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TexasTowelie

(112,132 posts)
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:27 AM Aug 2019

Can Marijuana Legalization Spark Beto O'Rourke's Bid?

Beto O’Rourke has always been a supporter of marijuana legalization. Now that he is seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, marijuana reform could be his campaign’s primary agenda item. The 2020 election cycle is heating up—and so is the marijuana industry.

Beto O’ Rourke takes a bold stance

O’Rourke first took a stand for cannabis in 2009 when he introduced a city council resolution protesting the prohibition of cannabis. O’Rourke believes that if legalized, marijuana would be sold by regulated businesses. In a regulated environment, he believes that cannabis wouldn’t be sold by teenagers on street corners and middle school playgrounds, keeping children safe. In March, he told a rally in Iowa, “We should end the federal prohibition on marijuana.”

O’ Rourke’s policy actions

A Marijuana Moment article noted that during his time in Congress, O’Rourke passed numerous reforms and bills in support of cannabis. He also cosponsored several drug reform bills focusing on federal cannabis and hemp laws.

He believes that regulating cannabis at the national level could also keep a check on black-market profits. O’Rourke has regularly stepped forward to pass bills to provide banking access to state-legal marijuana businesses, particularly the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act of 2017.

Read more: https://articles2.marketrealist.com/2019/08/can-marijuana-legalization-spark-beto-orourkes-bid/

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
46 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Can Marijuana Legalization Spark Beto O'Rourke's Bid? (Original Post) TexasTowelie Aug 2019 OP
Beto certainly needs to get his record and history out to people JI7 Aug 2019 #1
Like this? Sherman A1 Aug 2019 #2
Buttigieg is for legalization as well. LuvNewcastle Aug 2019 #3
No. Because most other candidates also back pot legislation. oldsoftie Aug 2019 #4
No - Already legal DownriverDem Aug 2019 #5
biden does not support legalization and i think it is a huge mistake questionseverything Aug 2019 #34
The assumption here is that people generally support the marketing of pot. I certainly don't. NNadir Aug 2019 #6
Cant say i disagree with any of that statement. oldsoftie Aug 2019 #7
Your language is hyperbolic. theaocp Aug 2019 #10
Of course I dont count people who have a medical issue as "drugging". oldsoftie Aug 2019 #15
If it was obvious, we wouldn't have Schedule I cannabis. n/t theaocp Aug 2019 #27
A reminder than not all marijuana is smoked DesertRat Aug 2019 #20
So you are for Alcohol Prohibition too because Bernardo de La Paz Aug 2019 #33
I have also changed my mind about pot jmbar2 Aug 2019 #8
Prohibition is not the answer. n/t theaocp Aug 2019 #9
Completely agree jmbar2 Aug 2019 #16
Any of a myriad of ingestable methods that do not include smoke. theaocp Aug 2019 #28
I'd wholeheartedly support that! jmbar2 Aug 2019 #37
The tobacco industry is not taking over the marijuana industry. BannonsLiver Aug 2019 #19
+1 hysteria with no facts n/t FreeState Aug 2019 #44
I've been waiting for that other shoe to drop. Hassin Bin Sober Aug 2019 #26
Despite your opinion, marijuana IS good for millions of people, including me. theaocp Aug 2019 #11
Herein is link to a paper published in the scientific journal Nature on critical thinking. NNadir Aug 2019 #13
Drop all the rest of it and let's get to the meat of this: theaocp Aug 2019 #30
you kinda personify the nanny state mentality questionseverything Aug 2019 #35
Thank you for sharing your willingness to offer that phrase... NNadir Aug 2019 #38
That ignores the ENDOgenous cannabinoid synthesis & reception. THC & CBD are not the problem Bernardo de La Paz Aug 2019 #36
Oh FFS what a bunch of reefer madness nonsense BannonsLiver Aug 2019 #18
Oh FFS. Your claim to know what I'm do for a living is impulsive nonsense. I'm a scientist. NNadir Aug 2019 #22
Ds can walk & chew gum at the same time. Bernardo de La Paz Aug 2019 #25
As to your point in the papers you cite, that is NOT the point. Nice straw man. Bernardo de La Paz Aug 2019 #29
Let's see if I can explain this so as to make it possible to understood at a simple level. NNadir Aug 2019 #39
Your words sum your attitude: "This conversation is concluded", ergo a closed mind. . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Aug 2019 #40
Those involved in the multi billion dollar recovery industry are always the least objective. BannonsLiver Aug 2019 #43
Yup, pile his papers of statistical neuro damage beside millions of lives shattered by Prohibition Bernardo de La Paz Aug 2019 #45
How will making marijuana legal somehow make more dangerous drugs more available? cwydro Aug 2019 #24
Milk is gateway to cigs is gateway to pot is gateway to coke is gateway to heroin is gateway to...nt Bernardo de La Paz Aug 2019 #46
"I'm not for making dangerous drugs a source of government revenue" Lordquinton Aug 2019 #32
Beto actually cowrote a book on marijuana legalization and the drug war in 2011 essadaw Aug 2019 #12
+1 dalton99a Aug 2019 #14
He should pull out a joint at the next debate and pass it around. MichMan Aug 2019 #17
Good for Beto BannonsLiver Aug 2019 #21
KR! Cha Aug 2019 #23
I think Beto is fresh out of spark. cwydro Aug 2019 #31
Nope. Hassin Bin Sober Aug 2019 #41
K&R nt NYMinute Aug 2019 #42
 

