Smoking Pot.

[Mycroft]

Maybe with teens, but adults tend to use drugs without any thought of it making them cool. And, of course, many use them out of enjoyment.

In adults it's an unhealthy dependency.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

In adults it's an unhealthy dependency.

That's like saying drinking is an unhealthy dependency. Just because you drink abit every once in awhile does not mean you have a dependency. Marijuana can be used as an escape, and it can be abused, but so can World of Warcraft.
There are no grounds to assume someone who uses marijuana has a dependency.

 

[darkendless]

That's like saying drinking is an unhealthy dependency. Just because you drink abit every once in awhile does not mean you have a dependency. Marijuana can be used as an escape, and it can be abused, but so can World of Warcraft.
There are no grounds to assume someone who uses marijuana has a dependency.

So much this. Some people need to chill out every once and a while.

 

[Marisa]

 

[Rick O'Shez]

Depression was one of my symptoms as well.

I wish I could remember what my symptoms were.

 

[Aquitaine]

I wish I understood why people think so. If anything, I feel the opposite. People are far too self-indulgent and have way too many avenues open to be that way.

I imagine the biggest aspect of it is escapism, the need for which is something that I don't think people can be "cured" from, in my opinion.

 

[LuisDantas]

I imagine the biggest aspect of it is escapism, the need for which is something that I don't think people can be "cured" from, in my opinion.

I am sorry to hear that. I very much believe that curing people from escapism is very much possible and a high priority. If not from escapism proper, at least from relying on it as a matter of course.

 

[Aquitaine]

I am sorry to hear that. I very much believe that curing people from escapism is very much possible and a high priority. If not from escapism proper, at least from relying on it as a matter of course.

In all honesty, I do believe the need for escapism can become minimized, but I think it would depend on so many radical personal/social/politcal/economic changes that it's probably never going to happen.

 

[Wirey]

Is this a real thread? If we are going to keep pot illegal, shouldn't there be an even larger push to criminalize alcohol? That way, once it's illegal, no one will use it. We'll call it "Prohibition". There will be no booze, no criminal activity will commence, which of course would end up leading to the formation of a well funded and organized crime syndicate, and everyone will sing happy songs. What, it's been done?

Illegal pot kills people all the time. Look at Mexico. Your desire to say "Pot bad. Pot bad!" ends with dead bodies daily. If it were legal, there would be no money in it for criminals, and we could stop reading stories about 10 people being found in a dumpster with their heads cut off because the druggies wanted to make sure they got the right guy.

As long as we have a society where some people are going to be marginalized, and a substance makes them feel better while they are trapped, you'll have a drug problem. Wanna get rid of drugs? Get socialized health care and free university educations. If people have hope they have no need to escape.

 

[Marisa]

 

[LuisDantas]

Is this a real thread? If we are going to keep pot illegal, shouldn't there be an even larger push to criminalize alcohol?

Sure. Count me in. I am very much wary of alcohol.

However, laws are hardly as effective as consumer refusal. Boycotts and bad publicity, mainly.

 

[Marisa]

Sure. Count me in. I am very much wary of alcohol.

However, laws are hardly as effective as consumer refusal. Boycotts and bad publicity, mainly.

The point is that attempts to legislate morality almost always end badly.

 

[Aquitaine]

Is this a real thread? If we are going to keep pot illegal, shouldn't there be an even larger push to criminalize alcohol? That way, once it's illegal, no one will use it. We'll call it "Prohibition". There will be no booze, no criminal activity will commence, which of course would end up leading to the formation of a well funded and organized crime syndicate, and everyone will sing happy songs. What, it's been done?

Illegal pot kills people all the time. Look at Mexico. Your desire to say "Pot bad. Pot bad!" ends with dead bodies daily. If it were legal, there would be no money in it for criminals, and we could stop reading stories about 10 people being found in a dumpster with their heads cut off because the druggies wanted to make sure they got the right guy.

As long as we have a society where some people are going to be marginalized, and a substance makes them feel better while they are trapped, you'll have a drug problem. Wanna get rid of drugs? Get socialized health care and free university educations. If people have hope they have no need to escape.

The violence caused by those drug cartels is truly shocking. I'd love for them all to be put out of business overnight.

 

[LuisDantas]

The point is that attempts to legislate morality almost always end badly.

Which is yet another reason not to rely on law - and that encompasses legalization just as much as it does prohibition.

Arguably more so, even, since legalization is at the end of the day so often (mis)perceived as a statement that the substance is medically and morally acceptable to use.

 

[LuisDantas]

The violence caused by those drug cartels is truly shocking. I'd love for them all to be put out of business overnight.

Deny them a market and they will crumble.

 

[Marisa]

Which is yet another reason not to rely on law - and that encompasses legalization just as much as it does prohibition.

Arguably more so, even, since legalization is at the end of the day so often (mis)perceived as a statement that the substance is medically and morally acceptable to use.

There's a difference between legalization and decriminalization, for starters. I favor the latter. How can you look at how alcohol is treated in the US and conclude that legalization is a rubber stamp approval? Did you watch any of the videos I shared above? There are growers who are genetically modifying pot for the medically beneficial component specifically for use medicinally. These strands have very little, if any, THC, the component which gets you high. So yes, there is a strong liklihood that pot will come to be seen as medically acceptable.

ETA: Additionally, one of the biggest problems with today's pot is the level of THC in modern strands has been bred up significantly from what it was. Legalization offers the opportunity to control this by regulation.

 

[Aquitaine]

Deny them a market and they will crumble.

To do that though, you're going to have to get Humans to deny their desires for escapism via drugs.
Legalization has potential to collapse the cartels too, and to be honest I think that outcome is more probable.

 

[LuisDantas]

There's a difference between legalization and decriminalization, for starters. I favor the latter. How can you look at how alcohol is treated in the US and conclude that legalization is a rubber stamp approval?

I don't find the differences noteworthy, personally. Alcohol, even when undeniably abused, is very much socially accepted and just barely restricted by law. It might as well be fully unrestricted for all the practical difference it makes.

Did you watch any of the videos I shared above? There are growers who are genetically modifying pot for the medically beneficial component specifically for use medicinally. These strands have very little, if any, THC, the component which gets you high. So yes, there is a strong liklihood that pot will come to be seen as medically acceptable.

Fair enough, but of only tangential interest to the matter of recreational use and acceptance, IMO.

ETA: Additionally, one of the biggest problems with today's pot is the level of THC in modern strands has been bred up significantly from what it was. Legalization offers the opportunity to control this by regulation.

Which is still such a poor prospect when compared to boycott and social rejection...

 

[LuisDantas]

To do that though, you're going to have to get Humans to deny their desires for escapism via drugs.

Exactly!

Legalization has potential to collapse the cartels too, and to be honest I think that outcome is more probable.

It did not work for tobacco, nor for alcohol. Why would it be any different for hemp?

 

[Wirey]

Exactly!



It did not work for tobacco, nor for alcohol. Why would it be any different for hemp?

Actually, it worked for both tobacco and alcohol. Once Prohibition ended, the whole gangster-Chicago lifestyle went in the toilet until the US outlawed weed and gave them a new commodity to sell. Tobacco regulation has been a financial windfall for governments, and illegal tobacco sales are almost non-existent and rarely end with murdered people. There's just no money in it.