I know that some people are thinking legalization is the greatest thing the government can do for us (as I do), but would it really affect us? We can get pot really easily now, the only thing is that we get arrested if we're caught with it in public. I think college kids need to pick up the movement. Get arrested, be a martyr (but don't complain about it, just tell anyone around that the law is unfair!) Most police officers can't answer the question, why is marijuana illegal? Most of them don't agree with the law. So it's not the police's fault, it's the fucking government's fault. We need to elect Ron Paul.
Does legalization really matter?
- Thread starter bongface
- Start date
SweetestCheeba
Well-Known Member
Hell yea, im sick and tired of herain bout my boys gettin caught wit bags and doin time and gettin probation. i've been booked twice, once for 1/2 a gram and the second time for 7 grams and i got the same fuckin punishment. its jus a retarted fuckin law that shouldnt have been put into effect in the first place. Until u get booked on a petty case u wont understand
dura72
Well-Known Member
i got busted 7 months ago, drunk driving and posseion of valium, it gave the fucks an excuse to get a warrant to search my house, of course i had full tent set up with 8 plants in it. until that i was in the 10% minority of my mates without any drugs previous(plenty of other shit but no drugs, just luck i guess)18 month driving ban, 150 hours unpaid community work and a years probabtion.
Jogro
Well-Known Member
If you sell the product, its probably better for it to remain illegal, since illegality keeps prices nice and high.
But yes, if you consume the product (recreationally or medically), it matters.
Its potentially the difference between being a criminal and not. Having a criminal record can affect lots of things; including your ability to qualify for any number of jobs.
As already mentioned above, a small amount of pot can turn a minor legal situation into a major one.
Cultivation of even a small amount is a major offense in many jurisdictions, not just a minor "traffic ticket" misdemeanor.
But yes, if you consume the product (recreationally or medically), it matters.
Its potentially the difference between being a criminal and not. Having a criminal record can affect lots of things; including your ability to qualify for any number of jobs.
As already mentioned above, a small amount of pot can turn a minor legal situation into a major one.
Cultivation of even a small amount is a major offense in many jurisdictions, not just a minor "traffic ticket" misdemeanor.
echlectica
Well-Known Member
The only people who don't want pot legalized are people making their living from the fact that it is illegal; either as a dealer or in law enforcement... So I wonder if that means that dealers and cops are two side of the same coin? Wow...
SweetestCheeba
Well-Known Member
^^^^^^ hell yea they are, especially the big dealers man. im tellin u its all apart of the system. jus think about all the grass and dope that they confiscate, wat do u think they do with it put it in a drug warehouse, hell no they seel that shit right back out on the streets.
dura72
Well-Known Member
its my opinion ,based on a great many years close observation, thet the real bastrds behind the illegalistion are the fucking bottom feeders that are lawyers, cops dont really give a fuck apart from the odd robo-cop asshole, judges know well that jailing people is a complete waste of time as its a relatively minor offence i reality, prisons dont have the space, politicians are shitting themselves for an electoral backlash although every 1 of the fuckers was a student and KNOW exactly what the drug actually does so they just play the party line, but those fucking vultures just keep earning billions every fucking year and they dont want that particular cash cow slaughterd. i fucking HATE lawyers.
Brick Top
New Member
Paid for by the Ron Paul for president committee.
___________________________________________________________
Where legalization would have the greatest impact would be on collected tax revenues. If fully legal production would not be in the hands of the people who inhabit sites like this and who now supply others. It would be in the hands of corporations and other types of business. An entire new segment of the economy would be created for the growing, processing and selling of cannabis. That would mean increased employment, some in cannabis research for medications. It would mean more and increased incomes, sales and profits all being taxable.
It would also mean fewer busts, a less log-jammed court system, fewer inmates, reduced need for interdiction, fewer DEA agents and other drug agents at state level. Those things equate to saved tax dollars.
