Stop the marijuana discussion BS

Ah, where to start my rant!

As you already know this rant will be about marijuana - the hemp plant.
Now I'm sure that many of you here, have made your minds up about the plant. I know some of you wants this plant legalized, and some of you probably think that this plant should be burned down to the ground.

Now to the reason why I bring this rant to ATS, is because that I know many of you will (in a moment) hopefully will nod in agreement (maybe not to all of it).

It started today with a discussion between me and a family member.
He thinks the plant should be burned down for good, because people gets 'addicted' to this.
I then asked him; "Why do you only bring this discussion up, just because it can be abused as a drug? Every single time I hear you talk about this plant, its always the single negative thing about this plant. You never bring all the positive things up about this plant"

He then looked at me like I only said that because I'm young....[snipped]
BUT WHY, OH WHY do we only hear about the only single negative side about this plant, that it "ruins" some peoples life (another thread), this rant is not about that WE NEED TO LEGALIZE IT because it can be smoked, but because of all the REALLY GOOD THINGS WE CAN DO WITH IT!

I said to him: "Just for a moment lets not talk about how it can be mis-used - only the positive sides to the plant. We can make Paper, clothing, plastic, ropes, medicine, even building material and more. Now, you all whine about how we cut the trees down to make paper etc. It takes around 3 months for a hemp plant to grow full size. What about a tree, how long time does that take? And wont the hemp plant help with ALOT of todays problems?"

He then needed to agree with me, otherwise he would look plain stupid.
NO ONE should be able to disagree with the hemp plant now, when we take the 'abuse' of this plant out of the picture.

So to all of you who does not want to legalize this plant, do you understand what damage to the world you do?
For a short moment stop thinking about that this plant can be abused, think of all the things we can get from it.

I could keep on speaking about all the good things about this plant, but I know many of you here have the same point of view about this plant, but I'm also sure that some of you hate this plant.

So why is it that people always brings the "You get addicted and destroys your life" argument, instead of talking about what good things it can be used for.

Do you agree?
Do you disagree - if so, please tell why.

Rant over - and sorry for the long rant.

Hemp is legal. Its produced all over the world. Cannabis sativa is the variety that is banned in some places.
So its kind of a pointless argument.

The Marijuana Party here certainly wasnt pushing for rope legislation!

a reply to: ypperst

That read like a really long advertisement.

Most people want it legal so they can get stoned.....I'm ok with that. Just don't say it's for the health benefits.
Chocolate has antioxidants.
Wine is good for the heart.
In moderation.
The war on drugs is a waste of money anyhow.

There is no argument. He's stuck in his ways and doesn't listen to reason, and you shouldn't let that get to you. It will be legal for recreation in my home state soon, and yes it can be addictive but that doesn't mean it should be burned down. The benefits of this plant ABSOLUTELY outweigh the negative.

originally posted by: Ridhya
Hemp is legal. Its produced all over the world. Cannabis sativa is the variety that is banned in some places.
So its kind of a pointless argument.

The Marijuana Party here certainly wasnt pushing for rope legislation!

While you are correct, I dont think half of the people know this. And if people knew more about this, hopefully they would use hemp much more than we do now?

I do know they have used hemp in cars since 2002, but 60% don't even know that the hemp can be used for something really good.

I'm sure that all your clothing and paper you got in your house is made from hemp. Meh.

a reply to: Hoosierdaddy71

Well thats the problem.

People think of hemp as "Uh, lets go smoke that, we can't use it for anything else dood".

Not what it really can be used for.

originally posted by: ypperst
a reply to: Hoosierdaddy71

Well thats the problem.

People think of hemp as "Uh, lets go smoke that, we can't use it for anything else dood".

Not what it really can be used for.

Because thats what the majority will use it for.
I wonder how many Viagra users actually need it? I would be willing to bet less than half.
I have no doubt it can help some people, but it will be abused just like alcohol.
Again I think it should be legal.. Maybe someday.

Go ahead and legalize it...just because I don't use it doesn't mean you can't. However, don't pretend it is going to save the world. I know when someone is blowing smoke up my keyster.

So why is it that people always brings the "You get addicted and destroys your life" argument, instead of talking about what good things it can be used for.

Because the kool-aid tastes good going down.

originally posted by: Hoosierdaddy71
Most people want it legal so they can get stoned.....I'm ok with that. Just don't say it's for the health benefits.
Chocolate has antioxidants.
Wine is good for the heart.
In moderation.
The war on drugs is a waste of money anyhow.

