Marijuana- should it be legal?

[Nicole]

On what basis can governments ban marijuana but keep fire water legal?

[sprintcyclist]

They can use the grandfather clause

[The Reboot]

On what basis can governments ban marijuana but keep fire water legal?

Out of all the chemically altering substances I find MJ to be the least damaging and the most fun. Plus, I'd rather be stuck in a room with a bunch of marijuana smokers as opposed to methheads or alcoholics.

What I don't get is how it's both legal and deemed "acceptable" for GPs and specialists to dish out opiates and barbiturates to patients, regardless of whether they have a mental health history, substance abuse issues etc. Yes, I know they're supposed to make note of these circumstances (to anybody that wants to argue the point with me) but in my experience, and people I've spoken to, a lot of the time they fail to do so. And that goes for other medications. My nanna was placed on a medication she shouldn't have had because she had previously undertaken chemo. She died not long after taking the meds.

"Experts" often cite the reasons, or rather, excuses as to why marijuana shouldn't be legal. Yet nothing is said about the potential side effects and risks of the pills that they champion to treat patients? Yeah, bugger off.

And let's look at alcohol, next to cigarettes it's one of the most hypocritical things our government has ever crapped on about. One one hand, they "condemn" binge-drinking and carry on like hysterical teenage girls about the subject, pumping out ad after ad on how bad it is, and how you shouldn't drink and drive. But that's about as far as it goes when it comes to "taking action". Spending money on useless ads that most people just roll their eyes at and change the channel.

Oh, and introduced "strict laws" that basically punishes anybody with a liquor licence, but does nothing about the dickheads who drink too much and become violent. The dickheads who haven't figured out by now that they are complete tossers when they drink.

In short, our government is a joke.

[billy the kid]

Its only a matter of time before pot is made legal...
The Australian grubberment will have it sold by chemists, put a juicy tax on it, and laugh
all the way to the bank....
93% of Victorias revenue comes from liquor and gambling taxes...they rely on the sins
of society to balance the books...why not tax pot....they're sitting on a gold mine...
If they want to introduce pill testing...why not....
BTW Ive never smoked pot..never had a fag of any type in my life...so I really don't give
a toss about pot...
It would be just another way to separate the peasants from their money...stimulate
the economy..you know...all that crap.....
But I digress...…..

[Nom De Plume]

Its only a matter of time before pot is made legal...
The Australian grubberment will have it sold by chemists, put a juicy tax on it, and laugh
all the way to the bank....
93% of Victorias revenue comes from liquor and gambling taxes...they rely on the sins
of society to balance the books...why not tax pot....they're sitting on a gold mine...
If they want to introduce pill testing...why not....
BTW Ive never smoked pot..never had a fag of any type in my life...so I really don't give
a toss about pot...
It would be just another way to separate the peasants from their money...stimulate
the economy..you know...all that crap.....
But I digress...…..

I don't think it should be legalized. I have been getting 3 for $50 for years... Zero inflation on the black market.

[Texan]

I don't have a problem with legalizing all drugs with some conditions.

1. People who OD on those drugs don't get free healthcare. They get the bill.

2. People who harm others while under the influence of drugs face stiff punishment and civil penalties.

3. People who receive government welfare cannot use recreational drugs. They can't afford it.

[The Reboot]

Its only a matter of time before pot is made legal...
The Australian grubberment will have it sold by chemists, put a juicy tax on it, and laugh
all the way to the bank....
93% of Victorias revenue comes from liquor and gambling taxes...they rely on the sins
of society to balance the books...why not tax pot....they're sitting on a gold mine...
If they want to introduce pill testing...why not....
BTW Ive never smoked pot..never had a fag of any type in my life...so I really don't give
a toss about pot...
It would be just another way to separate the peasants from their money...stimulate
the economy..you know...all that crap.....
But I digress...…..

I don't think it should be legalized. I have been getting 3 for $50 for years... Zero inflation on the black market.