JI7

(89,247 posts)
1. Beto certainly needs to get his record and history out to people
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:33 AM
Aug 2019

not just where he stands on issues right now but what he has done.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
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LuvNewcastle

(16,844 posts)
3. Buttigieg is for legalization as well.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 07:43 AM
Aug 2019

I think legalization should be part of the Democratic platform.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

oldsoftie

(12,533 posts)
4. No. Because most other candidates also back pot legislation.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 08:19 AM
Aug 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
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DownriverDem

(6,228 posts)
5. No - Already legal
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 08:27 AM
Aug 2019

in many states already. It's legal here in Michigan, so what does he gain?

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
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questionseverything

(9,651 posts)
34. biden does not support legalization and i think it is a huge mistake
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:35 PM
Aug 2019

neither does harris

they only support decriminalizing it which is different

a person can still be fined, and ordered to do drug court

and if a person doesn't complete that correctly they will still go to jail

also the mj places in states where it is legal cant use the banks, so its all cash, which of course is a nightmare waiting to happen


90% of the country want medical mj legalized


60 plus% wants recreational mj legalized


I wish they would poll the people who don't want it legalized and ask,

"how many of you are prepared to spend 30 grand plus per person per year to punish people that use mj?"

because that is the reality of what is happening now

plus

it keeps law enforcement from going after dangerous drug dealers and users(.herion,meth,crack,)


legalizing mj should be part of the democratic platform

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

NNadir

(33,513 posts)
6. The assumption here is that people generally support the marketing of pot. I certainly don't.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 08:37 AM
Aug 2019

Making marijuana as readily available as alcohol or cigarettes will simply make dangerous drugs more available.

Despite what one hears, marijuana is not good for you; and saying that alcohol is legal and it is also not good for you does not make marijuana good, nor does stating that cigarettes are not good for you but are legal.

I'm not in favor of prison for drug users, but I'm not for making dangerous drugs a source of government revenue. It makes us all into drug dealers, profiting from other people's tragedies.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

oldsoftie

(12,533 posts)
7. Cant say i disagree with any of that statement.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 08:53 AM
Aug 2019

Smoking is BAD, regardless of what you're smoking. Drugging yourself is also bad.

If I were to vote in a presidential
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theaocp

(4,236 posts)
10. Your language is hyperbolic.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 09:33 AM
Aug 2019

One person's "drugging" is another's "medicating".

