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For the record I thought weed was decriminalised here? In-so-far as possession for personal use is not something you will be nicked for.

As for taxing it, sure they can but I don't think that any PM would be the one that gave weed the same status as a bottle of Chardonay.

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:@biccat, you really cannot be comparing Marijuana use to homicide? Really? What does that make people who drop an 'E' at the weekend? Multi-Rapist Kiddie Fiddlers?!

They are similar in kind, although not in degree. Possessing marijuana is a felony. So is murder.

I wasn't equating the two, I was attacking the position that one can be a good person and still commit illegal acts.

sarpendons-right-hand wrote:It is perfectly possible to smoke dope on a fairly regular basis and hold down a decent job. I've never murdered anybody, never raped anybody, never mugged anybody and I have no criminal record. Yes, that's because I never got caught, but I never felt the need to go out and attack someone in a club cos they gave me the evils!

...and many people who smoke dope on a regualr basis can't hold down a decent job. For at least some people this is due to their addiction to marijuana.

sarpendons-right-hand wrote:The reason that Marijuana is not legalised or de-criminalised is simple. The Gov't cannot tax it. I may also add that marijuana itself grows naturally, it is not a man made derivitive like Cocaine and Heroin....If you make it illegal that's like claiming that God or Mother Nature or whomever cocked up......

The government taxes a myriad of products that are locally grown and consumed. Just last spring I had to pay a 7% tax on a packet of carrot seeds. CARROTS MAN!

Actually was thinking more like cigarettes.

Here's the interesting collateral issue. With the increasing shrillness to elminate areas people can smoke at (including their cars and residences in some jurisdictions) how will this reconcile with legalizing this type of plant?

I can only relate to people my personal experiences with marijuana use, and that is on the whole good....it's not about wether it is illegal now (which it very clearly is) it's about wether it SHOULD be illegal or not.
Let me say again, it is a plant that grows naturally and not a man made substance. And before anyone says 'But Poppy's grow naturally, and so do Coca Leaves!', you have to manually turn them into a substance that you can use. With Marijuana you can pick it, dry it and smoke it....
It's just my personal view that to ban a naturally occurring substance is a little on the daft side. And I'm pretty sure that if the Gov't could tax it they would make it legal as quick as they physically could.
At the end of the day it's personal choice, but smoking a joint is a lot less harmful than snorting a line and mainlining some Heroin.....
We injest chemicals every day, the only difference is that the chemicals in food are taken as perfectly safe. Never mind the impact that too many E numbers have on you.....

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:I can only relate to people my personal experiences with marijuana use, and that is on the whole good....it's not about wether it is illegal now (which it very clearly is) it's about wether it SHOULD be illegal or not.
Let me say again, it is a plant that grows naturally and not a man made substance. And before anyone says 'But Poppy's grow naturally, and so do Coca Leaves!', you have to manually turn them into a substance that you can use. With Marijuana you can pick it, dry it and smoke it....
It's just my personal view that to ban a naturally occurring substance is a little on the daft side. And I'm pretty sure that if the Gov't could tax it they would make it legal as quick as they physically could.
At the end of the day it's personal choice, but smoking a joint is a lot less harmful than snorting a line and mainlining some Heroin.....
We injest chemicals every day, the only difference is that the chemicals in food are taken as perfectly safe. Never mind the impact that too many E numbers have on you.....

Khat is a plant that grows naturally and not a man made substance... Same with psilocybin mushrooms. Have seen people on both I would find it very hard to argue they are harmless good things that should not be regulated.

At the end of the day it's personal choice, but smoking a joint is a lot less harmful than snorting a line and mainlining some Heroin.....

Yep, and at the end of the day slicing your arm with a knife is a lot less harmful than putting a 12 gauge shotgun barrel in your mouth and pulling the trigger. Doesn't make it safe or advisable though.

Edit: I just don't get it when the main selling point for something is that it is 'less bad' than something else. Sell me the plan on its own merrits, tell me why it is GOOD vice 'Less Bad'.