Also, if cannabis were made legal it goes without saying that industrial hemp would be made legal. Hemp makes a better bio-fuel than sugar cane or any other presently known source. That means corn would not be needed for bio-fuels so it's price would drop and various foods would not be so costly. It would reduce dependance on foreign oil. It would reduce the need for trees for paper and paper products. It's fibers can be used in clothing.
Combine the increased tax revenues and savings and it would have a true impact on the economy.
Those things are only the tip of the iceberg. Much more would be involved with legalization.
echlectica
Well-Known Member
obviously, you have never been in an American jail or prison. I have to tell you its probably a completely different story than Scotland. Its not fun when your out numbered 38 to 1 by individual of a race that your ancestors enslaved... Also get caught with those plants here in the states in a place that does not have MMJ and your going to have way bigger problems than losing your license, 150 hour community service (which you should be doing regardless) and some probation. I personally have 7 felony convictions fordrugs in the US I have not worked in years. I do wirewraps and grow vegetable and my wife works. This is not fun, its bullshit. Marijuana needs to be legalized completely.
joker1420
Active Member
I would take a pay cut to see Maryjane legal...I would give my left nut to be able to grow a 10 foot tall plant legally and not to mention to walk through fields of green..But sadly it will never happen because of the jobs it would take away u thought we were in a recession now..Plus then we would win and they willnot allow it
dura72
Well-Known Member
lol, yeah. the yank prison system is an absolute shamble. its just a place to brutalise and incarcerate. ive seen enuff documentaires to realis that, im alslo well aware that tv cant do the reality of the situation justice though. i believe america holds more of its population in prison than any other 'civilised' country. thats what happens when your country is run by a bunch of knee jerk arch conservatives with religious fervour, we have sum of them too but they kind of get laughed out of politics for being too fuckin thick. i mean for god sake Sarah Palin!! Ross Perot? Goeorge dubya bush?? christ they wouldnt get anywhere higher than a grade school teachers job or a fuckin used car salesman. although i have to admit i'd lay Palin! over here we tend not to get too wrapped up with that extreme punishment mentality unless its about child murderers/paedophiles. the drug thing will only get you serioussly fucked over if your a constant repeat offender or your moving big weight of herion/coke. even then very rarely does it go over 8 years and chances are you'll be out in half that. ah well such is life.i reckon it'll be a good ten years before it changes maybe even 20 although i think most people , especially with the current ecomic crisis, are wondering why were throwing money away on an never stopping tidal wave. lets face it, they'll never stop me.
ÒÒlegilizeitÒÒ
Well-Known Member
hahaha well my name shows my opinion. but ya there is no reason for weed to be illegal the pros of it far out weigh cons and the only reason it is illegal is because the people who get money from it being illegal and that happens to be mostly people who decide if its illegal or not
Brick Top
New Member
Legalization would create far more jobs than would be lost. There would be a net gain in jobs.
bob harris
Well-Known Member
That's not true. True med users would love to see it legalized...easy access..The only people who don't want pot legalized are people making their living from the fact that it is illegal; either as a dealer or in law enforcement... So I wonder if that means that dealers and cops are two side of the same coin? Wow...
ÒÒlegilizeitÒÒ
Well-Known Member
honestly, is it just me or is this illegal natural drug healthy for you??
Safety of cannabis
According to an approved statement from the US Department of Justice in 1988, "Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality. In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug-related toxicity."
From January 1997 to June 2005, the FDA reported zero deaths caused by the primary use of marijuana. Through that time period, 279 deaths were reported where marijuana was a possible "concomitant" drug used in conjunction with other drugs at the time of death. In contrast, common FDA-approved drugs which are often prescribed in lieu of marijuana (such as anti-emetics and anti-psychotics), were the primary cause of 10,008 deaths.
Alzheimer's disease
Research done by the Scripps Research Institute in California shows that the active ingredient in marijuana, THC, prevents the formation of deposits in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease. THC was found to prevent an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase from accelerating the formation of "Alzheimer plaques" in the brain more effectively than commercially marketed drugs. THC is also more effective at blocking clumps of protein that can inhibit memory and cognition in Alzheimers patients, as reported in Molecular Pharmaceutics.
