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* #donaldtrump * #community * #joebiden * #russia * #republicans * #media * #2024 * #ukraine * #openthread * #elections * #war * #georgia * #climatechange * #gop * #florida * #climate * #rondesantis * #culture * #music * #education * #faniwillis * #pwbpeeps * #law * #texas * #rudygiuliani * #religion * #democrats * #mitchmcconnell * #labor * #trump Help Desk Write a story undefined New Messages Manage Front Page Queue New Blog Entry Drafts (undefined) Profile Image Library My Groups My Stories My Activity Stream My Comments Subscribe to Hide Ads Show Ads Hide Ads Switch to old frontpage design Sign Out Log In Sign Up Create a free account Log in All Recent Stories Staff Community Trending Elections From Markos' Desk Comics Community Groups Community Spotlight Actions Civiqs Quick Links Help Desk Jobs Work With Us Advertising Overview Daily Kos moves in solidarity with the Black community. Learn More © Kos Media, LLC. Site content may be used for any purpose without explicit permission unless otherwise specified. "Kos" and "Daily Kos" are registered trademarks of Kos Media, LLC. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | DMCA Copyright Notice * #donaldtrump * #community * #joebiden * #russia * #republicans * #media * #2024 * #ukraine * #openthread * #elections * #war * #georgia * #climatechange * #gop * #florida * #climate * #rondesantis * #culture * #music * #education * #faniwillis * #pwbpeeps * #law * #texas * #rudygiuliani * #religion * #democrats * #mitchmcconnell * #labor * #trump THE 5 BEST REASONS NOT TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA, AND WHY THEY ARE ALL DUMB by daylin Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.) Sunday, Sep. 03, 2023 Sunday, September 03, 2023 at 7:56:53a 99 Comments 99 New Recommend Story142 This past week the federal government finally made some progress on rescheduling cannabis. As most people know, Cannabis is now a Schedule 1 Narcotic, which is insane. Schedule 1 is supposed to be reserved for the most wretched things you could consume, like crack cocaine, or whatever is in the center of Twinkie. Last Wednesday, the DHS recommended that marijuana be rescheduled to Schedule 3. This would obviously be helpful both to consumers and the cannabis industry itself. But it still falls short of complete legalization, which is actually the morally and logically correct policy. Why the hesitancy? Are there arguments against legalization? Yes. Are they good ones? That would be a no. We’ve all heard the expression, “there are lies, damn lies, and statistics”. At least 77% of us have. I feel the same way about the arguments against fully legalizing cannabis. Each one is dumber than the argument before it, but not as dumb as the argument to follow. And that’s true no matter what order you put them in. Weird! I know!! Because I like shooting fish in a barrel (literally. I’m not talking about the metaphor), I’m going to posit, and then rebut the top 5 best arguments for continuing prohibition. It’s kind of like a David Letterman Top 10 List written by a lazy person. I also acknowledge that there are more than 5 arguments that the prohibitionists make. However, if I dipped much below five I’d be getting into the realm of the insane. The fish wouldn’t just be in a barrel, they’d be nailed to the bottom of it. And it’s really easy to shoot the fish in those circumstances. I know. I’ve done it. A lot! Quick note: In an effort to mix things up, by using a different synonym for grass every time I mention it. Top 5 best and dumbest arguments against legalization 1. POT IS BAD FOR YOU Every so often we’re treated to an exciting tweet by some drug warrior who breathlessly reports on a new study that says that Kief causes your liver to explode, or that infants dipped in hash oil rarely grow up to win the Nobel Peace Prize. There are many problems with these studies, which I shall briefly elucidate below. But there is a more fundamental, threshold problem with this argument, which is that for purposes of setting public policy, it is absolutely irrelevant. Let’s pretend for a moment that someone can prove that bing-bing is somehow harmful to your health. It would not be alone. Cigarettes kill 1,100 Americans per day in horrific ways. Approximately 88,000 people die each year from Alcohol abuse. Sugary drinks kill over 184,000 Americans annually and eating Hot Pockets kills more people each week, than were killed in the entire Viet Nam War (both sides)! Clearly, something being “bad for you” or unhealthy has not historically been a reason to make the people who consume it criminals. In other words, reefer could be both unhealthy and legal, like many, many other products. Of course, this assumes that weed actually is unhealthy. But the number of Americans who die directly from Mary Jane each year is ZERO. Ganja has no lethal dose. Further, many of the studies showing adverse effects on kids assume what they call “chronic use”. This means that they are smoking herb multiple times, every single day. How do you think a 12-year-old would do drinking multiple shots of vodka every day? Yet alcohol is still legal, and in Pennsylvania, actually sold and promoted by the state. This argument clearly doesn’t bear scrutiny. 2. SKUNK IS A GATEWAY DRUG — IT’S NOT. IT’S JUST NOT. Here’s a quick, true, funny story. When I was pushing my Medical bill in Pennsylvania, I had the opportunity to meet with then-Governor Corbett about it. I got the feeling I was not his favorite senator by the way he scrunched up his nose like he smelled something vile whenever he saw me. Although to be fair, my patchouli-scented cologne probably didn’t help. In any event, he said he was opposed to Medical Marijuana because it was a Gateway Drug and would “lead to increased opioid use”. So I said “Governor, you are saying that if we prescribe marijuana, it might lead people down the path to using opioids. So, we’re just going to prescribe the opioids instead and just skip the gateway? He nodded his head yes, his chief-of-staff asked if anyone smelled patchouli. And the meeting was over. Even in the context of recreational Cannapa, the evidence of it being a gateway drug is non-existent. The argument that prohibitions make is that most people who use heroin had previously used Baby Bhang, which is probably true but definitely meaningless. Those same heroin users also previously drank milk, yet nobody is making milk a Schedule 1 Narcotic. The right way to analyze it is not to see how many heroin users previously consumed Cheeba, but how many Grifo users went on to use heroin, which is under 4%. If you are looking for “gateway drugs”, I’d suggest checking out tobacco and alcohol. The Baker Institute, (which may have been named after famous baker Betty Crocker, but I’ll have to check on that) did a 40-year study. Alcohol users were far more likely than consumers of the cush to use heavily, and alcohol was the substance most commonly used in the progression of substance use. Another bad argument. 