Should Cannabis be legalized, regulated, and taxed for those over 21?

[Nada]

A THC overdose isn't even that big of a deal and there have been NO REPORTED DEATHS from these kinds of overdoses. Take a look at the symptoms ... any smoker will tell you that they've experienced this at one point and that a hospital visit isn't necessary. It's just a reaction to the paranoia.

Effect of Ingesting Too Much Marijuana --“Greening Out”
A temporary overdose of marijuana can occur and is called “greening out.” It is important to understand that a temporary overdose of marijuana will not result in permanent disability or death, but can be quite common in people who have not used the drug often. The following are the symptoms of too much marijuana in the system:

• Temporary feelings of paranoia, fear and anxiety
• Shortness of breath
• Pupil dilation
• Vomiting and/or nausea
• Fast heart rate
• Shaking that is hard to control, feeling cold
• Disorientation or hallucinations
• Hangover

This phenomenon passes on its own within minutes to hours of marijuana use. If the symptoms are severe, medical attention needs to be obtained to make sure the user is closely observed for complications. There is a chance that some marijuana obtained on the street could contain stronger chemicals and drugs that could cause a person to become very ill. In this case, someone could suffer from dangerous side effects. There is also a slight risk of using too much marijuana with underlying health conditions and suffering severe reactions to the drug.

Unless you choke to death from the munchies intake.Lol.. That's the only way I can see someone dying from weed.I know that if you blaze up a lot it will give you a very bad headache.That is one symptom I did not see on the list.

 

[Twilight Hue]

It depends upon how Colorado turns out if pot is truly a lesser risk than alcohol or tobacco. If it meets the criteria for already legalized substances then it's feasible and reasonable to lift the legal restrictions.

 

[Deidre]

The Governent spends a ridiculous amount of money on enforcement costs, which are not nearly made up by fines/court-costs. So, can you provide some proof for this surprising claim?

I posted a link somewhere in this thread...showing who the special interest groups are, and why most likely many have a vested interest in keeping it illegal.

 

[dust1n]

Coca, Marijuana, and a slew of other particular drugs should be entirely legal in all aspects, save perhaps an age limit. It's really not my fault if people don't know how to use drugs properly. Education is a key to a good time; legalization obscures education, so people take drugs incorrectly.

 

[columbus]

And the rest of us have to pay in the form of higher insurance premiums for the behavior of those with no self-control.

A drop in the bucket compared to the taxpayer funded War On Drugs. Not to mention that taxing pot would also raise billions.
Not to mention the horrors that the USA inflicts on Mexicans through our stupid policy of keeping pot expensive and unregulated.
: (
Tom

 

[columbus]

The Top Five Special Interest Groups Lobbying To Keep Marijuana Illegal |

This is an excellent article. And there is a link at the bottom to a story about a lobbyist who makes a ton of money fighting legalization.

Tom

 

[Enoch07]

I think it should be decriminimized. Allow people with serious medical conditions to use it for pain management etc. Anyone possessing it but not diagnosed with a serious illness, would have any and all marijuana confiscated and maybe a minor fine (like a traffic violation $50 or so). I won't try to make up all the rules and regulations for it but this should be its bones.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

The entire schedule scheme is nothing but political hooey. If they want it to be accurate, tobacco and alcohol must be put in a high category, as both can have medical uses, but they are far more addictive and destructive that every scheduled drug combined when abused. And many illegal scheduled drugs do have unacknowledged medical effects, such as cocaine, LSD, methamphetamine (but only when a pharmaceutical company cooks it), opium (again, only legal when it is synthesized by a pharmaceutical company), and a bunch of other drugs.
If we legalized, regulated, and taxed all drugs we would deliver a massive blow to gangs, drug cartels, and even terrorists. Regulation, meaning required ID to purchase, won't entirely keep drugs out of the hands of minors but it will see a plummet in use. The government would save a ton of money from not pursuing what is overwhelmingly a non-violent criminal base, and the taxes would be an explosion of revenue. We could also work towards safer methods of drug production and disposal of biproducts, work towards more effective rehabilitation and abuse prevention, and to allow addicts to seek treatment without any fear of legal consequences (paranoia can be seen in some from the abuse of several drugs, so you really do have to work at their level).

 

[Rick O'Shez]

The entire schedule scheme is nothing but political hooey. If they want it to be accurate, tobacco and alcohol must be put in a high category, as both can have medical uses, but they are far more addictive and destructive that every scheduled drug combined when abused. And many illegal scheduled drugs do have unacknowledged medical effects, such as cocaine, LSD, methamphetamine (but only when a pharmaceutical company cooks it), opium (again, only legal when it is synthesized by a pharmaceutical company), and a bunch of other drugs.
If we legalized, regulated, and taxed all drugs we would deliver a massive blow to gangs, drug cartels, and even terrorists. Regulation, meaning required ID to purchase, won't entirely keep drugs out of the hands of minors but it will see a plummet in use. The government would save a ton of money from not pursuing what is overwhelmingly a non-violent criminal base, and the taxes would be an explosion of revenue. We could also work towards safer methods of drug production and disposal of biproducts, work towards more effective rehabilitation and abuse prevention, and to allow addicts to seek treatment without any fear of legal consequences (paranoia can be seen in some from the abuse of several drugs, so you really do have to work at their level).

