Legalize marijuana

[SubGod22]

Beer is a bigger gateway drug than alcohol.

Police are always against it because legalization cuts into their profits and arrest numbers.

Crime increases in some areas because states tax it so high that it's cheaper to buy it on the streets, which is what promotes gang/organized crime activity.

Pretty sure at least one of our valedictorians in HS was a regular smoker of weed. I can speculate that a couple of others at the top of our class were as well.

Marijuana can also help certain mental health conditions and there have been plenty of studies and real life results to prove it. Like most things, it's not for everyone or every situation.

That opinion piece is full of a lot of the same scare tactics that have been used for years.

[WuDrWu]

Beer is a bigger gateway drug than alcohol.

And? What's you're point? Beer is legal. I'm sure because it's legal it's far more available, don't you think?

Also, basically every hard drug user started with weed.

Police are always against it because legalization cuts into their profits and arrest numbers.

This can't be a serious sentence.

Police want safe communities and to go home to their families every ****ing night. Are they all perfect? No. But as a group they're better than everyone else.

Crime increases in some areas because states tax it so high that it's cheaper to buy it on the streets, which is what promotes gang/organized crime activity.

Geez, then it would make sense then that we should just make it free. That should eliminate the gangs and organized crime, if not all crime! SMH

Pretty sure at least one of our valedictorians in HS was a regular smoker of weed. I can speculate that a couple of others at the top of our class were as well.

You're "pretty sure" and you "can speculate". Maybe part of the same studies you cite below? Seriously though, I don't even know what you're trying to prove. That smart high schoolers smoke weed? Seriously? I can speculate 99%+ gang members smoke weed.

Marijuana can also help certain mental health conditions and there have been plenty of studies and real life results to prove it. Like most things, it's not for everyone or every situation.

No. No serious studies. And no real life results prove dick.



You're finally right at the end, it's definitely NOT for everyone. So making it available to everyone is a fantastic idea.


It is without challenge that far too many children smoke weed. Will legalizing it make that better, or worse? WHEN will we finally protect the kids?



Sub, you know I respect you. But you really need to reevaluate your stance here.

[Atxshoxfan]

When I was young, I smoked more than my fair share of pot, especially while serving in the marine corp. I always thought it should be legal back then. But after my wife and I started a family with babies, I began to realize that focus on important matters was not as high as it should have been. Then as the kids got close to school age, I thought, no way do I want my kids smoking pot, so I quit totally.
Today I have several friends and family who smoke pot. Most of them use it responsibly as a stress reliever at night before bed and seem to be living life with normal and high success. But a couple of them never appear to be sober, and their lives are a mess financially and family wise.
I now live in Oklahoma, where medical marijuana is legal, but that is a joke as it only takes a phone appointment with one of the doctors, whose sole practice is issuing marijuana cards for a fee. I've also been in several states where it is legal for recreational use. The dispensaries in those states appear to be hangouts for the homeless and mentally deranged as they accost patrons for free handouts.
So my view is mixed on legalization. If there was a way to see who was going to abuse it and restrict their use, I would be for legalization. But there isn't, so in my opinion it should be illegal.
I have to debate Docs assumption that all hard drug users start with marijuana. I had an engineer friend who never smoked pot and was very slanderous about those who did. He had several knee surgeries on both of his knees over the years. He had so much pain, he was always taking pain meds prescribed by doctors. He eventually became severely addicted, and between the bad knees and the drugs, he became a wheel chair mental wreck. Could no longer hold a job, lost his family and his friends, including me. You just couldn't trust him anymore and definitely didn't want him around your family.

Sorry for the Ramble! But that's what us old retired guys do. Now get off my lawn!

[ShockBand]

If there was a way to see who was going to abuse it and restrict their use, I would be for legalization. But there isn't, so in my opinion it should be illegal.

Based on this line, then alcohol should be illegal, right? And gambling? How about sugary beverages? I do get the argument, but what makes alcohol OK and marijuana not? Just what is currently socially acceptable?

[Shockm]

Beer is a bigger gateway drug than alcohol.

I don't understand the logic of this statement, so you can enlighten me if you want, but Beer is alcohol. Alcohol is considered a drug as is caffeine.

[Atxshoxfan]

Based on this line, then alcohol should be illegal, right? And gambling? How about sugary beverages? I do get the argument, but what makes alcohol OK and marijuana not? Just what is currently socially acceptable?

Alcohol and gambling. Yes they never should have been legalized. Sugary beverage never destroyed anyone's ability to live life normally, so no.

[Atxshoxfan]

Not sure how anyone can equate the addictions of drugs and alcohol with the addictions of sugary drinks and caffeine. There are addictions that take away people's ability to maintain a normal life of supporting themselves and building a functional family, and there are addictions that don't take away those same abilities and don't eat brain cells. Just no comparison.

[ShockBand]

Not sure how anyone can equate the addictions of drugs and alcohol with the addictions of sugary drinks and caffeine. There are addictions that take away people's ability to maintain a normal life of supporting themselves and building a functional family, and there are addictions that take away those same abilities and eat brain cells. Just no comparison.

I wasn't equating because I believe they are equivalent, I was just stretching the argument (perhaps to the ridiculous) as often gets done.

[Atxshoxfan]

I wasn't equating because I believe they are equivalent, I was just stretching the argument (perhaps to the ridiculous) as often gets done.

Everyone has a different line between right and wrong. My lines fall at the level of personal responsibility financially and doing no wrong to others, especially kids. And a kid without a father or mother, normally makes the kid irresponsible as an adult. Family is one of the most important contributes of a society.