3. DAGGA IS MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN IT USED TO ME The only real evidence of this is the possibility that someone smoked some super-powerful Gasper and came up with this lame argument. First, like alcohol, there is a continuum of potency with Hot Stick. You can drink beer, or you can drink grain alcohol. And the thing is, you usually know what it is you are drinking and modulate your drinking accordingly. People chug a beer. But nobody, after that one time as a freshman in college, chugs grain alcohol. If booze or cripple are too weak, you consume more of them. If they are a bit strong, you consume less. The result is the same. In fact, the wide range of potency between strains of jolly green is actually an argument FOR legalization since we should want people to know the potency of what they are about to consume. And that knowledge is far more likely to be available on the label from a licensed dispensary, than from your buddy Greenie who sold you a dime bag behind the bowling alley. 4. WE DON’T NEED TO LEGALIZE ANOTHER INTOXICANT Actually, on this one, they’re right. Only a certain number of intoxicants should be legal at a time. And that number is 3. Alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine. Done. Everyone else should go to jail. 5. PEOPLE IN THE DINKIE-DOW INDUSTRY WANT TO MAKE MONEY This may win the Oscar for the stupidest argument of them all. It is the main argument of the leading pro-prohibitionist organization known as “Smart Approaches to Marijuana”. Think of SAM as if the movie “Reefer Madness” became a non-profit. This organization exists to keep the pipelines to prison open and free from obstruction. They argue that “Big Marijuana” is going to come in and open up a bunch of dispensaries for-profit and are going to make filthy lucre off of the sale of Bammy to our poor, unsuspecting kids. Of course, this would make the Giggle Smoke Industry exactly like the alcohol and tobacco industries. Anyone ever heard of Budweiser or Phillip Morris? But beyond that, it would make Jazz Cabbage the same as literally every industry in America. Think of Big Frisbee or Big Itch Cream, or Big Hot Pocket. The desire of entrepreneurs to make money is no reason to make a product illegal and its users are criminals. The fact that these are the leading arguments against ending prohibition show just how Paltry the case they make is. It’s time to end the 85-year catastrophe and legalize The Devil’s Alfalfa once and for all. This content was created by a Daily Kos Community member. Make YOUR voice heard! Log in or create an account. 3 tags #Cannabis #Prohibition #Recommended 2 groups republished * trending * Recommended WAS THIS STORY WORTH READING? Recommending stories helps us decide which stories are most important to show our readers. Recommend Story142 There are no unread comments at this time. 99 Comments Close Settings Auto refreshCollapse on load KEYBOARD NAVIGATION: * ( L ) Recommend * ( r ) Reply * ( p ) Parent * ( o ) Open/Close * ( j ) Next * ( k ) Prev * ( 1 ) First Comment * ( 2 ) Last Comment * ( J ) Next Unread * ( K ) Prev Unread * ( esc ) Unfocus Text Field * ( P ) Edit/Preview * ( S ) Submit * ( c ) Cancel * Show all hotkeys... daylin author Sep 03, 2023 at 07:56:54 AM Tip Jar Recommend 72 72Recommend Mr Tucker Sep 03, 2023 at 08:16:50 AM I’ve been shooting down those arguments for over fifty years. The illegality of cannabis is stupid on so many levels. Reply Recommend 33 tommywward Sep 03, 2023 at 09:01:30 AM Agreed. I gave it up a long time ago (along with alcohol), but from personal experience cannabis users are a lot safer to society than alcohol users. If we are going to allow people to legally consume a drug that often leads to violence, bad judgement, car wrecks and all sorts of mayhem then it is foolish to disallow use of weed. Reply Recommend 22 DaveinBremerton Sep 03, 2023 at 09:01:43 AM I’ve never used the stuff, and I have a couple siblings who stand as the poster children for “Dude, you smoke too damn much pot”. In spite of this, no one has ever given me a compelling argument on why I should spend my tax dollars criminalizing weed. It simply ain’t my damn business what other people put into their bodies. Reply Recommend 16 doinaheckuvanutjob DaveinBremerton Sep 03, 2023 at 02:24:54 PM I learned from my drug/alc counselor jobs, that cigarettes, not weed, have the highest correlation of leading to using other drugs. Really an interesting revelation… Reply Recommend 4 jt3189 Sep 03, 2023 at 09:16:15 AM The people who are in favor of imprisoning those who posses marijuana go mentally numb when you point out to them that if you want to put into prison those who posses the drugs that cause the most deaths and damage, you have to imprison those who posses cigarettes and alcohol. Reply Recommend 20 romalasa jt3189 Sep 03, 2023 at 10:53:54 AM Y’all are missin’ the last esss in possesssss. Reply Recommend 4 wizardjuan Sep 03, 2023 at 09:54:42 AM Loved all the slang terms for Cannabis. I was thinking Sgt. Stadenko the whole time Reply Recommend 19 MarcKyle64 Sep 03, 2023 at 10:20:09 AM I cannot take NSAIDS (aspirin, advil, aleve) due to my body's edema reaction to them. I can take Tylenol, but not without concern over further injuring my ailing liver which is already being monitored by a physician with regular tests. THC is the safest choice for me for pain relief. I spend $35 per half gram cart, which is enough for a week. Meanwhile, in the state next door, they're $10, but that's Schedule 1 transportation across state lines. Loosening the Federal restrictions, which were put in place because only brown people used pot back in the 50s, would help a lot. Imagine YOU having to spend $5 a day so your arthritis won't keep you awake at night. 365 days x $5 is $1,800 a year or one month of my income annually. Reply Recommend 24 jjohnjj Sep 03, 2023 at 10:21:57 AM I recall an observation made years ago that smoking cannabis is first and only illegal act committed by many young people. In that regard, it is a “gateway” to only one thing… distrust of governments that penalize harmless behavior, and and cynicism toward for the law. Reply Recommend 42 Sally DeLurks jjohnjj Sep 03, 2023 at 10:58:14 AM THIS! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 Reply Recommend 7 janmtairy jjohnjj Sep 03, 2023 at 11:35:11 AM Well, that and speeding. Unless they don’t drive. Reply Recommend 9 Herky Nav jjohnjj Sep 03, 2023 at 01:36:37 PM I've read that cannabis is the gateway drugthoroughly pizza and Doritos. But what do I know, I don't smoke weed. Reply Recommend 1 proffmw Sep 03, 2023 at 10:25:07 AM Learned a lot of new euphemisms here. Thanks. Of course it should be completely legal, and regulated. Haven’t used the stuff since college (when it didn’t do a damn thing for me except make me cough), but I may take up gummies when I retire and move to Colorado. For now, beer is my go-to relaxant, though I’ve moved up to 9-10% double IPAs. Reply Recommend 9 kansasmagic proffmw Sep 03, 2023 at 03:22:45 PM Gotta watch those DIPAs! I play a little game wherein a stovepipe of something in the 9-10% range counts as "one beer" (because it's a single can, and I'm going to drink it all at once), even though it has the alcohol content of about three regular Budweisers. They sure taste good to hop heads like me, though. Reply Recommend whiskeyandiron Sep 03, 2023 at 10:29:10 AM I wouldn’t smoke cannabis if it was legal and free, but I think taxing and regulating it should be up to the states, which is what I think about all hallucinogens and psychoactive agents. The drug war is over. The federal government should declare victory and stop wasting resources on it, stop using it as a vector of discriminatory law enforcement, stop ruining lives with imprisonment and prison records for a crime that has no victim. Reply Recommend 10 neznamo Sep 03, 2023 at 10:36:02 AM State governments make a lot of money from taxing