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

oldsoftie

(12,533 posts)
15. Of course I dont count people who have a medical issue as "drugging".
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 10:29 AM
Aug 2019

Its pretty obvious.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
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theaocp

(4,236 posts)
27. If it was obvious, we wouldn't have Schedule I cannabis. n/t
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:05 PM
Aug 2019
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DesertRat

(27,995 posts)
20. A reminder than not all marijuana is smoked
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 02:32 PM
Aug 2019

Many medical marijuana patients, including friends and relatives of mine, use it in different forms. You can ingest it in an edible or liquid form, inhale it in a vaporizing water mist, use oil under your tongue, and in lotions/creams applied to the skin.

If I were to vote in a presidential
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Bernardo de La Paz

(48,999 posts)
33. So you are for Alcohol Prohibition too because
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:33 PM
Aug 2019

... alcohol is a drug and drinking is "drugging".

If you don't think that drinking is drugging then you don't have a rational leg to stand on.

On the other hand, if you do think drinking is drugging then you must logically be for Alcohol Prohibition. Prohibition is equally irrational.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

jmbar2

(4,874 posts)
8. I have also changed my mind about pot
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 09:13 AM
Aug 2019

The tobacco industry is taking over the pot industry and using it as a wedge to weaken anti-smoking efforts. I am a former pot smoker, and always felt it was harmless until moving into a supposedly "nonsmoking" apartment building.

My unit is enveloped multiples times a day by marijuana smoke and vaped substances. Over a year's worth of continuous exposure, I have developed asthma and other health problems when exposed to it. I must leave my own home when the smoke starts up. Management says they can do nothing, I have exhausted every option for finding relief from it. A lot of nights, I end up sleeping in my car to avoid an asthma attack.

If you do a search on "pot smoking infiltrating apartment", you will see people all over the nation are having the same problem, particular parents with asthmatic children. With an acute rental shortage, and penalties for breaking a lease, you are taking a chance to move and try to find another place without the same problem.

What might seem like a harmless indulgence is causing good people to lose their homes. In almost every case I've read, the pot smoker either refuses or cannot quit.

I have become a diehard opponent of marijuana legalization for the harm secondhand marijuana smoke is doing to low income renters, nonsmokers, people with lung disease, asthmatic children and other vulnerable populations.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

theaocp

(4,236 posts)
9. Prohibition is not the answer. n/t
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 09:32 AM
Aug 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

jmbar2

(4,874 posts)
16. Completely agree
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 10:46 AM
Aug 2019

Nobody should go to jail over pot. But people need to be able to live free of secondhand pot smoke, and right now there are no protections for people who cannot tolerate the smoke.

In my experience, pot smokers aggressively violate the rights of others, and get belligerent when asked to stop. It's completely opposite of the "mellow" image we have of pot smokers.

What are your ideas for how pot smokers and nonsmokers can coexist in apartment buildings?

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

theaocp

(4,236 posts)
28. Any of a myriad of ingestable methods that do not include smoke.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:06 PM
Aug 2019

Cheers.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

jmbar2

(4,874 posts)
37. I'd wholeheartedly support that!
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:57 PM
Aug 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

BannonsLiver

(16,370 posts)
19. The tobacco industry is not taking over the marijuana industry.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 02:22 PM
Aug 2019

GMAFB with these tired talking points.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

FreeState

(10,570 posts)
44. +1 hysteria with no facts n/t
Sun Aug 25, 2019, 07:18 PM
Aug 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
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Hassin Bin Sober

(26,325 posts)
26. I've been waiting for that other shoe to drop.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:03 PM
Aug 2019

I’m in and out of buildings all over the city. I’m amazed at how much pot I smell these days. Doesn’t bother me but I’m sure some people don’t like the smell of the fine skunk weed.

I was teasing my buddy the other day about his condo hallway. He’s a big smoker so I thought it was always him. Nope, the people on the second floor been stinking the place up.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

theaocp

(4,236 posts)
11. Despite your opinion, marijuana IS good for millions of people, including me.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 09:36 AM
Aug 2019

It's in production, will continue to be in production, and used. It needs to be regulated and that will be done by criminals or the state. Deal with the squeamishness and realize one is critically better than the other.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

NNadir

(33,513 posts)
13. Herein is link to a paper published in the scientific journal Nature on critical thinking.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 10:18 AM
Aug 2019
Key concepts for making informed choices

It contains the following line:

• Personal experiences or anecdotes alone are an unreliable basis for most claims.


