Pot Should Be Legalized

If for any other reason, it is probably the most benign drug out there. Not to mention, it is natural. There are many things in today's culture that is addicting yet readily available over the counter or on the counter. This should be a topic here on DU, because it is another topic that keeps getting smashed in many liberals faces. You'd be surprised as to who smokes pot, and even who does not smoke pot.

For instance, I was accused of being a pot head up until I actually started smoking it. For me, pot was medicinal, in that it eased my anxiety, relieved my depression, and allowed me to focus on my work. Sure... you can abuse the stuff and become a vegetable, but the same measurement of abuse can be applied to even a coffee drinker whose to edgey to work with people around them.

In fact, I do believe that if more people smoked pot, they'd be a bit more open, and we'd have less wars. Sounds too simplistic, but sometimes simple is better than over-articulation (is this a word?).

I googled and sure enough found a site with celebs that smoke. It surprised me and will probably surprise others:

http://frankdiscussion.netfirms.com/who_celebtokers.html

Anyway. I'm sick of the anti-pot mentality, and would like to know how others on this board feel about the usage of pot in society.

Mods: this is NOT flame bait.

I'm writing a paper on the very subject for a class I'm taking this semester. The advantages of regulating hemp/marijuana would have a staggeringly positive effect on our communities.

Where ya studying?

Marijuana is for getting high, hemp is more an industrial product. It has a variety of uses.

Hemp can be used for textiles, paper, can be compressed into building materials like fiberboard, not to mention ethanol. Hemp is also very disease and pest resistant and practically grows anywhere unlike other agricultural biomass solutions.

There is a "conspiracy" theory that Dupont was behind the drive to make marijuana, and thus hemp illegal (even though there is a big difference between industrial hemp and kind bud) so that it could dominate various industries with its petrochemical products.

Which is precisely why it isn't legal now and may never be.

The purposes of the 'War on Drugs' is no more to stop drugs and drug abuse than the 'War on Terrorism' is to stop terrorism.

Quite the contrary. Masters of deception: Sell the masses their slavery under the banner of freedom. Works every time.

for home use grown at home, and/or legally obtainable. I beleive hemp should also be allowed to be grown and harvested for its myriad other uses, such as oil, fiber and biomass to name a few.

If George Washington grew it, why can't we?

much more than the 'street value' it currently has.

Join NORML.

reason that DuPont had this crappy polymer called nylon that it wanted the military to buy, but the hemp products they used were already available, stronger, more durable, and cheaper, of course they had to outlaw it.

Well, well, well... I'm always learning something new here on DU. Got a link for this info?

before the internet. I can look for the citations page, but I'm not too hopeful. Another tidbit from the same research; the first "war on drugs" was begun in 1912, and it has been re-declared by every President since then.

Along these lines, there's a documentary called "Weed" that goes into the history of marijuana prohibition. apparently it was first regulated as a jingoistic way of getting at Mexicans in El Paso.

First the Mexicans and then the Blacks in Harlem.

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes,
Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result
from marijuana use. This marijuana can cause white women to seek sexual relations
with Negroes, entertainers and any others... The primary reason to outlaw marijuana
is its effect on the degenerate races."
---Excerpt from the testimony of Harry J. Anslinger, director at the Federal Bureau
of Narcotics, before the U.S. Senate in 1937.

On a quick google (various sources that I don't necessarily recommend or not recommend....)

The Emperor Wears No Clothes
The Last Days of Legal Cannabis
http://www.jackherer.com/chapter04.html

The Hemp Historian
The Facts
http://www.glenwoodsmith.com/hemphistorian/facts.html

The Marijuana Conspiracy - The Real Reason Hemp is Illegal
by Doug Yurchey, 2005
http://www.illuminati-news.com/marijuana-conspiracy.htm

The Hemp Society
http://www.rso.cornell.edu/hempsociety/why.html

The Hemp Sisters
Timeline of Misinfirmation
http://www.hemp-sisters.com/Information/misinformation.htm

Maybe some day I can smoke you folks up!

