Happy 4/20

[Rodja]

Today is the day! I know you some of you will think of me as some stoned junkie because of this post,but i haven't tried it since college days,and even than i wasnt a regular user.What i want to do on this day with this post is congratulate 17 states where marijuana use is  legal including my Vermont and endorse movements,individuals and petitions in all other states fighting to legalize it! It's less harmful than alcohol and cigarettes,and it can even be useful in medicine to help cure or ease symptoms of many serious ilness.

End the 21st century Prohibition!

Legalize it!

Happy 4/20!

 

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by Rodja

[Cal]

5 hours ago, Rodja said:

Today is the day! I know you some of you will think of me as some stoned junkie because of this post,but i haven't tried it since college days,and even than i wasnt a regular user.What i want to do on this day with this post is congratulate 17 states where marijuana use is  legal including my Vermont and endorse movements,individuals and petitions in all other states fighting to legalize it! It's less harmful than alcohol and cigarettes,and it can even be useful in medicine to help cure or ease symptoms of many serious ilness.

End the 21st century Prohibition!

Legalize it!

Happy 4/20!

 

 

Hear hear! As a college student, I've had (probably more) than my fair share of usage but quit when I got a job that drug tests for obvious reasons, and have no intention of picking the habit back up. It's a fun drug that is way less harmful to you and doesn't make you make decisions nearly as bad as when you're drunk, so why not? 😉 There is no justification for putting people behind bars when the data shows that criminalization is not an effective method of deterrence. If you're going to want to lower usage, its just statistically not the right way to go. 

Not to mention... in my personal experience, I've been let go with marijuana in my car when a cop could definitely tell it was there before. I don't think that same leniency would be granted to a black man. There's just too much room for abuse and targeting ethnic minorities with the enforcement. Not cool for starting the war on drugs, Nixon! 

[vcczar]

I don't smoke it, but it's a waste of time, money, and overall energy to curb the use of it. It isn't dangerous and it's often helpful. It's a potential revenue source. Legalizing it allows us to stop this needless debate over legalization and focus on more important things. 

[DakotaHale]

6 hours ago, vcczar said:

I don't smoke it, but it's a waste of time, money, and overall energy to curb the use of it. It isn't dangerous and it's often helpful. It's a potential revenue source. Legalizing it allows us to stop this needless debate over legalization and focus on more important things. 

Agree 100%.

[MrPotatoTed]

I'm fine with medical marijuana (ACTUAL medical marijuana, not California medical marijuana where it's "prescribed" for the sniffles.)

But I support keeping the ban in place for recreational marijuana.

[pilight]

11 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

But I support keeping the ban in place for recreational marijuana.

Why?

[MrPotatoTed]

39 minutes ago, pilight said:

Why?

Because I said so, young lady!  Now go to your room!

Whoops, sorry.  Forgot who I was talking to for a second.  ;c)

 

[MrPotatoTed]

On 4/20/2021 at 10:28 AM, Cal said:

Hear hear! As a college student, I've had (probably more) than my fair share of usage but quit when I got a job that drug tests for obvious reasons, and have no intention of picking the habit back up. It's a fun drug that is way less harmful to you and doesn't make you make decisions nearly as bad as when you're drunk, so why not? 😉 There is no justification for putting people behind bars when the data shows that criminalization is not an effective method of deterrence. If you're going to want to lower usage, its just statistically not the right way to go. 

Not to mention... in my personal experience, I've been let go with marijuana in my car when a cop could definitely tell it was there before. I don't think that same leniency would be granted to a black man. There's just too much room for abuse and targeting ethnic minorities with the enforcement. Not cool for starting the war on drugs, Nixon! 

So enforce it evenly.    "We let some people off with a warning when they're definitely speeding" is not a reason to get rid of speed limits.

[MrPotatoTed]

Honestly, I don't buy the racial argument.  Not because I think it's false, I have no doubt the statistics support that it's true -- but because I think the supporters of legalization don't actually care.  They just want to be able to smoke it whenever they want, and latching on to police abuse is a better argument than "but I like the way committing the crime makes me feel."