I've looked into marijuana enough to not be impressed by your personal experience. No one my age can be unaware of many personal experiences of the use of marijuana.

For the record my day job is involved in looking into the physiological import exogenous substances, a class of substances to which almost all constituents of marijuana belong. Now, there are many plants which contain substances that are good for some people, the digitalis plant for instance. This does not imply that we should set up digitalis stores for people who wish to decide to medicate themselves.

Your assumption that because you claim that "marijuana is good" for you does not imply that it is good for the bulk of humanity.

I know enough about the topic to believe that marijuana is not good for the bulk of humanity. While I oppose criminal penalties for substance abuse, including heroin and other related substances, I oppose the distribution of more drugs for profit, and whether the government profits or criminals profit makes no difference to me.

The government profits from cigarettes and, for that matter, from booze. That doesn't mean that I think people should drink a lot or smoke a lot to fund government programs.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

theaocp

(4,236 posts)
30. Drop all the rest of it and let's get to the meat of this:
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:12 PM
Aug 2019
While I oppose criminal penalties for substance abuse, including heroin and other related substances, I oppose the distribution of more drugs for profit, and whether the government profits or criminals profit makes no difference to me.


So, it's prohibition for distribution of cannabis? Feel free to offer another solution for a substance that will be used, despite your feelings and research. If you're still at prohibition, you're not being honest. Cheers.
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

questionseverything

(9,651 posts)
35. you kinda personify the nanny state mentality
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:42 PM
Aug 2019

thank goodness you don't get to decide for everyone

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

NNadir

(33,513 posts)
38. Thank you for sharing your willingness to offer that phrase...
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 10:27 PM
Aug 2019

...so much appreciated by the intellectual Lilliputians in the libertarian class.

"Nanny state..."

I personally have no use for libertarians. In general they're overly simplistic puerile assholes. I always say, if one is still reading Ayn Rand novels for intellectual stimulation, after your acne clears up, well, you're not likely to grow up to be useful, in fact, to ever grow up at all.

I certainly am glad that stoners, who can only express passion for the consumption of their drug and little else, while there are so many things worthy of raising passion, so many worthy enterprises, care about little else other than their drug.

This prevents them from expending any time on things which actually matter, because we certainly don't need people who are high making any kinds of decisions, at least important decisions.

Have a nice day tomorrow.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

Bernardo de La Paz

(48,999 posts)
36. That ignores the ENDOgenous cannabinoid synthesis & reception. THC & CBD are not the problem
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:52 PM
Aug 2019

Some of the other stuff in Cannabis might be a problem especially when smoked (not vaped). But note that Jamaica does not appear in the top 25 for lung cancer rates. https://www.wcrf.org/dietandcancer/cancer-trends/lung-cancer-statistics (American Institute for Cancer Research)

But by far the biggest problem is the racial nature of drug laws and the racial nature of incarceration and the whole prison-industrial complex.

JAILING people does not solve any health problems unless you want to make the USA like Saudi Arabia or Orwellian China.




On the other hand, a for profit regulated distribution of drugs increases quality and frees up dollars for treating and preventing the health problems.


Since you like to read scientific papers, here's one from the NIH that will help you on the issue of endogenous versus exogenous.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4789136/

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

BannonsLiver

(16,370 posts)
18. Oh FFS what a bunch of reefer madness nonsense
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 02:21 PM
Aug 2019

Nancy Reagan is calling and wants her talking points back.

On edit, you’re involved in the recovery industry. Say no more.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

NNadir

(33,513 posts)
22. Oh FFS. Your claim to know what I'm do for a living is impulsive nonsense. I'm a scientist.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 02:34 PM
Aug 2019

I am not involved in drug abuse treatment, although I have, in my life time, lived with alcoholics, twice. Both, happily, sought treatment, but I had nothing to do with it.