During World War II, the U.S. government urged patriotic American farmers to grow...
HEMP FOR VICTORY

Fibers needed to make rope, textiles and other materials were in such short supply during World War II, the U.S. government temporarily re-legalized hemp cultivation so American farmers could grow it for the war effort. Although the government allowed more than 350,000 acres (550 square miles) of hemp to be cultivated during World War II, the U.S. experienced no increase in marijuana use during that period.

http://www.cannabis.com/untoldstory/hemp_3.shtml

reason, to prop up another of the ruling class. They also advocated a ban on silk imports in the 30's so DuPont could force the Air Corps to buy nylon.

They knew hemp's value as an oil and for making alternative fuel.

Funny thing, after pot was banned, the government used the hell out of hemp oil to lubricate engine parts in fighter planes in WWII.

Racism plays a big part. The mexican-dsecent population in the southwest were using it, as were native tribes down there. When it started to spread outside that minority population, it required whites to associate with, spend time with, and (HORROR) become friendly with the mexican and native populations. So, we passed the pot laws to limit association between the races.

There are actually statements in the congressional record that confirm this. It was so blatant that reps and senators used explicit language to that effect on the floor of Congress.
The Professor

"ask your doctor if marijuana is right for you"

With all points but I'd like to emphasize the "you'd be surprised who smokes pot" because people really would! And that's all I'm saying on that count. ;-)

Julie

so it's not as if only Americans are stupid about the "war on drugs."

threatened them if they didn't.

is because of US muscle on those countries. For example, it used to be legal in Belize, before US tourists showed up. Then the US governemnt decided to lean on Belize, and now it's illegal.

for imposing this "Evil Weed" mentality on the rest of the World.

countries make marijuana illegal.

The Single Convention and a pair of associated updates are the legal backbone of the global drug prohibition regime.

There are efforts underway to modify or repeal the conventions aimed at the 2008 meeting in Vienna, but it probably ain't gonna happen this time around.

The United States has been the prime mover on global drug prohibition for the past century.

... is blatantly obvious!

Can you IM me a gram?

My anti-depressant of choice (after being an anti-depressed guinea pig for my local ex-MD)

It puts me in a humorous optimistic mood. If that is reefer madness, then I'm committed.

:sarcasm:

My point is that cigarettes and alcohol are NOT legal, under circumstances (selling booze without a license, selling cigarettes to minors, giving booze to minors, etc) and so, technically, the term "legalized" really means 'decriminalized' because I don't think anyone here believes it should be 'legal' in the sense that celery is legal...

You misunderstood me. I believe in regulation, to a degree. Nothing is black and white.

I was just making a legal / semantic point.

Using the word "legalized", IMO, is politically dangerous.

I prefer "decriminalized" in that on the one side, simple possession by an adult for personal use should carry no penalties, selling should be a licensed affair, (unlicensed) growing should be allowed only for personal use, etc.

On the other side, selling / distribution to children, selling it without a license, etc should remain illegal.

I DO find it offensive, IMO, that there are people in prison right now for simple possession while Rush Limbaugh hasn't even been prosecuted.

And I didn't think you meant exactly what you said. You make a really good point.

In fact pot may be less harmful than alcohol.

The biggest reason pot is illegal is to SUPPORT THE PRISON INDUSTRY. And Hearst's trees versus hemp for newsprint.

anytime you've ever been out in public at a football game or concert -- the people raising hell and fighting -- puking and getting behind the wheel of a car impaired -- are they drinking or smoking pot?

i'm paraphrasing the late great bill hicks, but the point is valid. pot smokers cause no trouble. unless you consider eating all the chips a violent act.

it's fun, it's relaxing, it's a waste of time, and too much of it makes you stupid. If you don't have self control, it can become all you do. If you stop, there are not side-effects other than a desire to start again.

wasting locking people up for this, they will legalize it.
here in chicago, the mayor has tried to get it decriminalized. he is sick of wasting the time and police resources on petty crap. he, for one, has learned a little of the lessons of prohibition.
cui bono, as always, is the question.