[Shockm]

A Bloomberg opinion piece. I'm not sure if it changes opinions, but he does present some facts for his opinion that Marijuana is unsafe. The article is on Page 7A. "A pharmacologist who has studied the effects of marijuana offered a grim assessment of the state of road safety. In Colorado, where he teaches, traffic fatalities rose by 16% after the drug was legalized, according to one study." He also states that government needs to educate people about driving and marijuana use being dangerous to help the public.

Drivers’ access to legal marijuana is making roads deadlier

Marijuana legalization is killing a lot of people. Not slowly – though some studies suggest that it may be doing that, too – but quickly, in car crashes. It’s one more symptom of the disastrous rush by lawmakers to capitalize on cannabis sales without doing the hard work needed to keep the public safe.

In Canada, which legalized recreational marijuana in 2018, one study found a 475% increase in emergency-room visits for cannabis-related crashes in Ontario between 2010 and 2021. Many more cases likely went undetected, owing to a dearth of reliable testing for driving while high.

In the U.S., the proportion of motor-vehicle fatalities involving cannabis use soared to 21.5% in 2018, up from 9% in 2000. One analysis found a 10% increase in vehicular deaths, on average, following legalization by states. In California, the increase was 14%; in Oregon, it was 22%.

This suggests that more than 1,000 Americans could be dying annually because of marijuana-related accidents – and that’s just in states where legalization has occurred. Given the ease of transporting the drug across state lines, the real number could be far higher.

The cause of these deaths isn’t just the drug itself. It’s ignorance. A recent study found that about half of marijuana users thought they were OK to drive 90 minutes after inhaling or ingesting the drug, yet their driving performance in a simulated vehicle was as bad as it had been after 30 minutes. The best available evidence suggests that people should wait a minimum of four hours before getting behind the wheel; some experts recommend eight to 12 hours.

That people don’t know this is the fault of governments, which have rushed headlong into legalization without doing the required research or adopting necessary safeguards. In effect, they’re conducting live experiments on their own citizens. To address this unfolding crisis, voters should hold officials accountable for taking two steps: boosting public awareness and developing better detection technology.

The fight against drinking and driving offers a useful precedent. After widespread government-sponsored campaigns helped stigmatize such conduct, drunk-driving fatalities were cut in half. Stronger enforcement also played a part. For a long time, roadside tests were limited to walking in a straight line and other basic exercises. The advent of Breathalyzers made drinkers think twice before getting behind the wheel.

So far, marijuana users don’t face the same disincentive, partly because the technology for roadside testing isn’t as reliable or widespread as it should be. Governments can help overcome this hurdle by supporting basic scientific research into such tools. Fear of arrest is a powerful public-policy lever – that’s why police departments often announce drunken-driving spot checks in advance – but right now, many drivers are getting high with impunity, and the public is paying a high price.

A pharmacologist who has studied the effects of marijuana offered a grim assessment of the state of road safety. In Colorado, where he teaches, traffic fatalities rose by 16% after the drug was legalized, according to one study.

“When I’m on the road,” he says, “I assume everybody’s stoned.”

Increasingly, that’s a reasonable assumption. Of the many egregious mistakes governments have made in legalizing marijuana – including ignoring the drug’s impact on youth brain development, which could be damaging an entire generation – failing to take road safety seriously is among the worst. Until it’s addressed, many more people will be killed, and their families left to wonder what their elected leaders were smoking.

https://eedition.kansas.com/app/WICHIT/editionguid/d069efbc-8d02-4070-8c38-a7530716daa5

[SubGod22]

Study Links Recreational Cannabis Use to Lower Risk of Cognitive Decline and Dementia-Related Diseases

Cannabis and its derivatives have already been shown to relieve short-term chronic pain, reduce inflammation 30x more robustly than aspirin, improve symptoms of Crohn’s disease, and show some efficacy in killing lung and pancreatic cancer cells, but a recent epidemiological look at cannabis use has linked it to dramatically lower rates of cognitive decline and dementia.

A new study published in the journal Current Alzheimer Research that looked at 4,744 American adults over 45 using self-reporting methods of calculating cognitive decline found those who used cannabis recreationally had a 96% lower chance of developing what they called ‘subjective cognitive decline.’

The researchers looked at all common methods of cannabis use, including smoking, vaping, dabbing, and consuming, as well as the frequency of use, which the scientists behind the study say has never been done before.

“The reason I think this study is so great is we looked at all the different dimensions of cannabis use. The fact that we included all three is a huge contribution to the research because I do not believe such a study has been done before,” Professor Wong told Neuroscience News.

“The main takeaway is that cannabis might be protective for our cognition,” Wong added. “We do not know if non-medical cannabis leads to better cognition or the other way around if those with better cognition are more likely to use non-medical cannabis.”

The study was interesting in that it looked at symptoms or degree of cognitive decline as determined by the patient. This is a common confounding factor in later diagnoses of clinical cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease, but also non-neurodegenerative disorders, including depression, anxiety, failing physical health, and, in some cases, certain personality traits.

[Kung Wu]

There is a mountain of peer reviewed evidence proving the above results are moronic. This was a "self-reported" one year study. I think the authors Chen and Wong are just trying to rip off Cheech and Chong. Can't make this **** up.

[Atxshoxfan]

There is a mountain of peer reviewed evidence proving the above results are moronic. This was a "self-reported" one year study. I think the authors Chen and Wong are just trying to rip off Cheech and Chong. Can't make this **** up.

I think Cheech and Chong did that same study back in the early 70s, didn't they?

[Atxshoxfan]

[Kung Wu]

I think Cheech and Chong did that same study back in the early 70s, didn't they?