Freepers go crazy over Frank-Paul marijuana bill

[LetTimmySmoke]

Some choice comments, for those that don't want to click the link:

It's long past time to end the war on drugs. Over a trillion dollars spent on it and what have we gained: militarized police forces, no knock warrants, drug gangs and cartels, corruption of law enforcement, mothers arrested for buying too much cold medicine, citizens and their dogs shot, patients in pain because of doctor intimidation. And the drugs are more readily available than ever.

While they are at it, free all the non-violent prisoners who haven’t committed any crimes other than their personal drug use, especially if the drug was Marijuana.

I think most people who smoke pot (myself included) drank alcohol first - I have smoked pot almost every evening after work for the last 22 yrs., I haven't committed any crimes nor have I tried other drugs. I say legalize it, tax it and smoke it.

You are acting like legalized hard drugs in the United States is some sort of strange, untried bizzare concept. Not true at all. Hard drugs were legal throughout most of American history and the “drug problem” (including sending teens to prison to be gang-raped for selling these goods) such as it was, was much less than today.

Of course! I don’t want my tax dollars to fund prisons wher the lives of teen are permanently destroyed (gang rapes, ladder to criminal careers, etc) for selling this product. How about you?

LOL. I agree. decriminalize it and tax it.

And my favorite of all....
"Agree, the WOD is a terrible, costly joke on the American people. All while big pharma now rakes in *trillions* with half the population using *their* drugs."

link - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2738431/posts?q=1&;page=1
_____________________________________

It's interesting what some of them say when they're not being told what to think. (Don't get me wrong though, there's still a lot of actual crazy on that thread)

[lob1]

1. Wow! Reason in freeperville. I was listening to Ed Shultz

talking about the bill today. It shocked me that he was against legalizing pot. He talked about how everyone he knows who smoked pot turned out to be bums. I always liked Ed, but this time he was talking out of his ass and I shut him off.

[Tunkamerica]

2. ha.

ed never smoked pot, or ed is a bum?

[lob1]

3. Ed's obviously never smoked pot, and he got his

pot talking points from William Randolph Hearsh. Maybe J. Edgar Hoover.

[LetTimmySmoke]

50. or Harry Anslinger

[pscot]

96. You forgot the Jay

Harry J. Anslinger.

[kimsarah]

123. That's part of Ed's problem

He's long overdue to get high.

[B Calm]

130. Either that or shove a walleye in his fucking mouth!

[OnionPatch]

17. Too bad he never met my self-made, millionaire brother-in-law.

He tokes up regularly and always has. Actually, I know quite a few very successful professionals who smoke pot. One would never guess in a million years. Ed is just buying into the propaganda. I bet he knows plenty of successful pot smokers. He just doesn't know they smoke pot.

[IndyPragmatist]

51. Your brother is the problem with America

Haha...sorry, I just had to put it in there for the people that think everyone with money got it by exploiting others.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

84. I know lots of upstanding people who smoke pot

Lawyers, police officers, accountants, businessmen, accountants, golf professionals, etc. These aren't people I've "heard about" or was told about "by a friend". These are business associates, friends, clients, and partners.

[BrightSideOfLife]

110. i'm sorry,

but if police officers are smoking marijuana and then busting people for the same thing they are not "fine upstanding people," but hypocrites.

[Jackpine Radical]

97. When I was in grad school in the late 60's-early 70's,

it would have been easier to name the faculty with whom ai had not smoked at parties than the ones with whom I had.

That department, which shall be nameless here, was in a top state university, and was itself the #1 department in the nation in its area. A little pot sure didn't slow down anybody's publication rate.

[trumad]

28. Ed really said that?

Amazing...

Most of my friends who are all quite successful toke up.

Shit I'd do it if it didn't make me such a goof ball.

[RainDog]

35. ..like Richard Branson and Carl Sagan and Al Gore and

I don't watch this guy and don't like him. Seems he's proved out my sense that he's a wanker.

[NICO9000]

73. And some other bum named Louis Armstrong smoked herb every day!

:evilgrin:

[RainDog]

91. well, if you're gonna talk musicians...

it would probably be easier to talk about who didn't.

