3 Months Since Legalizing Marijuana, Here's What Colorado Looks Like

marijuanamajority.com...

“I grew up like most of my generation believing that marijuana was something Satan was throwing at Americans and a communist plot. But I think most of us have come around to the belief that marijuana is hugely beneficial when used correctly for medicinal purposes... It absolutely should be widely available in America.” Mehmet OzDoctor, Television Personality & Author

list of prominent Americans for decriminalization

pat robertson

morgan freeman

former supreme court justice stevens

etc some are pretty suprising

originally posted by: tothetenthpower

originally posted by: semperfortis
a reply to: tothetenthpower

Why do you consider my link propaganda and not yours?

Because it supports your side?

NO, because your source is wrong.

It's not about it being on my side, it's about your information being false.

It's more of the same. One doctor parroting medically incorrect nonsense.

~Tenth

So you are saying this never happened???

On Tuesday, Dr. Michael Distefano testified that Colorado Children’s Hospital has treated seven juveniles for acute illnesses stemming from ingesting edible forms of marijuana since the law went into effect.

Not sure how you can say that?

a reply to: douglas5

Ok so your first source is a POLL that citizens took it is by no means a study with proper statistics.

Your 2nd source, is yahoo answers, which is 9 years old.

Please do more research than just typing in " Crime stats in Netherlands" into google and using the top 2 results.

~Tenth

a reply to: semperfortis

On Tuesday, Dr. Michael Distefano testified that Colorado Children’s Hospital has treated seven juveniles for acute illnesses stemming from ingesting edible forms of marijuana since the law went into effect.

Intragastric LD50 for Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in rats is something like 800mg/kg (and I've seen higher figures in other studies — like 1250mg/kg) which if my math is correct would be a tad over 3.62g (of pure THC mind you) per 100 lb of body weight. These kids weren't in any danger of dying, they were wigging out. Scary but not life threatening (toxicity wise).

a reply to: semperfortis

So you are saying this never happened???

No, that's not what I said. My point was using isolated cases of illness as a means of disparaging a good law is not a good fit.

There is no actual medical evidence supporting that the MJ caused the problem. It could have been a dozen or so different things that caused that issue.

I would ask how many juveniles he treated for acute alcohol poisoning in the same time frame, and then ask why they aren't doing congressional hearings about banning alcohol.

It's not WHAT he said that's the problem, it's the context in which he said it.

The same could be said about Law Enforcement. Should we ban cops from having guns because a few innocent civilians get killed?!

I know that's an extreme example, but the results are effectively the same when you look at it logically.
~Tenth

a reply to: tothetenthpower

I would say maybe... "acute illness" is the same as being really stoned?

or should I say probably...

I would worry more of those chemical drugs got from doctors, whats in them and how they change our kids brains, ganja havnt kill ppl yet and i have seen many ppl who use MJ as medical relief and to great many different pains, even little children in some cases. Ofcourse anything can be used against yourself, if dont understant what your doing in first place, some ganja today is breed to hit even heaviest smokers to trip and some beginners might get real bad experiences out of it, some may even freak the heck out for good long time but as its legal and ppl can start to understant ganja consumers better ibelieve basic knowledge will soon catch up. Im high and envy for you guys in colorado, you have ganja paranoid free zone,hope to see more progress world wide soon.

I figure the only real problem that they'd have is a tater chip shortage.
Pot should've never been illegal and the tax from it alone would pay off the deficit. But "they" don't want that. I'd much rather see someone smoke as I would drink liquor. Anyways, it's too soon to tell. I think a three year study would be a start. And crime stats are so manipulated anymore it's hard to tell what they really are. They're trying to sweep a lot of it under the rug so that it doesn't look so bad.

a reply to: Akragon

eh i dont think they won the war at all

this image sums up why there is alot of push back against decriminalization www.thenakednaturopath.com...

on who won the war....... im reminded of a quote i cant find a source for at the moment but it goes something like this


"the worlds most powerful military/police in the world has been waging war against a plant for over 40 years.......the plant is winning"

a reply to: RalagaNarHallas

The US government has spent how much over the past several decades on this so called war on drugs?

And how many people are in Jail all over the states for "drug" related charges relating to MJ?