I agree with everything you say here, a well-argued case.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

A drop in the bucket compared to the taxpayer funded War On Drugs. Not to mention that taxing pot would also raise billions.

Indeed. I really don't see any convincing arguments against legalising cannabis. It surprises me that the States hasn't learned the lessons of the Prohibition period, the only people who really gained from it were the gangsters.

 

[columbus]

Indeed. I really don't see any convincing arguments against legalising cannabis. It surprises me that the States hasn't learned the lessons of the Prohibition period, the only people who really gained from it were the gangsters.

It has become such a huge "big government taxpayer funded" gravy train that we voters are outclassed. Given the USA government that is owned by the highest bidders.

Tom

 

[Penumbra]

I think it's a no-brainer that cannabis should be legalized, regulated, and taxed. Regulate it to make sure it's not some super-intense version or laced with other things, and don't sell it to minors, but otherwise let it go.

I see no logical reason why it is illegal when other substances like alcohol and tobacco, which are both more addictive and dangerous, are legal. As Deidre pointed out in this thread, the top five special interest groups that want to keep it illegal are police unions that get anti-drug funding for their departments, private prisons that make money from the 850,000 annual cannabis-related arrests, alcohol and beer companies that view it as competition, pharmaceutical companies that view it as competition, and prison guard unions whose jobs are tied to large numbers of prisoners.

None of those groups have the public interest in mind.

Plus the legal status of hemp is tied in with the legal status of cannabis to some extent and that should be completely legal also, and would be beneficial to society.

 

[Augustus]

Unless you think the best people to regulate the drug trade are international criminal organisations then of course it should be legalised.

I'm fully aware that it is not a harmless substance, and have seen the harm it can do first hand. But the illegality tends to encourage people to grow high potency high yield strains, whereas legalisation allows people to choose the strain that they would more like to smoke. The best varieties are not the strongest, in Holland for example, few people smoke the strongest kinds except the tourists. Strong strains are far from the most expensive in most cases too. They make sense in an illegal economy though.

As other people have mentioned, if legalised, certain varieties could be banned if above a certain potency. Also, if legalised, people can be better educated about the genuine harms, free from scaremongering or mythologising of 'magical' cannabis.

For legalisation to work, I would argue that illegal selling should be more seriously punished than it is now though. You have to deter the black market as this will always be cheaper.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I'm gonna have to hunt down this article I read that shows smoking a joint a day does not cause harm to the lungs.
As for more powerful strains, a higher potency just means people use less to achieve a high. If you have a plant with 10% THC, you will need to use more of that than you would if you have a plant with 20% THC. Legalizing will NOT reduce the potency of marijuana. People breed stronger stains because you get more out of them. Going on about this potency also ignores the fact that when marijuana is harvested and dried, resin that drops off the plants is collected, the blades of sheers are scrapped, the fine powder from grinding, kief, is collected, and you get much more potent products, such as a pile of kief in your bowl or hash.

 

[Augustus]

I'm gonna have to hunt down this article I read that shows smoking a joint a day does not cause harm to the lungs.
As for more powerful strains, a higher potency just means people use less to achieve a high. If you have a plant with 10% THC, you will need to use more of that than you would if you have a plant with 20% THC. Legalizing will NOT reduce the potency of marijuana. People breed stronger stains because you get more out of them. Going on about this potency also ignores the fact that when marijuana is harvested and dried, resin that drops off the plants is collected, the blades of sheers are scrapped, the fine powder from grinding, kief, is collected, and you get much more potent products, such as a pile of kief in your bowl or hash.

Different strains of cannabis produce highly different effects. An 8% sativa is not simply half a 16% indica, it has a completely different effect. Different alcohol gets people drunk in different ways but it's all just ethanol. If THC was the only thing, the most expensive weeds would be the highest THC%, which they certainly weren't when I used to smoke.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Different strains of cannabis produce highly different effects. An 8% sativa is not simply half a 16% indica, it has a completely different effect. Different alcohol gets people drunk in different ways but it's all just ethanol. If THC was the only thing, the most expensive weeds would be the highest THC%, which they certainly weren't when I used to smoke.

Sative and indica are not different strains, they are different "breeds," such as the difference between a polar bear and a grizzly bear (however, the two, sativa and indica, are frequently crossed into various hybrid strains for various reasons, depending on what the goal is). There are actually several different things in marijuana that cause its effects.
And, yes, strains with higher THC tend to cost more, at least on the black market. I have very little knowledge of how pricing works in a dispensary, but I'm guessing the higher concentrated strains with any particular ingredient will cost more. But asides from selling different strains that offer different effects, I don't even know if they sell "high," "medium," and "low" potency strains.

 

[dust1n]

What is Khat? EDIT: Nevermind... it's like a stimulant plant you chew around Yemen.