You're "interested" in what I do for living?

I read the scientific literature every fucking day of my life, OK?

Now, if there's some airhead around here who things their presumed right to get stoned is an important political issue in a time when children are being removed from their children and stuffed in cages, they really should consider sobriety, but I couldn't care less, since such a person is probably beyond moral redemption.

If one were to search using Google Scholar using the search terms (adolescent brain development cannabis) one would find over 37,000 hits in the scientific literature not written by Nancy Reagen.

My experience with stoners who think that pot is an important political issue and, for example children being caged away from their children is not the issue, is that they have never opened a scientific paper in their pathetic and generally unproductive lives.

The first hits among the 37,500


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[PDF] upatras.gr
Cannabis and adolescent brain development
DI Lubman, A Cheetham, M Yücel - Pharmacology & therapeutics, 2015 - Elsevier
Heavy cannabis use has been frequently associated with increased rates of mental illness
and cognitive impairment, particularly amongst adolescent users. However, the
neurobiological processes that underlie these associations are still not well understood. In …
Cited by 140 Related articles All 7 versions
[HTML] nih.gov
Effects of cannabis on the adolescent brain
J Jacobus, SF Tapert - Current pharmaceutical design, 2014 - ingentaconnect.com
… White matter integrity in adolescents with histories of marijuana use and binge drinking … Effects
of alcohol and combined marijuana and alcohol use during adolescence on hippocampal … Verbal
learning and memory in adolescent cannabis users, alcohol users and non-users …
Cited by 119 Related articles All 9 versions
[PDF] usp.br
Adolescent brain maturation, the endogenous cannabinoid system and the neurobiology of cannabis-induced schizophrenia
MG Bossong, RJM Niesink - Progress in neurobiology, 2010 - Elsevier
Cited by 249 Related articles All 9 versions
[PDF] sagepub.com
Substance use and the adolescent brain: a toxic combination?
DI Lubman, M Yücel, WD Hall - Journal of …, 2007 - journals.sagepub.com
… AD, Phan V, Tapert SF (2005) Reduced hippocampal volume among adolescents with alcohol …
97: 478–481 Steinberg L (2005) Cognitive and affective development in adolescence … 74 Tapert
SF, Brown SA (1999) Neuropsychological correlates of adolescent substance abuse …
Cited by 147 Related articles All 12 versions
[PDF] pnas.org
Free from Publisher
Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife
MH Meier, A Caspi, A Ambler… - Proceedings of the …, 2012 - National Acad Sciences
Skip to main content. Submit; About: Editorial Board; PNAS Staff; FAQ; Rights and Permissions;
Site Map. Contact; Journal Club; Subscribe: Subscription Rates; Subscriptions FAQ; Open Access;
Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian. Log in; Log out; My Cart. Main menu …
Cited by 1136 Related articles All 49 versions
[PDF] ingentaconnect.com
Long-term consequences of adolescent cannabis exposure on the development of cognition, brain structure and function: an overview of animal and human research
G Jager, NF Ramsey - Current drug abuse reviews, 2008 - ingentaconnect.com
Over the last decade there has been a steady increase in the prevalence of frequent
cannabis use among teenagers, accompanied by a decrease in age of first use. Evidence
from both animal and human studies suggests that the severity of the effects of cannabis use …
Cited by 114 Related articles All 6 versions
Impact of cannabis use on brain function in adolescents
LK Jacobsen, WE Mencl, M Westerveld… - Annals of the New …, 2004 - Wiley Online Library
… users: a comparison with alcohol-using and non-substance-using adolescents,
Psychopharmacology, 219 … AM Vollebergh and Tom FM ter Bogt, Explaining educational
differences in adolescent substance use … debut: The role of parents and peers, Journal of …
Cited by 132 Related articles All 8 versions
[HTML] oup.com
Adverse effects of cannabis on adolescent brain development: a longitudinal study
J Camchong, KO Lim, S Kumra - Cerebral cortex, 2016 - academic.oup.com
Cannabis is widely perceived as a safe recreational drug and its use is increasing in youth. It
is important to understand the implications of cannabis use during childhood and
adolescence on brain development. This is the first longitudinal study that compared resting …
Cited by 47 Related articles All 7 versions
[HTML] biomedcentral.com
[HTML] A preliminary DTI study showing no brain structural change associated with adolescent cannabis use
LE DeLisi, HC Bertisch… - Harm …, 2006 - harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral …
… Some adolescents who abuse cannabis subsequently develop chronic serious psychiatric
symptoms, such … were observed between subjects who used cannabis during adolescence and
those … evaluation of subjects reporting on their own former adolescent cannabis use, rather …
Cited by 130 Related articles All 20 versions
[HTML] nature.com
[HTML] Long-term effects of cannabis on brain structure
G Battistella, E Fornari, JM Annoni, H Chtioui… - …, 2014 - nature.com
… drug use, can alter the maturational arrangements that normally occur in the adolescent brain
(Hurd et … of the age of first use or with recreational consumption that started during adolescence
(before the … al, 2002) (Pujol et al, 2004) (Hill et al, 2003) and in adolescents with familiar …
Cited by 179 Related articles All 19 versions
If I were to vote in a presidential
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Joe Biden
 

