General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"If You Still Think Pot Should Be Illegal, You Are an A**hole"
Some will look at the title of this article and think that I'm baiting you into reading why you're actually for cannabis regulation because you're really a decent human being. And while you'd be right, the truth is that I want this to be a real issue for you because I'm not being facetious. You're not a stiflingly overprotective mom if you don't want your kids taking drugs, legal or not. You're not a narc for wanting to keep money out of the black market. You're not a communist for being uneasy about the potential for "Big Marijuana" to join the bankroll of the inebriation lobby. But there are a slew of bellowing ignorant statements that you make when you support cannabis prohibition: That you don't care about injustice; That you mindlessly repeat propaganda so easily debunked it belies the shallowness of either your intelligence or your integrity; That you are so averse to admitting that you were wrong about something regardless of how bigoted, short-sighted, and stupid it makes you look, you don't even care what your stubbornness is saying about you.
For one, if you think cannabis should remain a Schedule I drug, one for which there is no accepted medical use, then you are scientifically illiterate. Not that you have to be a Nobel Laureate to be know what you're talking about, but if you've read enough to know what you're talking about, then you aren't talking about prohibition. If you don't think the earth is younger than civilization, or that vaccinations cause autism, or that chiropractic is real medicine, then you're already doing better than most people. But if you ignore the studies year, after year, after year, after year, finding that responsible cannabis use not only shows no long-term damage to the body, but might even benefit it, you are kidding yourself. There is even quite a bit of evidence that suggests cannabis kills cancer cells. A lot of it. A lot of lot of it. And didn't you hear about that little girl whose severe epilepsy has only ever been alleviated by cannabis oil? Surely you heard about Sanjay Gupta's admission that he was wrong about medicinal pot? Who else has to come clean? A former surgeon general? A three-fourths majority of doctors?
You may think you're looking out for kids, and you wouldn't be totally wrong. There is evidence to suggest that childhood use of cannabis increases the likelihood of psychosis and depression in kids that are predisposed to mental problems. And that would be a fair point if under our current policies cannabis hadn't become essentially ubiquitous across high schools. More than any other demographic, seniors are poised to be the biggest pot users in America should cannabis be legalized. It's law-abiding adults who will begin using pot in greater numbers, and the associated lameness of watching their parents ripping a bong will, if anything, probably decrease teen use.
Still, the whole argument is hypocritical from the get-go. Alcohol isn't too good for kids either, but no one appears to be pushing for a dry country again. If you really want to keep pot out of kids' hands, keep it secure in dispensaries that demand ID and away from cartels and street dealers who just want money and don't care about the customer or the product. When was the last time you heard of a booze or stogie dealer? Why do you think that is? It's because kids don't drive the inebriation market, adults do. And if you're under the impression kids will get their hands on pot anyway (they will), would you prefer it spent 6000 miles strapped to a leaky gas tank or six months meticulously nurtured and pruned by a professional botanist? These are rhetorical questions, of course. I doubt you care if teens smoke pot because you probably did and you came out just fine.
....
more at source
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-michael/if-you-still-think-pot-sh_b_3907678.html
He is right, you know.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)Last edited Wed Sep 18, 2013, 06:01 PM - Edit history (1)
are not only complete idiots, but are enablers of 1% RW Fascist &
Mercenary Class who are using pot to fill up private prisons for free slave-labor.
SammyWinstonJack
(44,130 posts)LuvNewcastle
(16,860 posts)LittleGirl
(8,291 posts)+1
Taverner
(55,476 posts)1 - there's a lot of money in MJ prohibition
2 - they get to seize assets and buy them later at rock bottom prices
3 - they get WOD money form DC
Schema Thing
(10,283 posts)libdem4life
(13,877 posts)selling marijuana was approved by the City Council and opened up in a little strip business center just across from the main entrance and behind the only gas station in the area. It's a huge development with assisted living and independent living but I just chuckled when it opened. They certainly did their marketing and found a "pot mine". Interesting as the Boomers are moving in and some of their elders are getting the message. It is in California so is legal by prescription.
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)I want to see the anti-smoking zealots heads spin around on their necks trying to explain why smoking tobacco is evil but smoking cannabis is just fine.
tazkcmo
(7,303 posts)to enjoy it.
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)tazkcmo
(7,303 posts)I'll leave it other folks to point out why smoking pot is a lot different than smoking cigs.
LeftofObama
(4,243 posts)My smoke is better than your smoke! Yours should be banned and mine should be made legal and widely available.
tazkcmo
(7,303 posts)Never said anything of the sort so stop putting words in my mouth. You're going to burn yourself on my CIGARETTE.
LeftofObama
(4,243 posts)I was just responding to this statement, "I'll leave it other folks to point out why smoking pot is a lot different than smoking cigs."
I believe it is going to come down to an argument about which smoke is better. IMO smoke is smoke.
tazkcmo
(7,303 posts)lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)Conclusion Occasional and low cumulative marijuana use was not associated with adverse effects on pulmonary function.