alcohol, tobacco (and almost everything else) now and are always looking for more revenue. The federal gov’t can take a cut too. I hope pot, at least on the average, is more potent than some of the crap weed I smoked back in the day. Speaking of smoking, perhaps it would be healthier to consume edibles. If I ever make it to a state where pot is legal, that would be my preferred method of imbibing. Reply Recommend 8 Shockwave Sep 03, 2023 at 10:41:52 AM I have some very very interesting marijuana stories. If we smoke a joint together I’ll tell you a couple that may blow your mind. They involve the CIA and the Rolling Stones. Reply Recommend 10 DarkPhoenix Shockwave Sep 03, 2023 at 11:53:25 AM x x Reply Recommend 7 CanadianKitty DarkPhoenix Sep 03, 2023 at 12:50:43 PM They showed this to us in high school, to literal screams of laughter. Ridiculous propaganda. Reply Recommend 4 sfbob CanadianKitty Sep 03, 2023 at 02:45:59 PM The movie wasn’t widely known about in the mid-60s when I was in high school. While I was an undergraduate it got shown regularly, mostly to people like me who were high. We also thought it was hilarious. But I guess pot, when first started smoking it, made pretty much everything seem hilarious. Reply Recommend 2 Pigeon Peas Sep 03, 2023 at 10:42:41 AM Regarding increased potency, I couldn't if I tried to score the quality of weed I was buying in the 80s, which means I smoke less of it now, something you would think the people who allegedly care so much about my health would celebrate. Reply Recommend 7 Therapy Sep 03, 2023 at 10:56:49 AM I get high every day, I love it! Reply Recommend 12 MarikoK Therapy Sep 03, 2023 at 11:30:26 AM As do I! Edibles, movies and music are a nightly ritual for me. With the occasional joint added in. Reply Recommend 3 Simian Sep 03, 2023 at 11:06:44 AM All this talk about smoking weed. I stopped smoking it years ago. Here in Cali there are tons of tasty commercially-prepared edibles with specified dosages per unit. IOW with edibles you can pretty closely regulate your dose and get a pleasant long-lasting buzz without getting stonked out of your mind, and yet never pollute your lungs. One square of my favorite Kiva chocolate has 10mg THC which is just about right. Then there are the canned beverages. Cann Hi-boy “social tonic” in lemon-lavender is my go-to. No artificial ingredients, 5mgs THC and only 30 calories per can. Pabst has a bunch of competing THC beverages but they don’t taste as good as Cann, imo. Reply Recommend 11 MarikoK Simian Sep 03, 2023 at 11:33:58 AM I get some absolutely killer salted caramels locally, which come in a 4 pack of 19.5mg per caramel. Also fond of watermelon gummies at 8.5mg per gummy, and maple bacon chocolate bars that are 10mg per piece. The caramels are so good, they could easily be overdone. Reply Recommend 7 Simian MarikoK Sep 03, 2023 at 01:54:15 PM Maple bacon chocolate bars that also get you high! That sounds too good to be true! Reply Recommend 4 MarikoK Simian Sep 03, 2023 at 03:02:49 PM They have more of a coffee flavour, but they’re still totally delicious. I generally stay away from the drinks, as they almost always taste awful. Reply Recommend ukulelegeek Simian Sep 03, 2023 at 11:50:09 AM I don’t like the edibles. Too high, for too long. I’ll continue to huff mine, thank you. Reply Recommend 6 KGB hates US Simian Sep 03, 2023 at 11:53:03 AM Personally anything more than 5mgs of THC causes me to FLY. It was part of my Cancer Meds at Duke. All the Nurses liked to visit my Room, because I had the local classic Rock station on, and a good disposition, with a smile, while undergoing the hell of Cancer! Reply Recommend 8 esquimaux Simian Sep 03, 2023 at 12:09:35 PM i’m not an edibles fan, but the great thing about legalization is people who want that can find huge variety and known dosage. Reply Recommend 3 kansasmagic Simian Sep 03, 2023 at 03:30:16 PM I'm curious about the canned stuff. I think Lagunitas makes a THC beer. Just checked: Not a beer, but a THC infused hop water. I like hop water. I like THC. Maybe if I ever get invited to a party again, I will look for that. Reply Recommend jamesinsf Sep 03, 2023 at 11:07:39 AM A fabulously clever article that made me chuckle! Thank you. The Simpsons called cannabis, The Devil's Lettuce's, so there's a other slang term for you! Reply Recommend 8 HomeGrown Sep 03, 2023 at 11:09:26 AM Great article! Hers one more for you. I worked in Pennsylvania as a machinist for 15 years and I was diagnosed with severe nerve damage after the chemicals I worked with poisoned me and burned through my body. Because of the cold temperatures by the lake I had to move from my home to Portland Oregon. Im prescribed a typical Morphine/ Vicodin medication combination that is very common in other states to help battle the pain of severe nerve damage, but the medical community in Oregon is fine with non cancer people suffering and have started forcing patients off of opiate medication no matter the diagnosis. I have been on the same dose of my medication for over 4 years now and any real doctor will tell you the need to increase the dose to keep up with the bodies growing tolerance. Doctors in Oregon will say anything to get out of prescribing opiates. They will definitely lie to you and make up different “disorders”to back up their quackery! Because doctors in Oregon refusing to help me I'm forced to use edible marijuana to help with my tolerance and keep the pain at bay. Oregon doctors however have come up a medical theory that has doctors telling patients (with absolutely no medical evidence behind their arguments) that using opiates and marijuana will shut down your respiratory system. Huh? Using this reasoning they refuse to let patients use marijuana at all! Even though it's legal (just like alcohol) doctors in Oregon do not care. Bottom line is I worked for years in Pennsylvania and got horribly injured. I moved to Oregon in 2016 and even though I have plenty of medical evidence, (E.M.G & Surel biopsy on the main nerve in my left leg) doctors in Oregon not only refuse to help me, they are constantly trying to take away my medication and refusing to let me use any form of marijuana The NYT just did a very good and thorough story on how the opiate crackdown has left patients like me abandoned with our pain and how doctors are leaving their patients to suffer so they don't have to deal with difficult patients and complex diagnosis. Without the government or someone stepping in and forcing these doctors to help people like me I'll spend the rest of my life in horrible nerve pain. Unless I start going to the street pharmacy under the Morrison street bridge and trying out the Fentanyl all the kids are talking about these days. There is a whole community of chronic pain patients that now go to this pharmacy because they had their medications taken away by an Oregon doctor. I've been conducting a poll of people who use at this spot for the past year now and I've found that over 70% of new users are former chronic pain patients. Weird huh? Doctors treat me as if I sleep in a tent on the sidewalk and talk to me as if I'm a child. So frustrating for someone over 50 being told this by a person who is complaining about turning 30. Weed would help, but as long as the Oregon health system is set up to avoid blame I have nobody here to help me, or my friends down at the bridge. If you get sick, don't come to Oregon. Where weed is legal just not for the people who need it most! Reply