tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post6538790084369191905..comments2024-01-25T01:34:40.908-08:00Comments on Reality Catcher: Let's Tell The Truth About MarijuanaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10359607188655272938noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-36189166969100834992009-04-19T13:02:00.000-07:002009-04-19T13:02:00.000-07:00Jennifer, once again the deleterious effects you m...Jennifer, once again the deleterious effects you mention (illegal crops, huge profits, murder, etc.) are not due to marijuana, and certainly not due to medical marijuana.<br /><br />They are due to the fact that marijuana is still illegal everywhere under federal law -- thus is vastly profitable on the black market.<br /><br />Take away the black market by legalizing across the board, and all this goes away. See alcohol Prohibition. Do we have any Al Capones anymore? NO, because alcohol is legal, and black market profits are non-existent.<br /><br />I happen to live in a place where, like California, marijuana is legal for medical use. California isn't the only state; 13 states have legalized it. And I can assuredly tell you that violence is NOT associated with the legal medical marijuana trade here in Washington.<br /><br />Please know that when I "buy my bag," I know EXACTLY where it was grown. I know EXACTLY who grew it. And I know ASSUREDLY that yes, it is quite healthy indeed, and NO, it has NO connection to criminal gangs, guns, or people getting their feet cut off.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359607188655272938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-67513527239923154212009-04-19T12:41:00.000-07:002009-04-19T12:41:00.000-07:00Oh, and thank you for the link. I'm definitely go...Oh, and thank you for the link. I'm definitely going to check it out. I'd love an alternative to the law enforcement solution which is too extreme IMHO.Jennifer McKenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03613714863799177911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-2365233693089204042009-04-19T12:40:00.000-07:002009-04-19T12:40:00.000-07:00And yet, it IS legal in California and I've seen "...And yet, it IS legal in California and I've seen "Pot related crime" (breaking and entering, murder, robbery, gang activity)increase in my area. Humboldt County. You've heard of Humboldt County, right?<br />It IS like alcohol. Many who drink just...get drunk. Pot impairs. I'm sorry, but I don't buy the "harmless" idea. Which is probably the stumbling block the "Legalize Pot" movement will run into.<br />I totally disagree that legalizing it will reduce the crime associated with it. We legalized "medical marijuana" here. Yet, the people I see getting their cards are people who want to sell in Nevada, a "no tolerance" state.<br />I know that some NEED this drug. But until those who use it recognize that it ISN'T harmless in the hands of an addict, then it will continue to be illegal. <br />Not to mention that the "Lifestyle" of listening to music and eating Doritos only applies to the user, not the grower or the seller. What about them? What is THEIR lifestyle? <br />Illegality is not the only thing responsible for the criminality associated with pot.<br />Perhaps it's because I live where it's grown. I can't camp in many places lest I'm shot for stumbling onto someone's crop. <br />In Mendocino County, where pot is totally legal and accepted, two people were murder and their feet cut off by the Hawaiian mob. They were growing legally, yet they dealing UNREGULATED DEALING. And they got screwed. And they're dead.<br />Sorry. I just don't see pot as "harmless". <br />When you buy your bag, you might think about the community where it was grown. Maybe it's not all that healthy after all.Jennifer McKenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03613714863799177911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-14976936856879484502009-04-19T12:01:00.000-07:002009-04-19T12:01:00.000-07:00Jennifer, one needn't "spread any rainbows" to kno...Jennifer, one needn't "spread any rainbows" to know that the reason for all the money and, as you put it, "the nasty part of pot" is the very ILLEGALITY of the pot trade.<br /><br />It's nothing intrinsic about marijuana. It's something intrinsic about illegality.<br /><br />Legalize marijuana, and the profits (and violence) associated with the pot trade is gone -- overnight.<br /><br />You seem intent on equating marijuana with alcohol. But that's an imperfect analogy, and I believe you are probably aware of that. As much as you emphasize marijuana should be "like alcohol," it simply is not. Spend some time around alcoholics; spend some time around potheads. Notice which group tends to get into fights, wreck cars, etc. Yes, the alcohol group.<br /><br />Another inaccuracy in your post: You aver that "no one is proposing" that controls similar to the ones over alcohol be enacted to regulate marijuana. That is incorrect. In fact, NORML, the Marijuana Policy Project and a number of other marijuana organizations have proposed EXACTLY that:<br /><br />http://www.alternet.org/story/71504/<br /><br />As for "the lifestyle pot encourages" and there being "money involved," once again: That is due to pot's ILLEGALITY, not its effects. The "lifestyle pot encourages" is to listen to music and eat Doritos.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359607188655272938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-46502566396486503642009-04-19T11:37:00.000-07:002009-04-19T11:37:00.000-07:00But it's NOT a separate issue. The growing of pot...But it's NOT a separate issue. The growing of pot is an ugly and very profitable business. <br />The legalization that's been proposed doesn't protect people from the nasty part of pot. What I've seen is this attempt to change pot from a drug to a "harmless" herb. That's not reality either.<br />When both sides treat the drug as a drug, to be approved by the FDA, distributed by qualified physicians and regulated in the open, pot will continue to encourage a criminal and dark lifestyle.<br /> If you're going to do a reality check, take a look at the "pot culture". Some of it is valuable, necessary. Some of it is very violent and very ugly.<br />Let's not spread rainbows over it to hide the consequences. <br />Legality might be the answer, but it has to be legality the way alcohol is legal. <br />No one is proposing that. It seems to be all the way legal (a harmless herb) or all the way illegal (no tolerance).<br />I'm an advocate of making users, growers and distributors pay taxes, be accountable and be out in the open. <br />And the lifestyle pot encourages at the moment IS relevant to our discussion. There's money involved. Money. Right now, it's all illegal money. And believe me, those involved would like to keep it that way.Jennifer McKenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03613714863799177911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-72639469322295838182009-04-18T21:22:00.000-07:002009-04-18T21:22:00.000-07:00Jennifer, what "destruction"?