There is much money to be made in criminalizing this herb.

Open MMJ user here in Humboldt County, CA. Legalization would be good, IMO, and then regulation and taxation to keep it under control. I suspect the biggest source of institutional inertia preventing this kind of progress is likely the tobacco industry. Also, and this may be surprising to some, many "pot dealers" also oppose legalization because it would create more competition and threaten the ability to grow as they currently do.

Anyone can grow it and they want to make money from it. So they lobby to keep it illegal.

Drug-Free America.

Most outrageously, Purdue Pharma, the manufacturers of Oxycontin, fund a guy named Steven Steiner, whose son ODed on Oxy. Steiner and his group, Dads and Moms Against Drugs, go around the country on Purdue Pharma's dime trying to stop medical marijuana bills. He was in New Mexico last week, where a bill got killed in a House committee after winning support of the governor and passing the Senate.

...having done the research to tool up factories for making legal 'joints', and they just want it regulated so that only they can grow, produce and manufacture joints by law.

Leaving out the weed grower....

More $$$ to the GOP.

I work for a small company. So small we don't have to comply with the DFWA (Drug Free Workplace Act) - however, our workmen's comp insurance carrier told our owners (privately held co.), that we had to have a drug/alcohol policy in place to keep our insurance.

We got a co. wide email in mid-january that this program would be initiated 3/1. Takes about a month or a little more for THC to 'cleanse' out of most peoples systems.

I could tell that the CEO was pissed off about this by the tone of his memo to employees.

The owners of this co. have a history of smacking the cos. that piss them off.

Nonetheless, I'm clean, and will remain so.

I've got kids I have to provide for. So I guess I'll have to pursue 'legal' meds.

I hate the GOP and their vision of government with a passion. They are in danger of me getting up off the couch - and I suspect that many of us 'taters are feeling the same....

Buck Fush! AND Dick Cheney before he dicks you (or shoots you in the face!!!)

as far as anti-depressants and tranquilizers go. Not to mention it's a 'weed' for God's sake and should be free to all who can grow it. Unfortunately, I have a black thumb. LOL

If alcohol is legal, then so should pot, but the beer and alcohol people know damn well that legalizing pot would probably put them out of business or damn well put a nice dent in their wallets.

beer and pot go together like crackers and cheese.

and prescription drugs should be deregulated as well.

Just to be a stickler for details.

Just like everything else. Just legalized...

regulating themselves with recreational activities...

Making it available to even children would not be responsible, unless monitored by a guardian, as in for medicinal usage and not recreational.

profiteering, price fixing, exploitation.

Humans can be trusted. It needs no regulation and no criminalization.

and parents cannot control their children.

JOKING!

Just thought this thread needed at least one "con" post.

Ya got me! :rofl:

They'd have to lay off half the cops in the country if they let people smoke pot in peace.

and industrial hemp would cause a major economic shift, which the Mega-Corps are scared shitless of.

with the prisons,drug tests,educational programs,Govt. seizures,money laundering and other side adventures there is just no way they will allow this to happen.

They fund it then reap the profits its a revolving door.

They could tax the hell out of it the same way they do cigarettes.

Understand your not dealing in the most honest folks in the world.

They are too hooked on the prescription drug/alcohol wagon.
Of course pot should be legal or at least decriminalized.
It's a matter of choice and pot is a safe choice compared to alcohol.

I thought the best chance for legalization was during the Clinton admin. They let it pass.

He actually discussed this on the presidential campaign. He didn't say that he was for legalizing it but said that as a prosecutor he placed possession of marijuana offenses as the lowest possible priority cases which basically meant "don't even bother to prosecute". I imagine that if he had won the election, he might have made some steps in the right direction, however slow they might have been.

growers or sellers that could be used for rehabs for crack addicts or other people with serious addictions.