[wial]

112. let's not forget Shakespeare and Rimbaud

the two greatest poets who ever lived. And George Washington. And Barack Obama. And Bill Clinton.

[wial]

116. and Yeats, and Ginsberg of course ...

and Marcel frigging Proust ...

[timtom]

131. Hold it right there, pal!

Clinton did NOT inhale.

[PatSeg]

40. Meanwhile, his guest radio host Bill Press

admitted to having smoked pot. Have to wonder what kind of people Ed hung out with.

[nxylas]

43. I'm sure we've all met people whose lives have been screwed up by excessive pot use

However, in those cases I've always thought that if it hadn't been pot, it would have been something else, probably alcohol.

[PatSeg]

48. My thoughts exactly

I've known people who have given up an addiction of some sort, only to get hooked on something else. People who appear to be "screwed up" by excessive pot use, were probably screwed up before they smoked pot. If these same people turned to alcohol instead of pot, they probably would end up worse off both physically and psychologically.

[nxylas]

55. Not sure all of them were screwed up to begin with

I'm thinking in particular of one guy I went to school with. I kept in touch with him for a while and he seemed to have a bright future ahead of him, making good money at an insurance company. But when I saw him several years later, he had somehow turned into a stereotypical unemployable pothead. Not sure what happened in those intervening years, but I very much doubt it was the classic Reefer Madness narrative of a single toke at a party turning him into a DRUG FIEND (wish I could write that in a 1950s-style horror movie font).

[PatSeg]

57. It is not easy understanding what goes on in someone

else's life. We never truly know another person and whatever caused this guy to smoke pot could have caused another to drink or gamble, both of which can be highly addictive.

[Dokkie]

78. Maybe your friend was one of the unlucky many

destroyed by a drug criminal record. A few trips to the pen and felony on your record is all that is required to destroy a perfectly good life

[WheelWalker]

80. Exactly.

[BobbyBoring]

74. I only know 1

And it was the craziest thing I've ever seen. This guy would smoke and turn in to a total loon. It affected him like a 1/2 gallon of Jack and an 8 ball would affect most people.

That's the only one though and in my 57 years on this rock, I've known a few haevy smaokers!

[DissedByBush]

93. I haven't met one

I've known a lot of pot users, including heavy ones, but not one whose life was screwed up by excessive pot use.

Usually their lives are screwed up by run-ins with the War on Drugs.

The others with screwed up lives were just screwed up people.

As you note, pot use in those cases is a symptom, not a cause.

[Politicalboi]

68. I heard that too yesterday

And Bill Press set him straight. Bill told him he smoked all the time when he was young.

[obxhead]

79. What Ed doesn't understand (along with many) is that the laws

create that "bum" state for pot users. Convictions for simple possession puts many jobs out of reach. Urine tests that prove nothing get people fired or used as a tool to get out of paying workers comp etc.

It's the laws that create almost all of this "makes you a bum" ideology. It's not the pot.

[maddiemom]

85. Big Ed and marijuana

I missed his show today. Wow, he is against the bill that is only a half measure at best? Hard to figure how any honest person under seventy would have a problem with this bill (and I'm pushing that age, having been a teenager/college student in the sixties). There are a lot of reactionary conservatives out there against anything humane or sensible for the world we live in today. They're extremely vocal right now and trying to set education in this country back to pre-Darwin beliefs. Most polls show Americans are much more liberal than this, and other western societies are laughing at us. Progressives are just not vocal enough. Growing hemp and at least, decriminalizing marijuana, would do a lot to dig us out of the hole we're in today.

[EC]

86. He was stereotyping

he likely doesn't know professionals that admit to smoking to him because of his attitude. I wonder what he thinks of Dylan Ratigan, since he works there with him and has admitted to smoking...does he think he's a bum?

[Bluesbreaker]

87. Ed Shultz is the president's apologist

The War on Drugs is administration policy. Ed will never break with the party line (i.e., the White House talking points). As has been noted repeatedly in DU posts, he hates progressives as much as the GOP. Rachel's the only true progressive voice on MSNBC.