I'd love to be able...Jennifer, what "destruction"?<br /><br />I'd love to be able to get my (here in Washington, legal, doctor-recommended) medicine from a pharmacy. But I can't do that. The pharmacy can't sell it. That doesn't make marijuana any less legal; it just makes it harder to get.<br /><br />If someone you care about is using meth and carrying guns, then those are separate issues than marijuana. While I'm sorry for your pain in that regard, I don't think it's particularly relevant to the issue of marijuana or its legalization -- which, by the way, already happened here, 11 years ago, for medical uses.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10359607188655272938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-58778286697610886182009-04-18T21:06:00.000-07:002009-04-18T21:06:00.000-07:00Well, I disagree.
As one who has seen the destru...Well, I disagree. <br />As one who has seen the destruction that pot use can do to someone's life, I view it like alcohol. Legalization? Sure. Then tax it, regulate it, make it illegal to smoke it and drive, start slamming people for selling it to minors.<br />I don't have a problem with legalization. But it's a drug. A DRUG. I don't advocate making Vicodin available at drug bars. <br />Regulate it and I'll get behind it.<br />If you want to use it as a "pain killer" then get it from a pharmacy. That's where sick people get their drugs.<br />And if you had weed in your car and got caught with it, that's on YOU. Weed is still illegal. If you had an open container of alcohol, you'd be facing the same charges.<br />I guess until you've seen someone who smokes pot all day, trims when he can, carries a gun for "protection" and start using meth to "stay awake to guard the crop" maybe it all seems like a "fun drug" that's being demonized.<br />I don't think so.Jennifer McKenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03613714863799177911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-84024002881175487342009-04-18T20:59:00.000-07:002009-04-18T20:59:00.000-07:00Well said. Check out this recent article in Japan ...Well said. Check out this recent article in Japan about what is going on over here. Mind you, I didn't have the courage to post it to my blog (instead only a blip on my twitter account, and where I found a link to this blog post): <br /><br />Tokyo Metropolis Mag: Marijuana Underground. Celebrity busts student smokers have Japan’s authorities in a tizz.<br /><br />http://tinyurl.com/cl7c9gWilliam Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14447935744970908817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-54596614582709453132009-03-31T12:20:00.000-07:002009-03-31T12:20:00.000-07:00Well said. I have to agree with Bach- simply brill...Well said. I have to agree with Bach- simply brilliant.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-86729865473180382602009-03-14T07:02:00.000-07:002009-03-14T07:02:00.000-07:00Yikes, that's a sad story and on Christmas eve too...Yikes, that's a sad story and on Christmas eve too. Talk about bad luck... It makes you wonder how the cop felt that night, after work, about the damage he knew he'd done to a young persons life?Reefer Smokehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02031225474202611758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-2953173181029134682009-03-14T07:00:00.000-07:002009-03-14T07:00:00.000-07:00Time To Tell The Truth About Marijuana is a brilli...Time To Tell The Truth About Marijuana is a brilliant piece of writing. This may be single best reason to reform marijuana laws.Reefer Smokehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02031225474202611758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-62724169652248382982009-03-11T17:00:00.000-07:002009-03-11T17:00:00.000-07:00You know, I used to be comfortable operating in th...You know, I used to be comfortable operating in the gray area of weed-law. I thought and to a certain extent still do think that people who get cards for phantom back pain or migraines are fools for not just operating in the gray area. Just smoke it discretely and don't make a big fuss about legalization. <BR/><BR/>I barely use it anyway, so this approach worked fine for me. Now I feel differently.<BR/><BR/>On Christmas Eve I was traveling through a state that has very strict pot laws. I was in a junker car with out of state plates and I am young. A cop pulled me over. He said I was going five miles over the speed limit--I was. He had been following me for miles. He was looking for a reason to stop me.<BR/><BR/>He was a K-9 unit. He asked me if I had drugs, I said no. He asked if he could search the car, I said no. He proceeded to do a walk around on the car with his dog and, apparently, the dog signaled--whatever that means. I think he could have just said the dog signaled even if it hadn't.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, he found a small amount of weed--less than an 8th of an ounce. Now I'm in big trouble. I'm facing a felony charge and loss of my financial aid. <BR/><BR/>I wasn't smoking weed in the car, hadn't smoked at all that day and I am not all dreadlocked or hippied out. <BR/><BR/>So now, even though I was operating very responsibly in the gray area of weed law, I got busted. I no longer feel safe in the gray area. This has forced me to pick a side. I pick legalization.hypohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16163923407854501415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4128011642446827109.post-60730474951482135012009-03-10T21:54:00.000-07:002009-03-10T21:54:00.000-07:00I couldn't agree with you more. One of the biggest...I couldn't agree with you more. One of the biggest obstacles in the way of changing the mindset of the average American regarding Cannabis is for pot smokers to "come out of the closet." It is too easy for politicians to cast us all into stereotypes because we are all trained to hide in our turtle shell for protection. Similar to the gay rights movement, I believe it is important for people who support Marijuana come out of the wood work and bond together to shed previously held stereotypes. That and the combination of new technologies will really allow us to unite this movement under one roof.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06808004955027807812noreply@blogger.com