Scientific American: Legalizing Marijuana Would Help the Environment

[RainDog]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=would-legalizing-pot-be-good-for-environment

It is well known that legalizing pot could have great economic benefits in California and elsewhere by allowing the government to tax it (like it now does on liquor and cigarettes), by ending expensive and ongoing operations to eradicate it, and by keeping millions of otherwise innocent and non-violent marijuana offenders out of already overburdened federal and state prisons. But what you might not know is that legalizing pot could also pay environmental dividends as well.

It doesn't seem like there is any reputable organization that is connected to the scientific community that thinks it's a good idea to continue the drug war or to continue to deny the medical benefits of cannabis. The peer-reviewed scientific papers on cannabis acknowledge it is incontrovertible that cannabis has positive uses for people with MS and other afflictions -

It seems to me that those who make money by persecuting others in this failed drug war are hurting us all.

[RainDog]

1. kickety for science! n/t

[mountainlion55]

2. Don't take no rocket scientist to figure that out!

Cannabis prohibition is not only irrational its EVIL!!!:smoke:

[Fumesucker]

3. K&R, thanks for posting..

[RainDog]

4. thanks for bumping it

I don't know how the federal govt can keep up this pretense of scheduling when so many people and any scientist worth his or her salt knows they're lying.

...and on top of the medical and prohibition issues - the industrial uses of hemp fiber could seriously replace many things that are produced by petrol.

it's gotten to the point that the federal govt undermines itself to continue such lies.

[scarletwoman]

5. "the federal govt undermines itself to continue such lies" - but there are plenty of govt agencies

who make big bucks out of marijuana prohibition. They're not about to let themselves get de-funded by changing the status quo.

[RainDog]

8. they could move to a harm reduction program

the bureaucrats could keep their jobs - they could retrain, like everyone else whose job becomes dated by the course of history.

We don't have a lot of people who shovel coal for steam engine trains now...

but seriously - the Portuguese example seems to me to be a better way to deal with the scope of this issue -

The jobs in research and technology - in farming - seems to me that those states that recognize what's coming will be better positioned to take advantage of changes - if the DEA moves a pharma co form of cannabis to a different schedule, what possible rational reason can they give to keep the hemp plant illegal?

I would think this would be enough to petition for a hearing on rescheduling in general.

[scarletwoman]

9. I absolutely agree with you, of course.

I was simply pointing out that bureaucratic inertia is part of the problem in getting sane marijuana laws in place.

I totally like what you said about retraining: "...they could retrain, like everyone else whose job becomes dated by the course of history." :D

sw

[RainDog]

10. I've had to upgrade my skills

and feel like I have to keep learning - so why should they be any different? ;)

I do know what you were saying - I was just making a leeetle joke and trying to find a positive way to view this - b/c I really do think that states like Colorado have been smart about this issue. If I were a rich person, I'd invest in industries that were doing research into cannabinoids - ones that were doing so in a good way.

[Distant Observer]

6. Legalization would risk Pharm Industry profits. Think they care about the environment?

[LetTimmySmoke]

7. Also, gets more marijuana grown outside like nature intended.

[Distant Observer]

11. That the main env consideration in CA. Huge electric power consumption north of Hayward fault

contributes significantly to CO2 production (to keep indoor farms lighted and ventilated)

[EstimatedProphet]

12. This really does represent a sea change

Scientific American is a very respected science news journal, and not a fly-by-night pub that has a specific predefined agenda. This is MAINSTREAM, as mainstream as it gets. The anti-legalization jerks can't point at this one and claim that it's just a bunch of stoners, not without being laughed out of the room.

[Forkboy]

13. It would certainly change mine!