Recommend 7 samanthab Sep 03, 2023 at 11:16:29 AM Until the spate of legalizations, weed was the biggest product sold by Mexican drug cartels. When we criminalize drugs, we enable some pretty terrible people to fill the void. Your average Mexican citizen all but lives in terror because of decades of fucked up American drug policies. Reply Recommend 13 Molvo Sep 03, 2023 at 11:27:24 AM And then the people of NC have to put up with another fool as a representative (Meadows, Cawthorn and now Edwards) wlos.com/... Reply Recommend 1 ktoz Sep 03, 2023 at 11:31:18 AM I don’t care what people do outside of work, but at work? Screw that. There have been numerous times when a stoned coworker did something dangerous to others around them and generally stopped pulling their weight. One guy smoked every day before work, on every break, and lunch and one day, it took him 4 ½ hours to build a simple store display that could be built by a straight person in about ½ hour. And he did it wrong. Another guy and I had to go fix it. I have a coworker who thought nothing of getting stoned and driving, until he totaled a rental car at a job. So while I generally have no problem with people smoking weed, way too many act like the alcoholics of old and seem to think that “they’re fine” to drive and work stoned. Legalize it? Sure, but not until there are effective tests to check drivers and workers who are stoned when they’re not supposed to be. Reply Recommend 3 DarkPhoenix ktoz Sep 03, 2023 at 11:49:25 AM That’s not different from any other drug that can alter your perception, though. You wouldn’t want coworkers drinking on the job, either. Reply Recommend 9 ktoz DarkPhoenix Sep 03, 2023 at 12:11:16 PM Absolutely. All I’m getting at is that there are LOTS of people who think it’s perfectly OK to smoke weed at work and drive stoned (I know at least a dozen) and legalizing it without effective instant tests gives them free reign to abuse the privilege with low probability of getting caught. Reply Recommend 2 rodentrancher ktoz Sep 03, 2023 at 01:35:53 PM Not an issue. > there are effective tests to check drivers and workers who are stoned when > they’re not supposed to be. There have been effective tests for delta-9-THC in blood and saliva for years now. Note that these are different from the urine tests for inactive metabolites that are used primarily for harassing users rather than identifying those under the influence. In Colorado, the standard is 5 nanograms per milliliter, and people exceeding that are routinely busted for DUI. Reply Recommend 4 ktoz rodentrancher Sep 03, 2023 at 02:56:22 PM Honest question, how long does the saliva test take to yield results? Reply Recommend Patientman ktoz Sep 03, 2023 at 02:01:46 PM They are obviously not mature enough to be adults and understand that working impaired is just ignorant. No matter what kind of job you do, never do it stoned on anything. You will always be spotted and it is not healthy for the environment you work in. I speak from 50 years of experience in multiple(38) types of companies and positions of employment. I have been stupid enough to be stoned at work when I was young. Since that time, I have endured sober accidents that have produced my current physical difficulties with thorough nerve damage. People who abuse any substance will find getting older becomes far more difficult in all areas of your body and mind. Cannabis is not a cure all and the greatest part of it being de-scheduled is the possibility of significant research. Reply Recommend wu ming Sep 03, 2023 at 11:36:22 AM there is no legitimate reason for democrats not to do everything in their power to ram through full recreational legalization at the federal level, and hang the GOP votes to block it around their necks in campaign ads. legalization is stupid popular, and cuts across the GOP coalition in useful ways, while not dividing democrats, and is quite popular with the independents dems need to win in close races. but it has to be national, not some back-to-the-state BS, because like with every other important issue, the only way things get better out here in the red states, esp. those without initiative processes that bypass our shitty gerrymandered state legislatures, is if dems pass it at the federal level. in terms of public health and policy, it’s a no-brainer. in terms of politics, it’s even more of a no-brainer. the only reason why any pol opposes legalization is a) hippie-punching reflexes from decades ago; b) reliance on campaign contributions from industries that compete with cannabis or rely on the drug war for their business model; c) pressure from police unions who like to use the drug war to abuse their racial/cultural enemies, steal their property through eminent domain, and fill their jails with nonviolent offenders. Reply Recommend 9 Clio2 wu ming Sep 03, 2023 at 01:04:56 PM And it would get votes, I think. I haven't used the stuff in years and having been a teacher, have reservations about it for teens in particular, but the arguments in this diary make a lot of sense. Even Mary Jane is getting tainted these days with fentanyl to boost the high and create addiction, which weed alone wouldn't do. Better there's a safe and regulated source. And I think it would be popular. Reply Recommend 3 ukulelegeek Sep 03, 2023 at 11:40:26 AM Four guys get drunk in a bar and start a fight, which brings in the cops. four guys get stoned in a garage and start a band, which brings in a recording contract. Reply Recommend 15 MarcKyle64 ukulelegeek Sep 03, 2023 at 12:10:37 PM I'd rather live with a stoner than an alcoholic. Done both. Reply Recommend 4 emylye MarcKyle64 Sep 03, 2023 at 12:57:18 PM Well, same here, but how ‘bout neither? Reply Recommend 1 doinaheckuvanutjob ukulelegeek Sep 03, 2023 at 02:39:43 PM Funny joke!!! I would just change it to, four guys get stoned in a garage, and talk endlessly about starting a band, which ends up never actually happening, but their couch gets a lot of usage, and the idea of the band gets continually discussed & expanded, until it’s forgotten, and what was the name of that band we were talking about starting? And, uh please pass that doobie, on the left hand side… Reply Recommend Karl Dubhe V Sep 03, 2023 at 11:42:27 AM It’s been legal in Canada since 2018. Our nation hasn’t collapsed due to it. I love sparking a dubhe when I see a police car drive by. I smile and wave, of course. :) Reply Recommend 8 DarkPhoenix Karl Dubhe V Sep 03, 2023 at 11:47:48 AM I use it as a sleeping aid. It works really well for that. CNN actually did a special on weed lately; one of the more funny things about it is the revelation that the largest group of new weed users is the over-65 crowd. You know, the ones who lived through the “War on Drugs” and heard all about how bad it was for you, and are usually hesitant to try it because of that, but then are shocked at how effective it can be when they DO? It’s kind of funny watching them ask why the government lied to them all those years (duh, because Nixon wanted to go after hippies!)