It pisses me off every time I see a big pot bust and look at all the agents and think of how much money has been pissed down the drain for it.

and most likely in Colorado, too--the petition drive is underway there.

It's already legal to possess up to a quarter pound in your own home in Alaska, where the Supreme Court has interpreted the state constitution to find a "privacy right" to be left alone barring any evidence of substantial social harm. The Republican governor there is desperate to pass a law recriminalizing it, so he can try to get the high court to change its mind.

The folks who run the campaigns--Marijuana Policy Project, Drug Policy Alliance--don't like to use the l-word. Instead of legalization, they prefer "regulate and control."

I don't want the US supporting aerial spraying of plants which can be used to make drugs, either. It destroys nearby crops.

Maybe if the republicans got stoned, they'd see the error of their ways. How a herb that makes you giggle when smoked can be against the law is beyond me....

5 grams "has the lowest possible prosecution urgency" as it stands over here.

With 2/3rds of all speeding tickets going unpaid, that means a recreational user is in the clear...

For good measure, I have to say that a LOT of young (14-18) people over here are using pot, and I'm not so sure this does not take away their drive to make something out of their life. Many seem to get stuck in hanging around stoned.

Also, if you're trying to argument less wars would be started when it was legal, I'd rather advocate everyone needs to have a cat sit on their lap an hour a day :-)

Mods: I wrote this and give myself permission to reprint in its entirety.



Europe: Belgian Socialists Call for Regulated Marijuana Sales 2/16/06

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/423/belgium.shtml

In June 2003, Belgium effectively decriminalized marijuana possession. Under that policy, marijuana remains illegal, but possession of less than three grams is not considered as a prosecutable offense. Now, two-and-a-half years in, a junior partner in the Belgian governing coalition is calling for outright decriminalization of up to five grams, as well as a move toward regulated marijuana sales.

Parti Socialiste leader Elio di Rupo made the proposal to relax the marijuana laws in a Monday press conference announcing the party's comprehensive drug policy proposals, according to a report issued by the European Coalition for a Safe and Effective Drug Policy (ENCOD). The party called for improved drug treatment, better coordination among government agencies, and more coherent sentencing policy. While di Rupo called for intensifying the fight against the illicit drug trade, he also called for a year-long campaign to educate marijuana smokers about the health consequences of the herb to be followed by introduction of the regulated sales and decrim proposal.

Di Rupo urged the Belgian government to do serious research about how to implement a regulated sales regime. The neighboring Netherlands would be a good place to start, he suggested.

The Parti Socialiste, a French-speaking party, is the third largest party in the left-leaning government of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. The Parti Socialiste holds 25 House seats (out of 150) and six Senate seats (out of 40). The Flemish Liberals and Democrats Party holds 25 House seats and seven Senate seats, while the Flemish-speaking Socialist Party -- Different Spirit holds 23 House seats and seven Senate seats.

According to ENCOD's Joep Oomen, the other two coalition parties are unlikely to move on the issue, largely for fear that any move to soften the drug laws would throw votes to hard-line rightist Flemish parties. Both parties released statement in response to di Rupo's remarks saying they felt no need for further cannabis liberalization.

The Antwerp Users' Union, a group of cannabis consumers in the Belgian port city, has its own ideas. In a Saturday meeting, the group announced a plan to develop collective cannabis cultivation that is says would stay within the law and asked the political parties to keep its ideas in mind.

What is really funny (and typical of Belgium) is that you can have some, but no one can sell it.

Go figure :-)

And in Holland, they can sell 5 grams but you cannot export it. You have to use all of it right there.

:banana:

You wrote this? I'm very impressed, have to read this calmly.

Even if we have had coalitions far to the left of the US, we have quite some newspapers who ran the Cartoons, and Plamegate or the DSM or election theft have been notably absent. Sadly, I agree with Duers who say the evil we fight is global...

I work for an organization that wants to end drug prohibition. I figure I won't be working myself out of a job for awhile yet.