Mental Disorders
There has been evidence that smoking marijuana can have a positive effect on disorders such as Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression.[citation needed] In patients with bipolar disorder subjects have been shown to actually become better after smoking marijuana increasing the rate at which these patients go from high to low.[citation needed] In the case of depression many users have reported that their moods have become better.[citation needed] Research done on lab rats and animals has shown that marijuana can act as an anti-depressant but in other studies done on humans this is not the case, actually pushing the subjects further into their depression.[citation needed] A study of 50,000 Swedish soldiers who had smoked at least once were twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as those who had not smoked. The study concluded that either smoking caused a higher rate of schizophrenia, or that schizophrenics were more likely to be drawn to marijuana.
A study by Keele University commissioned by the British government found that between 1996 and 2005 there had been significant reductions in the incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia. From 2000 onwards there were also significant reductions in the prevalence of psychoses.
The authors say this data is "not consistent with the hypothesis that increasing cannabis use in earlier decades is associated with increasing schizophrenia or psychoses from the mid-1990s onwards".
A 10 year study on 1923 individuals from the general population in Germany, aged 1424, concluded that cannabis use is a risk factor for the development of incident psychotic symptoms. Continued cannabis use might increase the risk for psychotic disorder.
Lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
The evidence to date is conflicting as to whether smoking cannabis increases the risk of developing lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among people who do not smoke tobacco. In 2006 a study by Hashibe, Morgenstern, Cui, Tashkin, et al. suggested that smoking cannabis does not, by itself, increase the risk of lung cancer. Several subsequent studies have found results suggesting the reverse, however many of these were not completed with proper scientific controls and have subsequently been discredited. Many studies did report a strongly synergistic effect, however, between tobacco use and smoking cannabis such that tobacco smokers who also smoked cannabis dramatically increased their already very high risk of developing lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by as much as 300%. Some of these research results follow below:
According to a 2007 study at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, cannabidiol (CBD) may stop breast cancer from spreading throughout the body. These researchers believe their discovery may provide a non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy while achieving the same results minus the painful and unpleasant side effects. The research team says that CBD works by blocking the activity of a gene called Id-1, which is believed to be responsible for a process called metastasis, which is the aggressive spread of cancer cells away from the original tumor site.
HIV/AIDS
Investigators at Columbia University published clinical trial data in 2007 showing that HIV/AIDS patients who inhaled cannabis four times daily experienced substantial increases in food intake with little evidence of discomfort and no impairment of cognitive performance. They concluded that smoked marijuana has a clear medical benefit in HIV-positive patients. In another study in 2008, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found that marijuana significantly reduces HIV-related neuropathic pain when added to a patient's already-prescribed pain management regimen and may be an "effective option for pain relief" in those whose pain is not controlled with current medications. Mood disturbance, physical disability, and quality of life all improved significantly during study treatment. Despite management with opioids and other pain modifying therapies, neuropathic pain continues to reduce the quality of life and daily functioning in HIV-infected individuals. Cannabinoid receptors in the central and peripheral nervous systems have been shown to modulate pain perception. No serious adverse effects were reported, according to the study published by the American Academy of Neurology. A study examining the effectiveness of different drugs for HIV associated neuropathic pain found that smoked Cannabis was one of only three drugs that showed evidence of efficacy.
Brain cancer
A study by Complutense University of Madrid found the chemicals in marijuana promotes the death of brain cancer cells by essentially helping them feed upon themselves in a process called autophagy. The research team discovered that cannabinoids such as THC had anticancer effects in mice with human brain cancer cells and in people with brain tumors. When mice with the human brain cancer cells received the THC, the tumor shrank. Using electron microscopes to analyze brain tissue taken both before and after a 26- to 30-day THC treatment regimen, the researchers found that THC eliminated cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact. The patients did not have any toxic effects from the treatment; previous studies of THC for the treatment of cancer have also found the therapy to be well tolerated. However, the mechanisms which promote THC's tumor cellkilling action are unknown.