... Reply Recommend 8 KGB hates US DarkPhoenix Sep 03, 2023 at 11:59:42 AM Yeah but most of us were ahem, “sampling lightly’ in the Sixties and early seventies. Because we needed jobs, most of us, were smart enough not to keep up smoking pot when we had positions of responsibility. Reply Recommend 2 Clio2 DarkPhoenix Sep 03, 2023 at 01:07:28 PM Wut? As an over-65, beg to differ. It was everywhere during our teens and twenties. Reply Recommend 3 CanadianKitty Clio2 Sep 03, 2023 at 01:22:55 PM 70 years old here and I’ve been using weed for 50 of those 70 years (late bloomer). Sometimes I use it every day, other times once a week or so. I love pot. And it is a lot of fun getting high with friends, still. And I know a great many very successful people who have smoked as long as I have and still indulge well into their retirement. Pot has been fully legal here for 5 years now and Canadian civilization did not come to an end. In fact, I’m pretty sure the feds love the tax revenue. Prices have come way, way, way down for the consumer too. We are paying less for an ounce of superb smoke than we did in the 70s for cheap Colombian crap full of seeds and sticks. In fact, in a hilarious turn about (IMO), pot is now much cheaper than cigarettes. Gateway? I’ve never been tempted to use opiates, not once, not ever. Good MJ is all you really need to have a pleasant experience. A puff of good indica helps with sleep too, instead of prescribed meds. And medical marijuana is regularly prescribed now for a variety of ailments, including arthritis, lack of appetite, restless leg syndrome, nerve disorders, pain relief, etc. My own doctor prescribes it for people who for one reason or other cannot tolerate particular prescription meds. But then, I am a responsible person. I would never smoke at work, would never operate a vehicle while stoned or do anything else profoundly stupid (though I cannot speak for the people who do). As with anything, be sensible, take responsibility, ACT responsibly. If I choose to put pot into my body, that’s on me and no one else’s business, especially not the government’s. Reply Recommend 7 Clio2 CanadianKitty Sep 03, 2023 at 02:01:15 PM I used pretty heavily for one year...a year I spent in Canada, coincidentally. But stopped after finding that, for me, it could exacerbate depression. Reply Recommend 4 ralph galbraith Clio2 Sep 03, 2023 at 03:21:59 PM and $15 an ounce too Reply Recommend sweeetbbj DarkPhoenix Sep 03, 2023 at 02:19:45 PM I lived in Texas in the ‘70s. A LID (ounce) cost $10. It was not hard to get and rarely was anyone arrested for it. Then this happened… Lee Park Massacre Reply Recommend fechelard Sep 03, 2023 at 11:44:06 AM The reason to keep Marihuana illegals are the same now as they were under Nixon: it allow the some-law-and-some-order conservatives to selectively bring down the heavy boot of law enforcement agencies on non-criminal communities that politically or socially stand up to them. Reply Recommend 9 DarkPhoenix Sep 03, 2023 at 11:45:07 AM > SKUNK IS A GATEWAY DRUG Yeah, we all know it isn’t. But do you know what IS a gateway drug to heroin? Oxycotin! Which everyone and their mother in the US seems to be able to get ahold of without any real effort, thanks to the Sacklers. Maybe up the Category on that shit? Reply Recommend 8 PrivateIce DarkPhoenix Sep 03, 2023 at 01:01:24 PM Oxy was a gateway to people who started out abusing it: drug dealers who were trafficking, people who decided to crush/snort or boof meds they had left over from an actual injury. There in ZERO that is gateway about opioids when a patient is properly withdrawn from them. The rub is that most doctor DON’T KNOW HOW because they are not trained to. What Oxy is NOT a gateway drug for is chronic pain patients who are now being tortured by lack of proper pain medication. The day my pain doc told me that “opioids didn’t really work on Fibro pain,” I laughed and it was clear that I didn’t believe her and I’m not sure she believed it either. Opioids were the ONLY thing that worked. So instead, now, I live with chronic intolerable pain. Topical CDB helps a little, but I’m allergic to pot. The holy war on pain patients HAS TO STOP. Reply Recommend 4 KGB hates US Sep 03, 2023 at 11:46:30 AM Ok the last thing a person needs is to find themselves trying to smoke some Mid-Western ditch weed, which is a leftover from the manufacture of Hemp rope in the 1800s,and early 1900s. I think Mary Jane should have exactly the same sort of limitations that Alcohol has. If you are DUI you get arrested just like for drunk driving, and go to the pokey. There should definitely be age limitations, very similar to those on Alcohol. Health warnings of the danger from ingesting tars from smoke, and smoke molecules to the well being of the lungs,should be mandatory. Public smoking should be a No-No. Other persons who do not want to inhale incidental Pot smoke, while going about their business should be protected. So if you smoke Thai stick you do it at home. And last but not least The warning of the late Sixties and early Seventies x x Reply Recommend 5 KenLowJr Sep 03, 2023 at 11:47:25 AM Well, it’s like Jeff Goldblum says in Jurassic Park. Nature finds a way. Pakalolo is a weed. Eradication attempts worldwide would also provoke environmental effects. Like destroying other species of flora. Besides, scientists have discovered medical benefits. If humans (and animals) find ways to eat it, chew it, crunch it, and smoke it, then it is what it is. Authorities actually embracing it would offer the strongest control. And that has limitations as well. I know of worse things that can harm my grandchildren. Reply Recommend 3 KGB hates US KenLowJr Sep 03, 2023 at 12:03:05 PM It’s also well known that we have specialized receptors in our body that are attuned to Cannabis. That means humans must have been consuming Pot for many thousands of years. Reply Recommend 6 PrivateIce KGB hates US Sep 03, 2023 at 01:04:55 PM You’re missing some zeros. > All animals, including vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish) and > invertebrates (sea urchins, leeches, mussels, nematodes, and others) have been > found to have endocannabinoid systems. The Hydra (H. vulgaris), a cnidarian in > the class Hydrozoa, is one of the first animals with a neural network — NIH It’s an incredibly early evolutionary adaptation. Reply Recommend 4 CanadianKitty PrivateIce Sep 03, 2023 at 01:24:50 PM And many animals LOVE to get high! Think of kitties and catnip. Why do you think there are marijuana seeds in canary food? Birds, especially, love marijuana. Reply Recommend 3 OutofDate Sep 03, 2023 at 11:55:46 AM The alcohol industry is a major opponent of legalization because of substitution. Folks that use MJ drink less. > Almost half of cannabis consumers age 21 and up have replaced or reduced their > alcohol consumption with marijuana since the beginning of the coronavirus > pandemic, according to the results of a Harris Poll released this month. The > poll also found that one-third of those who use cannabis recreationally prefer > cannabis to drinking alcohol. www.forbes.com/... Reply Recommend 11 MarcKyle64 OutofDate Sep 03, 2023 at 12:16:49 PM Truth. Wine with my wife and the occasional celebratory stout are the only alcohol I consume now. I'm studying about how to make a tincture using pga that doesn't taste like licking the floor of the cuttings room of a dispensary. cannigma.com/... Reply Recommend 1 carstonio OutofDate Sep 03, 2023 at 12:53:06 PM Uh, why wouldn’t they and the tobacco companies just launch subsidiaries instead? At least one oil company has a subsidiary for charging electric cars, but I say they should have done that 30 years ago. Reply Recommend 1 BluSoutherner Sep 03, 2023 at 11:59:31 AM True story: I was purchasing some rolling papers in a convenience store several years ago, and the attendant informed me that my purchase was not healthy for me. Excuse me, we are in