[Stumbler]

90. The wealthiest friends I know smoke on a regular basis

Shultz is a Putz, not a true lefty, imo....

[AlbertCat]

100. everyone he knows who smoked pot turned out to be bums.

Lily Thomlin is a bum?

Joan Biaz is a bum?

Willy Nelson is a bum?

Jane Fonda is a bum?

Lady Gaga is a bum?

Bill Clinton is a bum? (if he ever inhales)

and so on....

http://coedmagazine.com/2009/02/06/the-10-most-successful-potheads-on-the-planet-cool-enough-to-admit-it/

[Friday]

108. funny

Guess he's never heard of Carl Sagan, Tom Brokaw, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincols, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Bill Maher, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt....etc.

[ArcticFox]

120. I never liked Ed

He seems like a poser.

[B Calm]

126. I shut the loud mouth SOB off during the Weiner crucifiction

[guitar man]

128. Doh

I wish the pot smokers running the board in the control room for his show would have had a... ahem... "technical difficulty" about the time he started with that shit :evilgrin:

[Serve The Servants]

4. This is one of those issues where you will find overwhelming support on both sides

All the more reason to find our government's unwillingness to end the war on drugs completely unacceptable.

[RainDog]

36. the govt is supporting the minority position of those who make $$ on the WoD

...which is also a war against the American people.

shame on them.

[ieoeja]

61. Voters vs non-voters.

99% of people who really want pot illegal are guaranteed to vote against anyone who suggests otherwise.

If only 30% are anti-pot and do vote, while 50% do not vote at all, then you will lose in a landslide in most states.

[pamela]

5. My new favorite freeperism: likker

To: GunRunner

Can you hold your likker? If not, then it should be illegal for YOU! If you can, then drink!

I can’t hold my likker because of 2 relatives could not hold theirs. I prefer not to drink but stay sober.

235 posted on Thursday, June 23, 2011 6:17:11 PM by Buddygirl

:rofl:

[formercia]

7. Ya gotta pee sometime, Dearie.

:rofl:

[Enthusiast]

41. Likker.

:eyes:

[TalkingDog]

58. Not a freeperism. Appalachian slang.

There are some very old off color jokes that make use of the phrase: hard likker

[TalkingDog]

60. SAD END TO 'STILL' LIFE OF LIKKER KING

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/item_6K6IRMFPVbmn07yrxpnrjO

A few hours earlier, she had buried Sutton, 62, in the mountains around Haywood County, NC, where he grew up. He went to his grave in a pine casket he bought years ago and kept in a bedroom, and underneath a gravestone that reads, "Popcorn said f- - - you."

Sutton nicknamed "Popcorn" for smashing up a 10-cent popcorn machine in a bar with a pool cue looked like a living caricature of a mountain moonshiner. He wore a long gray beard, faded overalls, checkered shirt and feathered fedora.

He wrote a paperback called "Me and My Likker" and recorded videos on how to make moonshine.

"You might say he embodied a kind of Appalachian archetype, a character trait of fearlessness and fierce loyalty to regional identity even in the face of personal persecution," said Ted Olson, a regional writer.

[juajen]

95. Also, Southern slang. NT

[formercia]

6. All the people I know who smoke Pot

are right-wing Rednecks.

[Fly by night]

8. You must live in a very small world, and one where you don't include DU.

That's a shame. Really.

[formercia]

9. Not really,

I didn't say they were my friends. Most of the people I can relate to are those on DU. I interact and deal with a broad range of people with different outlooks on life. I try not to limit myself to one segment of the political and social fabric of this Planet.

[Fly by night]

11. A number of DUers state openly that they use cannabis (including me).

Again, I expect you know that. We are not all right-wing red-necks, though some of us do sport farmer's tans.

Of course, you may not know us either.

[formercia]

12. Some of my Progressive friends may smoke Pot

I never inquired if they do or not. If they do, It's their business, not mine. I hope the 'Government' drops the WOD and stops criminalizing behavior that harmless as far as I'm concerned. As for 'Hard' drugs and other addicting substances, Non judgmental Medical and Psychological treatment options should be offered to all who desire them, to allow those with addiction problems that prevent them from functioning in Society, to return to a productive Life.

