How do you feel about the change taking place in concern with marijuana laws?

[Reborn_thru_him]

I can't help but notice the buzz in the news lately about the possibility of changes taking place surrounding marijuana-related laws.

In Michigan: http://www.mpp.org/states/michigan/

On November 4, 2008, Michigan's medical marijuana law, Proposal 1, received a resounding 63% of the vote and majority support in each of Michigan's 83 counties. The new law went into effect on December 4, 2008. Since then, seriously ill patients whose doctors recommend medical marijuana no longer have to face criminal convictions for relieving their suffering with marijuana.

In Massachusetts: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/11/question_2_setu.html

Massachusetts voters today approved a ballot initiative to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, making getting caught with less than an ounce of pot punishable by a civil fine of $100. The change in the law means someone found carrying as many as dozens of marijuana cigarettes will no longer be reported to the state’s criminal history board.

In California: http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/...californias-finances?icid=sphere_wpcom_inline

Legalizing marijuana, and taxing it and adding fees for its regulation, could add more than a billion dollars a year into the state's finances, under a bill proposed by a state assemblyman. The bill introduced Monday by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco would regulate marijuana like alcohol. People over 21 years old would be allowed to grow, buy, sell and possess the drug, according to a San Francisco Chronicle story.

http://stopthedrugwar.org/in_the_trenches/2009/feb/27/obama_administration_ends_dea_ra

When I spoke with Barack Obama at a Capitol Hill reception in September 2004 (two months before his election to the U.S. Senate), he said he agreed with me that states should have the right to determine their own medical marijuana policies without federal interference.

That was the beginning of a series of events that culminated two days ago, when Attorney General Eric Holder announced — while standing next to the current DEA administrator — there will be no more DEA raids on medical marijuana establishments in California or elsewhere. This is significant, given that Holder is the "top cop" of the nation and the boss of the DEA!

Simple possession of weed is currently not a criminal offense in Alaska, California, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Nebraska or Maine but simple possession remains a felony offense in Arizona.





So what do you guys think? I am pretty young and the stuff has been around me all of my life, I have often had a difficult time fathoming how such a prevalent thing became illegal in the first place. Maybe I just grew up with a skewed perspective.



On another note, for those of you Christians out there who enjoy a beer or two every now and then (and I know there are plenty of you out there), if pot were to become legal, would you feel okay using it, as long as you did so responsibly as with alcohol?

 

[Belk]

I think it is long overdue. It is less harmful then alcohol and has a great many non psycho active uses that we are blocked from making (but can import for some reason).

 

[FlamingFemme]

I think it is long overdue. It is less harmful then alcohol and has a great many non psycho active uses that we are blocked from making (but can import for some reason).

Agreed.
Marijuana use and growth was legal for 2/3 of this country's history. That it is illegal now is a pretty new thing, and was mostly based upon racist ideas and puritanical values.
That we could pretty much salvage our entire economy makes no difference at all to our lawmakers. That we could make available a medicine that would greatly improve the quality of life for millions of Americans is clearly of no consequence. That we could create thousands upon thousands of jobs is apparently just not worth it.
Where are our priorities?

 

[lawtonfogle]

I think it is making the laws more consistent and rational, considering alcohol and cigars...

 

[Joachim]

It is an issue to be decided by state legislatures, county governments and city councils, not Washington

 

[Miracle Storm]

I am not against it for those whom it is prescribed, only because I am not a doctor and can't make that call.
But I am hoping not to see it on store shelves along with the ciggarettes. Bad for your health and knowing many drug addicts I do believe it is a gateway drug..leading to harder stuff eventually. jmo

 

[TeddyKGB]

I am not much of a fan of illegal marijuana, and I suspect its possible decriminalization will not make me like it any more.

 

[Matthewj1985]

I am not against it for those whom it is prescribed, only because I am not a doctor and can't make that call.
But I am hoping not to see it on store shelves along with the ciggarettes. Bad for your health and knowing many drug addicts I do believe it is a gateway drug..leading to harder stuff eventually. jmo

Do some homework, it is not "bad for your health" if used responsibly by adults, it is actually FAR better for you than either alcohol or tobacco (but not "harmless"). Also even the ONDCP has dropped the "gateway" theory because it is silly. Sure many hard drug users started with pot, but they also all wear shoes and I would be willing to be all started with alcohol. Shoes are not more a "gateway" than pot is. There are also 28 million marijuana users in the US, how come we have not all gone on to harder stuff?

