everybody do what they damn well please! Hrummmff!

Howard,

It's a good idea, taxing marijuana, however if it is legalized, it won't be going for $5000 because everyone will be growing it in his back yard. (I'm renting a roto-tiller tomorrow) although, there is a good chance that legalization of marijuana in this state would take a big load off of the border patrol agents. The draught will keep the number or illegal farm workers from coming over, since there won't be any crops, but hey, we will all have pot! Yea! Just sayin'

Fazool,

if Pot is legalized you can sure as heck give up any notion of growing it in your backyard.

The pot would be taxed, and then marijuana growing would become just like moonshiners. ATF would Become Alcohol Tobacco Marijuana Firearms.

I would not be against full decriminalization if it meant buying some sensamillia from a store with heavy taxes.

We're trying to legalize marijuana in CA. One of our Assemblymembers just introduced a bill.

It's about time we legalize pot which is less detrimental than alcohol. The only reason it is illegal is a racist one. White men were afraid that black men would have sex with white women. Someone else made such a post on this thread.

I am doing everything possible to get marijuana legalized. It is ridiculous that we spend so much time and MONEY fighting a war on pot.

Demitrix: It will only be taxed if you sell it. Just like alcohol, if it is for your own personal use it is not taxed. As far as renting a rototiller. Be sure that just because it is decriminilized it might still be illegal to cultivate it. I'm not sure, but I would find out specifically before you do that. Definetly wouldn't trust anything you see on threads like this one to do something that might (even if it is only 5% chance) get you arrested if the local police helicopter flies over your house.

Just sayin : - )~

Bobjones92266, you are the prime example of the ignorant conservative mudslingers that prevent progress in this country. You take the well laid-out logic of your opponents, completely disregard it, and respond with nonsensical, vulgar insults. It's your type of person that is the only problem with democracy; the fact that such vile, opinionated, and uninformed people actually have the power to vote. That being said, our nation is seeing radical change and a movement towards something you may not be familiar with, logic. Our newly elected president, the majorities in Congress and the Senate, and I'd like to say the majority of Americans are finally using their brains and reaching out to others to bring about much needed progress in this country and the world-over. I'm am so glad to be alive during a time when your people are a disappearing breed.

Nicka, so if he's against what you're for he's automatically a conservative? Talk about ignorance. I looked over his posts and I've seen nothing to show that he's a conservative. Or are you one of those people who thinks that being racist means being conservative? Take the blinders off. You're missing out on a lot.

I see Nicka is not a tax payer. Oh, sure he's probably paid a few bucks, but lets vote based on 1 vote per thousand you pay in federal taxes and Nicka disappears - along with ObamO.

First of all, We're in Trouble, you have nothing to show that I don't pay taxes. As much as you may not like to believe me, I do. But how in anyway would voting based on taxes paid be democratic? Save for those who illegally evade taxes or know a few loopholes, the nation's top one percent would possess not only 98% of the wealth, but 98% of the votes. Seems like you really care about what our country's principles have been since for, oh say, the past two centuries.