MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Major change in US drugs policy: allows recreational cannabis on a ‘trust but verify’ approach
President Barack Obama's administration ceded ground last week in the US war on drugs, saying it will not dispute the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington states. The decision was swiftly hailed by campaigners for the legalization of a substance that, under federal law, remains a Schedule One controlled substance on a par with heroin. Read full article
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Aug 31st, 2013 - 07:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It was bound to happen sooner or later. Looks like the UK government is starting to come around to the idea also.
Sep 01st, 2013 - 03:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0If it is for medicinial purposes fine, by prescription, but is only going to be abused. what about the innocent people that are going to be killed by drivers high on drugs?
Sep 01st, 2013 - 05:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0@3 And not just drivers. How about the ones getting high and then deciding to rob a store, a bank, the little old lady walking down the street? There are many “reports” but the campaigners only bring forward those that support their views. What about the reports that say that cannabis use frequently leads to the use of harder drugs? The reports that say that its use slowly destroys the brain.
Sep 01st, 2013 - 07:48 am - Link - Report abuse 0And @2, I'm not up to date anymore but the last I saw cannabis was reverted from a Class C to a Class B. The problem is that other “factors” can be involved. Sit down in your house and smoke a few joints. How long do the effects last? At what point is it safe, for other people, for you to go into the street? Suppose you add a few glasses of whiskey? What's the difference between using herbal cannabis, cannabis resin and cannabinol? It's a bit like the use of coca in Bolivia and the like. Chewing the coca leaf does not have the same effect as shooting cocaine into your bloodstream.
#3 I don't see pot as an issue. Personally I do not smoke it but have in my younger days of the 70's, but I find it less destructive than alcohol. Currently is causes serious damage because of logistics of the product itself and who produces it. Too many are in jail in the USA for it's use, yet these old red faced fucks slugging their whiskey and Gin stare down their rosea pocked noses pontificating the evil of pot, even going so far to call it a gateway drug. Must be like beer wino's moving onto the more intoxicating whiskey and gin.
Sep 01st, 2013 - 10:35 am - Link - Report abuse 0We have more an issue with alcohol is this country and I find it rather hypocritical that we have no problem opening bars and allowing people to get in their cars after a few hours of curling drinks and driving home, but cannabis is illegal. Any argument made against pot can be made against alcohol. I say if we decide as a society to keep cannabis illegal for the potheads, keep me safe and do it for the drunks with their rosea nosed faces and bloodshot eyes. Be consistent.
Drunk drivers is a big problem in the USA, there is also a 2013 report on the effects of alcohol on society in Europe put out by WHO. As I always say, if we outlaw one because of the “ravages” of use be consistent and outlaw the other. Alcohol is an old man's drug. Everyone can argue the good and not so good of legalizing pot until the moon stops rising, the fact is pot is going to be legal worldwide and there is no stopping that. And realize that for every argument against legalizing, there is an equally compelling argument for, based on effects and hypocrisy for legalizing it. Everyone will choose to believe the argument based on their own personal and political philosophies....nothing more and nothing less. No one's POV will be changed. More to the point, the debate of legalizing cannabis is really over and the we are at the last phase, the legalizing process.
(5) Captain Poppy
Sep 01st, 2013 - 11:11 am - Link - Report abuse 0After your above post, I will have to remove you from my Turnip list.......
Actually I must confuse I lied. It has not been since the 70's that I smoked it. It is legal for medical use in Massachusetts and I have a friend that has it. I tried it a couple of weeks ago ( I have some physical issues and thought I would try it). It's just not my thing as it has too sedating of an affect on me. But my POV on the legalization remains unchanged.
Sep 01st, 2013 - 11:18 am - Link - Report abuse 0(7) Captain Poppy
Sep 01st, 2013 - 12:06 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Captain Potty, huhhhhh?
:-)))
Lol. Cannabis isn't going to make you want to rob a bank. It might make you want to consume a large bag of potato chips when you get the munchies, but nothing more radical than that. I doubt road users are going to be any more at risk than they already are given how easy it is find pot. It's incredibly easy to grow - just throw a few seeds on your backyard lawn and six months later you'll have some mature plants.
Sep 01st, 2013 - 02:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Plenty of people can function perfectly well regardless of the levels of THC in their bloodstream, nor does it lead to consumption of other drugs unless that's already attractive to the individual concerned.
That doesn't mean it's harmless by any means. It is a powerful mind-alterating substance with potential side-effects and as such should always be treated with caution and respect.
“How about the ones getting high and then deciding to rob a store, a bank, the little old lady walking down the street?”
Sep 01st, 2013 - 05:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Have you ever met anyone who is stoned? All they want to do is eat and most of the time they can't even be bothered to do that.
“What about the reports that say that cannabis use frequently leads to the use of harder drugs? ”
“The reports that say that its use slowly destroys the brain. ”
And what does alcohol and tobacco do? There is no scientific evidence that proves that cannabis is dangerous to us, just theories. However there is plenty of evidence showing us that both alcohol and tobacco and the worlds deadliest drugs, while also being legal.
“Sit down in your house and smoke a few joints. How long do the effects last?”
Usually until you can be bothered to go to the fridge, eat then fall asleep.
Sit down in your house, have a few beers, go out and go crazy. Tell me which one is safer? How often do you see stoner's running down the street fighting each other or smashing shop windows?
#10....thats my point. Alcohol eats the liver and kills people when they drive........more than gun murders in the USA. Smoke eats your lungs and the second hand smoke affects others.....yet they are all ok and legal. Bullshit I say. Legalize pot and half out prisons and jails will clear out for smokers.
Sep 01st, 2013 - 09:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@9, 10 Lol indeed. I used to catch cannabis smugglers. Fruitcakes, every one of them. “Plenty of people can function perfectly well regardless of the levels of THC in their bloodstream”. They think. Perhaps you'd like to compare that statement with “It is a powerful mind-alterating substance with potential side-effects”. Both statements are yours.
Sep 02nd, 2013 - 05:29 am - Link - Report abuse 0@10 I have to say to you - DIVERSION. Why don't you compare driving a car to riding a bike? Either could result in injuries and/or deaths. Not necessarily of the driver/rider.
@11 Tell you what, since you mention smoke, compare the effects of the particulates belched out by diesel engines.
If you need to know that I am sure you can find the info in wikipedia.
Sep 02nd, 2013 - 09:35 am - Link - Report abuse 0“Plenty of people can function perfectly well regardless of the levels of THC in their bloodstream”. They think.”
Sep 02nd, 2013 - 01:41 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I would actually agree. They won't be the greatest thinkers or the fastest people but unlike alcohol where if you keep drinking you end up pissing yourself or flat out passing out, it is almost impossible to do this from THC. You can't function normally, but you dont stop functioning entirely.
@12
Sep 03rd, 2013 - 04:11 am - Link - Report abuse 0The two statements of mine you isolated aren't mutually exclusive. Let me put it personal terms: I've been in the unfortunate position of being a passenger in vehicles whilst the driver's were either stoned or drunk. I never had to fear for my safety with the former while with the latter I came close to death on several occasions.
I don't doubt cannabis smugglers can be subject to fruitcakery, but being a fruitcake doesn't necessarily make you dangerous. Alcohol on the other hand affects the part of your brain that controls your inhibitions. I have known, personally, a man who killed another while in a blackout and witnessed many acts of violence or attempted violence my some who would never done so sober.
Pot affects different people in different ways - it's not something I would ever recommend to the emotionally vulnerable - but I cannot think of a single act of violence by anyone whose rage was triggered by cannabis.
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