[SlicerDicer-]

62. I do not think any drug should be illegal

Including things like meth.. It just becomes a hassle that people do it then it causes them to be violent looking for their fix.. So make it affordable so they stop stealing, breaking in etc.. People are going to do what they are going to do.

And remember you cant help those that do not want to be helped. I know a recovered meth addict, I also know there is a whole lot who are not ever going to recover.

[OnionPatch]

18. No rightwing redneck here.

I use it legally. :hi:

I am definitely no rightwinger (never voted for a Republican in my life) but I may be a little bit redneck, depending on your definition of redneck. I live in the country and own chickens.....does that qualify?

[formercia]

25. Close enough....

:rofl: :hi:

I guess some people have not 'got' the joke yet.

People from all walks of Life and political persuasion smoke pot.

[ret5hd]

53. Is your patio made of wooden pallets with a few scraps of astroturf littered about?

[Unvanguard]

21. All the people I know who smoke pot are liberals.

The people I know who've smoked it most are pretty hardcore leftists.

:shrug:

[AlbertCat]

104. All the people I know who smoke pot are.....

.... human.

I truly cannot say there is more of one kind than any other. Of course I used to work in the movie industry and in threatre so.... much use across the board there. But also roofers and surfers and crazy redneck x-marines, and the girl who cleans my rental property..... I know all kinds of people who smoke regularly....but maybe not every day.

I'd much rather be around a bunch of baked people than a bunch of drunks, I can tell you that.

[Javaman]

23. ?

that has to be one of THE most bizarre statements I have ever read on DU...ever!

[formercia]

27. You just have not 'got' the joke yet.

Maybe you need to pull your skivvies out of your crack and mellow-out.

[Javaman]

30. While my skivvies, I assure you, are not in my crack nor in a bunch...

I'm actually quite mellow. :)

However, your statement still deserves the award for the most bizarre statement on DU ever.

And the thing with a joke is: it has to be funny. If you were trying for ironic or sardonic or just plan sarcastic, it failed.

It properly failed. It failed in an epic sense. If failed in a scale that precedes all others of potential for failure from this point forward. The failure of anything "funny", or as a joke, from this point on will be measured by the failure of your post to entertain. The lack of funny of your "joke" will only be superseded by someone so un-completely funny as to be funny in the way scary people are funny when they a really aren't funny and you want to run away from them.

See, that is what funny is.

:rofl:

[formercia]

31. Reactionaries come in all stripes as well.

so do assholes.

[Javaman]

32. Yup, you got one too.

LOL

I see you use the usual tactic of the unfunny. Trying to be witty.

alas, you failed.

Ta!

[Upton]

24. I've been called a lot of things..

but RW redneck isn't one of them...and I smoke pot regularly. Folks from all walks of life use it. Perhaps you need to get out more..

[EOTE]

33. That's the least funny "joke" I've ever heard.

I used to think that the pun was the lowest form of comedy. You've proven me wrong.

[kestrel91316]

72. All the people I know who smoke pot are intelligent, highly-educated

liberals. Myself included.

[rbnyc]

109. Wow.

Weird. I actually don't know any right wing rednecks personally, but that kind of gives me hope.

[Stardust]

113. Great reply! I litererally...

:rofl:

LOL'd!!!!!!

[rbnyc]

115. I'm glad.

I was hoping someone would feel that way.

[formercia]

129. I see that my point was made.

Pot smoking cuts across all ethnic, political and social classes.

It's one thing the vast majority of the planet has in common. Ganja is everywhere.

The PTB hate it because Stoners just laugh at them.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[enough]

13. This is the one area where the rabid-right commenters on our local newspaper's website

agree with the left. Legalize it.

[Scuba]

14. Noteworthy blog comment...

As a bonus, if Obama opposes this - which he probably will - he pisses off a good chunk of his base.

