A little sanity, at long last!

[layoutshooter]

Never saw Reefer Madness.
Did witness two friends get really messed up on Heroin.
Another, life consumed by crack. Didn't live til 35.
Had a friend cowering in my bedroom cause her house got shot up over a deal gone bad. Not sure the drug of choice in the deal. Doesn't really matter.

If Pot is a gateway drug, we don't need it.
If not, I'm cool.
I don't know anyone that started on Heroin.

Pot is likely a "gateway" drug for many. So is booze.

ALL illegal dealers are committing criminal acts, by choice, until the laws are changed. After, there is a fair chance they will still remain illegal dealers. As with booze and cigarettes, there will be criminals who will provide product without the tax and, just as with booze and cigarettes, their will be those who chose to buy it without paying the taxes. As with most crime, it is a choice.

 

[zorry]

Looks like close to $10 tax on a $45 sale.

 

[layoutshooter]

Looks like close to $10 tax on a $45 sale. :eek;

Where did you see that number? IF it is correct I see a very good chance that their will be a criminal element, and those who would patronize them, looking to cash in on tax free sales.

 

[zorry]

In an USA Today article that answered 5 Question about pot sales in Colorado

 

[layoutshooter]

In an USA Today article that answered 5 Question about pot sales in Colorado

If it is correct it will likely lead to a shift in the crime. It MAY reduce it some on the supply side, I don't know how they plan to track it on the consumer side. At that tax rate there is more than enough incentive for criminal activity.

 

[zorry]

Also an out of state buyer is limited to a 1/4 ounce. Colorado resident, I think one ounce.

 

[scottm4211]

Well, we can all cower in fear and worry about what ifs and maybe. Or we can be rational and see the ridiculous society we've created where booze and prescription drugs are magically ok but we choose to demonize less harmful things.

 

[zorry]

Less harmful things ?
I thought like you did until I stepped back and saw lots of personal tragedy
and heartache.

Just what this country needs is for millions to say Lets get on our feet and get to work !
After we blow a dube......

 

[scottm4211]

I'm not sure why you think millions will now be terrorizing you just because it's being decriminalized? Directing your fear toward drunk drivers and zombie housewifes on legal narcotics is probably a better bet.

 

[paullud]

That's the way it was when I was in HIGH school.

Except for two guys smoking dope in the smoking area of the Petro in Spokane a few months ago, I haven't been in the presence of pot in over 20 years.
No family members use it. No friends in my presence. .

Yeah. Quit drinking and live a pretty mundane life.

But I'm happy sober, so all is good.

Pot is still dealt much the same way. A pothead is likely to be the one selling pot because there is less profit in street sales so the gangs tend to deal things like crack and heroine.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using EO Forums mobile app

 

[Ragman]

A big brother liberal and a big brother conservative are not quite the same.

The thing that they do both share in common however, is that they are both authoritarians ...

True, but it sure is fun saying liberal to leo.

 

[zorry]

I don't think millions will be messing with me.
Pot smokers usually aren't full of ambition. Most I know find reason to scam the system .
Not saying there aren't some hardworking, decent folks smoking
Just, overall I think it's a set back for hard working Americans.
All I'm gonna say, Worked hard all day. Gonna rest.

 

[asjssl]

I don't think millions will be messing with me.
Pot smokers usually aren't full of ambition. Most I know find reason to scam the system .
Not saying there are some hardworking, decent folks smoking
Just, overall I think it's a set back for hard working Americans.
All I'm gonna say, Worked hard all day. Gonna rest.

Lazy people are lazy no matter what there are smoking.....as you said..worked hard all day...gonna rest ..some have a beer..cocktail after working all day...think you should have the choice to get stoned if you would like...

 

[cheri1122]

Pot is likely a "gateway" drug for many. So is booze.

Absolutely incorrect.

When and how did the idea that marijuana leads to harder drugs get started?

Interesting history here, which reinforces my own experience. Back in the day, I smoked pot, and it didn't lead to anything 'harder', nor was it hard to quit [unlike cigarettes!] when I decided it just made me feel stupid - and I could do that for free. It's been 20 years, and I don't miss it at all.
I know a lot of people who smoked pot, [and some who still do], and not one of them has ever gone on to other drugs. Same as people who drink beer don't develop a craving for tequila, because it's a different kind of high, and not one they want. They like the high from smoking pot, but that doesn't mean they would like crack, or LSD, and people who believe they would are just ignorant.

 

[zorry]

Aww come on Cheri.
To think pot is a gateway drug for all is ignorant.

To think pot is a gateway drug for some is just common sense. You like being high, and you want a better, higher high. So you move up.

Thinking this, or KNOWING this , does not make one ignorant.

 

[layoutshooter]

That does not look like a very unbiased source. I also did not say it was, I said it was likely. Same for alcohol. Alcohol maybe more so.



Study: Marijuana may lead to other drugs

http://www.csdp.org/research/jed20085.pdf

 

[cheri1122]

People who want a 'better' or 'higher' high either find some better pot, or they're just smoking pot for lack of access to something that will provide the high they want. What I'm saying is that smoking pot does not cause a desire for other, more powerful drugs. That's what the gateway theory has wrong: people who want something stronger wanted it before they ever smoked pot.

 

[cheri1122]

That does not look like a very unbiased source. I also did not say it was, I said it was likely. Same for alcohol. Alcohol maybe more so.



Study: Marijuana may lead to other drugs

http://www.csdp.org/research/jed20085.pdf

Whether the source is "biased" or not has zero to do with the facts, and you didn't dispute any of the facts.
My own experience with alcohol has not been a gateway to anything [except the desire to sing at karaoke] which seems to be true for millions of others, so, gateway to what?

 

[layoutshooter]

Whether the source is "biased" or not has zero to do with the facts, and you didn't dispute any of the facts.
My own experience with alcohol has not been a gateway to anything [except the desire to sing at karaoke] which seems to be true for millions of others, so, gateway to what?

I was not posting in here to get into a pizzing match. I have been trying to avoid those.

Your personal experience is yours. I have no doubt that there are many who can cite other, equally true, stories.

I posted other, hopefully, less biased articles. I have not seen any disputing of what they said.

I also have not said that pot should not be legal, I believe the opposite. I just don't believe it will change much. SOME problems will go away, some will just change arena's and there will be some new problems as a result.

 

[layoutshooter]

Or this:

Marijuana - Does Marijuana Lead to the Use of Other Drugs?

This one MAY explain why some get addicted or cross addicted and some do not.

The Genetics of Addiction - Is Addiction a Disease?