5 Lies You’ve Been Told About the US Legalizing Marijuana

[Saint Frankenstein]

The facts I quoted are from the peer-reviewed literature. Is it too difficult for you to respond to them, or to answer the questions I asked you?

I tend not to read walls of text posted on message boards. Plus, I'm on a phone.

 

[Nous]

I tend not to read walls of text posted on message boards. Plus, I'm on a phone.

If you ever become able or willing to read the posts that you are responding to, please let me know.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

If you ever become able or willing to read the posts that you are responding to, please let me know.

I agreed with what you said about the dangers of opiods compared to weed. That's all. I have nothing else to say to you and don't wish to discuss anything with you in the first place.

 

[Nous]

I agreed with what you said about the dangers of opiods compared to weed. That's all. I have nothing else to say to you and don't wish to discuss anything with you in the first place.

Why get angry at me for just quoting the facts?

Maybe Kellyanne Conway could give you some "alternative facts" to post.

 

[McBell]

And your point is?

It is my opinion that making the claim marijuana is legal any where in the USA is the biggest of the lies surrounding the whole topic.

No worries.
I have said my piece.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Why get angry at me for just quoting the facts?

Maybe Kellyanne Conway could give you some "alternative facts" to post.

I'm not angry at you. Get over yourself.

 

[Nous]

It is my opinion that making the claim marijuana is legal any where in the USA is the biggest of the lies surrounding the whole topic.

It's the local police who arrest the vast majority of people for possessing marijuana. Therefore, in the 3 states that have legalized marijuana, the federal law doesn't matter a great deal--besides the fact that it isn't being enforced.

 

[McBell]

It's the local police who arrest the vast majority of people for possessing marijuana. Therefore, in the 3 states that have legalized marijuana, the federal law doesn't matter a great deal--besides the fact that it isn't being enforced.

Opinions vary.

Fact is, the state not enforcing a law does not make it legal.

 

[Nous]

I'm not angry at you.

So you're just angry at the facts.

Get over yourself.

That sounds like advice you should take. After all, you aren't even reading the posts that you are responding to.

 

[Nous]

Fact is, the state not enforcing a law does not make it legal.

The 3 states noted in the OP are enforcing their laws.

 

[Flame]

It's the local police who arrest the vast majority of people for possessing marijuana. Therefore, in the 3 states that have legalized marijuana, the federal law doesn't matter a great deal--besides the fact that it isn't being enforced.

I remember there being a whole deal after Colorado legalized that DEA could enforce the federal law within the state, despite it being legal. I'll do a little digging and see if I can't find that video/article.

 

[McBell]

The 3 states noted in the OP are enforcing their laws.

the states noted in the OP are not enforcing Federal Laws.
nice try though.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

So you're just angry at the facts.

That sounds like advice you should take. After all, you aren't even reading the posts that you are responding to.

Dude, I didn't respond to you in the first place in this thread. I was pointing something out to another poster. You responded to me, I said I agreed with you on something, you try to bait me into a pointless argument and are pissy that I won't take the bait. Get over it and move on.

 

[Nous]

I remember there being a whole deal after Colorado legalized that DEA could enforce the federal law within the state, despite it being legal. I'll do a little digging and see if I can't find that video/article.

The DEA can enforce the federal Controlled Substances Act in all states that have legalized marijuana. And, in fact, I may have been wrong in saying that they haven't done so in Colorado--they may have to some small extent.

 

[Nous]

the states noted in the OP are not enforcing Federal Laws.

That's correct. Did someone say something to the contrary?

 

[Nous]

Dude, I didn't respond to you in the first place in this thread. I was pointing something out to another poster. You responded to me, I said I agreed with you on something, you try to bait me into a pointless argument and are pissy that I won't take the bait. Get over it and move on.

And you want someone to believe that you're not angry? I responded to your claim that "It's very difficult to maintain a successful lifestyle and be a drug user," noting that almost 70% of Americans are prescription drug users. I'm not sure even you believe or can substantiate your claim. If your claim has any basis in reality, just cite the evidence. Or tell us how you became so successful.

 

[columbus]

It is my opinion that making the claim marijuana is legal any where in the USA is the biggest of the lies surrounding the whole topic.

I don't really think that this is the biggest lie, for a couple of reasons.
For one, I don't think anyone misunderstands what it means. "Legal" is not quite a black and white term. Everyone knows that in one state no authority cares about a pot plant on your patio, in another they all care a lot. It is vastly more legal in the first than the other. So it isn't quite a lie.

On the other hand, some real whoppers are being told. Mainly, I believe, by the people who profit by the status quo. The whole issue is fraught with incomplete truth or halftruths, right up to flat out lies. People on both sides of the issue do it, but mostly I think that the lies come from parties who stand to lose the most. Everyone from for profits prison investors to beer companies to big pharmaceuticals corporations have major motivations to keep small time pot use illegal. Thats where the biggest lies come from.
Tom

 

[Flame]

The DEA can enforce the federal Controlled Substances Act in all states that have legalized marijuana. And, in fact, I may have been wrong in saying that they haven't done so in Colorado--they may have to some small extent.