 

[Everlasting33]

Do some homework, it is not "bad for your health" if used responsibly by adults, it is actually FAR better for you than either alcohol or tobacco (but not "harmless"). Also even the ONDCP has dropped the "gateway" theory because it is silly. Sure many hard drug users started with pot, but they also all wear shoes and I would be willing to be all started with alcohol. Shoes are not more a "gateway" than pot is. There are also 28 million marijuana users in the US, how come we have not all gone on to harder stuff?

"Cannabis produces more tar ( up to 50% more) than an equivalent weight of tobacco and is smoked in a way that increases the accumulation of tar.The carcinogen benzopyrene, for example, is 70% more abundant in marijuana than in tobacco smoke. When cannabis tar is applied to the skin of experimental animals, it causes precancerous lesions similar to those caused by tobacco tar.



Special white blood cells in living lung tissue-alveolar macrophages-play a role in removing debris from the lungs. When exposed to smoke from cannabis, these cells are are less able to remove bacteria and other foreign debris.

Smoking only a few marijuana cigarettes a day up to 6 to 8 weeks can significantly impair pulmonary function. Heavy use causes cellular changes and that users have a higher incidence of laryngitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis, cough, dry throat. "

"Drugs and Society" (Hanson, Venturelli, and Fleckenstein)

Hmm...doesn't sound too healthy to me. Since when does putting 421 chemicals in your body healthy?

 

[wanderingone]

I think the amount of money, resources and lives we have wasted and destroyed in the drug "war" is disgusting and it's time for that war to end. Besides sooner or later the world is going to get sick of raising the taxes on tobacco and will need a new "vice" to tax... why not make it pot. Personally I see no need for the farce of medical prescriptions.

 

[wanderingone]

Do some homework, it is not "bad for your health" if used responsibly by adults, it is actually FAR better for you than either alcohol or tobacco (but not "harmless"). Also even the ONDCP has dropped the "gateway" theory because it is silly. Sure many hard drug users started with pot, but they also all wear shoes and I would be willing to be all started with alcohol. Shoes are not more a "gateway" than pot is. There are also 28 million marijuana users in the US, how come we have not all gone on to harder stuff?

While I agree it's not a "gateway" drug, there's no need to claim it's "better" for anyone in order to justify letting pot become legal. There's plenty of issues with ANYTHING one inhales. The reasons to decriminalize pot stand on their own.

 

[Matthewj1985]

"Cannabis produces more tar ( up to 50% more) than an equivalent weight of tobacco and is smoked in a way that increases the accumulation of tar.The carcinogen benzopyrene, for example, is 70% more abundant in marijuana than in tobacco smoke. When cannabis tar is applied to the skin of experimental animals, it causes precancerous lesions similar to those caused by tobacco tar.

That is funny because they can't seem to find A SINGLE case of a marijauna only smoker getting any cancer associated with marijauana smoking. I would really like to see what study they quote but the google link doesn't provide that part of the book. I would like to see it because there have been a host of studies saying that marijaua does not in fact cause cancer.

Also this point becomes moot when the vaporizer is introduced, as the price comes down on them people will start converting over because you get more "bang for your buck". Vaping removes 95% of the carcinigins in marijuana smoke, google that study.

Special white blood cells in living lung tissue-alveolar macrophages-play a role in removing debris from the lungs. When exposed to smoke from cannabis, these cells are are less able to remove bacteria and other foreign debris.

This is only seen in habitual users and the effects are gone within a month of abstinance.

Smoking only a few marijuana cigarettes a day up to 6 to 8 weeks can significantly impair pulmonary function. Heavy use causes cellular changes and that users have a higher incidence of laryngitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis, cough, dry throat. "

Who smokes "a few marijuana cigarettes a day", these are not tobacco. Smoking more than 3 or 4 good ones in one sitting will knock you out cold. Again there are no signs of long term damage for adult marijuana only smokers. Find me a case.

"Drugs and Society" (Hanson, Venturelli, and Fleckenstein)

A textbook for kids....no agenda there.....

Hmm...doesn't sound too healthy to me. Since when does putting 421 chemicals in your body healthy?

You do realize that you are introducing many more chemicals to your body by simply being alive right?

 

[Belk]

"Cannabis produces more tar ( up to 50% more) than an equivalent weight of tobacco and is smoked in a way that increases the accumulation of tar.The carcinogen benzopyrene, for example, is 70% more abundant in marijuana than in tobacco smoke. When cannabis tar is applied to the skin of experimental animals, it causes precancerous lesions similar to those caused by tobacco tar.



Special white blood cells in living lung tissue-alveolar macrophages-play a role in removing debris from the lungs. When exposed to smoke from cannabis, these cells are are less able to remove bacteria and other foreign debris.