Melissia wrote:Frankly, I think it needs to just be legalized and taxed as a source of revenue. Then allow employers to determine if the drug tests need to stay (For example, operating heavy equipment? Definitely needs testing, can't operate equipment high or drunk. Sweeping up garbage? Probably not.).

They would still need to have sweeping drug testing. Obviously for the machinery, responsibility parts. But, also these same drug tests tend to also test for the "hard" drugs, like cocaine etc. I'm sure that even if there were federal/state laws allowing the use of marijuana, the military would keep it banned for ever and ever, into eternity, simply because of their mindset to all sorts of things, but there's also that "responsibility" thing again.

I don't want to be picky...

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:
Let me say again, it is a plant that grows naturally and not a man made substance. And before anyone says 'But Poppy's grow naturally, and so do Coca Leaves!', you have to manually turn them into a substance that you can use. With Marijuana you can pick it, dry it and smoke it....
quote]

A process takes place right there.
Cultivating takes human intervention.
Picking it.
Drying it.
Prep for smoking.

You can munch Coca leaves right off the plant.

CptJake wrote:I just don't get it when the main selling point for something is that it is 'less bad' than something else. Sell me the plan on its own merrits, tell me why it is GOOD vice 'Less Bad'.

It makes Pink Floyd tolerable?

I don't care, either way.

Usually Marijuana has the benefits of relaxing the person, making it somewhat useful as a medicinal drug. But it's far more useful when ingested in a way that doesn't involve smoking (which induces tar into the system).

pot is better for you than tobacco and alcohol, no one has ever overdosed on pot before.

bombboy1252 wrote:pot is better for you than tobacco and alcohol, no one has ever overdosed on pot before.

That sounds like BS to me. I mean, yeah I think we all know that it is all too possible to OD from alcohol (alcohol poisoning) and OD from tobacco (nicotine poisoning).. but "no one has ever ODd on pot before.. thats stretchin it IMO.

bombboy1252 wrote:pot is better for you than tobacco and alcohol, no one has ever overdosed on pot before.

I don't think anyone has overdosed on tobacco before either. I could be wrong.

@Frazzled - Nicotine can be used as a very effective poison. You don't need much to kill a fully-grown human.


So I hear.

Albatross wrote:@Frazzled - Nicotine can be used as a very effective poison. You don't need much to kill a fully-grown human.


So I hear.

Excellent....


SO er, can you in fact OD on cigarettes though? I've seen chain smokers go through a couple in an hour.

When I was quitting smoking, I seem to recall hearing tales about people who had placed several nicotine patches on their body and also smoked a cigarette. They then had a heart attack or something - it is possible but fairly unlikely I think.

You can overdose on Vitamin C, but you really have to go some to get there.

Im pretty sure that THC wouldn't be greta in large quanities in a short space of time either.


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Checked it, turns out that THC is not toxic and the only related deaths were from synthetic sources.

Still, just say no Kids!

@Alby, Pink Floyd are always tolerable!

And notprop, your findings are that of a good, solid scientific basis I presume? I'm just asking because I had also read the same thing.... THC is non toxic and a lot of people seem to miss the medical benefits of Marijuana. It helps people sleep, gets them over thier back pain etc etc.

Anywhoo, aside from making you slightly dull to be around, Marijuana is really not that bad, at least no worse than Ciggarettes and Alcohol....

Ensis Ferrae wrote:

bombboy1252 wrote:pot is better for you than tobacco and alcohol, no one has ever overdosed on pot before.

That sounds like BS to me. I mean, yeah I think we all know that it is all too possible to OD from alcohol (alcohol poisoning) and OD from tobacco (nicotine poisoning).. but "no one has ever ODd on pot before.. thats stretchin it IMO.

The statement than no one has ever overdosed on weed is quite true.

Your lungs would give out before you could smoke enough marijuana to overdose on THC.




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biccat wrote:

Fafnir wrote:Marijuana and tobacco are not used together.

Not sure where you get this idea.

While some people do mix the two together, in my experience, most people prefer it straight. Maybe that's where he gets that idea.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to prove that one, probably with video proof on Youtube please.

