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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe marijuana train has left the station, and it's not turning around
from the Detroit Metro Times:
Higher Ground: The marijuana train has left the station, and it's not turning around
By Larry Gabriel
Marijuana has become pretty normal in America.
That doesn't mean that people aren't still getting dragged off to jail for possession. According to FBI estimates, about 750,000 people were arrested for marijuana-related offenses in 2012. The vast majority of them were for simple possession, and although marijuana use is approximately equal among both groups, young African-Americans and Latinos are arrested at rates much higher than whites.
Those arrest numbers speak to a whole different set of social issues other than marijuana use, and as soon as this marijuana thing gets untangled, it will give law enforcement one less way to ensnare people of color in the legal system.
That said, there's a very interesting CivicScience report out now, based on data over the past two years, that shows 58 percent of Americans support legal marijuana that is regulated and taxed like alcohol. Data from the past three months shows 61 percent support. I'll discuss implications of those numbers later. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/higher-ground-it-wont-be-too-long/Content?oid=2245498
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)Cirque du So-What
(25,932 posts)My weakness was Russian tea biscuits.
Katashi_itto
(10,175 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Cirque du So-What
(25,932 posts)Be forewarned: nobody can eat just one.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)I have the gluten thing.
Cirque du So-What
(25,932 posts)Perhaps you can find a gluten-free recipe...maybe one that uses almond flour.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)wow! I no longer buy them because I sit right down and eat them all.
skamaria
(329 posts)And Maple Nut Goodies Yum!
calimary
(81,238 posts)Glad you're here! I lean toward chocolate, myself. Chocolate pretty-much-anything (except cocoanut). I could drown in a bowl of M&Ms though... (Plain. Not peanut. Unless you start speaking of Reese's...)
BlindTiresias
(1,563 posts)Dried apricots or chana chor garam.
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)Feral Child
(2,086 posts)Proper trend towards legalization.
Thanks for the post.
daleanime
(17,796 posts)Response to marmar (Original post)
Post removed
flt rsk
(92 posts)When Im in a bar, I will tell the bartender that Im on a quest to find a good dry white wine that complements Percocet. When I said this to my family doctor, he said that any wine would pretty much do it. I also told him that I wanted a medical marijuana prescription for my arthritis. When I smoked in college, I didnt have arthritis, now forty years, I do have arthritis. I see a correlation.
ripcord
(5,372 posts)once they discover a test to determine if someone is impaired at the moment rather than the current test that can tell within a couple of weeks.
glowing
(12,233 posts)Most people don't do too much driving if they are truly stoned... They just order out. I bet more biz's will be staying open late and delivering in areas that partake more often... Or someone will come up with an ingenious "order to go" biz where you can place an order for a run thru Taco Bell, the gas station, and McDonald's, and then deliver to the house.
But really, how many people are really going to sit around every night and get stoned? I see it as more of a social habit for adults or medicine for those who have that needs.. It will still be the college aged kids who will still be one of the largest consumers of the item more often. I do admit, it would be nice to have some legally every now and then, I prefer it to alcohol so much more...
ripcord
(5,372 posts)but as a truck driver I do worry about someone pushing 80,000 pounds down the highway stoned. If they want to smoke some over the weekend or the night before as long as they don't overindulge, just like we treat alcohol, I am fine with that.
glowing
(12,233 posts)alert. They are more likely to consume caffeine, cigarettes, red bull, and uppers if they really dare to take anything drug related. There will still be companies out there who will refuse to hire you if you smoke weed; and I would assume it would be those related to driving because there is no barometer on "high", just an ability to detect the drug in the body. I may smoke on Monday and the following Monday still have it show up in my body and I'm stone cold sober... I'm assuming that there will be an adjustment period to introducing a legal drug like MJ to the populace and different business needs. Some people actually function better high.
Niceguy1
(2,467 posts)Train delrailments was caused by an engineer with mj in his system. People will do stupid stuff when it is legal. ..just like alcohol
glowing
(12,233 posts)Last edited Sun Sep 14, 2014, 06:09 PM - Edit history (1)
there's just detectable residue left over. The high doesn't last forever.
On edit: to be clear, I don't do this anymore. This is from experience from college days.
U4ikLefty
(4,012 posts)One (saliva) determines the recent MJ usage whereas the latter (blood) can detect MJ metabolites up to 30 days after consumption...no "high" just traceable metabolites.
Don't think you have the answer, but you drew conclusions w/o being truly informed.
ripcord
(5,372 posts)I have talked to drivers who were driving drunk, at least there is a reliable test to tell if they are drunk. They need a similar test for THC for pot to be legalized nationally.
nolabear
(41,960 posts)By a speed crazed truck driver and I can tell you that mans brain was altered.
ripcord
(5,372 posts)I have seen some stuff on the road you wouldn't believe. Teamsters seem to do better than other drivers but we are way outnumbered.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Initech
(100,068 posts)De-militarize the police. Cease operation of ultra corrupt for profit prisons now! !!
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)And for 2016, look for California, Arizona, Nevada, maybe Maine or Massachusetts.
Who's going to be on the caboose?
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Alaska is a libertarianish outlier. But your fundy states will continue to fight til the bitter end.
eggplant
(3,911 posts)One of these, I would bet:
- Texas
- Arizona
- Ohio
- Florida
Uncle Joe
(58,355 posts)Come on Tennessee, get with the program!
Thanks for the thread, marmar.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Small sample sizes.
Over representation of older voters.
Too much reliance on land lines.
We shall see.
Logical
(22,457 posts)daredtowork
(3,732 posts)once marijuana is fully legalized, I hope this doesn't turn into Big Tobacco redux with people smoking it everywhere.
Even now, with general public sentiment against forcing 2nd hand smoke on non-smokers, people light up the minute they get off a commuter train, forcing everyone on the escalator to choke on their smoke. There has never been an understanding that their freedom to smoke inhibits the right of others to breath clean air.
So while I totally support the legalization of marijuana, I hope people will have the consideration to bake it in brownies.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)I got completely high on second hand marijuana smoke. Actually it was second hand hashish smoke. But still.
daredtowork
(3,732 posts)on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, lol.
But the second hand smoke issue is serious for people who already have health problems.
And this could just become a way for Big Tobacco to make a comeback: the new "cool" thing to smoke in the US.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)I hadn't smelled that much pot in public since I was a kid in the San Francisco area circa 1971. People were smoking outside of our hotel, in a park, at an outdoor concert, etc.
I hate walking through a cloud of cigarette smoke outside and I'm not thrilled with walking through pot smoke clouds either. I still support legalization though.
Cartoonist
(7,316 posts)Something I was just talking about in a current thread. I would have thought the pro-choice train left a long time ago, but there it is again pulling into the station. The government gives, and the government takes away.
sanatanadharma
(3,702 posts)The possibility of Republican control of America still exists.
Should goppers get the government back, we can kiss cannabis legalization goodbye.
Colorado and Washington will be shut down cold. Medical marijuana will be mixed and maligned with sin, sensuality and abortion.
Tax it! Hell no, they hate hippies and taxes equally.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)is that the generations who were unfamiliar with pot are dwindling. The vast majority of people under the age of, say, 70, have likely at least tried pot once and realize that "reefer madness" was a tad overblown. It's hard to whip up the paranoia of previous decades.
jtuck004
(15,882 posts)vote for the rw'er, but I will never mark a ballot for anyone who stands in the way of medical marijuana.
Dumb decision on their part.
Raster
(20,998 posts)This weekend I purchased my first LEGAL weed from a licensed distributor in Washington State, buds of a lovely Sativa, 16.18% THC.