[WilliamPitt]

16. That'll stop 'im!

*sigh*

[LetTimmySmoke]

52. I noticed that one too.

[Volaris]

15. I agree with legalization.

And as an aside, I think on a lot of issues, there is more common ground between us and them than we sometimes realize...the root word in libertarian, is after all, LIBERAL....right?

[PavePusher]

19. Actually, no. n/t

[Upton]

20. Disgust with the War on Drugs is prevalent on both sides

Kudos to both Frank and Paul for introducing this bill...Too bad it will never go anywhere. For the politicians we supposedly elected to represent us are too busy doing the bidding of those that are benefiting from this seemingly never ending war on the American people..

[LibertyLover]

22. I have long believed that pot should be legalized and taxed -

I don't use pot, but have no problems with people who do. This War on Drugs is a farce. But until the government figures out that it can make more money with taxes on pot than they can on confiscations of property and corporations figure out that they can make more money growing good pot and turning it into joints and selling them then they can on private prisons, the War on Drugs won't go away. I don't know if any good economist has done a study on the topic, but if not, I wish they would. Heck, the GOP and the T-Baggers want fiscal responsibility and a balanced budget, there you are.

[FLPanhandle]

26. I think pot legalization is like gay marriage.

Eventually there is a critical mass of people in the country on both the right and left that start thinking, why not?

It'll happen, the tides already turned.

[sinkingfeeling]

29. OMG, something we can agree on! End the War on Drugs! Legalize marijuana!

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LynneSin]

37. Four years ago that message would have been completely different

Trust me on that one!

[Syntheto]

38. Issue Grower's Licences...

...for $1500.00 for a Class 'A' license (up to ten plants) and allow people to sell their product like any other produce at Farmer's Markets and tax it at $20.00 a gram retail. Bigger operations could be issued licenses on a sliding scale of fees. It should be taxed and licensed at the State level, and the Federal government could in turn get its cut from the States. Regulate health concerns (in terms of pesticides, THC content, etc) through the FDA.

[Fly by night]

39. You propose a $560 an ounce tax on legal marijuana??

What on earth have you been smoking?

My goal is for legal medical cannabis to be available on demand (and with a health care provider's recommendation) for $60 an ounce. I can post a link to that proposal if anyone wants to see it who hasn't already.

Now that's the ticket.

[Betsy Ross]

92. Old enough to remember the $10 lid. n/t

[999998th word]

106. Didn't a '2 finger' lid mean bud & a 3 or 4 meant stems or it was crap ?

Long time ago
:hi:

[lob1]

107. Me, too. $25 for Acapulco Gold or Panama Red.

[EOTE]

42. $20 a gram TAX?!?

You know that's more expensive than the most ridiculously priced bud available in this country, right? And that's for the tax alone? Wouldn't $2 a gram be more reasonable? So people who wish to enjoy it wouldn't have to open another mortgage whenever they wanted to spark up a spliff?

[toddwv]

45. That's a GREAT idea.

It would be like ending the "War on Drugs" without really ending it!

You see, because such a high tax will keep marijuana lucrative for illegal dealers thus guaranteeing that the violence continues and therefore assuring us that the money we spend on incarcerating non-violent drug offenders is "justified" not even mentioning the HUGE encroachment on our Constitutional rights that the "War on Drugs" has been used to implement.

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[krabigirl]

44. Legalizing it does have bipartisan support, it is just too many people make $ from it being illegal.

[fascisthunter]

46. Message to Freepers: You know why you are so afraid of Marijuana

I do... because your little fucked up minds couldn't handle it... all your paranoia and warped atitude comes out when you are high like a truth serum... the truth about yourselves. Gawd forbid you loosened up, then all your true instincts come out!

And like all right wingers, you pretend everyone experiences life like you do and needs to be controlled... go throw yoursleves into a box so I can shove you off a cliff.

[Maru Kitteh]

47. In the words of Frank Barone - HOLY CRAP!

We shell call this new thing "possible evidence of the evolution of the common freeper."

[Fuzz]

49. I am reluctant to read the thread because I'm sure Frank will be called a 'fag' a lot.

Maybe I should go over and count it.