 

[Hestia]

46 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

Honestly, I don't buy the racial argument.  Not because I think it's false, I have no doubt the statistics support that it's true -- but because I think the supporters of legalization don't actually care.  They just want to be able to smoke it whenever they want, and latching on to police abuse is a better argument than "but I like the way committing the crime makes me feel."

 

I think there's plenty of people who support legalization that have never done it, and never intend to do it, like myself. There's quite a large number of legalization supporters for that to be the sole reason 😄 

[vcczar]

1 hour ago, MrPotatoTed said:

I'm fine with medical marijuana (ACTUAL medical marijuana, not California medical marijuana where it's "prescribed" for the sniffles.)

But I support keeping the ban in place for recreational marijuana.

I want to know the reason for the ban as well. I don't smoke it, but I feel like just about everyone else I know does on occasion. Not once have I heard of a single side-effect that has caused danger to themselves or others. These people are also efficient workers. It doesn't make them lazy. It just helps them relax, for whatever reason. 

I can't say the same for alcohol, which clearly can have negative side-effects. It can turn some people into monsters, it can lead to drunk driving accidents, it can lead to alcohol poisoning or worse. Marijuana is much, much safer. 

So here are my questions:

1) Why do you support keeping a ban on recreational marijuana? 

2) Do you support a ban on alcohol? If not, why do you not support a ban on alcohol vs a ban on marijuana? 

3) Do you support a ban on tobacco? If not, why do you not support a ban on tobacco vs a ban on marijuana? 

4) What do you think should be the punishment for illegal possession or selling of marijuana? 

5) Considering marijuana isn't dangerous, that jails and prisons are overcrowded with marijuana "offenders" of all races, that this is costly to maintain, is it not better to legalize marijuana and tax it. That is, turn a revenue spending into a revenue gain. 

6) Considering you are okay with medicinal marijuana, and most people probably smoke pot to relax. Would you be open to expanding access to medicinal marijuana to those that need it because of "nerves" or "hard time relaxing." I mean, if you accept this, you might as well just legalize it. 

[MrPotatoTed]

I need to focus on work today, but I can quickly answer some of these at least.

Yes, I’d be fine with banning tobacco and alcohol.  I focus on marijuana because it’s still against federal law (for now), so it’s easier to get back to a place of enforcement, versus creating new bans of things that have been perfectly legal for quite some time.

No, “to relax” is not medical.  “It helps me relax” is not a valid defense against committing a crime.

[MrPotatoTed]

25 minutes ago, Hestia said:

I think there's plenty of people who support legalization that have never done it, and never intend to do it, like myself. There's quite a large number of legalization supporters for that to be the sole reason 😄 

Well, there’s also quite a lot of users, so I don’t buy that.  ;c)

If someone’s passion truly is law enforcement equality, why is their attention on marijuana use?  Black people are arrested for theft or murder disproportionally as well, should we legalize these things too?

 

Or maybe we could focus on solving the actual problems at hand — systemic racial injustice.

[Hestia]

8 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

Well, there’s also quite a lot of users, so I don’t buy that.  ;c)

 

Not 2/3 of the American populace 😄

[Dobs]

9 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

against committing a crime.

But I guess what we're really asking is Why should it be a crime? Saying "it is a crime" is not a good enough reason to keep something illegal. Many things have been crimes at some point and since legalized because there is no good reason for criminalizing a person's bodily autonomy. 

[Dobs]

8 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

Well, there’s also quite a lot of users, so I don’t buy that.  ;c)

 

 

Just now, Hestia said:

Not 2/3 of the American populace 😄

Checking in for: "Pro-Legalization but would never be dumb enough to even think about using it" gang

[Hestia]

1 minute ago, Dobs said:

 

Checking in for: "Pro-Legalization but would never be dumb enough to even think about using it" gang

That makes 2 of us 😛

[vcczar]

7 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

No, “to relax” is not medical.  “It helps me relax” is not a valid defense against committing a crime.

Obviously not against a valid crime, like theft or murder. Marijuana is not even 000.1% in their league. Marijuana arrests make about as much sense as arresting someone for crossing the street when the light is red and there are clearly no vehicles around for miles. Except for freak instances, it cause no danger to the person or to others. You're more likely to injure yourself or others while cooking or driving. 