a convenience store, surrounded by beer, cigarettes, candy bars, potato chips, and lottery tickets. If people only did what was healthy for them, you would be out of business. Reply Recommend 9 kansasmagic BluSoutherner Sep 03, 2023 at 03:41:29 PM Once I stopped into a convenience store for a post-work adult beverage. Two people were in line ahead of me. One was buying cigarettes, the other lottery tickets. I almost announced that we were holding a parade of legal sins! Reply Recommend 1 petrushka Sep 03, 2023 at 12:07:04 PM Couple points: Any substance can be a gateway drug if the user likes the effect to the extent of wanting more and better. So this could apply to a number of things including Twinkies. Unfortunately for the gateway drug argument the progressions of substance use remain correlative as opposed to causative. The powerful nature of today’s cannabis cannot be detected in smoking or eating it as opposed to alcohol. One can taste the proof of alcohol as soon as it’s in your mouth. And to me it appears that more folks on KOS are writing in Showercap’s style. Cappy is back now, so…. Reply Recommend 1 Clio2 petrushka Sep 03, 2023 at 01:11:47 PM You cannot taste the alcohol at all, if you use "white lightning," legal in at least some states. Very dangerous, easy to OD. Reply Recommend 1 esquimaux petrushka Sep 03, 2023 at 03:33:08 PM > The powerful nature of today’s cannabis cannot be detected in smoking or > eating it as opposed to alcohol. if you smoke too much it wears off pretty quickly (and if you were getting the good stuff back then the difference isn’t huge). One major benefit of legalization is you can get edibles in known repeatable dosages, not like eating someone’s homemade brownies. Reply Recommend PMatPAlibdem Sep 03, 2023 at 12:08:01 PM How many trillion dollars have been wasted on the criminalization of marijuana and the consequent destruction of millions of American families based on the lies of Harry Anslinger and “Reefer Madness”? It is “high Times” to put an end to this “Reefer Madness” and restore this benign plant based medicinal remedy to its proper place in the US pharmacopoeia. A place that it held for our founding fathers and their originalist writings of our Constitution. After all, didn’t President George Washington himself grow “weed” on his plantation? Wasn’t sisal and hemp vital to our new national navy? After all, I’m just asking the questions we all want to know the answers to! Reply Recommend 5 Bruce The Moose Sep 03, 2023 at 12:16:22 PM Dude, is it too late to append a survey for your favorite nickname for the whacky tabacky? Missed. Opportunity. My favorites are the afore mentioned tabacky, and, from The Who song, Mother Nature. Reply Recommend 1 esquimaux Bruce The Moose Sep 03, 2023 at 03:16:32 PM one of my nonsmoking friends always calls it “mother nature”. Reply Recommend KufPu Sep 03, 2023 at 12:16:28 PM Very good diary, well written. I would have recced it for “jazz cabbage” alone. Reply Recommend 4 Jessica Sutherland Sep 03, 2023 at 12:23:14 PM The only way this could be any better would be if it had sources. Reply Recommend 1 NightMist Sep 03, 2023 at 12:34:01 PM Dude, people here in the US are actually growing actual Dagga, so unless your native language is Afrikaans maybe strike it off the slang list. Yes I have grown dagga. As an annual plant anyway, it would not thrive in upstate NY as a perennial plant. Now for my bitch about legalized weed in NY. I can grow 6 plants without getting a license, 3 adult and three immature. However, if I want to grow some fiber hemp (which being a fiber artist I desperately want to do) I have to plant 25 acres, put in a monster fence complete with warning signs, submit samples regularly for testing, and have a commercial contract. WTF! I am damn tempted to get a license to grow the smokable kind. I could sell off the leaves which are useless for fiber anyway. I only have to get them tested before delivery to a dispensary. I don’t have to grow even half as much as I would regular hemp (I do live on a very small farm). Then I could just take the fiber from the trunk and stems and see what I get. Obviously I’ve never done hemp before but I have done a bunch of other fiber plants, including some china grass that a fiber friend in California dried, packed up, and sent to me. It cannot be as much of a pain in the backside as extracting ramie out of china grass! Considering what hemp cloth and etc. sell for, I take all the hoops and obstacles the state has thrown up around hemp as an insult. BTW, I have never cared for imbibing weed. Makes me all squirrely and paranoid. Reply Recommend 1 esquimaux NightMist Sep 03, 2023 at 03:15:23 PM good luck to you! legalization people always want to talk about hemp but I’ve never heard from someone who really wanted to grow some. Reply Recommend ralph galbraith NightMist Sep 03, 2023 at 03:30:54 PM sativa varieties are self doubt and paranoia inducing I only smoke indica or hybred for that reason Reply Recommend Snarky McAngus Sep 03, 2023 at 12:36:02 PM Well put. Reply Recommend carstonio Sep 03, 2023 at 12:50:49 PM I’ve never tried it and I have no intention of ever trying it. I don’t like the idea of people getting intoxicated on anything, because of family members who were alcoholics. I still support legalization or at least decriminalization. We should have learned from Prohibition that substance abuse should be treated as public health issue and not a criminal issue. Plus, the whole,point of making it illegal was to harass Black people, and to pander to white voters who wanted Black people harassed. I doubt we can make an informed judgment right now about the level of physical harm, but that’s the fault of the federal government, which has blocked weed research for decades. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the actual harm turned out to be less than what War on Drugs proponents claim. The opposite of the restrictions on gun violence research, which might show a much greater harm than what the gun lobby claims. Reply Recommend 1 happy camper carstonio Sep 03, 2023 at 02:59:14 PM Tens of millions of people have been smoking cannabis daily for decades in this country. If there was any significant level of physical harm associated with it, we’d know by now. Reply Recommend 1 ursis Sep 03, 2023 at 12:54:54 PM Vote yes for Ohio Issue 2 this November (recreational cannabis) and issue 1 reproductive rights. Reply Recommend 3 marchie Sep 03, 2023 at 01:26:59 PM On this- we are a kindergarten nation. We’re being held back by mostly old, white, men, (and those in line to replace them) all of whom are making tons of money, in and out of government by keeping things just the way they are. Arguably, greed is the ugliest of human traits. Greed causes most of the suffering in the world. Reply Recommend 4 rodentrancher Sep 03, 2023 at 01:27:26 PM Cannabis doesn’t have to be completely or even mostly benign for legalization to make sense. The question people should ask is whether cannabis will do more harm to society as a legal drug, or as an illegal one. Once you consider the social cost and impact of criminalization, even if you make rather pessimistic assumptions about harmful effects of cannabis, it’s hard to see how keeping it illegal makes anything better. Reply Recommend 1 FDRDemocrat Sep 03, 2023 at 01:39:24 PM Let decisions on what substances should be made legal for human consumption rest with the public health authorities. Same rules for everyone. No special