Bernardo de La Paz

(48,999 posts)
25. Ds can walk & chew gum at the same time.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 05:56 PM
Aug 2019

It really is possible to support both legalization and fighting the caging of children.
It is even possible to support both while agreeing that the latter is more important.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
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Bernardo de La Paz

(48,999 posts)
29. As to your point in the papers you cite, that is NOT the point. Nice straw man.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:07 PM
Aug 2019

0) Advocates for legalization readily agree that cannabis is not for developing brains under the age of 18.

1) Realists realize that Prohibition has FAILed to keep pot out of the hands of children.

2) The current laws also FAIL to keep pot out of the hands of adults.

On the other hand, advocates of Continued & Increased Prohibition can point to the terrible demise of Canada as it is foundering in a miasma of Legal Cannabis that is sapping the vital energy of the people, nosediving the economy, with rampant sex in the streets and drugged out zombies breaking into homes just for the thrill of it.

Or not.

Canada had the second highest rate of cannabis consumption before legalization but Canada did not elect tRump or allow him to steal the Electoral College.

If I were to vote in a presidential
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NNadir

(33,513 posts)
39. Let's see if I can explain this so as to make it possible to understood at a simple level.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 11:33 PM
Aug 2019

I did not cite anything.

Citation of a paper means you have read a paper, found concepts in it worthy of additional discussion, either in a positive or negative sense, and are advising a reader of your work of the origins of your discussion. This is a good and ethical practice.

All I did was to produce a list of papers with their abstracts.

Now. I'm an old man. I've lived a long time, and had a broad life with many experiences in many different kinds of groups. No one in my age group is unfamiliar with stoners. I've had, on and off, at least four decades of exposure to them. I do not find it pleasant or rewarding: There is nothing quite as depressing and as boring as being stone cold sober in a room full of people high on anything, but I've been there and done that, usually looking at my watch trying to count the minutes and hopefully not hours that must pass until I can get the Hell out of there.

Let's look at the thread in a linear fashion, although experience teaches that trying to address impaired people with a linear argument is often a futile exercise, particularly when they jump all over the place from absurdity to absurdity.

I was presented with a claim - not one that is in any way worthy of a shred of respect - that if I claimed that marijuana was not good for human beings, I must be in sympathy with Nancy Reagan's withered dead ass.

Once cannot call such an argument "an intellectual leap" since there is clearly nothing intellectual about it, but it is a kind of leap. I could assert that anyone making such a leap "must be high" and most sober people would interpret that I was offering a negative spin on the claim, since the words "must be high" imply something, again, to most clear thinking people

I then did a demonstration that showed that there were tens of thousands of scientific papers that suggested that pot has negative consequences. To do this, I used a tool used by many modern scientists, Google Scholar. I use Google Scholar all the time, sometimes, I'm sure 50 or 60 times in a day. There are other tools for data mining, some quite sophisticated, but Google Scholar is nice, quick and simple.