They've been winning ever since the whole mess started... conquering actually...

originally posted by: romilo
I would worry more of those chemical drugs got from doctors, whats in them and how they change our kids brains, ganja havnt kill ppl yet and i have seen many ppl who use MJ as medical relief and to great many different pains, even little children in some cases. Ofcourse anything can be used against yourself, if dont understant what your doing in first place, some ganja today is breed to hit even heaviest smokers to trip and some beginners might get real bad experiences out of it, some may even freak the heck out for good long time but as its legal and ppl can start to understant ganja consumers better ibelieve basic knowledge will soon catch up. Im high and envy for you guys in colorado, you have ganja paranoid free zone,hope to see more progress world wide soon.

How many lives have been ruined because of the prohibition? with the full force of the parroted BS. from the days of Reefer madness. The prohibition was a law thought up to arrest and deport Mexicans back in the thirties. Here we can see how the vested interests of lobbyist can make a fairly innocuous weed ,into a soul sucking demon.
Where I come from it was originally grown by Nuns to help "female problems" This has got to act as warning that if its so easy to vilify a plant that has for thousand of years helped the human condition, from natures Pharmacopeia. Then what other BS. are we getting fed.

a reply to: semperfortis

Accidental deaths from pharmaceuticals is still in the thousands and thousands. And for any kid you can find that got a little dizzy for a few hours, you could find x10 that nearly killed themselves and destroyed their liver by ingesting too much Tylenol, or had a few sips of their parents spirits and woke up with a hangover the next day.

Your article sounds like fear mongering.

Besides that, the murder impaction is silly. There is obviously more to that story, and possibly some serious mental illness issues. Not too mention other prescription drugs involved.

Lawyers will soon have a field day for criminals/murderers etc.

It will be called, the "Stoners Defence"

Much like the "Im Drunk" defence, now that weed is legal, well, its the Govts fault isnt it?

Man I was Stoned, I didnt mean to run over 20 innocent people in my car......seemed logical at the time...they were shape shifting demons!!

a reply to: Akragon


www.foxnews.com...

MEXICO CITY – MEXICO CITY (AP) — After 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug use is rampant and violence even more brutal and widespread. Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn't worked. "In the grand scheme, it has not been successful," Kerlikowske told The Associated Press. "Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified."

In 1970, hippies were smoking pot and dropping acid. Soldiers were coming home from Vietnam hooked on heroin. Embattled President Richard M. Nixon seized on a new war he thought he could win. "This nation faces a major crisis in terms of the increasing use of drugs, particularly among our young people," Nixon said as he signed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act. The following year, he said: "Public enemy No. 1 in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive." His first drug-fighting budget was $100 million. Now it's $15.1 billion, 31 times Nixon's amount even when adjusted for inflation.

think of how many better ways this money could be spent you know like dumping 15 billion into education a year instead of a mostly failed war on drugs (war on meth has been pretty successful by comparison so ill give them that)

— $20 billion to fight the drug gangs in their home countries. In Colombia, for example, the United States spent more than $6 billion, while coca cultivation increased and trafficking moved to Mexico — and the violence along with it. — $33 billion in marketing "Just Say No"-style messages to America's youth and other prevention programs. High school students report the same rates of illegal drug use as they did in 1970, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says drug overdoses have "risen steadily" since the early 1970s to more than 20,000 last year.

yeah increasing spending with decreased results

— $49 billion for law enforcement along America's borders to cut off the flow of illegal drugs. This year, 25 million Americans will snort, swallow, inject and smoke illicit drugs, about 10 million more than in 1970, with the bulk of those drugs imported from Mexico. — $121 billion to arrest more than 37 million nonviolent drug offenders, about 10 million of them for possession of marijuana. Studies show that jail time tends to increase drug abuse.

so 10million more "drug" users since the program began does not seem to successful to me

Harvard University economist Jeffrey Miron says the only sure thing taxpayers get for more spending on police and soldiers is more homicides. "Current policy is not having an effect of reducing drug use," Miron said, "but it's costing the public a fortune."

over one trillion dollars lost with no impact to dealers or the prevalence of marijuana in America in the last 40 years leads me to believe if they call that winning i hate to see what loosing looks like.dont get me wrong lots of people have been arrested over the years and they made some money in the process but with the amount they invested is ludacris in relation to the availability of a product they "declared war on"


hell its becoming one of the FEW issues that is getting bi partisan support these days,when you see reverand pat robertson and sarah palin agreeing with Ariana huffing ton and glen beck as well as bill maher and bill o riley on an issue the link i posted above is much more informative on exactly how many differnt groups and factions are all coming to agree on decriminalization.from libertarian to conservative religious leaders and public figures are all coming out for decriminalization tide has turned and hopefully we are in the twilight years of the failed project

originally posted by: gort51
Lawyers will soon have a field day for criminals/murderers etc.