treatment for MJ. Reply Recommend conobs Sep 03, 2023 at 01:49:50 PM There is one good reason to legalize: reclassifying as a Schedule 1 drug was based on racism. All one need do is look at the actual congressional testimony which is available online for anyone to read. There should be billboards across the country displaying the actual congressional record from the likes of Anslinger and article excerpts from Hearst, along with the name of whatever Rep or Senator that represents the given area, with a simple question: Do you agree? Reply Recommend bsmechanic Sep 03, 2023 at 01:56:24 PM My takeaway from this diary was how media generates “gateway propaganda” with regard to cannabis use. The points issued are well taken. Twelve or so years ago, I wrote a diary that focused on the average opinion of LEO on cannabis criminalization. The consensus was that most officers didn’t want to waste their time on petty pot offenses. Much of this consensus is due to the efforts of retired Seattle superintendent of police Norm Stamper. I feel like something about LEO needs to be added to the diarist’s conversation. It’s great that progressive LEO like Norm Stamper have paved the way for sanity among police officers, yet race-based pot busts still exist. Reply Recommend 1 doinaheckuvanutjob bsmechanic Sep 03, 2023 at 03:04:21 PM As a drug/alc counselor, I learned that cigarettes (tobacco), not weed, has the highest correlation of leading to greater drug use. Reply Recommend Hoghead99 Sep 03, 2023 at 02:27:07 PM Dinkie-Dow! It’s been awhile since I heard that one! Reply Recommend bubba1 Sep 03, 2023 at 02:45:08 PM A couple of things; growing legal weed is a great hobby and it is surprising how “weed paranoia” doesn’t happen with legal Cannabis :-). Homegrown has allowed me to recover from a back injury without using opioids or surgery. Also I try to stay in “legal Cannabis” states when I travel. I would bet many others do the same. That is a lot of tourist money to lose for no reason other than not understanding. Reply Recommend 1 sfbob Sep 03, 2023 at 02:48:28 PM I’ve not touched pot in over 40 years and yet the idea that it’s illegal seems just as ridiculous to me now as it did when I was a stoner. Reply Recommend 1 science made America great Sep 03, 2023 at 03:00:57 PM Having lived with legal cannabis for quite a while in several states I forgot that it is still illegal in the more backward parts of the country. I could care less what the federal gov has to say about it at this point. Too bad for those still living where it is illegal to grow a frickin plant though. So much for freedom. As Lou Armstrong said, its a thousand times better than alcohol. I am wondering if the federal drug insanity persists, which state will be the last to legalize it? Any bets? Alabama? Indiana? Utah? Reply Recommend 1 esquimaux science made America great Sep 03, 2023 at 03:36:38 PM i’ll go with Utah being last. as a number of country singers have pointed out, any part of the country with a moonshine-making tradition now has a pot-growing tradition too. Reply Recommend science made America great esquimaux Sep 03, 2023 at 03:50:08 PM That’s a good bet. But are they too nuts to realize how many more tourist dollars they could make? God knows they worship money. The Morman Marriot family could sell joints or edibles from their minibars in every room. They do well with alcohol. Reply Recommend 1 happy camper Sep 03, 2023 at 03:01:03 PM Tens of millions of people have been smoking cannabis daily for decades in this country. If there was any significant level of physical harm associated with it, we’d know by now. Reply Recommend 1 wymer100 Sep 03, 2023 at 03:19:42 PM The comments of an NFL player are what really made me rethink my attitudes. To paraphrase, the player said, “The NFL won’t allow me to smoke weed for my aches and pains but is perfectly fine with me taking super-heroin.” The whole policy around marijuana is just insane. I think politicians will change their attitude when they realize how much money can be made (and lobby dollars donated) much like they did with gambling. Reply Recommend 1 esquimaux wymer100 Sep 03, 2023 at 03:44:25 PM i will advise politicians thinking about how much money can be made to avoid California’s example of 35% tax rates which help keep the black market going. 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Dianne Feinstein, 90, falls at home and goes to hospital, but scans are clear, her office says PastPedia Housekeeper Had No Idea She Was Being Filmed - Owner Bursts Into Tears When He Sees FootagePastPedia Adam Schiff Shames the GOP for its 'Willingness to Debase Themselves in the Service of Trump' by Taboolaby Taboola THE 5 BEST REASONS NOT TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA, AND WHY THEY ARE ALL DUMB by daylin Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.) Sunday, Sep. 03, 2023 Sunday, Sep. 03, 2023 at 10:56:53am PDT This past week the federal government finally made some progress on rescheduling cannabis. As most people know, Cannabis is now a Schedule 1 Narcotic, which is insane. Schedule 1 is supposed to be reserved for the most wretched things you could consume, like crack cocaine, or whatever is in the center of Twinkie. Last Wednesday, the DHS recommended that marijuana be rescheduled to Schedule 3. This would obviously be helpful both to consumers and the cannabis industry itself. But it still falls short of complete legalization, which is actually the morally and logically correct policy. Why the hesitancy? Are there arguments against legalization? Yes. Are they good ones? That would be a no. We’ve all heard the expression, “there are lies, damn lies, and statistics”. At least 77% of us have. I feel the same way about the arguments against fully legalizing cannabis. Each one is dumber than the argument before it, but not as dumb as the argument to follow. And that’s true no matter what order you put them in. Weird! I know!! Because I like shooting fish in a barrel (literally. I’m not talking about the metaphor), I’m going to posit, and then rebut the top 5 best arguments for continuing prohibition. It’s kind of like a David Letterman Top 10 List written by a lazy person. I also acknowledge that there are more than 5 arguments that the prohibitionists make. However, if I dipped much below five I’d be getting into the realm of the insane. The fish wouldn’t just be in a barrel, they’d be nailed to the bottom of it. And it’s really easy to shoot the fish in those circumstances. I know. I’ve done it. A lot! Quick note: In an effort to mix things up, by using a different synonym for grass every time I mention it. Top 5 best and dumbest arguments against legalization 1. POT IS BAD FOR YOU Every so often we’re treated to an exciting tweet by some drug warrior who breathlessly reports on a new study that says that Kief causes your liver to explode, or that infants dipped in hash oil rarely grow up to win the Nobel Peace Prize. There are many problems with these studies, which I shall briefly elucidate below. But there is a more fundamental, threshold problem with this argument, which is that for purposes of setting public policy, it is absolutely irrelevant. Let’s pretend for a moment that someone can prove that bing-bing is somehow harmful to your health. It would not be alone. Cigarettes kill 1,100 Americans per day in horrific ways. Approximately 88,000 people die each year from Alcohol abuse. Sugary drinks kill over 184,000 Americans annually and eating Hot Pockets kills more people each week, than were killed in the entire Viet Nam War (both sides)! Clearly, something being “bad for you” or unhealthy has not historically been a reason to make the people who consume it criminals. In other words, reefer could be both unhealthy and legal, like many, many other products. Of course, this assumes that weed actually is unhealthy. But the number of Americans who die directly from Mary Jane each year is ZERO. Ganja has no lethal dose. Further, many of the studies showing adverse effects on kids assume what they call “chronic use”. This means that they are smoking herb multiple times, every single day. How do you think a 12-year-old would do drinking multiple shots of vodka every day? Yet alcohol is still legal, and in Pennsylvania, actually sold and promoted by the state. This argument clearly doesn’t bear scrutiny. 