I randomly chose a few illustrative terms to input to Google Scholar to suggest that there are people called "scientists" who write scientific papers which, from perusal of the abstracts, if not the papers themselves suggest that marijuana is not harmless.

The point was merely to make clear that there are tens of thousands of highly trained people who are not Nancy Reagan who have studied the issue and, from the abstracts, imply that marijuana is a mind altering drug that has physiological effects that translate into be behavioral or perceptual or morphological issues that can be construed as harmful.

To a sober mind, this may suggest that I am not repeating Nancy Reagan airhead slogans but that there is support for my claim that pot is not good for people.

I chose the terms (adolescent brain development cannabis) as a demonstration and showed that there were more than 35,000 hits in the scientific literature on the subject, none of them in the first ten, which I arbitrarily cut and pasted into my post, were authored by Nancy Reagan. I very much doubt that any of the people who wrote these first ten, or many who wrote the other 34,950 were high when they wrote them, or spent their graduate school years putting themselves to bed with a bong full of weed.

My point actually had nothing to do with some airhead claim that legalizing pot will somehow decrease access to it by adolescents, since to anyone thinking clearly, the evidence is clear that restrictions on the age of access to readily available harmful substances, alcohol and tobacco for example, has done nothing at all to decrease the practical access to these harmful drugs.

My objection to pot is not limited to adolescents; I simply object to intellectual impairment except in rare occasions.

I could for instance have chosen broader terms (brain cannabis) and have gotten more than 114,000 hits.

Among the first thirty or so, picked at random, are these:

Regional Brain Abnormalities Associated With Long-term Heavy Cannabis Use Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(6):694-701

Objective To determine whether long-term heavy cannabis use is associated with gross anatomical abnormalities in 2 cannabinoid receptor–rich regions of the brain, the hippocampus and the amygdala.

Design Cross-sectional design using high-resolution (3-T) structural magnetic resonance imaging.

Setting Participants were recruited from the general community and underwent imaging at a hospital research facility.

Participants Fifteen carefully selected long-term (>10 years) and heavy (>5 joints daily) cannabis-using men (mean age, 39.8 years; mean duration of regular use, 19.7 years) with no history of polydrug abuse or neurologic/mental disorder and 16 matched nonusing control subjects (mean age, 36.4 years).


...and...

Long-Term Effects of Cannabis on Brain Structure (Neuropsychopharmacology volume 39, pages 2041–2048 (2014))

...and...

Adolescent brain maturation, the endogenous cannabinoid system and the neurobiology of cannabis-induced schizophrenia (Progress in Neurobiology,
Volume 92, Issue 3, November 2010, Pages 370-385)

...and...


Gross morphological brain changes with chronic, heavy cannabis use (The British Journal of Psychiatry Volume 206, Issue 1 January 2015 , pp. 77-78)

...and so on.

All of these papers, none of which were written by Nancy Reagan, suggest that my original point, that marijuana is not good for you, can find support in the general scientific literature.

Now.

I don't approve of prisons for drug users but that fact does not imply that I want pot stores in my neighborhood or anywhere.

My Governor is trying to legalize pot in New Jersey. I voted for him because he's a Democrat, but did so in spite of his proposal to do so, and not because of it. My legislature is controlled by Democrats, and enough Democrats in this state government voted against the proposal to prevent it from passing, which I think is a good thing.

My entire point in entering this thread was to argue that I personally would not be inclined to vote for Beto O'Rourke because he favors pot legalization, on the contrary, it would make me less likely to vote for him in a Primary. If, by some fluke, he does become the nominee, I will gladly vote for him, just as I voted gladly for Phil Murphy, for their many positive attributes and in spite of what I regard as a negative opinion, that pot should be legalized.

