New York Times calls for end to Marijuana prohibition

"...people who care about freedom of choice and freedom of association." - Agreed, as long as its safe for people...and a that plant is safe!

In fact, its always been an paradoxical curiosity that any gov't on this planet would make a plant illegal. Thats like making a mushroom illegal...err, a catus...umm. We get the picture~


LOVE

originally posted by: jrod
a reply to: Fylgje

This is already happening in Florida with the Charlotte's Web strain. I have a friend who in the plant nursery business and looked into what it would take to get a license. It is impossible for the little guy to get a license to grow, when the full medical bill passes, I imagine they will attempt to do the same for those who wish to grow it legally.

Here is the thing, these state run grow operation will NOT be able to produce the quality that is in demand. The 'potheads' you mentioned still will very much be in business.

If TPTB get control of the marketplace and can monopolise and control the genetics of the existing plants they will eventually GMO MJ to remove the medical benefits which they are so afraid of hitting the mainstream database,but will allow THC production to remain keeping the social majority happy while completely suppressing the medical potentials of MJ as a whole.From a medical perspective ALL strains have benefits.It is not majic it is a simple plant,there are others with similar medical properties, but none quite so well rounded in terms of being able to kill all 3 stages of parasitic infections,the adults,the Juveniles and the eggs,MJ does this optimally,it hits the parasites from all angles.

just to play devils advocate, should all substances be legal for recreational use ?

meth, crack, Lysergic acid diethylamide, heroin, dust, etc

"prohibition just puts people in jail and creates a black market" is an argument you can use for each substance

a reply to: one4all

Not going to happen.

You really underestimate how sophisticated indoor grow operations are. They may try to monopolize the market and maybe even go so far that to simply grow, one must have a special license or only buy seeds from a state approved dealer, ect...

There always will be small time grow operations who will not cave to all that BS.

originally posted by: jrod
There is too much money to be made to not legalize it.

The US economy is hurting and needs another bubble. The Cannabis Industry looks like it is shaping up to be that bubble.

All bubbles eventually burst....

Actually it will become a commodity, not a bubble burst.

It will be traded and controlled by large corporations, big agra, Wall Street very quickly.

Hemp can be used for almost everything. Henry Ford was developing all kinds of by products with it back in the 20's and 30's including plastic cars. The bubble you speak of is more like a massive economic wave and the US has been, and always will be a major agricultural power. Politicians and corporations are seeing the profit numbers of Colorado, and that is only one facet of the hemp industry.

originally posted by: one4all

originally posted by: jrod
a reply to: Fylgje

This is already happening in Florida with the Charlotte's Web strain. I have a friend who in the plant nursery business and looked into what it would take to get a license. It is impossible for the little guy to get a license to grow, when the full medical bill passes, I imagine they will attempt to do the same for those who wish to grow it legally.

Here is the thing, these state run grow operation will NOT be able to produce the quality that is in demand. The 'potheads' you mentioned still will very much be in business.

It is not majic it is a simple plant,there are others with similar medical properties, but none quite so well rounded in terms of being able to kill all 3 stages of parasitic infections,the adults,the Juveniles and the eggs,MJ does this optimally,it hits the parasites from all angles.

You and a previous poster mention the ability to kill parasites. This is very interesting, and the first I've heard of this. What type of parasitic infections does marijuana have an effect on? Thanks for any info along these lines, an interesting subject.

As for the New York Times editorial, it is making the waves it expected to make, and may really be a significant event in the history of ending the prohibition in the States and elsewhere. Hopefully other media concerns will join them in this call. It will at least make discussion of the plant and its effects even more mainstream, and will allow those who were leery (sp?, Leary?) of discussing and advocating the subject with family and friends to have the backing of a major media institution.

Apparently this just happened today.

Big change proposed for federal marijuana law

A bill being introduced Monday in the U.S. House of Representatives could be Cox's ticket home. The three-page bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act -- the federal law that criminalizes marijuana -- to exempt plants with an extremely low percentage of THC, the chemical that makes users high.

originally posted by: Hoosierdaddy71
I have a daughter going into sixth grade and she has been told for years how much more dangerous the weed is today than when I was a kid. Making pot legal after all that propaganda would leave a bad impression wouldn't it? After all, they have been told how bad tobacco is too. so is that a lie they can ignore?

I have a 4 year old daughter and i want her to grow up in a world where she can smoke without it ruining her life. Like i always say "worst thing that can happen from smoking pot is getting caught with it"

a reply to: iamhobo

I hope this isn't a silly question but I read the article and saw it claimed 11 other states had legalized strains low on THC and high on that other part that works for medicine.