Opioid dependence
Injections of THC eliminate dependence on opiates in stressed rats, according to a research team at the Laboratory for Physiopathology of Diseases of the Central Nervous System (France) in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. Deprived of their mothers at birth, rats become hypersensitive to the rewarding effect of morphine and heroin (substances belonging to the opiate family), and rapidly become dependent. When these rats were administered THC, they no longer developed typical morphine-dependent behavior. In the striatum, a region of the brain involved in drug dependence, the production of endogenous enkephalins was restored under THC, whereas it diminished in rats stressed from birth which had not received THC. Researchers believe the findings could lead to therapeutic alternatives to existing substitution treatments.
In humans, drug treatment subjects who use cannabis intermittently are found to be more likely to adhere to treatment for opioid dependence. Historically, similar findings were reported by Edward Birch, who, in 1889, reported success in treating opiate and chloral addiction with cannabis.
Controlling ALS Symptoms
Recent research has been conducted on if the use of marijuana could control some of the symptoms of ALS or Lou Gehrig Disease. A survey was conducted on 131 people who suffered from ALS. The survey asked if the subjects had used marijuana in the last 12 months to control some of their symptoms. The survey resulted in 13 people who had used the drug in some form to control symptoms. The subjects all concluded that the symptoms of appetite loss, depression, pain, spasticity, drooling, and weakness.
Spasticity in multiple sclerosis
A review of six randomized controlled trials of a combination of THC and CBD extracts for the treatment of MS related muscle spasticity reported, "Although there was variation in the outcome measures reported in these studies, a trend of reduced spasticity in treated patients was noted." The authors postulated that "cannabinoids may provide neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory benefits in MS." A small study done on whether or not marijuana could be used to control tremors of MS patients was conducted. The study found that there was no noticeable difference of the tremors in the patients. Although there was no difference in the tremors the patients felt as if their symptoms had lessened and their quality of life had improved. The researchers concluded that the mood enhancing or cognitive effects that cannabis has on the brain could have given the patients the effect that their tremors were getting better.
Treatment of inflammatory skin disease
The abundant distribution of cannabinoid receptors on skin nerve fibers and mast cells provides implications for an anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive action of cannabinoid receptor agonists and suggests their putatively broad therapeutic potential
Safety of cannabis
According to an approved statement from the US Department of Justice in 1988, "Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality. In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug-related toxicity."
From January 1997 to June 2005, the FDA reported zero deaths caused by the primary use of marijuana. Through that time period, 279 deaths were reported where marijuana was a possible "concomitant" drug used in conjunction with other drugs at the time of death. In contrast, common FDA-approved drugs which are often prescribed in lieu of marijuana (such as anti-emetics and anti-psychotics), were the primary cause of 10,008 deaths.
Alzheimer's disease
Research done by the Scripps Research Institute in California shows that the active ingredient in marijuana, THC, prevents the formation of deposits in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease. THC was found to prevent an enzyme called acetylcholinesterase from accelerating the formation of "Alzheimer plaques" in the brain more effectively than commercially marketed drugs. THC is also more effective at blocking clumps of protein that can inhibit memory and cognition in Alzheimers patients, as reported in Molecular Pharmaceutics.
Mental Disorders
There has been evidence that smoking marijuana can have a positive effect on disorders such as Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or depression.[citation needed] In patients with bipolar disorder subjects have been shown to actually become better after smoking marijuana increasing the rate at which these patients go from high to low.[citation needed] In the case of depression many users have reported that their moods have become better.[citation needed] Research done on lab rats and animals has shown that marijuana can act as an anti-depressant but in other studies done on humans this is not the case, actually pushing the subjects further into their depression.[citation needed] A study of 50,000 Swedish soldiers who had smoked at least once were twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as those who had not smoked. The study concluded that either smoking caused a higher rate of schizophrenia, or that schizophrenics were more likely to be drawn to marijuana.