First I think a group of individuals should sue the FDA and US Department of Agriculture through the WTO. Our american farmers should be able to produce this for medical and recreational markets that are available. I think that would raise the debate to national attention and would stand a good chance of furthering the battle.
My other idea was just to form a PAC and advertise it on ZigZag etc. get your message to the choir. Hope it helps.
:smoke:

On edit. I would also point out the biblical passage where it says something to the effect that every thing was placed here for us to use. I think it is Genesis 3:15 but could be wrong. That should silence the religious wingnuts.

That's right! We don't need people demanding accountablility from our voters or our politicians. We need them stoned...and nice and paranoid when things go bad.

This is not a complaint against removing the heavy criminalization and imprisonment of people caught smoking a joint. It's anger at the idea that pot, or any drug, is simply a pleasant social activity. It's too easy for that stuff to become a substitute for life. Especially cannibis, which makes people become very, very passive.

Seems to me that a lot of the people who should be fighting, steaming, boiling mad - like most Democratic and many centrist Republican Congressmen - are already smoking too much pot.

So what? None of anyone's business what I smoke.

It doesn't work.

you obviously never saw the Grateful Dead in action.

Yeah, clearly what this planet needs is more folks blind drunk on their own rage and self-righteousness. That'll help.

I used to get high back in the old days . I no longer partake and to be honest pot wasnt a good influence on me and my youth. I became a different person back then, went from good to bad. I cant put all the blame on hoochie but thats when the trouble started.

I fear my children will get involved in this so I dont agree with making them easier to find and buy.

The most important thing in my life are my children. I would do anything to protect them . Drugs are no good . They suck. Get away from them.

it would get harder for kids to get it is was taxed and regulated. and it would be out of the hand of people who sell the drugs that ARE really dangerous. hard drug use has decreased in places where pot is legal.

I smoked a lot of weed (and listened to a lot of Zeppelin). I've tamed up a lot since having a family. I hardly even drink anymore. New Years Eve and maybe once or twice a year when I actually get to go out.

But a few years from now when my kids become teens, I would rather have them smoking pot than drinking. I've done both and I've seen a lot of both, and it is my experience that alcohol leads to far more trouble because it leaves the user far more incapacitated.

and I can tell you that not only are the legal drugs, alcohol and nicotine, far more dangerous than pot ever could be, but also, legalization and regulation will make it HARDER- not easier- for kids to get a hold of pot. It's EASIER for kids to get illegal drugs, in most places, than it is for them to get alcohol, precisely because alcohol is legal yet regulated.

Lots of things in society aren't for children.. yet when folks want to justify telling consenting ADULTS what they can and cannot do with their own bodies, what they can or cannot read, watch, or do in the privacy of their own homes, they invariably drag out "protecting the children" as justification.. So here's a question- say your kids DID have problems with drugs.. would you trust the out-of-control law enforcement apparatus we've created around this issue over the past several decades to handle them properly? Would you prefer that your kids languish in prison for 5, 10, 20 years under some fucked up mandatory minimum sentencing rather than be pot smokers? Wouldn't a preferable approach be to stop blowing $40 Billion a year on a ridiculously wasteful "Drug War" that is aimed primarily at pot smokers, and funnel some of that money into honest addiction education (that includes drugs that can be VERY addictive and dangerous, like alcohol) and treatment on demand?

Obviously you had some kind of problems in your youth around something, and maybe for you smoking pot wasn't a good thing. Me, personally, I can't drink alcohol, not at all- I'm sure it's at least partially genetic, but alcohol nearly killed me. Despite that, I certainly don't think alcohol should be illegal for EVERYONE, and even if I did I understand how that approach was historically doomed to failure, as is our prohibition against pot.

been that it has no "medicinal value".

Now that it's been proven that it DOES have medicinal applications, they outlaw it's medicinal uses and OVERRIDE State laws that do leagalize medicinal usage.