[MrMickeysMom]

75. Don't bother... they had too much fun with his "lisp"

Plus, complaining that there were already too many votes coming from "stoners".

Freepers will be Freepers, you know.... predictably and willful in their ignorance.

[cherish44]

54. I'm surprised that freepers would support legalizing marijuana

That's for hippies. It makes you all mellow and tree-huggy. Now ALCOHOL, that's a manly drug. Makes you strong and all pissed off!!

[nonperson]

65. Freepers are pot smokers

I've smoked pot with prosecutors, judges, police, firefighters, politicians - you name it. EVERYONE is smoking pot and the big joke is only the suckers get busted for it.

[Solomon]

69. Ayup!

:thumbsup:

[octothorpe]

59. I had an odd 'debate' with a conservative about this topic...

He didn't seem to have any issues with the drug itself, but rather with the fact that the government would tax it and get more money to spend... Which is obviously a stupid stance, right? So I asked him why he supports lower taxes to boost the economy (this was his stance on it, I used it because he was debating that point earlier). I mean, in his mind, lowering taxes would boost the economy and thus lead to more taxes being collected. He never replied back... This was on the internet, so I couldn't badger him into answering my question.

It's strange how some people have opinions one things without reasoning out why they think that way.

[Imagevision]

63. meanwhile tobacco kills 487,000 per year but that's cool...

[ej510]

64. I speak with Stockton police all of the time and they want weed decriminalized.

Actually they want prostitution decriminalized to.

[Grrrfun]

66. a broad swath

of Americans apparently agree on this issue. hooray. but..

Remember Obama laughing at the college kid suggesting he as the new prez should maybe now legalize pot... I'll never forget the look and the smug laugh.. That is how nearly all politicians feel about this I'm afraid.

Silly drug war never has to show any progress at all and can be funded to infinity without oversight or explanation..

Remember the Marine in az recently gunned down by a swat team looking for a pot dealer? 71 bullets. They were in the wrong house. They lied and said he fired first to help make it legal like.. 2 tours in Iraq protecting our country.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1174476

end this kind of shit please...

[Stardust]

118. He was definitely smug when their Suggestion Box (?) during the

first few days of his presidency was inundated with requests to legalize pot. He was dismissive, as if it was an issue that was totally beneath him.

[patrice]

121. Sorry to say, "smug" IS an accurate word choice to describe his reaction to that question. nt

[Butch350]

67. In my humble opinion...

The biggest obstacle to the legalization of pot is that the BIG CORPS have not thought
of a way yet to monlopolize it - they (big biz) don't want mom and pop operations becoming
rich and living the good life. IMHO of course.

[LiberalLovinLug]

77. I think you are on (to) something

The same goes with the Big Oil companies lobbying Washington to hold off on green initiatives, or reducing oil drilling. Not until they have gobbled up all the well-meaning smaller solar and other alternative energy companies that started out as far back as the 70's. There will not be any kind of impactful alternative energy companies until it is something like Exxon Solar - we brighten your day!

That's the problem for them with MaryJane. Its a gol dang weed that grows just about anywhere! It would be difficult to justify stiff sentences for growing something that the government sells in stores. People still make their own wine and beer. So it would be hard to eradicate their home grown competition. For that reason I don't see any changes in the War on Marijuana any time soon.:(

[rbnyc]

117. You're right!

You are so right.

[patrice]

122. They also FEAR Hemp. nt

[Johnny2X2X]

70. Legalize it

I am for legalization, the harm that the criminalization fo pot has done to our society far outweighs and harm the actual drug could do if legal. End the War on Drugs.

[alfredo]

71. As long as there are for profit prisons, pot will be illegal.

[graywarrior]

76. I've been in 12-step recovery for 25 years and I say legalize it, damn it!

[marlakay]

81. Funny the part about tax dollars and prisons

do they have a clue as to what their tax dollars now are paying for???????? how many people in prison that don't belong there?

[efhmc]

82. Good grief. who would have thought it. We agree.

[Corruption Winz]

83. I'm not someone who uses drugs. Legal or illegal drugs..

But, this war on drugs is a joke, a money waste and a waste of our time.