From what I've been able to dig up most of it is on massive home growing operations for out of state selling or the people moving the large quantities.

 

[Milton Platt]

You are right. Thank you for pointing that out. Indeed, the link that the article provides for #3 merely notes several studies on the relative harms of marijuana, alcohol, tobacco and "other drugs".

However, I do wish to note a few studies where marijuana use was found to be associated with better health and public health outcomes:

. . . a 2013 study published in The American Journal of Medicine . . . found marijuana use was associated with lower rates of obesity, lower levels of fasting insulin and insulin resistance -- high and low insulin levels can cause hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia, respectively -- and smaller waist circumferences. In other words, and as researchers speculated, it seems marijuana improves insulin control, and thus regulates body weight as well.

Other studies have found similar results, such as one from 2011 that involved two surveys. One found 22 percent of people who didn’t smoke weed were obese, compared to 14 percent of regular smokers, while the other found 25 percent of nonsmokers were obese, compared to 17 percent of regular smokers. Again, researchers were unsure of how this effect occurred.​

http://www.medicaldaily.com/pulse/s...r-bmi-why-pot-smokers-tend-be-skinnier-320854

Medical Cannabis Laws and Opioid Analgesic Overdose Mortality in the United States, 1999-2010

Abstract

Importance Opioid analgesic overdose mortality continues to rise in the United States, driven by increases in prescribing for chronic pain. Because chronic pain is a major indication for medical cannabis, laws that establish access to medical cannabis may change overdose mortality related to opioid analgesics in states that have enacted them.

Objective To determine the association between the presence of state medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality.

[. . .]

Results Three states (California, Oregon, and Washington) had medical cannabis laws effective prior to 1999. Ten states (Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont) enacted medical cannabis laws between 1999 and 2010. States with medical cannabis laws had a 24.8% lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate (95% CI, −37.5% to −9.5%; P=.003) compared with states without medical cannabis laws. Examination of the association between medical cannabis laws and opioid analgesic overdose mortality in each year after implementation of the law showed that such laws were associated with a lower rate of overdose mortality that generally strengthened over time: year 1 (−19.9%; 95% CI, −30.6% to −7.7%; P=.002), year 2 (−25.2%; 95% CI, −40.6% to −5.9%; P=.01), year 3 (−23.6%; 95% CI, −41.1% to −1.0%; P=.04), year 4 (−20.2%; 95% CI, −33.6% to −4.0%; P=.02), year 5 (−33.7%; 95% CI, −50.9% to −10.4%; P=.008), and year 6 (−33.3%; 95% CI, −44.7% to −19.6%; P<.001). In secondary analyses, the findings remained similar.​

http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1898878&_ga=1.153494456.100022253.1403713476

Couples’ marijuana use is inversely related to their intimate partner violence over the first 9 years of marriage.

Research on the association between marijuana use and intimate partner violence (IPV) has generated inconsistent findings, and has been primarily based on cross-sectional data. We examined whether husbands’ and wives’ marijuana use predicted both husbands’ and wives’ IPV perpetration over the first 9 years of marriage (Wave 1, n = 634 couples). We also examined moderation by antisocial behavior, the spouse’s marijuana use, and whether IPV was reported during the year before marriage. These predictive associations were calculated using a time-lagged multivariate generalized multilevel model, simultaneously estimating predictors of husband and wife IPV. In fully adjusted models, we found that more frequent marijuana use by husbands and wives predicted less frequent IPV perpetration by husbands. Husbands’ marijuana use also predicted less frequent IPV perpetration by wives. Moderation analyses demonstrated that couples in which both spouses used marijuana frequently reported the least frequent IPV perpetration. There was a significant positive association between wives’ marijuana use and wives’ IPV perpetration, but only among wives who had already reported IPV perpetration during the year before marriage. These findings suggest there may be an overall inverse association between marijuana use and IPV perpetration in newly married couples, although use may be associated with greater risk of perpetration among women with a history of IPV perpetration.​

http://psycnet.apa.org/?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/a0037302
I think the study on opioid overdose mortality in states with medical marijuana laws is particularly noteworthy.

We have been and are at odds about some things, especially evolution. It is refreshing that you and I can connect on something. I have always viewed you as well read and thoughtful even though we see things differently.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

And you want someone to believe that you're not angry? I responded to your claim that "It's very difficult to maintain a successful lifestyle and be a drug user," noting that almost 70% of Americans are prescription drug users. I'm not sure even you believe or can substantiate your claim. If your claim has any basis in reality, just cite the evidence. Or tell us how you became so successful.

I had hard drugs like heroin and cocaine in mind.