How are growers and especially people growing at home for the medical supply suppose to know THC content? Are there tests to determine that? If that is the basis of Federal law for people like the DEA to kick doors down and do all sorts of nasty things, I hope there is alot more clarification than that.

It sounds like legalizing hemp while keeping marijuana illegal?

Yeah, the weight of evidence is for legalization.

First, medical and physical science evidence shows that marijuana is an incredibly safe drug as far as drugs go. A drug's toxic envelope is the difference in dosage between the onset of desired effects and the advent of toxic effects or dosages. Marijuana has a HUGE toxic envelope, meaning that it would take something around 1000 times the dose to truly OD. Alcohol and opiates, on the other hand, are not very safe. Opiates such as heroin have such high OD rates because the toxic envelope is so small, meaning if for example you need half a syringe to be blissed out a full syringe or slightly stronger than normal heroin might kill you. Alcohol is also actually a very strong drug. Most people will OD or get alcohol poisoning off of probably 4-5 times the dose it takes to get a buzz. I can drink five drinks like it's nothing. If I had 20 I might need to get my stomach pumped.

A growing majority of drug deaths in America are from prescription drugs, not illegal drugs. And as I said before, virtually no one OD's on marijuana. You would pass out long before reaching that dosage.

Now to addiction. Marijuana does not show signs of physical addiction. It has been known to show psychological addiction for some people. Let us compare this to other drugs. Alcohol medically has one of the strongest physical addictions of any drug. True alcoholics, withdrawing from alcohol, can literally die from the withdrawal-induced seizures. Excepting benzodiazepines, alcohol is one of the worst drugs for withdrawals. Heroin actually has less withdrawals than true alcohol dependency.

Moreover, marijuana factually is not associated or correlated with incidental crimes such as car crashes or violent crime, which alcohol and some other hard drugs are. Alcohol is very highly associated with car accidents and such things as heat of the moment crimes and fights. Marijuana is only associated really with some drug-dealing related crimes due to the very fact it is on the black market, not some kind of inherent quality of the drug.

Long story short, it is absolute insanity that one of the safest drugs (relatively) known to man, one that has been used for literally 1000's of years, would be illegal while much more serious and dangerous drugs such as alcohol and a variety of prescription drugs would be legal. It makes absolutely no sense from an economic, social, or medical standpoint. Any rationale person would realize that the laws are not therefore based on evidence and medical science, but instead decades old propaganda and the War on Drugs.

Mini conspiracy theory here: Psychadelics, including the low grade marijuana, have been used for millennia across the world to open one's mind and even see the spirit world. Why is it that drugs that are very strong and dangerous, such as alcohol, are legal while something that for centuries many have considered a mind opener is illegal, even though it is safer? Do the powers that be not want drugs extant that do open people's mind?

This would explain the opposite legality compared to alcohol and hypocrisy.

originally posted by: Aleister
If the New York Times has its way, the United States government's prohibition on marijuana will end. Don't hold your breath. But in any case, to have the national 'paper of record' come out for an end to prohibition (as they say, "again") and get on a bandwagon which has already been rolling along for decades is an interesting and welcome development to people who care about freedom of choice and freedom of association. It should also make it easier for members of the U.S. social and economic establishments to express similar feelings (if they have them).

And have a look at the interesting gif graphic that the Times put up along the entire left side and top of the page, quite creative for the paper some call 'The Grey Lady".

www.nytimes.com...

It took 13 years for the United States to come to its senses and end Prohibition, 13 years in which people kept drinking, otherwise law-abiding citizens became criminals and crime syndicates arose and flourished. It has been more than 40 years since Congress passed the current ban on marijuana, inflicting great harm on society just to prohibit a substance far less dangerous than alcohol.

The federal government should repeal the ban on marijuana.

We reached that conclusion after a great deal of discussion among the members of The Times’s Editorial Board, inspired by a rapidly growing movement among the states to reform marijuana laws.

originally posted by: syrinx high priest
just to play devils advocate, should all substances be legal for recreational use ?

meth, crack, Lysergic acid diethylamide, heroin, dust, etc

"prohibition just puts people in jail and creates a black market" is an argument you can use for each substance

I'd say to give it the old two question test.

1. is it addictive?
2. can you die from it?

If either answer is yes, then it should be considered a Schedule 1 drug and be illegal. If the answer to both is no, then it's something that should be legal. (IMHO)

originally posted by: teamcommander
Rather than establishing a tax on pot, it may be better to simply start by selling and issueing a "permit to grow" a set number of plants for personal comsumption.

Colorado laws you can grow your own plants, 2 per household or something without no permit, or just buy it in shops.

Trying to tax something that grows in the dirt would be silly. The Colorado laws are fine and a good template, no need to over-complicate things.