Friday, February 24, 2017

Legalizing Marijuana

Most of us smoked marijuana in high school on the weekends. It was harmless and after we got out of high school we quit. We pretty much used it because high school was sort of a prison and boring as hell.

Alcohol was a different story. I’ve known more than one person who died of alcoholism. Several, actually. The United States did make alcohol illegal at one time and all we got was organized crime and a lot of violence and murder.

When marijuana was make illegal the biggest opponents were doctors because marijuana (“hemp”) has many medicinal properties. It was a pain-killer, a muscle relaxant and increased appetite. And I’m sure many other things. It used to be given to women in labor.

The last time I smoked it was about 15 years ago when I slipped on a wet sidewalk and landed on my hip. I was okay until I tried to go to sleep that night. My hip started aching so bad I couldn’t fall asleep.

I had a friend who still smoked it so I called him and explained my situation. I drove over and we smoked about a pea’s worth. The pain went away and my muscles relaxed enough so when I got back home I was able to fall asleep. The next day I was fine.

I was in enough pain to go to the hospital but all they would have given me is a shot – and that one shot would have cost me $300.

People today whine marijuana is more potent today than in the past. So what? It’s not addictive and it’s not a gateway to anything stronger. To believe otherwise are the delusions of the ignorant.

One time when I was standing in a convenience store the clerk said he’d rather deal with a thousand high people than one drunk. I knew what he meant. I’ve never seen a person violent on marijuana but I’ve seen more than one fight in a bar – they just erupt out of nowhere.

The reason it is so easy to get marijuana in a prison is because the officials know it keeps the prisoners calm. It’s why you can’t get alcohol or cocaine in.

Marijuana is a state’s right issue, not a federal one. It’s none of the federal government’s business.

One good thing that Obama did was ignore federal “law” and let the state’s decide. It’s about the only good thing he did.

Want to wipe out all smuggling of marijuana? Make it completely legal. Smuggling would collapse completely.

Nobody is forcing anyone to use marijuana or booze or heroin or anything else. If it was all legal smuggling would collapse completely.

Funny and tragic how many people die from legal prescriptions – thousands every year. Funny and tragic that murder/suicide is associated with anti-depressants – hundreds of millions of dollars have been paid by manufacturers.

People who still oppose the legalization of it don’t know what they are talking about in the slightest. None of them have even tried it.

12 comments:

Roman Lance said...

A per your reference that marijuana is NOT a gateway drug, I have to agree. I smoked a bit of it in hight school and when Cocaine, 'ludes, etc. were offered I refused them.

However, what did happen was that under the care of "Doctors"later in life I developed a 200mg a month addiction to lorazepam. The pain associated with the rebound effect from that drug is extraordinary. It feels as though your stomach muscles are literally pulling themselves apart.

In point of fact I developed a serious hernia about the size of a softball in my stomach.

Of the two drugs, I think Mary Jane's Happy Weed may have produced better results then Lorazepam, but I'll never know for sure because that option was never even discussed.

Unknown said...

I know a woman with a bad back who's been addicted two or three times. Then the doctor gave her marijuana lollipops - which I had never heard of - and no more addiction.

Anonymous White Male said...

Remember the path alcohol took? Prohibition began in January 1920 when the 18th Amendment went into effect. It was never "illegal" since many medicines required it as a solvent and a doctor could always prescribe alcohol for medicinal purposes. It was also available for religious ceremonies and limited amounts of wine and hard cider were permitted to be made at home. The alcohol content was limited to one half of one percent. The prohibition of selling alcohol in the US ended in 1933. Almost two-thirds of the states adopted some form of local option which enabled residents to vote for or against local Prohibition; therefore, for a time, 38% of Americans still lived in areas with Prohibition. By 1966, however, all states had fully repealed their state-level Prohibition laws.

While alcohol sales were illegal, fortunes were made. The Italian and Jewish Mafia gained enough money to become a force to be reckoned with. The Kennedys and other amoral individuals became unbelievably wealthy. Americans in rural areas were able to live well by making or transporting alcohol. Americans developed more and more contempt for the federal entity that restricted their right to pursue happiness. The same happened with pot. It used to be unregulated. Hemp and its byproducts were extremely useful. Laughable propaganda like Reefer Madness and other establishment disinformation made gullible Americans fear and distrust marijuana. Its illegality made fortunes for groups, countries and individuals. Demonization of marijuana when it was being ubiquitously used and deemed harmless made people, especially the younger ones, view the federal leviathan as their enemy. We have for the last few years seen the legalization of pot in certain areas. Now it is taxed, overpriced and a source of revenue.

As to being a "gateway" drug: There is nothing that indicates marijuana leads to harder drugs. There is, however, a correlation. Why? Because there is tendency among some individuals that use weed to escape reality will use other substances to escape as well at a higher percentage. This is certainly nothing that can be done about this. Weak people are weak people, in spite of what current "drug rehabilitation" programs say.