A study by Keele University commissioned by the British government found that between 1996 and 2005 there had been significant reductions in the incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia. From 2000 onwards there were also significant reductions in the prevalence of psychoses.
The authors say this data is "not consistent with the hypothesis that increasing cannabis use in earlier decades is associated with increasing schizophrenia or psychoses from the mid-1990s onwards".
A 10 year study on 1923 individuals from the general population in Germany, aged 1424, concluded that cannabis use is a risk factor for the development of incident psychotic symptoms. Continued cannabis use might increase the risk for psychotic disorder.
Lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
The evidence to date is conflicting as to whether smoking cannabis increases the risk of developing lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among people who do not smoke tobacco. In 2006 a study by Hashibe, Morgenstern, Cui, Tashkin, et al. suggested that smoking cannabis does not, by itself, increase the risk of lung cancer. Several subsequent studies have found results suggesting the reverse, however many of these were not completed with proper scientific controls and have subsequently been discredited. Many studies did report a strongly synergistic effect, however, between tobacco use and smoking cannabis such that tobacco smokers who also smoked cannabis dramatically increased their already very high risk of developing lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by as much as 300%. Some of these research results follow below:
- In 2006, Hashibe, Morgenstern, Cui, Tashkin, et al. presented the results from a study involving 2,240 subjects that showed non-tobacco users who smoked marijuana did not exhibit an increased incidence of lung cancer or head-and-neck malignancies. These results were supported even among very long-term, very heavy users of marijuana.
- A case-control study of lung cancer in adults 55 years of age and younger found that the risk of lung cancer increased 8% (95% confidence interval (CI) 215) for each joint-year of cannabis smoking, after adjustment for confounding variables including cigarette smoking, and 7% (95% CI 59) for each pack-year of cigarette smoking, after adjustment for confounding variables including cannabis smoking.
- A 2008 study by Hii, Tam, Thompson, and Naughton found that marijuana smoking leads to asymmetrical bullous disease, often in the setting of normal CXR and lung function. In subjects who smoke marijuana, these pathological changes occur at a younger age (approximately 20 years earlier) than in tobacco smokers.
- Researchers from the University of British Columbia presented a study at the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference showing that smoking marijuana and tobacco together more than tripled the risk of developing COPD over just smoking tobacco alone. Similar findings were released in April 2009 by the Vancouver Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease Research Group. The study reported that smoking both tobacco and marijuana synergistically increased the risk of respiratory symptoms and COPD. Smoking only marijuana, however, was not associated with an increased risk of respiratory symptoms of COPD. In a related commentary, pulmonary researcher Donald Tashkin wrote, "...we can be close to concluding that marijuana smoking by itself does not lead to COPD".
According to a 2007 study at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, cannabidiol (CBD) may stop breast cancer from spreading throughout the body. These researchers believe their discovery may provide a non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy while achieving the same results minus the painful and unpleasant side effects. The research team says that CBD works by blocking the activity of a gene called Id-1, which is believed to be responsible for a process called metastasis, which is the aggressive spread of cancer cells away from the original tumor site.
HIV/AIDS
Investigators at Columbia University published clinical trial data in 2007 showing that HIV/AIDS patients who inhaled cannabis four times daily experienced substantial increases in food intake with little evidence of discomfort and no impairment of cognitive performance. They concluded that smoked marijuana has a clear medical benefit in HIV-positive patients. In another study in 2008, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found that marijuana significantly reduces HIV-related neuropathic pain when added to a patient's already-prescribed pain management regimen and may be an "effective option for pain relief" in those whose pain is not controlled with current medications. Mood disturbance, physical disability, and quality of life all improved significantly during study treatment. Despite management with opioids and other pain modifying therapies, neuropathic pain continues to reduce the quality of life and daily functioning in HIV-infected individuals. Cannabinoid receptors in the central and peripheral nervous systems have been shown to modulate pain perception. No serious adverse effects were reported, according to the study published by the American Academy of Neurology. A study examining the effectiveness of different drugs for HIV associated neuropathic pain found that smoked Cannabis was one of only three drugs that showed evidence of efficacy.
