Quaternary poll: marijuana

[ZombieNixon]

Should it be legal, and in what circumstances?

[lcordero]

1. legal and unconditionally

[RC]

3. They are phasing out tobacco -

Something need to take its place.

[prof_science]

4. OMG.

Sorry, that avatar kills me!

[illflem]

2. Leave it up to the states

so the guys in the blue states can sell it to the reds for windfall profits.

[The Flaming Red Head]

7. Think about it RED BUD. They grow a bunch in the red states, too.

Why do you think all those little religious head trips are so happy in those news clips? The baptist may not drink or dance in public but they do get high and screw in private.

[antigone382]

27. Yeah, it's the #1 cash crop of Tennessee.

and my county is supposedly the #1 producer of it (incidentally, my county also went for Kerry in this election).

[Laelth]

5. It's far less dangerous than alcohol!

eom

-Laelth

[bemildred]

6. How can you claim to be "free" when they can tell you

what plants you can grow, and can invade your yard to make damn sure,
and take your house if you disobey?

[indigobusiness]

8. Once again, bemildred...

you put it in proper perspective.

[bemildred]

10. Thanks, remember, they hate our freedoms (and I don't mean OBL). nt

[indigobusiness]

11. Don't hate me

because I'm beautiful.

[Warren DeMontague]

22. Yeah- or how about what you can do with your own body and brain?

Where we get this bullshit idea that we -our physical beings- belong to someone else, I have no idea--- I think it dates back to the feudal days, where everyone was the property of God, and by default the property of the king, who was God's special representative.

What a crock. If I belong to anyone, it's myself.

[bemildred]

24. It goes a lot of places, once you start to think about it.

I'm a big fan of personal autonomy, within limits. You can see why
societies need to have some control of their members too, survival
can depend on it. It's not a simple question.

Nevertheless, the whole drug business is bonehead stupid, and always
has been, an excuse for police state "remedies" and profiteering.
Most of the European empires were built on drugs and slaves, nothing
else offers that kind of markup.

[Warren DeMontague]

26. No, it's not a simple question-- however...

The fact that most people accept, pretty much as a given, that the government has a right to tell you what you can put in your own body... I think that says something, right there. I mean, it shouldn't be a radical notion to say it's none of the government's damn business, so long as you don't hurt anyone else, don't drive, that sort of thing. But most people seem to think that's a weird, extreme viewpoint.

And yeah, I do know the social costs of drug abuse, particularly alcohol (which is legal).. It's been a very, very long time since I personally have done anything stronger than green tea and lattes (whoops. Pegged myself as a "coastal elitist", there, didn't I?)
...However, I'm of the opinion that, instead of turning people into criminals, the way to mitigate that is through taxation of the substances in question, with the money fed back into health care and treatment for those who need it. Considering its relatively benign nature, with something like pot, the tax benefits would be a windfall compared to the costs to society, IMHO, as opposed to alcohol or nicotine, which cost society billions every year.

And I agree with you. The whole thing as it stands now is a GIANT racket-- like, "throw a rock through the window and sell them a burglar alarm". Frightening how much of our world is based on that premise.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. If alcohol is legal for persons over 21...

considering it's a far more dangerous drug in every respect, there is absolutely no reason pot shouldn't be legal as well. Across the board.

Beyond that, I don't think it's any of the government's business what consenting adults want to do with their own bodies and nervous systems, insofar as they do it in the privacy of their own homes, don't endanger anyone else, etc. But leaving aside that broad libertarian position, there is aboslutely no reason why marijuana, considering what it is and what it does, shouldn't be legalized, regulated, and taxed.

[HamiltonHabs32]

12. America has a long way to go

before pot is legal.

you should get your asses up to Canada, i'll smoke you bowl when you get here.


/first time is free, if you want more....
/ <A HREF="http://metronewsnet.homelinux.com:81/boards/showthread.php?t=256">But beware</A>

[ZombieNixon]

13. Rock on!

:headbang: :yourock:

:smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke:

[bemildred]

15. I just want to say I appreciate your attitude. nt

[latteromden]

14. I think it should be legal for medicinal purposes. The federal government

should not be able to pass laws prohibiting marijuana usage, but other than that, leave recreational marijuana laws up to the states.

[sweetheart]

16. Just cut the DEA budget to zero

Do a bush, and say "I'm against drug abuse."... but we can't afford
much, so the DEA is just gonna have to get by with nothing.

Veto all actions by federal government departments to bother with
marijuana, and the regular folks 'll sort things out right fine.

Then, on the last day of the presidency, pardon all nonviolent
drugs offenders in a sweeping nationwide amnesty.

They've waged the war by stealth, it needs to be ended by stealth.

[hollowdweller]

17. looking at those poll results - crank up the music and twist up a fatty.

[nightperson]

18. If the DLC/DNC are so eager to move in the "Republican" direction

why not emulate this?

Or this?

[Warren DeMontague]

23. That would be too sensible.

Anyway, it's much more politically viable to be a control freak. Why, I don't know.

[Jack_DeLeon]

19. All drugs, even presciption drugs....

should be legal with no restrictions.

Our whole pharmaceutical and medical industry is fucked up.

Drugs should definately come with warnings.

However people should be able to purchase and administer thier own drugs without having to deal with a doctor as the middleman.

I have several relatives who are nurses and know about medications well enough but because they are doctors they arent able to prescribe. Although one of them does go to Mexico from time to time to get the drugs that her daughter needs without having to see a doctor.

[vixengrl]

20. When arguing against medical marijuana

the antipotheads always go--well what stops the sick people from then selling it to healthy people to get high? To which I say--so what? I'm for across the board legalization, because I don't see where people are any more likely to get high and act a fool on pot than they already do on booze. Just like I wouldn't suck down two or three Jack and Cokes and think it's cool to then get in my car to do some errands, I imagine there are people who can "toke responsibly." If legal, I think there could be better control of it--a buyer would be less likely to pick up some wet and go screwy and walk around the neighborhood nekkid when all they wanted was a little chronic to get untight after a crappy workweek. But even if that's too much for the Puritan out there, a think the laws should at lease be seriously relaxed where a medical issue is involved. After all, it's life or death. It shouldn't the law's business to go making things worse for people who are already down.

[William Bloode]

21. As the man at the head of....

A marijuana compassion site i do my level best to give away as many quality marijuana seeds so folks can say screw the goverment and grow their own!

It's good medicine, and much less harmfull than alcohol or tobacco....SO Legal all the way baby!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

25. Never heard of it.

[miss_kitty]

28. It's treated like the worst drug ever, by the medical community at large

I got lots of Morphene and was kept on a Dilaudid drip for 2 weeks. Try to get marijauna for a little nausea relief? I think not. Oh I can have Marinol, because a drug company is making 2 dollars a pill off it.
On my 6 month check up yesterday, my doc gave me a script for 30. 3-0.

anti nausea meds are prohibitively expensive. Zofran costs $20 a pill and Dolasetron is over $30 per pill. Now I don't think pot could stifle fresh chemo vomit, but it does increase the desire to eat, which the expensive pills do not address. I also know, having suffered from slight nausea since my treatment ended nearly 3 years ago, pot works great!

[CalebHayes]

29. It's a plant that grows in the dirt n/t

[Spiffarino]

30. Free to grow, buy, sell, whatever

As long as you're over 18, 21, whatever. I don't think it belongs in the hands - or lungs - of minors. But then, neither do cigarettes.

A friend of mine - a devout Repub, no less - put it best:

"I told my kid if he had a choice between getting drunk and getting high to remember one thing: you're a lot less likely to get in a fight at a pot party."