But, again, I really don't value speaking with stoners. There's very little in it for me. All the pixilated screaming resulting from illiterate readings about "Strawmen" is simply appalling. In general, when confronted with this locution, "Strawman" I immediately have an unfortunate view of the intellect of the person making it.

I'm sorry that I entered this thread at all, since there are many, many, many, many things far more important than the consumer bullshit about pot, but pot advocates, again, have such twisted passions about their consumer drug that they actually think it matters in a political struggle against an ignorant racist pig Nazi.

For the record, I grew up in the generation of sex, drugs and rock and roll, and I abhor the criminal results of my generation's legacy after which all generations that follow will need to clean up. My generation was selfish, consumptive, and contemptuous of basic human values. We could have, should have, done better. We should have done what my parents generation did, and struggled mightily, at great risk, to make a better world. Maybe if we were a little more sober, we might have found some shred of decency but we didn't. That some of us placing great value on being high, rather than being the builders of a finer future, did not help.

This conversation is concluded.

Have a nice life.



If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

Bernardo de La Paz

(48,999 posts)
40. Your words sum your attitude: "This conversation is concluded", ergo a closed mind. . . . nt
Sun Aug 25, 2019, 05:45 AM
Aug 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

BannonsLiver

(16,370 posts)
43. Those involved in the multi billion dollar recovery industry are always the least objective.
Sun Aug 25, 2019, 06:58 PM
Aug 2019

I also find those who are most in need of a little THC therapy themselves are almost always the loudest opponents.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

Bernardo de La Paz

(48,999 posts)
45. Yup, pile his papers of statistical neuro damage beside millions of lives shattered by Prohibition
Sun Aug 25, 2019, 07:53 PM
Aug 2019

Sure, many things are dangerous. Too many steak and eggs can lead to heart attacks. The more automobile trips you take the more likely you are to permanently injured or worse by a traffic accident. Playing weekend football can lead to broken bones and limps for life.

I don't see him prohibiting eating eggs, driving, or playing tag football. Nor do I see him outlawing egg production & distribution, car manufacturing, and football sharing.

Similarly, he hasn't thought through the nonsensical idea of decriminalizing possession without legalizing production, distribution, and sales. If you decriminalize without legalizing, you save the small fraction of users nabbed for possession but keep jailing the low level dealers which ends up being racially profiled. Also, violent crime in the middle and top tiers of the drug trade would continue unabated or exacerbated.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
24. How will making marijuana legal somehow make more dangerous drugs more available?
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 05:51 PM
Aug 2019

That makes no sense whatsoever.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

Bernardo de La Paz

(48,999 posts)
46. Milk is gateway to cigs is gateway to pot is gateway to coke is gateway to heroin is gateway to...nt
Sun Aug 25, 2019, 07:57 PM
Aug 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
 

Lordquinton

(7,886 posts)
32. "I'm not for making dangerous drugs a source of government revenue"
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:30 PM
Aug 2019

Well, we're talking about cannabis, not dangerous drugs.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

essadaw

(185 posts)
12. Beto actually cowrote a book on marijuana legalization and the drug war in 2011
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 09:46 AM
Aug 2019

Dealing Death and Drugs: The Big Business of Dope in the U.S. and Mexico (Cinco Puntos Checkpoint Series) Paperback – November 29, 2011

https://www.amazon.com/Dealing-Death-Drugs-Business-Checkpoint/dp/1933693940
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

MichMan

(11,912 posts)
17. He should pull out a joint at the next debate and pass it around.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 11:10 AM
Aug 2019
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

BannonsLiver

(16,370 posts)
21. Good for Beto
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 02:33 PM
Aug 2019

I know there are some who have been influenced (have fallen for) by anti marijuana propaganda funded by the tobacco and adult beverage industry, but you’re in the minority now, and Beto and the other candidates who support reform are right.

To put it another way, the good guys won this argument and irrational, uninformed prohibitionists lost.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Undecided
 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
31. I think Beto is fresh out of spark.
Sat Aug 24, 2019, 06:15 PM
Aug 2019

Good luck to him with that one.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
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