Legalizing Marijuana

[Guest]

My question was asked in earnest.

Here you go...

I don't care if pot is legalized. I don't. But listening to serious people talk about it like it's an honest, long-term solution for state revenue generation; well...they need to start buying more lotto tickets, if that's the case.

http://cougaruteforum.com/showpost.php?p=268596&postcount=38

[woot]

Here you go...



http://cougaruteforum.com/showpost.p...6&postcount=38

This answer is disingenuous. To quote myself in HFN's sig, you're not responding to anything that anyone actually said. There is no doubt it would help the budget, and there are a lot of other reasons to legalize it. Even if it doesn't equal the economic salvation of mankind, why shouldn't it be legal, particularly if you don't care?

[Guest]

This answer is disingenuous. To quote myself in HFN's sig, you're not responding to anything that anyone actually said. There is no doubt it would help the budget, and there are a lot of other reasons to legalize it. Even if it doesn't equal the economic salvation of mankind, why shouldn't it be legal, particularly if you don't care?

You are incorrect. It is genuine; I don't really care if people smoke pot or if they grow their own or buy it at a club. Whatever.

Its legalization will not be a cure all for budget gaps, or anything close to it, and it will not reduce prison populations, as is constantly touted by proponents of legalization. That's all I've posted. And thems are facts.

[woot]

You are incorrect. It is genuine; I don't really care if people smoke pot or if they grow their own or buy it at a club. Whatever.

Its legalization will not be a cure all for budget gaps, or anything close to it, and it will not reduce prison populations, as is constantly touted by proponents of legalization. That's all I've posted. And thems are facts.

How can it not reduce prison populations? How can it not reduce drug enforcement expenditure (or at least put all that money into keeping drugs that are actually dangerous at bay, not that it will do any good)? Since, again, nobody thinks it's a cure all, how can it not help to fill budget gaps? Are you sure you don't care whether it's legalized?

[statman]

This answer is disingenuous. To quote myself in HFN's sig, you're not responding to anything that anyone actually said. There is no doubt it would help the budget, and there are a lot of other reasons to legalize it. Even if it doesn't equal the economic salvation of mankind, why shouldn't it be legal, particularly if you don't care?

What really gets me is that right now, it's not even legal to STUDY the effects of marijuana in a real clinical setting. Over the last fifty years, the permits to do so can be counted on one hand. The US Congress is such a bunch of idiots...

[Guest]

How can it not reduce prison populations? How can it not reduce drug enforcement expenditure (or at least put all that money into keeping drugs that are actually dangerous at bay, not that it will do any good)? Since, again, nobody thinks it's a cure all, how can it not help to fill budget gaps? Are you sure you don't care whether it's legalized?

Yes. It's simple. I have a fairly libertarian point of view on pot.

If you look at my posts in this thread, they are noting corrections on common, but often unsubstantiated, claims from those who support legalization, i.e. prison population reduction, etc. That's it. I don't argue pot should be criminalized.

As I noted earlier no one is in prison for pot possession, growing for it personal use, or even first-time sellers. The only people in prison for pot charges are those dealing in tonnage or at least hundreds of pounds.

[The_Tick]

I just like the two teenagers in town that got 25 to life.

See...they were just hanging out smoking some marijuana. Then...like...they decided that they wanted to see what it would be like to break into a house. (No previous run ins with the law)

So...like...they break into the house because no one is home. But...like...there are two 75 year old people in bed sleeping. So...like....they take a baseball bat and beat both of them to death. Like...their family couldn't even recognize them.

And why did this happen?

They smoked weed, decided to break into a house to get some money. Guess why....because they wanted to buy more weed.

So they killed two old people for 600.00. Then they bought 600 worth of pot.

3 weeks later they realized that they did something very very bad. So they turned themselves in.

They wished they had never smoked pot.

You are right though...doesn't hurt anyone. Even recreational smoking.

[woot]

Yes. It's simple. I have a fairly libertarian point of view on pot.

If you look at my posts in this thread, they are noting corrections on common, but often unsubstantiated, claims from those who support legalization, i.e. prison population reduction, etc. That's it. I don't argue pot should be criminalized.

As I noted earlier no one is in prison for pot possession, growing for it personal use, or even first-time sellers. The only people in prison for pot charges are those dealing in tonnage or at least hundreds of pounds.

You're exaggerating, though. There are a great number of dealers in prison who delt in pounds. Perhaps not ounces as much, although there are clearly some of those as well. Either way, you're wrong when you say "no". Regardless, there is no denying that the government spends a great deal of money on trying to keep marijuana out. This money is wasted. You're also ignoring the wasted tax revenue. It seems that since it won't fix all our problems, it must not able to help with any of them. This is nonsense.