I thought the Repukes supported States Rights. More Repuke and Fundie hypocrisy.

I don't get it. Really.

the popular names for various strains (Panama red, Acapulco gold, etc.) in anticipation of the impending legalization. Any info?

They supposedly had packaging designed and everything. I took it with a grain of salt. One of those stories people like to tell while getting high. Can't find anything on it on snopes.

collective illusion. :rofl:

I don't like smoke of any kind, but I'm not going to keep others from enjoying it.
There are far too many people in prison on marijuana charges. BTW, I also think all
drugs should be legal, but if they only legalize one, marijuana should be it.

:hi:

--IMM

It has to do with a FREE adult making a FREE choice about his/her own mind/body. If it is not up to the adult individual, then the govt. has taken that choice away, making us property of the state. It is the antithesis of freedom.

If its my mind/body involved, and I'm an adult making adult decisions, its not the government's business wtf I do as long as it doesn't endanger the rights/freedoms/safety of others. Pot, other drugs, gambling, prostitution...whatever.

:patriot:

We are NOT the property of the state, or the church, or of "god", or of anyone but OURSELVES.

What's astounding is the mindfuck that they've perpetrated on so many people which has convinced them that that concept isn't glaringly self-evident.

It's true. If we don't control our own physical persons, our own minds, our own bloodstreams, how the fuck can we claim to be "free"?

Let us be the adults we already are.

change in Washington. Make that happen, then this might be able to happen, as it should.

This was a wonder drug for my grandmother when she went through chemo. Years ago it helped me tremendously with pain myself it was the difference to help me gain some weight.

Legalize it, regulate it, tax it.

Most importantly, stop blowing $40 Billion a year of our tax dollars to keep people from smoking it.

So I agree with you.

A complete waste of law enforcement and prison resources.

:smoke:

decriminalization of all drugs...


treat those with addictions for what it is...a physical/emotional/mental/financial addiction.....

Of course, the government still lies about that, and some still buy into the lies, but polls show that a majority of Americans - even Republicans! - see through the bullshit.

come on, it's easy to get weed and other drugs. I was an occasional user in college, but it's not hard to find a dealer. They are at any place you'd find young people.

When you're underage, it's easier to get drugs than alcohol or tobacco.

Marijuana is non toxic. In fact you would kill yourself in the act of consumption itself before you actually ingested enough marijuana for it to be toxic of itself and kill you.

That your analogies are pretty damn weak.

you can't o.d. on pot...how many people(and kids) have died from alcohol poisoning?

and which one should be legal?

It's not the government's business to tell consenting adults what they can or cannot do with their own bodies. Even when it may be bad for their health.

my point is- if alcohol is legal, how can they justify pot being illegal, when alcohol is SO much worse, for both individual people and society as a whole...?

No matter how you look at it; socially, medically, ethically, financially, culturally, chemically - I don't think there's ANY justification for pot remaining illegal --- and for us to continue to spend $40 billion a year on a drug war that is aimed PRIMARILY at pot smokers.

It's completely insane.

What most people don't even realize is that this country owes it's early success to the use of pot/hemp/marijuana/canabis!
"Make the most of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere." - George Washington, 1794



The corporations bottom line even then subverted the will of the people.
http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/stories/2003/12/22/whyIsMarijuanaIllegal.html
or all the earliest posts here> www.nero29341.blogspot.com

This one is my favorite however>http://www.findaproperty.com/story.aspx?storyid=0450= hemp houses

I'll review my life: very comfortably retired, home in the country, great marriage, 2 straight A teen age boys (the older one soon to be going to the U of Cal) and I've been toking up since 1963. Wow, I guess I am just your typical pot head loser after all.
If only our "president" had my integrity and democratic decency.........

And if the people who say that marijuana makes you do absolutely nothing with your live are really nice to me, maybe I'll let them call me Doctor.

Thanks, needed a laugh this morning.

If booze is legal, why not pot? As someone once pointed out to me, you never hear about someone going into a marijuana induced rage.

