The one election outcome I actually cared about yesterday went the way I wanted it. I am referring to Colorado’s Amendment 64, which regulates marijuana in a similar manner to alcohol. It is basically full legalization of pot for adults over 21. It essentially:
- Makes the personal use, possession, and limited home-growing of marijuana legal for adults 21 years of age and older;
- Establishes a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol; and
- Allows for the cultivation, processing, and sale of industrial hemp.
I’m proud to say that my state of Colorado led the way nationally by becoming the first state to legalize marijuana (although Washington passed a similar measure shortly after). I supported this Amendment and voted yes on it for several reasons.
1) Based on personal experience as well as observations of others I believe that marijuana is a much more benign drug than alcohol, and in fact I think its benefits to society outweigh the negatives. Like with anything in life, moderation is key.
I hope and pray Maryland is next to legalize marijuana. I can hardly wait to tell my employer I'm taking my mandatory 15 minute marijuana smoking break.
ReplyDeleteWhy. Do you currently take a mandatory 15 minute break with a bottle of whiskey or vodka or beer?
ReplyDelete9:41 your attitude is exactly why people fear legalizing! Marijuana should be legal, heavily regulated and heavily taxed. There should be very stiff penalties for driving under the influence and even higher ones for people found to sell or give it to children. If an adult wants to partake in the privacy of their own home I don't care, but when your feet hit the curb into public space then you should be ready to conduct yourself like you are in public. Getting high on the job is just dumb and anyone that does it should be fire immedaitely!
ReplyDeletei have one issue with marijuana legalization.
ReplyDeleteuntil it can be tested for in the field, like a breath alyzer, i cant support it.
Well second poster is right though... You all get SMOKE breaks for people who smoke things more harmful than weed... Secondly if you did your research and(I know you didn't because most Americas are fucking lazy) weed isn't bad for you EXCEPT for the way you INGEST it... so if you eat it instead of smoking it, there is nothing one can complain about... Thirdly, weed has like 30 or more benefits not just for medical use, you just won't see or know or find that because you can't study with weed since the war on drugs... fourthly, the war on drugs would not exist if it were not for weed, and to add weed is not a gateway drug and if you want to consider it one it is only one because people who get caught or tested show positive for weed because it stays in the system for months whilst other drugs can be gone in 3 days... Fifthly, if you want to actually talk about drugs than weed is not in that category... if you use the definition of a drug, than weed does not fit, but your coffee and beer and cigarettes do... That is if you want to use the mind altering state stance... Sixth, weed does not need to be altered, you can plant seed, let it grow and pull bud... all other drugs you have to add, subtract or alter its state to make it a drug, hence the definition of a drug...
ReplyDeleteSo go ahead and bash something you know nothing of... Get that shit our of your head, just because weed would be legal does not mean you can or will be allowed to drive or work while on the influence of weed...
uses of weed are as follows:
-medical pain relief like aspirin
-helps with cancer patients
-helps with nausea
-helps people eat
-helps people sleep
-helps people with adhd or add,
-you can make rope
-you can make clothes
-you can eat it
-you can make bio diesel
-helps with seizures
-helps with eyes
there are more but i can not think of any off the top of my head... and there are more uses to come if it is ever allowed to be studied more...
The whole issue of marijuana is one of personal freedom. If you look at why it was made illegal you will find racism and lies and scaremongering. We don't want the black jazz musicians dating white women was the line.What crap.If your concern is for the motoring public then look up the 'Top Gear' episode on driving stoned. What gives a government the right to jail a huge portion of the 'Free Society' for having a few dried leaves of a plant far older than the government? Keep in mind also that the Partnership for a Drug Free America is funded heavily by Phillip Morris and Miller Brewing Company who's products benefit greatly by the unconstitutional Prohibition of marijuana. God gave us marijuana to use...Was He Mistaken?
ReplyDelete11:26
ReplyDeleteGod also made rattle snakes. How many do you play with?
People take mind altering drugs at work by the millions every day, anti-depressants are brain altering chemicals and do not always produce positive results.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention all of the older folks driving under the influence of all kinds of pain medications mixed with over the counter drugs, throw a few martini's on that fuel, you've got quite a fire.
Legalize Marijuana NORML
I'm telling you people- if you want legalization then what you do NOT want is some idiot out front talking about how they will smoke pot at work! I'm against the drug war, but even though I agree with what some of you are saying, I would hope you'd learn to be a little more pragmatic about your approach.
ReplyDeleteNixon could create a drug czar and target hippies because they were much derided by the mainstream aka most of America. Your angle should be that normal America has changed and every segment of society already smokes pot from the CEO to the janitor. If anything, it is one of the few things people of different races and classes can agree on- a nice joint on Friday after a tough week of work. But you aren't going to get there threatening the good people who own businesses with getting high at work. It's a dumb thing to say and to do.
Also, while many medications are taken by people that alter their state of mind, those medicines also come with warnings and if you work in a field where that would cause a danger you are NOT allowed to go back to work until you are off of that medicine. That is a fact! Do some people break the rules? Of course, but they are no more or less dumb than those of you that want to (or do) smoke pot at work!