@ s-r-h, I'm guessing you checked with the renowned scientists that post at Wikipedia as well then?

If pot were legalized in the USofA, what would G4 Hosts get on their Soap Boxes about?

Won't someone think of the G4 Hosts?

biccat wrote:

sarpedons-right-hand wrote:@biccat, you really cannot be comparing Marijuana use to homicide? Really? What does that make people who drop an 'E' at the weekend? Multi-Rapist Kiddie Fiddlers?!

They are similar in kind, although not in degree. Possessing marijuana is a felony. So is murder.

I wasn't equating the two, I was attacking the position that one can be a good person and still commit illegal acts.

Would you consider those who protested segregation laws through civil disobedience to be bad people then?

rubiksnoob wrote:Would you consider those who protested segregation laws through civil disobedience to be bad people then?

To the extent that they knowingly violated the law, yes.

You've omitted the fact that these people not only violated the laws, but often went to prison for the violation. They knew what they were doing was wrong and accepted the consequences for it.

There's also the slight problem that the civil rights protests were conducted based on the perceived injustice of the law. I don't think many people smoke marijuana to protest marijuana laws.

Well apart from the shocking fact that no one has realised that sarpedons-right-hand is a medium and is channeling the spirit of Bill Hicks. Nothing in this thread has so far suprised me. Personally I'd legalise it, but I'd put an age restriction (21) on it the only people I have seen adversely affected have been those who started young.

rubiksnoob wrote:While some people do mix the two together, in my experience, most people prefer it straight. Maybe that's where he gets that idea.

As I understand it this is mainly a cultural thing; Americans prefer it straight whereas we British like to mix it.

Pro legalisation by the way, can't see the harm in it.

The Strange Dude wrote:Well apart from the shocking fact that no one has realised that sarpedons-right-hand is a medium and is channeling the spirit of Bill Hicks. Nothing in this thread has so far suprised me. Personally I'd legalise it, but I'd put an age restriction (21) on it the only people I have seen adversely affected have been those who started young.

Amen Brother!

The Dreadnote wrote:

rubiksnoob wrote:While some people do mix the two together, in my experience, most people prefer it straight. Maybe that's where he gets that idea.

As I understand it this is mainly a cultural thing; Americans prefer it straight whereas we British like to mix it.

Pro legalisation by the way, can't see the harm in it.

This is true makes it last longer and i can play BFBC2 and get killed loads and dont care where as if i am not stoned i get in a huff throw the controller down and dont go on the box for ages

notprop wrote:

Mr. Self Destruct wrote:>Drink tons of beer, get drunk, wrap car around pole
>Smoke tons of weed, don't drive, sit in house and talk about world issues

>Alcohol is legal
>Pot isn't

The problem is that you are equally as dangerous driving a car under the influence of weed as you are of alcohol.

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA OH MAN that is hilarious! Where the hell did you read that???


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Ensis Ferrae wrote:

bombboy1252 wrote:pot is better for you than tobacco and alcohol, no one has ever overdosed on pot before.

That sounds like BS to me. I mean, yeah I think we all know that it is all too possible to OD from alcohol (alcohol poisoning) and OD from tobacco (nicotine poisoning).. but "no one has ever ODd on pot before.. thats stretchin it IMO.

Then find a source. It's pretty common knowledge that you cannot overdose on THC.

nectarprime wrote:

notprop wrote:

Mr. Self Destruct wrote:>Drink tons of beer, get drunk, wrap car around pole
>Smoke tons of weed, don't drive, sit in house and talk about world issues

>Alcohol is legal
>Pot isn't

The problem is that you are equally as dangerous driving a car under the influence of weed as you are of alcohol.

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA OH MAN that is hilarious! Where the hell did you read that???

Dude, anything that affects your judgement, hand-eye coordination, or reaction time should not be taken if your going to go driving. This includes many legal perscription drugs. It doesn't take a genius to know that. I don't think you'll find many Pro-pot folks that think it's a good idea to take a drag then go driving.

How about you knock off the attitude?