I just like the two teenagers in town that got 25 to life....

I sure hope you don't consider this a valid argument, or else we'd better start banning a huge amount of stuff that kids steal or kill to get, including basketball shoes and video game systems.

[The_Tick]

I sure hope you don't consider this a valid argument, or else we'd better start banning a huge amount of stuff that kids steal or kill to get, including basketball shoes and video game systems.

I don't agree with legalizing it. And I do use they above link as part of the reason why.

These kids had no record whatsoever. They got stoned and killed 2 people.

I know stuff happens all the time, I just don't like it when folks say:

1. It is an innocent drug.
2. It doesn't hurt anyone.
3. It isn't addicting.

I am fat. I am addicted to food and Diet Dr. Pepper. I have yet to kill for either of them though.

[Tick's wife]

I don't agree with legalizing it. And I do use they above link as part of the reason why.

These kids had no record whatsoever. They got stoned and killed 2 people.

I know stuff happens all the time, I just don't like it when folks say:

1. It is an innocent drug.
2. It doesn't hurt anyone.
3. It isn't addicting.

I am fat. I am addicted to food and Diet Dr. Pepper. I have yet to kill for either of them though.

well, I think it should be lagalized. It could make a lot of people happy, happy, joy, joy.

[Guest]

You're exaggerating, though. There are a great number of dealers in prison who delt in pounds. Perhaps not ounces as much, although there are clearly some of those as well.

I read the federal stats a few years ago and it was < 3% of the national prison population. It's probably less now. Of course it's not zero, but it's not significant.

If you're looking to build an economy and a public income base on "sin" taxes, or even fill large gaps with it, we're in big trouble.

[RobinFinderson]

I just like the two teenagers in town that got 25 to life.

See...they were just hanging out smoking some marijuana. Then...like...they decided that they wanted to see what it would be like to break into a house. (No previous run ins with the law)

So...like...they break into the house because no one is home. But...like...there are two 75 year old people in bed sleeping. So...like....they take a baseball bat and beat both of them to death. Like...their family couldn't even recognize them.

And why did this happen?

They smoked weed, decided to break into a house to get some money. Guess why....because they wanted to buy more weed.

So they killed two old people for 600.00. Then they bought 600 worth of pot.

3 weeks later they realized that they did something very very bad. So they turned themselves in.

They wished they had never smoked pot.

You are right though...doesn't hurt anyone. Even recreational smoking.

This kind of behavior is not symptomatic of pot. The fact that two people were simultaneously willing to go through with this barbaric behavior, indicative of no ill side effect of MJ, means this had to have been cultural/social and not chemical...

... wait, you had to be kidding, right? This sounds too familiar, right down to the "but...like...but..." Did this even really happen, or is this something you saw in a scared straight movie?

[The_Tick]

This kind of behavior is not symptomatic of pot. The fact that two people were simultaneously willing to go through with this barbaric behavior, indicative of no ill side effect of MJ, means this had to have been cultural/social and not chemical...

... wait, you had to be kidding, right? This sounds too familiar, right down to the "but...like...but..." Did this even really happen, or is this something you saw in a scared straight movie?

Not made up

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x113239922/Man-gets-25-years-to-life-in-deaths-of-elderly-couple

[Non Sequitur]

I just like the two teenagers in town that got 25 to life.

See...they were just hanging out smoking some marijuana. Then...like...they decided that they wanted to see what it would be like to break into a house. (No previous run ins with the law)

So...like...they break into the house because no one is home. But...like...there are two 75 year old people in bed sleeping. So...like....they take a baseball bat and beat both of them to death. Like...their family couldn't even recognize them.

And why did this happen?

They smoked weed, decided to break into a house to get some money. Guess why....because they wanted to buy more weed.

So they killed two old people for 600.00. Then they bought 600 worth of pot.

3 weeks later they realized that they did something very very bad. So they turned themselves in.

They wished they had never smoked pot.

You are right though...doesn't hurt anyone. Even recreational smoking.

So, what if the two had been playing a lot of Xbox before they killed the couple and used the stolen money to buy Xbox games, does that mean Xbox should be illegal?

[RobinFinderson]

Not made up

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/loca...elderly-couple

Ok, so it happened. But what you have got to understand is that marijuana does not make people do these kinds of things. Maybe one in a million might have an allergic reaction with antisocial side effects. That there were TWO people who simultaneously had the same murderous intent (though this dude insists he was waiting outside) strongly suggests that this was social/cultural and not a chemical response.