Tal Hartsfeld said...

Tried it myself a few times (when it was offered me by others---hence, didn't cost me anything).
I was not much impressed by it though. Strong sedative effect, gave me a sore throat, left a nasty aftertaste in my mouth.
Otherwise, quite uneventful as an "experience".
Never had any interest in purchasing or attaining any myself. There are plenty of other things in life I enjoy a lot more, and better things to part with my good money over.

Glen Filthie said...

Ditto here, Tal. I wasn't adversely affected by it - just indifferent. Most of the kids I know did it as a means of rebelling and flipping off 'The Man' and their parents, HAR HAR HAR! I'd take a pint of skunky home brew over pot any day. I agree there is no way to regulate it because any idiot can grow this shit in their basement.

But we need to be honest about it too. Yes, there are all kinds of criminal deaths you can attribute to it - turf wars and deals gone bad go down all the time. One of my buddies in high school was a low level dealer and about 5 years later they found him with his throat cut. You can tell long time regular users too. They're mentally slow and not that bright and if you abuse that shit it WILL catch up with you. It's not a harmless weed and I think we're nuts to throw it out there in front of the kids to get in trouble with. As Tal says, they have way better things to spend their money on too.

I suppose if stupid people want to take their chances with it I have no qualms as long as the abusers are punished the same way drunkards are - and that opens a legal can of worms. The next legal can of worms will open when the crack heads, and other turdies and druggies want their favourite poisons legalized too. Some of those designer drugs are scarey shit - and if I had my way the users and dealers would be put to death.

Go ahead an legalize it. It's not like anyone gives a shit about kids nowadays anyways.

One Fat Oz Guy said...

I'd have to respectfully disagree, as the two people I know with either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder both smoked a lot of it in University.
I heard that it should only be legal for people over 25, when their brains have finished developing.
Both of those aforementioned people have NO family members at all with a history of the illness.
Even if it negatively affects only 1% of the population, it should be limited. I wouldn't wish either condition on anyone.

Average Married Dad said...

I am a white collar family guy and so are most of my friends. One good friend with a history of abuse in his life has had great success in improved life quality from his PTSD and anxiety by vaping marijuana. Me, I vape frequently enough to deal, and drink much less frequently as a result. Not sure why the gov't isn't siezing the tax revenue opportunity that states like CO have discovered. No brainer to legalize it.

Anonymous said...



Vice should not be criminalized (paraphrasing H.L. Mencken I believe).

Anonymous said...

I have some concerns, the relationship to bipolar, schizophrenia, especially as it is genetically modified and becomes more potent. But that said, it is a state's rights issue and I'm not in favor of prohibition. With some dark humor here, we're really all hoping legalized marijuana drives out the Mexican meth and heroin trade.

A.B. Prosper said...

I'm fine with legalizing ditch weed or even sensimilla but modern weed can be 3-8x stronger than the hippie stuff people smoked back in the day

http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000336

By comparison the stuff you smoked was probably 2% THC hitting 4% for strong stuff and maybe 8% for potent hash or senimillia

By comparison modern weed is as strong as the strongest stuff you could get back in the day and can come as much as 24% which is 12x as string

I'm not sure this is remotely safe or anywhere near as harmless as the older drug and I suspect it needs to be regulated for potency though not illegal.

Unknown said...

"I'm fine with legalizing ditch weed or even sensimilla but modern weed can be 3-8x stronger than the hippie stuff people smoked back in the day"

I did mention in the article it is much stronger today than in the past. Why? It's easier smuggle smart amounts of stronger drugs than larger amounts of weaker drugs. The fact is was illegal is why it is now stronger.

I know about the schizophenia too. I know a schizophrenic woman who can't smoke it at all. It doesn't cause it but some with schizophrenia use it to self-medicate, the way some use booze.

little dynamo said...

MJ has some potent palliative properties, particularly against nausea, appetite-loss, some forms of headache, and certain other specific ailments. It is very bad stuff, however, make no mistake, and never should be used by minors. Bad spiritually and psychologically. The Feds currently are running a national ops campaign to link MJ with 'opioids' as a 'gateway drug' which is nonsense . . . it's just vast numbers of politician, Beltway Bandits, and 'medical professionals' with a new coercion rap, this time to take away pain meds from those that need them.


Of course the wealthy, the protected classes, the politicos and etc. have private doctors that prescribe anything they want or need. They don't go have to go to County Health Clinics, ERs, and the shithole VA, like the unprotected. So it's just the latest combination of Hypocrisy hidden under self-serving Commercialism out of the federal government, and its ally, the increasingly predatory and totalitarian 'medical community'. They ALL think they know what's best for YOU, although their own lives are complete trainwrecks.

Same as it ever was.