It will be called, the "Stoners Defence"

Much like the "Im Drunk" defence, now that weed is legal, well, its the Govts fault isnt it?

Man I was Stoned, I didnt mean to run over 20 innocent people in my car......seemed logical at the time...they were shape shifting demons!!

There's an "I'm drunk" defense? That's news to me and probably every other person who has any familiarity with reality.

originally posted by: romilo
I would worry more of those chemical drugs got from doctors, whats in them and how they change our kids brains,

Ritalin is METH. many former adhd ritalin kids are now big time drug addicts.

That pharma stuff kills more people every year than cannabis has killed in the entire existence of MAN

I love how someone addresses the few exceptions to the rule. The drug itself is quite tame when compared with something like alcohol. So how can the fact that on rare occasions bad things occur be used as justification for keeping it illegal? It is fairly well documented all of the bad things that have occurred with alcohol, and they FAR outweigh marijuana. Therefore how can one say it should not be legalized because of this, while alcohol is not illegal? So for those of you who believe this, do you also believe in outlawing alcohol? THAT will never happen again, and the fact that society seems to tolerate it and its many dangers, yet is outraged or against legalizing marijuana, says a lot in my opinion.

The benefits far outweigh the risks. How can the illegal marijuana trade NOT decrease, and therefore crime associated with it decrease, with the legalization of the substance? That is one benefit. The revenue is another. And if people under the legal age of consumption use the substance, obviously this has no bearing. How is this you ask? Because obviously if they are getting it despite the fact that they cannot do so legally, then they could still get it illegally were it criminalized. They would be procuring it ILLEGALLY in both instances.

The war on drugs itself has failed miserably, and it has made criminals out of people who were not bothering or interfering with anyone else. Like I said, those who drink alcohol cause much more problems. And this margin would be even greater if the small crimes associated with marijuana were no longer actually crimes. It says something when you have an entire organization composed of those who have seen the war on drugs firsthand, LEAP, or law enforcement against prohibition, who push for legalization.

I think part of the reason that the federal government will not do anything is because certain small contingents within the intelligence community are complicit in the drug trade, or actually moving the substances themselves. This has been proven as fact in the past. Air America anyone? And we know the intelligence community deals in illegal arms. And there is relatively decent evidence suggesting these statements of complicity.

a reply to: douglas5

I walked through several south American countries on various surfing / hiking trips in my youth, 20 odd years ago. In all cases, those who live in these countries are friendlier than many Americans, and the food was definitely better, which is a huge plus.

www.niaaa.nih.gov...

www.lung.org...

7 kids treated? I'm sure its been more kids with food poisoning in the same time frame.

originally posted by: semperfortis

originally posted by: tothetenthpower

originally posted by: semperfortis
a reply to: tothetenthpower

Why do you consider my link propaganda and not yours?

Because it supports your side?

NO, because your source is wrong.

It's not about it being on my side, it's about your information being false.

It's more of the same. One doctor parroting medically incorrect nonsense.

~Tenth

So you are saying this never happened???

On Tuesday, Dr. Michael Distefano testified that Colorado Children’s Hospital has treated seven juveniles for acute illnesses stemming from ingesting edible forms of marijuana since the law went into effect.[/ex

edit on 15-5-2014 by Jahari because: (no reason given)

a reply to: semperfortis

I know it wasn't directed at me, but I'll weigh in. If kids are showing up in the E.R. for ingesting too much THC then why is this article blaming pot and not whoever gave it to these kids as you have to 21 to purchase it( according to my oldest stepchild who lives in Denver)? And when in the hell has pot ever...EVER made anyone hallucinate without being laced, let alone enough to kill? My bet would be whatever the man smoke, ate, or whatever didn't get it from a legal supplier or laced it himself. Over 25 years experience with it and not once have I ever hallucinated. So to answer your question, those of us that have experience in this subject know your link is propaganda. No insult or offense intended semp..just sayin