I'm just wanting to know your rationale on why marijuana should be a crime? The argument that you'll let alcohol and tobacco go, because it's already legal (and easier to not fight it), while holding up marijuana as a crime is a little weak. I'm sure you'd agree alcohol is worse than marijuana? Is it a little hypocritical to accept the legalization of the dangerous drug, while urging the maintenance of a ban against a relatively innocuous one?  

[MrPotatoTed]

10 minutes ago, vcczar said:

Obviously not against a valid crime, like theft or murder. Marijuana is not even 000.1% in their league. Marijuana arrests make about as much sense as arresting someone for crossing the street when the light is red and there are clearly no vehicles around for miles. Except for freak instances, it cause no danger to the person or to others. You're more likely to injure yourself or others while cooking or driving. 

I'm just wanting to know your rationale on why marijuana should be a crime? The argument that you'll let alcohol and tobacco go, because it's already legal (and easier to not fight it), while holding up marijuana as a crime is a little weak. I'm sure you'd agree alcohol is worse than marijuana? Is it a little hypocritical to accept the legalization of the dangerous drug, while urging the maintenance of a ban against a relatively innocuous one?  

I also support a ban on driving and cooking.

[MrPotatoTed]

17 minutes ago, vcczar said:

Obviously not against a valid crime, like theft or murder. Marijuana is not even 000.1% in their league. Marijuana arrests make about as much sense as arresting someone for crossing the street when the light is red and there are clearly no vehicles around for miles. Except for freak instances, it cause no danger to the person or to others. You're more likely to injure yourself or others while cooking or driving. 

I'm just wanting to know your rationale on why marijuana should be a crime? The argument that you'll let alcohol and tobacco go, because it's already legal (and easier to not fight it), while holding up marijuana as a crime is a little weak. I'm sure you'd agree alcohol is worse than marijuana? Is it a little hypocritical to accept the legalization of the dangerous drug, while urging the maintenance of a ban against a relatively innocuous one?  

As for whether my argument is weak, I’m only being realistic.  I haven’t seen a serious politician propose banning alcohol or tobacco in my lifetime, and I don’t expect one to emerge.  That’s not me making any argument at all, that’s just acknowledging the reality that I’m not going to start a one-man crusade to outlaw something that’s been legal for decades.

[MrPotatoTed]

It’s been a pleasure, folks, and I hate to disappoint, but I don’t have the magic words that are going to convince you that you’re wrong about this, when you’d already made up your mind before I began speaking.  You can sheathe the pitchforks, I’ll see myself out.

[vcczar]

3 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

As for whether my argument is weak, I’m only being realistic.  I haven’t seen a serious politician propose banning alcohol or tobacco in my lifetime, and I don’t expect one to emerge.  That’s not me making any argument at all, that’s just acknowledging the reality that I’m not going to start a one-man crusade to outlaw something that’s been legal for decades.

You aren't alone: https://www.prohibitionparty.org/platform

You can register as a member and donate

[Cenzonico]

Just stop the War on Drugs and let Americans do what they wish in peace. 

[MrPotatoTed]

3 minutes ago, vcczar said:

You aren't alone: https://www.prohibitionparty.org/platform

You can register as a member and donate

I have much better things to do with my time and money than to throw them both away on it.  Someone created a poll asking if we support legalization.  I responded.  You asked follow up questions.  I responded.  You've taken it to the ridiculous extreme, there's no further value in the conversation.  

Edited April 21, 2021 by MrPotatoTed

[Hestia]

3 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

I have much better things to do with my time and money than to throw them both away on it.  You created a poll asking if we support legalization.  I responded.  You asked follow up questions.  I responded.  You've taken it to the ridiculous extreme, there's no further value in the conversation.  

Ridiculous extreme? 😛 

Quote

If someone’s passion truly is law enforcement equality, why is their attention on marijuana use?  Black people are arrested for theft or murder disproportionally as well, should we legalize these things too?

I don't think any of us should really be going on each other for that, as everyone's prone to doing so 😄