| Subject: Re: Summer's over, time to discuss marijuana legalisation |
Author:
Astrid
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Date Posted: 09:51:22 09/19/02 Thu
In reply to:
Siannach
's message, "Re: Summer's over, time to discuss marijuana legalisation" on 13:45:13 09/18/02 Wed
>I would suggest that you just didn't do enough.
No, I had a stone on twice at least--but it wasn't an intoxicated feeling like with booze. Hash gave me a euphoric, floating feeling, so much more of what I expected a "high" to be like, but pot just made me feel stupid and even a little mean (I've never read that as an effect, but a couple of times I felt downright catty while smoking). I don't know why the hash was different, since they're the same chemical...??
And
>are we just talking pot in the leaf form, or does
>legalization of marijuana include other forms like
>THC, oil or hashish? Because the stones you get on
>each of those is very different. Pot itself is a
>pretty light buzz, even on fairly high quality, but
>hash has a very heavy buzz, which I would describe as
>groggy and sleepy.
Oh, so they do give different highs? Interesting. I loved hash (smoked it once only though), hated pot.
Much more so than alcohol.
Well, the one time I smoked hash I was also drinking quite a bit and it was late, so it's possible it did make me tired--I went to bed an hour or so later, so... ;-)
I'm
>not exactly sure of where I stand on the legalization
>debate. I did it and sold it. It was a huge part of
>my life from age 15 to 23. But I'm not sure if I
>think it would be good to legalize it. I do know that
>I'd rather have a bunch of stoned people on the road
>than a bunch of drunk people. But since both would be
>legal, you'd have a much higher percentage of people
>who had used both substances simultaneously, and even
>in much smaller doses, that (excuse my language)fucks
>you up much more than using either on its own.
By this logic we should criminalise booze, then. In relatively small doses it can seriously impair judgment and functioning and also can't be combined with many, many drugs. Let's outlaw booze and legalise pot, how about?
>Granted people on both are out there, but it would be
>a much more widespread problem if it were legal I
>imagine.
Well, the research apparently shows the usage would go down, not up, if it were legalised. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but pot is readily available already, and perhaps the stigma surrounding it keeps it enticing to young people. I suspect that's what the lower age limit was all about, too--kids tend to find anything illicit appealing, so drinking underage is far cooler for most of us than drinking once we're legal. I know I did the bulk of my experimenting when I was underage--I was more likely to have friends over for a board game in college than for a booze-up.
I'd be ok with it if we criminalized alcohol
>consumption and replaced it with legalized marijuana
>though:-).
LOL, I should read before I post, it's save me time.
I think alcohol is definitely worse.
>Societally. But there are things to be concerned
>about with legalized marijuana. Accessibility will
>increase for certain segments of the population (not
>for others of course), marijuana has measurable long
>term effects in terms of motivation and paranoia.
Yeah, but legalising something doesn't mean more people will develop its use habitually. The fact is that addictive people find their drug of choice pretty readily (from gambling to sex to heroin), legal or not.
I'd love it if nicotine cigs were not available for young people, but I know that this isn't the way to get young people to stop smoking. Already people my age (young adults, can I still qualify as such at 30?? ;-) usually shun smoking, which is in contrast to 20-30 years ago.
My opinion is that prohibition is something that needs to be self-regulated and come from within a culture, not imposed externally. It's the way it works best.
>Tolerance also decreases for some people over time and
>it can cause heart conditions and panic disorders in
>people who have been heavy users.
Adults have the right to make informed choices about things that have risks. Driving leads to a much higher rate of death and paralysation, but we allow adults to make an informed choice about transportation.
>
>It would have been nice for me not to have been
>risking my future with a criminal record (what would I
>do when I wanted to volunteer in my kids school now
>had I actually gotten caught?), but I can't really see
>it as overly beneficial in many other ways. Sure it
>would cost our legal system and penal system less
>money. Sure we could charge GST. Sure it would stop
>us form facing national disgrace at international
>snowboarding events, but I don't know if there is any
>other real clear cut advantage to legalisation. I
>know I don't want my 16 year old purchasing it
>legally. If it was illegal, certain kids won't touch
>it. Others don't care. But even if just for the kids
>that it would make a difference to, I think it might
>be worth not legalising. However, I am fully in
>favour of legalisation for terminally ill patients who
>use it for pain relief. Recreationally, I don't think
>so.
I think there are many compelling reasons to decriminalise pot. The societal and financial cost of keeping it illegal is HUGE. Imagine that you HAD gotten caught buying or selling it. You'd never be allowed to enter the US for starters, so no Disneyland for your kids. You'd have to declare your record on your job applications, and while many people would look the other way, perhaps as a teacher that would really hurt your opportunities. Your entire life right now could be different because of a pretty minor mistake.
The biggest reason IMO for legalising or decriminalising it is because its now a major part of organised crime, and I think we need to work hard to dismantle that underworld as much as we can--the costs of that world's existence are onerous.
>
>Whether it would anger the US, I have no idea. I
>never even considered that before to tell the truth.
>In Alberta, we don't talk about legalisation as much
>as it might be talked about in BC. I rather suspect
>that it might look like a bigger possibilty to people
>there than it does to people in other parts of the
>country.
LOL, I imagine so. For a couple of reasons, though.
Astrid
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