Two excellent books detailing the history of the war against cannabis:

Smoke and Mirrors by Dan Baum
Drug Crazy by Mike Gray

Also check out the Marijuana Policy Project, I think their website is www.mpp.org; they're an organization that is working to end prohibition.

I strongly believe in decriminalization/legalization.

...but it's at the bottom of my priority list of things that need to be changed. I think it's pretty low on a lot of cops' priority lists, too.

i swear, if i ever got up enough cash to run for the senate, that would be the platform i'd run on

Since long-term planning, organizational skills and hard work are qualities needed to affect change of any consequence, pot doesn't have a chance in Hell of ever being made legal in the United State. These are the very same qualities chronic smoking of weed tends to erode.

The ol' truism still works: If it sounds to good to be true it probably is.

Pot is a drug. Pot has good qualities. Pot has bad qualities. It's fun but has drawbacks, some of which are profoundly negative for some people.

The idea that pot is not addictive is bunk. Many people have smoked daily for years and years and quitting it in these cases is nearly as bad as getting off tobacco or even narcotics. It does cause lethargy and forgetfulness if used regularly over a period of time.

In these conceivably pre-apocolyptic days I can think of more urgent causes to hang my hat on thank you very much.

It has many medicinal uses, as well as the recreational ones. The only reasons it is illegal are because of ignorance and stubbornness.

Why do some people not want others to feel good, especially when they are suffing?

You make other good points as well... :)

Just stop the fricking misinformation about marijuana use for those stupid TV commercials. The just get worse and worse and more and more wrong.

The melting girl anyone? This kid who is getting chased by a junkyard dog because his friends told him too?

Anyone else see the little US Army logo in the corner?...assholes just want more easily controlled recruits to sacrifice.

like gambling does--then maybe a chance.

but of course, the FEDS would have to be convinced also.

The effort to legalize pot will have to be forced on the Fed from the states. For the feds to back off now would be admitting the entire pot prohibition has been based on lies. The biggest reason is of course economics and big business. Multinational banks launder the cash, drug cartels own the planes, bankers and politicians to maintain the Prohibition. There's too much money going into too many highly placed pockets to ever get this reversed without a hell of a fight. Large campaign donors (repuke drug companies) fight every effort to shut off the supplies of raw materials to make meth. But that's another rant.

First step to legalization is make it legal for patients. MJ works incredibly well for patients suffering from nausea, vomiting---may also help those with mental disorders like anxiety.

The only reason I quit smoking it was that I can't risk losing my job/health/dental/eye benefits for my childrens sake. I've fallen back to alcohol as a poor substitue for weed and I'm a worse person for it.

Believe me, I'd love to be allowed to have a couple'a plants out back upon which I could harvest to my hearts content, but then I wouldn't need to patronize pharmceutical companies for all of my ailments, would I? Further, wouldn't need Big Tobacco to satisfy my urge to smoke something either. Wouldn't be prudent to allow folks to have for free what they're so willing to pay big bucks for!

...so why is it that those we elect recoil from this issue as though it were a rattlesnake?

I'd say the joke was on us.

Marijuana like everything else needs taken in moderation. When I was younger I smoked to get stoned out, these days a nice little buzz after a couple of tokes does wonders.
I can put a piece of top in my pipe and smoke on it all day and night, besides improving my mental state, I find new energy, last week I had a little bit of smoke and I stayed busy all week doing the work I should have been doing and putting off.
These days it's more medicinal than anything, I eat, drink lots of water and that's good to keep the impurities flushed out.
Someone is going to wise up someday, run a populist style campaign and get the support of all thew people who can't be bothered.

when they lock up cancer patients for taking their medicine. I would wonder how Americans could support such a thing, but looking at our current political climate, it's no surprise. The "drug war" is a war against people, against civil rights, and against common sense.


www.drcnet.org
www.aclu.org
www.drugpolicyalliance.com
www.mpp.org