Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
So, how long do you think it will be before pot is legalized in the US?
I wish you had also
I wish you had also displayed the poll results on a scale, this way we could see how people really think about marijuana. As much I as want marijuana to be legal I only have a legal herb smoke every now and then and I am not binging. If marijuana were legal I don't think it will rise the danger risks in our country so I can't possibly understand why it's not legal already.
Legalization would also be
Legalization would also be the best possible thing to help stop the cartel violence in Northern Mexico. They aren't fighting over nickle bag sales to each other. The fight is over control of the smuggling routes to us.
Though we waited too long, they've diversified into coke crank and people now but the majority of their funds are still from pot.....
I'm sorry, I could not vote
I'm sorry, I could not vote in your Internet poll. There was no 'pie' option.
Whatsamatter?
Got the munchies, p? ;)
Jim Downey
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Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
All Internet polls should
All Internet polls should have an option that says, "your question has no meaning for me," or, "I have no opinion on this topic." My personal favourite is the 'pie' option. A popular one on the JREF forum is the 'planet X' option. A poll that includes an option like one of these is one that recognises the relative bias of all polls, and the fact that the results of Internet polls - indeed, virtually all polls - are pretty much meaningless.
Could help squash the Mexican drug cartels
When I started seeing the recent news regarding the Mexican drug cartels, I began to feel more optimistic that the U.S. might consider legalizing marijuana as a means to weaken these drug cartels. I understand they're into producing a lot more than pot, but it would be one step in weakening their power.
Which brings up the point, why doesn't Mexico just legalize the shit first? In fact, why doesn't ANY country with a weaker economy than ours legalize it? I went to Jamaica last year on vacation, and while they're was plenty of pot going around, I was shocked to hear it wasn't legal. What the hell are they thinking? Everyone in that country is making money off pot except for the government!
US dictates.
Because the US dictates drug policy for pretty much everyone. "Fighting" drugs comes with US military aid & support - failure to do so would result in most nations losing all kinds of benefits from the US, and may even result in being classified as some kind of "terror supporting nation".
Jim Downey
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Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Pot vs. Tobacco Smoking?
Oohh... This sets up a real problem:
I'll just watch the anti-smoking contingent take this on. How will the smoke-free workplaces deal with pot smokers? Second-hand smoke anyone? That'll be entertaining.
"I believe in preaching to the converted; for I have generally found that the converted do not understand their own religion." -G.K. Chesterton
I don't see the problem.
I think you're just stirring up shit, G'Kar. Just because pot might be legalized doesn't mean that it would be allowed in any workplace. How many people do you know drink on the job?
Jim Downey
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Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Smoke-free Workplaces
I wasn't talking about taking a toke on the job. Here in Oregon, no indoor smoking is allowed where anyone works. Even bars and taverns. No one is allowed to have a cigar bar. And the almost rabid response many activists have to even smelling tobacco from across the parking lot in a park, can raise demands too move the smokers even farther away. There are people who want to totally eliminate tobacco use (such as in a private home where kids live) - while wanting the tax revenue to fund the Oregon Health Plan to insure those kids. It seems in our culture (in this blue state), tobacco use makes one a pariah, but pot use is acceptable.
I'd like to see an honest comparison between the health effects - both positive and negative - of tobacco vs. marijuana. Dose for dose. Then make the decision.
"I believe in preaching to the converted; for I have generally found that the converted do not understand their own religion." -G.K. Chesterton
OK, that's a fair point.
I have no idea how such would be handled, though I do know from personal experience that you can easily get high from 'second hand' pot smoke at concerts & parties. I would think that would appropriately put limits on "public" use of pot.
An honest comparison of health effects between pot & tobacco? Well, sure, but first we need to decouple the stigma & regulatory controls that exist with doing research into marijuana - which have been quite significant in this country for decades. From what little knowledge I have of the matter (I'm not up on all of the relevant research that does exist - I'm not a "pot activist") I understand that smoking marijuana causes different physiological effects which make it considerably less damaging to the body than smoking tobacco. Maybe someone else can weigh in here...
Jim Downey
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Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
There are workplaces that regulate off-work smoking
...and no doubt they'll want to stick their noses into marijuana use.
I've always figured that cig for cig, marijuana is as bad as tobacco, but it's a rare toker who would light up twenty times a day.
When I worked in a furniture factory in Johnson City, there were people who toked over lunch hour. Same kind of stupidity as people who drink over lunch hour, since we were working with machines that had sharp pointy whirly things on them.
I am waiting for anyone to try and use the negative aspects of marijuana as an argument against legalization. Surely they are dwarfed by the problems of the drug war. Just recently I have decided to begin using the term "black-market violence" instead of "drug violence".
I voted, but don't really have a clue
The culture wars are heating up and I'm not sure about the extent of my wishful thinking and selection bias. I'd love to think it will be legalized.
The Economist magazine has called for legalization, calling it the "least bad option". When my son heard that, he opined; "a lot of people would start drinking less." Surely that would be a good thing, as long as they don't die of a marijuana overdose..
I mean, surely for all the "war on" attention it gets, marijuana is at least as dangerous as alcohol, right? And people die all the time of alcohol overdose, right? Wonder why in my whole life I've never seen the phrase "marijuana overdose" in the news?
It's been years . . .
It's been years since I came across the stats, but as I recall, the LD50 (lethal dose for 50% of the population) for pot had never been found, or was some absurd amount like one-third of your body weight.
Jim Downey
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Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Not so sure now...
I have a feeling it could be in 3-5 years, though what Obama said the other day really set that back. He sounded like Bush when he referred to "the people on the internet" as if we're not just people (after the question if it would help the economy was the #1 question from the Internet).
legal pot
Decriminalization of pot is a far more likely scenario within the next 5-8 years. Legalizing the stuff isn't likely to happen for another generation if not longer. Heck...the next 2-3 years will be spent just weighing the pros and cons of medical pot. For all of this to happen in 2-3 years is very unlikely and likely a consequence of some euphoric feeling.
Hardly euphoric.
gb, I haven't been drinking, and haven't touched pot in decades. No euphoria from me - in fact, if anything, most people would describe me as a cynical crank.
But I listen to what people are saying, and how they are saying it, in different contexts. I look at the costs associated with our War on (Some) Drugs. And I just think that we're approaching something of a phase-change in thinking in this country. Yeah, it might be a form of 'decriminalization' which is so weak as to be de facto legalization (and I would interpret it as such), but I think we'll see something fairly radical happen within a couple of years.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
I'm just curious.
I'm not asking when you think it *should* be legalized, just when you think it'll actually happen. I wonder because it seems like there's a growing consensus in the nation that the current situation is untenable and even damaging to the country.
I say 2 - 3 years.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
"Pot Bill Could Save $11 Million"
Friend sent me a link:
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Saving money
If decriminalization of posession could save that much in Connecticut, imagine what it could save here in California! Bearing in mind that we are a state in desperate financial straits...