You really should do some research and read what research science and doctors have spent many years doing. I guarantee you it is a much more effective medicine than most of the POISON big pharma is selling...oh ya, without ANY of the side effects.

a reply to: Hoosierdaddy71
People Are Gonna Smoke It If It's Legal Or Not But If It's Legal There is Less To Be Paranoid And gStressed About Thus Benefiting Their Health. Just My Stoner Take On It.

Drugs are bad because they are addictive. Yet anything can be addictive. The obvious legal ones are gambling, cigarettes, and alcohol. You can be addicted to shopping, exercise, food, attention, literally anything.

Go watch "my strange addiction" to see some I'd the weirder ones.

The most dangerous addiction on earth is to money and that is actually considered a virtue in our society.

mobile.nytimes.com...

a reply to: ypperst

Its the devil's weed - turns people into violent, unpredictable lunatics!

I live in the US, and this is the land of the free. I should be free to live my life without cannabis being legalized. As a conservative, I want government to enforce and impose my religious beliefs, because my beliefs are the right ones.

The above was total nonsense, but frighteningly, there are more than a few people who would agree (not here, necessarily) and even take it a few steps further. Silly.

The problem is the the pro argument always ends in: "But its got medicinal qualities."

OK, so it making only available to those who need it medically, AND making sure it's only those should be a fair compromise right? Right?

But it's never enough, and maybe I'm biased because I've seen the path that pot starts. But that's the evidence I know, and that's what I stick by because the human race is no better than it was centuries ago, and it certainly couldn't handle the personal responsibilities that people like Ron Paul want to put on it.

a reply to: dogstar23

That's pretty disingenuous lol. It's more like the fact the there is decades of behavior associated with pot that turn people away from legalizing it. But go ahead, keep doing what you're doing.

a reply to: tavi45

Success is the virtue in our society, not money. Its the greedy people that tarnish success. And I agree that anything can be addictive, but its also wrong to tell people that its OK because "it's natural blah blah", when potassium is just as natural and yet can kill you with enough of it. And before people go " BUT THAT'S APPLE AND ORANGES HER DER HUE" I'm merely stating that while pot wont kill, it certainly has a lot of negative effects as I was a regular user for 12 years.

a reply to: thesmokingman

And that 20 year study was what, propaganda?

To say that Pot has no side effects is the epitome of ignorance.

a reply to: IntroduceALittleIrony

The medicinal properties argument is valid. It does have medicinal qualities both in simplistic ways like dulling pain or instilling appetite and complex ways like as an anti-carcinogen. It is used as a back door for recreational use but that didn't invalidate the facts.

www.businessinsider.com...

The "path that pot starts" is only there because pot is categorized as equally dangerous to talk drugs like heroine and coc aine. It's very obvious pot is not as bad so one assumes that all drugs are fine. So the gateway drug thing is silly since it's only a gateway drug due to prohibition.

What behaviors are you taking about that have been seen for decades? Elaborate please.

Success is all well and good but success is equivalent to money in our society. A poor person with every other virtue is considered inferior to a rich person with no other virtues. This is thanks to the aforementioned conflation of money and success.

Of course it has negative side effects. So do pills, alcohol, coffee, playing football, eating red meat and almost everything. No one is saying it has no negative side effects but that shouldn't negate its value automatically. Most if the side effects I'm aware of are due to it being illegal. Grown properly and administered properly the negative side effects are negligible. If the product and use was done efficiently the only side effects would be similar to Nyquil or something. Don't operate a vehicle or heavy machinery.

At the end of the day pot is illegal for one reason and one reason alone. It's bad for business . It lowers productivity of the wage slaves. It undercuts the pharmaceutical and medical industries, as well as tobacco and alcohol sales. It lowers violence, which is bad for the prison industrial complex. It opens the mind to possibilities, reducing the effectiveness of propaganda. Why do you think TPTB fight its legalization so much? They aren't doing it for our health or safety. That's never been their goal at any point.

As I've said already our culture reveres money more then any culture ever revered any deity in history. We sacrifice more people for money than the Aztecs ever did for their gods. We've started more wars for money than either the Christians or Muslims ever did for their god. If we ever manage to move past this archaic system we have into a true utopia I guarantee pot will be there.

a reply to: ypperst
Well, as an artist ill tell you hemp paper is useless to draw on and mine is all from trees... and my clothes are made of cotton and polyester, bit of wool...

But I do agree it is a useful plant, and would be great for the environment to replace synthetics with natural fibres. However, one thing people forget (for example about ropes) there are synthetic materials that are both cheaper to produce and stronger than hemp. Hence why its more common.

Hemp would be a great resource in an apocalypse though!