Smoking only a few marijuana cigarettes a day up to 6 to 8 weeks can significantly impair pulmonary function. Heavy use causes cellular changes and that users have a higher incidence of laryngitis, pharyngitis, bronchitis, cough, dry throat. "

"Drugs and Society" (Hanson, Venturelli, and Fleckenstein)

Hmm...doesn't sound too healthy to me. Since when does putting 421 chemicals in your body healthy?

It is not healthy by any stretch of the imagination. However I believe what was claimed is that it was not as bad as alcohol or tobacco use.

While it would seem from the information here to be worse then cigarettes you have to take into consideration the rate of consumption. Having a couple hits off a marijuana pipe is not nearly as bad as smoking a pack of cigarettes (Coming from an ex pack a day smoker ).

 

[Matthewj1985]

While I agree it's not a "gateway" drug, there's no need to claim it's "better" for anyone in order to justify letting pot become legal. There's plenty of issues with ANYTHING one inhales. The reasons to decriminalize pot stand on their own.

The reality is that it IS a far safer alternative to alcohol, it was for me and it is for 28 million other people.

 

[Everlasting33]

That is funny because they can't seem to find A SINGLE case of a marijauna only smoker getting any cancer associated with marijauana smoking. I would really like to see what study they quote but the google link doesn't provide that part of the book. I would like to see it because there have been a host of studies saying that marijaua does not in fact cause cancer.

Also this point becomes moot when the vaporizer is introduced, as the price comes down on them people will start converting over because you get more "bang for your buck". Vaping removes 95% of the carcinigins in marijuana smoke, google that study.



This is only seen in habitual users and the effects are gone within a month of abstinance.



Who smokes "a few marijuana cigarettes a day", these are not tobacco. Smoking more than 3 or 4 good ones in one sitting will knock you out cold. Again there are no signs of long term damage for adult marijuana only smokers. Find me a case.



A textbook for kids....no agenda there.....




You do realize that you are introducing many more chemicals to your body by simply being alive right?

The point is to limit chemicals that come into the body. Right now, I cannot choose to stop these chemicals by simply being alive but I can choose to not inhale an additional 421 chemicals that can be harmful to my physical and mental state.

I don't disagree that there haven't been nearly as much damage by marijuana as tobacco and alcohol have had on the human body. But that still doesn't take away from the fact that marijuana is unhealthy for both the physical and mental health of an individual. Putting tar in one's body cannot be healthy.

 

[godanswers]

Pot creates apathy and selfishness. I don't care how healthy it is. I know a lot of people who won't drink alone but they'll stay perpetually stoned all day, morning to night. Legalize it like alcohol and you dope the masses faster than television can. The prince of the power of the air would celebrate if pot-use were more prevalent. Don't believe them when they say it's harmless or safer than alcohol. It's different but more subtle in it's destruction.

But God saves us from our ignorance and rescues us from the current that flows over the edge to destruction. Trust in the LORd with all your heart and lean not onto your own understanding...

 

[Belk]

The point is to limit chemicals that come into the body. Right now, I cannot choose to stop these chemicals by simply being alive but I can choose to not inhale an additional 421 chemicals that can be harmful to my physical and mental state.

I don't disagree that there haven't been nearly as much damage by marijuana as tobacco and alcohol have had on the human body. But that still doesn't take away from the fact that marijuana is unhealthy for both the physical and mental health of an individual. Putting tar in one's body cannot be healthy.

True, however there are other methods of using pot that are not harmful. Eating it or using a vaporizer come to mind.

 

[PsychMJC]

't been nearly as much damage by marijuana as tobacco and alcohol have had on the human body. But that still doesn't take away from the fact that marijuana is unhealthy for both the physical and mental health of an individual. Putting tar in one's body cannot be healthy.

I haven't seen anything that says it is "unhealthy for the mental health" of anyone. Source please.

 

[Everlasting33]

True, however there are other methods of using pot that are not harmful. Eating it or using a vaporizer come to mind.

That's true, although I would assume you are still digesting many of the same chemicals and properties of the plant.

I don't know about you but in my life I want to limit as many addicting things as I can. This goes for drugs, alcohol, pills, food, computer and TV. I strive for idealism and self-actualization and nearly all drugs (certainly illegal drugs) can starve this process and we become reliant on them for peace and a sense of calm.

It isn't just the physical attributes of drugs that I detest but also the psychological dependence that they can create. Sure, not everyone who smokes pot is addicted but why risk it? Why not invest in more healthy and permanent solutions?

 

[Everlasting33]

I haven't seen anything that says it is "unhealthy for the mental health" of anyone. Source please.

http://www.ahealthyme.com/topic/marijuana