Cannabis/Weed

Should Cannabis/Weed be legal?  I personally think so right now, but I can have my mind changed.  I've posted a lot of right wing stuff on this site.  It's time I posted something left wing.

there's a difference between legal and decriminalized, in general you shouldn't be put in jail for it, though I don't think it should be legal necessarily.

Decriminalizing is similar to legalizing it with a tax.

it's not actually, because they can set possession limits and have more control over it if they keep it "illegal"  California got half of the projected taxes they thought they would get when they legalized it.  It's a farce by the reality of what actually has happened.  This economic boom from legalization never happened.  I'm fine with it being a control substance for legitimate medical conditions.  The really issue is people aren't responsible and it's very difficult to hold individual accountable.  Children haven't died that I know of but have over dosed on the edibles.  If someone wants to be self destructive that's fine, i don't really care so long as it doesn't impact me or anyone I care about.

I think the economic boom is in the process of happening.  There are 4 basic steps that I see happening:

1. Weed is illegal everywhere in the nation.  Stigma on weed is high.

2. Weed is a states issue.  Stigma is still high.

3. Weed becomes legal recreational nationwide.  The stigma is high still.

4. Weed is recreational for enough time to remove the stigma from it.  Saying your a stoner is like saying your Jewish, and being Jewish used to have a negative stigma to it.

I think the economic boom will take a long time to occur.

If people want to use weed so much that they die from it, that's their choice.  Recreational use shouldn't be legal until age 21 to prevent minors from consuming it.  Medical use age limit should be 0 because if you need the THC to save your life, you should take the THC in whatever amount prescribed by a credible doctor.

In short, weed should be as legal as alcohol is and under very similar if not, the same terms.  No stoned drivers.  No underage stoning.  But otherwise, let the free market exist.

naw the economic projections where half of what they thought.  There's far more to the stigma.  Many employers do drug testing.  Then there's insurance issues.  The unintended consequences haven't been thoroughly thought out yet and it's moving way too fast imo.  people aren't as smart or responsible as you think, youtube is a clear indication of that, tide pods anyone?

Can you cite this?  Even if it's only half of the expected revenue, money is money.  It can to at least some extent reduce taxes while providing the same level of government services.

They may also test to see if you do other legal drugs, like alcohol and nicotine.

Don't smokers pay higher insurance rates then the rest of us?

There could be unintended consequences, both good and bad.  This is why an experiment ought to take place.

What are tide pods?

Pot tax revenue was nearly 50% lower than initial projections in California's first year of recreational weed sales.

Why do you constantly insult the right wing?

Prosecuting victimless crimes are absurd. If the problem with weed is the health effects than treating it like any other addiction or health crisis would be the way to go (Imagine how disastrous the current opioid crisis if it were followed by brutal crackdown form the police).

Drug criminilization disproportionately effects poorer communities  (esp. people of colour) with less access to quality addictions treatment, arresting these people isn't solving the underlying problem. Of course, Nixon and the first to declare this "war on drugs"  had no such interest in solving said problem. 

Any declared "War On X" is a pretext for a failed policy.

I think it's really important to punish traffickers/sellers of drugs like heroine (especially in the US). I think the punishments for trafficking should actually be much, much more severe. This includes doctors. At the same time, I think that we shouldn't punish addicts, that it's both morally wrong and bad policy. We should instead rehabilitate them and invest some resources into making them productive again. It's also important to solve the underlying issues like unemployment, driven by automation and outsourcing.

pot can cause mental illness. not to mention lung and other problems. that is a problem in itself, but also for the welfare rolls. i realize people are resonsible for themselves and welfare doesn't have to cater to them, but if we have drugs outlawed for a reason otherwise, it's important to note that pot too has its own problems. 

I don't see any reason to keep it illegal. I think all drugs should be legal and the police should not be responsible to revive you. EMT sure but not police. If you drive UTI or show up to a job UTI you should be able to be fired or jailed. Honestly the synthetic drugs are way worse than pot. 

Out of all the drugs that can be legal, it should be cannabis. I would add hallucinogenics to this too. I would really like to make alcohol illegal, tobacco, kratom, and other such addictive drugs. But, due to history... i know that's not a good idea. But mainly, weed and shrooms (i'll categorize them by those names) have no addiction... or at least, physical addiction which is most damaging. Now, they can have addiction if someone is using it to mask something. But, that something is what comes back... it's not addiction. 

I'm a recovering addict and have done almost every drug you can think of, and have become addicted to them as well... the ones you can be addicted too. I've smoked weed for years and was able to stop them and get no physical withdrawals. It's physical withdrawals that are the most dangerous thing to look out for in drugs. 

Alcohol will kill you cold turkey, or make you feel so shitty that you will do anything for another sip. Now, this is less harmful bc it's legal. Which kinda puts me in a make them all legal mood. Bc meth and opiate addiction is just as horrible in regards to withdrawals (although if your healthy it can't kill you like alcohol). But since it is illegal, there are only so many places you can go to get them. And, there may be long times you'll have to be in withdrawal bc say a dealer isn't available. In those cases, i think withdrawal can lead to violent behavior or crime. 

This is bc when you are addicted to these drugs... you are shutting down your frontal cortex. You are mainly operating off of you reptilian brain. Add in the fact that you literally feel like you're in hell when in withdrawals... some people can do crazy things. 

So, i'll be the argument on the opposite end of the spectrum. I think we should make all drugs legal and regulated. I didn't even bring up that it would possibly even end the drug war... but as you can see, it has detrimental implications on the individual as well.  

I agree as of right now, with a tax to bring in revenue for the federal government.

I think the world should change. Politicians should be of every expertise. We need intellectuals to run our nation... not greedy lawyers. 

I'll pose one of the arguments they always make against making them all legal... it will increase usage. However, they don't understand the difference bw a normy and an addict. A normy can do any drug they want and not become addicted (if they know it's addictive which is another key). A perfect example is in the Kratom legality right now. Normies are using it and not becoming addicted. On the opposite spectrum, addicts are having a hard time with it. In what's legal right now, an addict will become an addict as soon is he/she takes their first sip of alcohol, take kratom, take a pain pill, take adderal ect. There are already countless ways for an addict to be triggered into addiction. So the argument they will increase is just ignorant.. that's going to happen anyways... but even say it's a small increase.. that's a better issue to tackle than gang wars, drug wars, strung out criminals, etc. It purely ignorance of drugs that we have it this way. 

People will always find a way to use it even if it's illegal.