Exposure to tobacco smoke causes lung damage with clinical consequences that include respiratory symptoms, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer.1- 2 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer are leading causes of death,2- 3 and smoking tobacco cigarettes is the most important preventable cause of death in the United States.4- 5
Marijuana smoke contains many of the same constituents as tobacco smoke,6 but it is unclear whether smoking marijuana causes pulmonary damage similar to that caused by tobacco. Prior studies of marijuana smokers have demonstrated consistent evidence of airway mucosal injury and inflammation7- 9 as well as increased respiratory symptoms such as cough, phlegm production, and wheeze, similar to that seen in tobacco smokers.10- 12 However, analyses of pulmonary function and lung disease have failed to detect clear adverse effects of marijuana use on pulmonary function.10- 13 It is possible that cumulative damage to the lungs from years of marijuana use could be masked by short-term effects; prior analyses have not attempted to disentangle these factors. Smoking marijuana is increasingly common in the United States,14 and understanding whether it causes lasting damage to lung function has important implications for public health messaging and medical use of marijuana.15- 16
LeftofObama
(4,243 posts)Smoke is smoke. You either breath it in or you don't.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)MicaelS
(8,747 posts)LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)I too used to call people who disagreed with me on one position or another "zealots". It was an empty and petulant label of course, but I do recall the visceral and feeling of self-satisfaction calling other people names brought with it. Oh, those simplistic days of third grade... but at least I can smoke now.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Romulox
(25,960 posts)yodermon
(6,143 posts)Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)I can't think of too many things more evil than that.
totodeinhere
(13,059 posts)And I suspect that many who have similar views about pot also realize that while opposing its use it is not reasonable to try to completely prohibit it. So they favor legalizing it even thought they don't approve of using it.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)Just because something is or should be legal, doesn't mean there should be restrictions on how and where it can be used.
totodeinhere
(13,059 posts)either although I favor keeping both legal.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)But it turns out when you burn different things, different stuff comes out in the smoke!
The "smoke" produced by a properly-maintained internal combustion engine with a catalytic converter does not contain any carcinogens. It just contains CO2 and H2O. Sure, it can make enough CO2 to kill you in a confined space, but you won't die of cancer.
It may turn out that massive marijuana smoking will cause cancer. Or it might not.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)d_r
(6,907 posts)that with pot being illegal it is easier for kids to get pot than it is for kids to get alcohol. Alcohol being sold in the store can be regulated. Yeah, you could get a place not carding, or fake ids, or get some guy to buy it for you, but it sold in the open. Outside some dry counties in SE Ky and places like that, there isn't a lot of market for bootleggers of alcohol any more. If you are in SE Ky and you go to the bootleggers house to buy beer, he doesn't card you. He is already breaking the law and he doesn't really care. That's how it is for pot. Everybody is buying it on the qt already. Your dealer isn't going to card you. Teens can buy it the same way anybody else can.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)in places where pot is legal , sales to minors are not legal, same as booze
that's what I mean. I think for people worried about kids getting pot they would be better off it was legal.
DinahMoeHum
(21,812 posts). . .to be grown here in the USA. I'm sure farmers will appreciate that too as another cash crop.
RC
(25,592 posts)There is too much easy money being made by the courts and law enforcement with weed.
But hemp has too many uses and will cut deeply into the profits of many large corporations, from paper, clothing, oil, fuel, Food & Beverages, 'hempcrete', a stronger, lighter, and more environmentally friendly version of concrete. Plastics, insulation and more.
But first, we have to get rid of Citizen"s United.
classof56
(5,376 posts)Call me a cranky old Grandma, but I'm pretty sick of these blanket characterizations based on opinions. Actions, maybe, but opinions? I have less a problem with pot than I have in the past, but the fact is, I've never rolled or smoked a joint in my 70+ years. My choice for my reasons, and that's it. Maybe I think it should be illegal, maybe I don't. If that qualifies me as an A**hole, so be it. Been called worse during my seven decades on this planet, but if that's the best anyone can come up with, perhaps it's time to break out the dictionary. Or better yet, a Thesaurus.
Whatever, I remain...
A Tired Old Cynic
Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)Do I have to list opinions held that would qualify the holder as a massive asshole?
brooklynite
(94,757 posts)...but neither am I particularly concerned about this as an issue, and I suspect most other voters feel the same way. Too many more important issues to deal with.
(nb -never used it)
ForgoTheConsequence
(4,869 posts)Look at the rates of incarceration and how they disproportionately affect minorities. Civil rights and inequality are pretty "important" issues IMO. But what do I know? I'm just a silly leftist hippie.
Response to Kurska (Original post)
BlueJac This message was self-deleted by its author.
beerandjesus
(1,301 posts)He's had to keep cracking down on the medical pot clubs for the last 5 years so that when he drew a "red line" for Syria and appeared to have put himself in a position where he'd have to order missile strikes, Iran and North Korea would get the message that they had better not enrich uranium while he and Kerry masterfully negotiated a peace settlement behind the scenes, because Putin is a meanie and Hitler used gas and if it bothers you, you probably just hate children and love Assad.
Make sense?