Brain cancer
A study by Complutense University of Madrid found the chemicals in marijuana promotes the death of brain cancer cells by essentially helping them feed upon themselves in a process called autophagy. The research team discovered that cannabinoids such as THC had anticancer effects in mice with human brain cancer cells and in people with brain tumors. When mice with the human brain cancer cells received the THC, the tumor shrank. Using electron microscopes to analyze brain tissue taken both before and after a 26- to 30-day THC treatment regimen, the researchers found that THC eliminated cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact. The patients did not have any toxic effects from the treatment; previous studies of THC for the treatment of cancer have also found the therapy to be well tolerated. However, the mechanisms which promote THC's tumor cellkilling action are unknown.
Opioid dependence
Injections of THC eliminate dependence on opiates in stressed rats, according to a research team at the Laboratory for Physiopathology of Diseases of the Central Nervous System (France) in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology. Deprived of their mothers at birth, rats become hypersensitive to the rewarding effect of morphine and heroin (substances belonging to the opiate family), and rapidly become dependent. When these rats were administered THC, they no longer developed typical morphine-dependent behavior. In the striatum, a region of the brain involved in drug dependence, the production of endogenous enkephalins was restored under THC, whereas it diminished in rats stressed from birth which had not received THC. Researchers believe the findings could lead to therapeutic alternatives to existing substitution treatments.
In humans, drug treatment subjects who use cannabis intermittently are found to be more likely to adhere to treatment for opioid dependence. Historically, similar findings were reported by Edward Birch, who, in 1889, reported success in treating opiate and chloral addiction with cannabis.
Controlling ALS Symptoms
Recent research has been conducted on if the use of marijuana could control some of the symptoms of ALS or Lou Gehrig Disease. A survey was conducted on 131 people who suffered from ALS. The survey asked if the subjects had used marijuana in the last 12 months to control some of their symptoms. The survey resulted in 13 people who had used the drug in some form to control symptoms. The subjects all concluded that the symptoms of appetite loss, depression, pain, spasticity, drooling, and weakness.
Spasticity in multiple sclerosis
A review of six randomized controlled trials of a combination of THC and CBD extracts for the treatment of MS related muscle spasticity reported, "Although there was variation in the outcome measures reported in these studies, a trend of reduced spasticity in treated patients was noted." The authors postulated that "cannabinoids may provide neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory benefits in MS." A small study done on whether or not marijuana could be used to control tremors of MS patients was conducted. The study found that there was no noticeable difference of the tremors in the patients. Although there was no difference in the tremors the patients felt as if their symptoms had lessened and their quality of life had improved. The researchers concluded that the mood enhancing or cognitive effects that cannabis has on the brain could have given the patients the effect that their tremors were getting better.
Treatment of inflammatory skin disease
The abundant distribution of cannabinoid receptors on skin nerve fibers and mast cells provides implications for an anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive action of cannabinoid receptor agonists and suggests their putatively broad therapeutic potential
dura72
Well-Known Member
just heard on tv there that america has 5% of the worlds population and that 1/4 of the entire worlds prisoners are yanks. 1 in 30 men between 16 and 34 are in jail and if ur black its 1 in 9. CHRIST ALMIGHTY. wot the fuck are you people living in? land of the free? yeah, that'll be fucking right!
joker1420
Active Member
I agree with that but it is jobs for middle and lower class and it will be taking $$ out a lot of rich peoples pockets now if it was a bunch of rich people that would be making the money u bet it would be legal tommarow but i could be wrong i am pretty medicated so..yeah..
bob harris
Well-Known Member
That's only because we imprison our criminals, rather than execute them. If we just killed them our imprisonment rate would be much lower too...