The cost has already been talked about. The force by which they arrest and convict these people has already been addressed. It's just a waste of time.

I'd like my tax dollars to go to rapists and murderers getting locked up. Not, potheads who want to have fun on a weekend.

And I'm VERY anti-drugs-going-into-my-system. But, please....

[eridani]

88. There is conservative support on drug war abolishment from the libertarian wing

The culture warriors want no part of it.

[Honeycombe8]

89. You mean there's something Congress can agree on? Yay! I don't do drugs....

but I'd love to see pot decriminalized. It's so silly considering it in the same vein as heroin or cocaine. It's no more dangerous than alcohol, IMO, except that the smoke damages the lungs, which alcohol doesn't do.

But...wouldn't the country be a happier place if half of us were stoned?
:hippie: (wow, man...I think I see colors already)

[Habitual Candor]

94. Half are already

and there is no correlation to happiness.

Releasing all those nonviolent offenders from incarceration will surely spike their happiness, but good luck finding work in this economy.

[JesterCS]

102. true, however...

Think of the jobs created for the MJ industry. thousands of jobs.. at LEAST

[Habitual Candor]

111. Agreed, but

Those jobs already exist, albeit illegally in most places, and now they get to pay taxes. I am sure if it is ever legalized they would add some caveat that these jobs could not be held by felons.

I remember back in the 1980s when Michigan started giving out life sentences without parole for MJ, and that was fricken shame. Many people felt the same except for the District Attorneys that had political aspirations.

I guess step one is to make it legal, and simply let the rest sort itself out.

[liberaltrucker]

98. DU and FR find common ground

I'm not surprised, though. My best "imbibing" friend
is a freeper. I'll bring this thread up next time we
meet for a smoke break.

:smoke:

[w4rma]

99. Awesome. Let's get it done. (nt)

[JesterCS]

101. is it me.. or is Pallis from FR...

a little.... set in his/her ways? I mean jesus. I smoke pot.. and Ive never committed a violent crime, never even thought about it. It helps my depression and anxiety. And I am supposedly a dumb stoner, yet I have a degree in Computer Science and Electronics... IM DUMB OH NOES!

[and-justice-for-all]

103. I can no believe those comments came from shitsville.....nt

[WingDinger]

105. I am a grower, and a patient, but we cannot legalize, till we develop a test for present degree of i

intoxification. As it is, any trace amount of the drug can be used to deny youu employment, get you fired from your present job, and charged with murder, if you killed someone thru no fault of your own, and happened to test positive for past marijuana use. Or simp
As it is, simple legalization would create legal chaos. There are very sober issues to resolve, before we simply legalize. To deny that makes us irresponsible. We dont want to be pegged as potheads.

[RainDog]

114. actually, as backscatter noted, there are tests that are available

gas chromatography is much more accurate. a urine test is worthless to determine if someone is intoxicated.

saliva tests are also more accurate.

if you killed someone - it wouldn't matter if you were high or not - you would either be guilty or not guilty.

if cannabis were legal - there would be no need to deny anyone employment because of the use of cannabis. if particular occupations stipulated that, as part of employment, people could not use cannabis or alcohol while not working - the test for cannabis in that case is already available and no test currently exists for alcohol use when someone is not intoxicated so that's a non-issue too.

It is irresponsible to put people in jail or create legal problems for most anyone for using a substance that is safer than alcohol, with fewer side effects, to deny students college funding, to waste vast amts of money on an, essentially, victimless crime - honestly, there are no valid reasons not to legalize that cannot be countered with equal and greater reasons to legalize.

[Cronus Protagonist]

119. I am against taxing medical cannabis

Medicine should not be taxed. They can surely be properly humane and not add taxes to medicine.

[kimsarah]

124. Sean Hannity

will support it when he discovers that it will boost his 8-14-year-old male audience even higher.

[B Calm]

125. I have always known it would take marijuana for us get along.

[CrazyBob]

127. Good call

They are going nuts over there. This is one of those issues that shows how nutty their world-view really is.