But if you get a shoddy dealer they "tax" it straight from the bag!

[The Reboot]

I don't have a problem with legalizing all drugs with some conditions.

1. People who OD on those drugs don't get free healthcare. They get the bill.

2. People who harm others while under the influence of drugs face stiff punishment and civil penalties.

3. People who receive government welfare cannot use recreational drugs. They can't afford it.

Fair enough. I've never heard of anybody ODing on pot, though.

What's your opinion on say, obese people with medical conditions stemming from the intake of bad foods? I.e Mcdonalds, KFC, chocolate bars, etc.

[Texan]

I don't have a problem with legalizing all drugs with some conditions.

1. People who OD on those drugs don't get free healthcare. They get the bill.

2. People who harm others while under the influence of drugs face stiff punishment and civil penalties.

3. People who receive government welfare cannot use recreational drugs. They can't afford it.

Fair enough. I've never heard of anybody ODing on pot, though.

What's your opinion on say, obese people with medical conditions stemming from the intake of bad foods? I.e Mcdonalds, KFC, chocolate bars, etc.

K2 synthetic pot has killed quite a few people.

I haven't thought about obesity. Our food stamp programs only cover relatively healthy foods, but a welfare check can be spent on whatever they need or sometimes want. You could buy lots of carbohydrate laced foods but sugary snacks are not allowed. As a person paying for private healthcare coverage, I can eat what I want as long as they will insure me. Some people are going to be fat no matter how much you micromanage their lives. As long as food stamps can only be used to buy healthy food in a grocery store, I'm good with health coverage for the obese. They shouldn't have too much disposable income on welfare, so that would have to be enough control.

[The Reboot]

I don't have a problem with legalizing all drugs with some conditions.

1. People who OD on those drugs don't get free healthcare. They get the bill.

2. People who harm others while under the influence of drugs face stiff punishment and civil penalties.

3. People who receive government welfare cannot use recreational drugs. They can't afford it.

Fair enough. I've never heard of anybody ODing on pot, though.

What's your opinion on say, obese people with medical conditions stemming from the intake of bad foods? I.e Mcdonalds, KFC, chocolate bars, etc.

K2 synthetic pot has killed quite a few people.

I haven't thought about obesity. Our food stamp programs only cover relatively healthy foods, but a welfare check can be spent on whatever they need or sometimes want. You could buy lots of carbohydrate laced foods but sugary snacks are not allowed. As a person paying for private healthcare coverage, I can eat what I want as long as they will insure me. Some people are going to be fat no matter how much you micromanage their lives. As long as food stamps can only be used to buy healthy food in a grocery store, I'm good with health coverage for the obese. They shouldn't have too much disposable income on welfare, so that would have to be enough control.

Ah yes, we had quite a bit of trouble with the synthetic weed in Australia too.

Initially, it was designed to ease pain for patients with chronic illness such as cancer. The idea was a "legalized" form of an illegal drug..

Then they started selling it in shops. You could get it from "hippie" shops, sex shops, second hand stores and general stores. People in the workforce, who had jobs that prevented them from smoking the real thing, flocked to it because it was legal and didn't stay in your system for long.

I don't consider it "weed". It's a synthesized chemical made to mimic the real thing. Yes, I've had both and I can tell you that the "high" is vastly different. It is much more intense, but lasts a lot less than a natural marijuana high which of course leads to abuse and addiction. Getting off the stuff is more difficult than getting off weed.

The actual "weed" used in synthetic weed on its own does not make you high. It's typically a mix of passion flower, damiana and other herbs/plants used for medicinal purposes in ancient civilizations. What they do is spray the synthetic chemicals onto the stuff, so it at least looks like the real thing.

Australia had a bit of trouble with it in the beginning. They banned one particular strain of this synthetic crap, only for different variations to come along. It was slight, but clever, the loopholes they exploited.

The lot of it is banned now, though people can still import Kronic from NZ... the mind boggles.