Dwayne Bowe arrested for speeding and Marijuana possession

[manxman2601]

Acting on your own self interest also includes doing the right thing. My self interest includes whether or not or is important to me that such a group is treated fairly.

OK. However that strikes me as a fairly broad definition of what is meant by self interest.

 

[PP2]

Can't directly quote the member who wrote this, since I have him on ignore, but I saw the question posed as a quote in a reply:

For anyone concerned about legalization costing the taxpayers, one of the most compelling reasons for legalization (and one of the biggest reasons why it's getting traction now, IMO), is because it's a net-positive on the budget. Just on direct costs, the government can make way more in taxes on the sale of marijuana than it costs to legalize. Not to even mention the indirect benefits assocatied with no longer imprisoning millions of nonviolent offenders.

Even the skeptics out there are only debating how profitable it will be; nobody is even trying to claim that it won't be profitable

Even if demand remains completely static (which is absurd, but let's assume it), legalizing it would just take the revenue out of criminals' hands and turn it into government revenue. Does anyone actually think that's a bad thing?

Along the lines of what you said, this article, titled Buzzkill that was in the New Yorker, raises some interesting point.

Although I haven't smoked marijuana other than sharing a blunt once in college, I am enthusiastically for decriminalizing it if only for no other reason than to dilute the revenue stream for the extremely violent cartels that currently produce it en masse.

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

Andy Johnson lists some of the concerns to your question. Understanding and respecting that you probably do not agree with it--I am just pointing out what the concerns are to answer your question(s).

I feel that we have moved ahead in the battle with cigarettes from where we were as a society in the past. We have seen more people quit smoking, have more programs and drugs like Chantix etc out there. People are more concerned with their health now today than they've ever been in the history of our society. We have seen outright bans on public smoking, and many jobs that I have seen are now not hiring anyone who has been a smoker in the past 90 days for fear of abuse from their health insurance benefits.

Personally, I find it hard to imagine us making a total 180 backtracking into a society where we suddenly battle (and win) vs something like cigarettes, then suddenly say "okay, marijuana's tar and resin which is about 15 times more potent than cigarettes is fine to inhale." That would be moving backwards in our society's cause for health etc, in my opinion.

The reason we're seeing a change in the states of Colorado and Washington is because they are done wasting the resources on having to build new jails, have their courts clogged up, and do not have the money or man power to consistently battle small pot offenses anymore. Basically, they gave up...it's not because they agree that it isn't harmful or are suddenly advocating it.

Again...you may not agree with it, and I totally respect that. I think we're just giving you the other side of the coin the same way that you are giving us the other side of the coin. It's going to continue to be very controversial and highly debated.

The "it's bad for your health and should thus be illegal" is at least an argument I can understand; but, yeah, I certainly don't agree with the sentiment. I also think that it has the following holes: the health issues associated with tobacco are heavily influenced by its addictive properties and extreme abuse, if we are as a nation/state getting into the business of forcing people to be healthy we should start with the biggest scourge (the fatties), and as someone else pointed out there are other ways to take marijuana. I personally find it intellectually dishonest to tell me that I can't eat a pot cookie because of health concerns, but the 400lbs land whale checking out with a heaping cart of junk food and soda is a-ok. This all might be just a difference in views as I don't find the laws related to smoking at all progressive.

Anyways, thanks for keeping this civil and I hope my tone has remained that way as well.

 

[captain stone]

I remember the same d!ckhead argument about hashish back in the early 70's..."super powerful!!!!! murders going way up because of hash intoxication!! BAD BAD BAD!!!"...ridiculous on its face, this actually was official policy for a number of years. Of course hashish is just the exact same pollen that's on leaf marijuana with the exact same effect on the user. The artificial hysteria though kept everyones' minds and eyes off the introduction of preposterously dangerous LEGALLY manufactured drugs like Quaalude.

Hashish gathered in Asia is culled from Asian marijuana, cannabis INDICA. Of course, what is the strain of marijuana that is being bellowed about and hysterically deemed "dangerous"? "SKUNK WEED!!!!!" aka cannabis indica...once again, used for over TEN THOUSAND YEARS IN THE FAR EAST. Documented. That doesn't seem to stop blind sheep blinded by the constant far right flow of disinformation, misinformation and outright LIES from continuing to bleat out these paranoid delusions of theirs.

I of course agree here; just wanted to add that the constant disinformation, misinformation
and lies re: the sweet leaf also flow from the far left.

 

[supafly]

One thing I think we can all agree on is that the laws and the way that its use is portrayed should continue to progress towards the more modern day era as they have in the past few years.

The are many questions that would need to be worked out, but it's absolutely ridiculous to continue to waste our taxpayer money and court/govt resources on the "fight against marijuana." The concern I would have is that we're really battling the fight against drugs in general, and there are currently many who still view pot as a drug (technically it is). That is the concern I'd have, is that it may be difficult for some to separate weed from the rest of the harmful drugs, especially with the (right or wrong) "gateway" reputation that it has. I think this is going to be an obstacle for making the situation better in the next 5-10 yrs.

We may not all be able to agree on the specifics, but I would be for outright legalization IF the new revenue could be used for additional programs that could be used to help and deter some of the harder substances in the teen/formative years. Additional programs, counseling, and health coverage must be had to help to combat our very severe drug problem in this country; and if the only way we can raise the needed revenue and limit the wasting of court/taxpayer resources is to make pot legal---then so be it.

I'd still prefer decriminalization vs legalization myself, but some of these comments and points made have closed the gap. Either way, about 9/10 of us can agree that it shouldn't be viewed as it was in the past, and that they are wasting a lot of time, money, and other resources in the process.

 

[supafly]

I of course agree here; just wanted to add that the constant disinformation, misinformation
and lies re: the sweet leaf also flow from the far left.

Like many things in life, the truth likely lies in the middle. That's why trying to keep an open mind and actively working in an idea exchanging debate is the best way to solve problems.

Much like a marriage etc, overcoming differences of opinions and thinking can take work; but the results in the end are often worth it. It'd be nice if our government and legislators could keep this in mind every day they go to work. We'd get a lot more accomplished in my opinion.

 

[chicowalker]

I of course agree here; just wanted to add that the constant disinformation, misinformation
and lies re: the sweet leaf also flow from the far left.

What are some examples of the latter? I actually don't know if I've ever heard from the far left on this issue.