2. SKUNK IS A GATEWAY DRUG — IT’S NOT. IT’S JUST NOT. Here’s a quick, true, funny story. When I was pushing my Medical bill in Pennsylvania, I had the opportunity to meet with then-Governor Corbett about it. I got the feeling I was not his favorite senator by the way he scrunched up his nose like he smelled something vile whenever he saw me. Although to be fair, my patchouli-scented cologne probably didn’t help. In any event, he said he was opposed to Medical Marijuana because it was a Gateway Drug and would “lead to increased opioid use”. So I said “Governor, you are saying that if we prescribe marijuana, it might lead people down the path to using opioids. So, we’re just going to prescribe the opioids instead and just skip the gateway? He nodded his head yes, his chief-of-staff asked if anyone smelled patchouli. And the meeting was over. Even in the context of recreational Cannapa, the evidence of it being a gateway drug is non-existent. The argument that prohibitions make is that most people who use heroin had previously used Baby Bhang, which is probably true but definitely meaningless. Those same heroin users also previously drank milk, yet nobody is making milk a Schedule 1 Narcotic. The right way to analyze it is not to see how many heroin users previously consumed Cheeba, but how many Grifo users went on to use heroin, which is under 4%. If you are looking for “gateway drugs”, I’d suggest checking out tobacco and alcohol. The Baker Institute, (which may have been named after famous baker Betty Crocker, but I’ll have to check on that) did a 40-year study. Alcohol users were far more likely than consumers of the cush to use heavily, and alcohol was the substance most commonly used in the progression of substance use. Another bad argument. 3. DAGGA IS MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN IT USED TO ME The only real evidence of this is the possibility that someone smoked some super-powerful Gasper and came up with this lame argument. First, like alcohol, there is a continuum of potency with Hot Stick. You can drink beer, or you can drink grain alcohol. And the thing is, you usually know what it is you are drinking and modulate your drinking accordingly. People chug a beer. But nobody, after that one time as a freshman in college, chugs grain alcohol. If booze or cripple are too weak, you consume more of them. If they are a bit strong, you consume less. The result is the same. In fact, the wide range of potency between strains of jolly green is actually an argument FOR legalization since we should want people to know the potency of what they are about to consume. And that knowledge is far more likely to be available on the label from a licensed dispensary, than from your buddy Greenie who sold you a dime bag behind the bowling alley. 4. WE DON’T NEED TO LEGALIZE ANOTHER INTOXICANT Actually, on this one, they’re right. Only a certain number of intoxicants should be legal at a time. And that number is 3. Alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine. Done. Everyone else should go to jail. 5. PEOPLE IN THE DINKIE-DOW INDUSTRY WANT TO MAKE MONEY This may win the Oscar for the stupidest argument of them all. It is the main argument of the leading pro-prohibitionist organization known as “Smart Approaches to Marijuana”. Think of SAM as if the movie “Reefer Madness” became a non-profit. This organization exists to keep the pipelines to prison open and free from obstruction. They argue that “Big Marijuana” is going to come in and open up a bunch of dispensaries for-profit and are going to make filthy lucre off of the sale of Bammy to our poor, unsuspecting kids. Of course, this would make the Giggle Smoke Industry exactly like the alcohol and tobacco industries. Anyone ever heard of Budweiser or Phillip Morris? But beyond that, it would make Jazz Cabbage the same as literally every industry in America. Think of Big Frisbee or Big Itch Cream, or Big Hot Pocket. The desire of entrepreneurs to make money is no reason to make a product illegal and its users are criminals. The fact that these are the leading arguments against ending prohibition show just how Paltry the case they make is. It’s time to end the 85-year catastrophe and legalize The Devil’s Alfalfa once and for all. © Kos Media, LLC Site content may be used for any purpose without explicit permission unless otherwise specified. "Kos" and "Daily Kos" are registered trademarks of Kos Media, LLC. 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Site content may be used for any purpose without explicit permission unless otherwise specified. "Kos" and "Daily Kos" are registered trademarks of Kos Media, LLC. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | DMCA Copyright Notice More stories to check out before you go Keep on reading Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 90, falls at home and goes to hospital, but scans are clear, her office saysU.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, fell in her home and went to a hospital for a short time, her office said on Wednesday. The 90-year-old California Democrat, who has faced mounting concerns about her health and her ability to...Daily Kos Group 3 Adam Schiff Shames the GOP for its 'Willingness to Debase Themselves in the Service of Trump'From its inception, the Cult of Trump has been fueled by a Republican Party that is cowardly or corrupt, or more accurately, both. They were too afraid to hold Trump accountable when they had the opportunity during his two impeachments. And ever since...Daily Kos Group 3 The Glaring Ignorance of Vivek RamaswamyIf I was going into the hospital for brain surgery, I wouldn’t want a “career” doctor to do it. I’d much prefer a surgeon who was only dabbling in craniotomy, and spent most of her time either writing code for video games like “Anthrax Revenge”, or...Daily Kos Group 3 FOX still mucking around: let's make them find outSorry, I can’t manage this every Sunday! Life interferes! But it’s important! We do what we can when we can! Also, my keyboard has two keys that are not working well, and one is the letter F, ...Daily Kos Group 3 ' ' ' ' ' ' That one time Fox News attacked President Obama for asking for mustardThis historic reminder came to me via Twitter. Hannity, ending his loathsome show on May 8, 2009, had this to say: As you know President Obama is a real man of the people and yesterday he dropped by a popular Virginia restaurant to...Daily Kos Liv Pure 1 Teaspoon Before Bed Can Burn Belly Fat Like Never BeforeOne Teaspoon Every Night Burns Body Fat Like Never Before, You Will Fit In Your Pants Again!Liv Pure| SponsoredSponsored UrbanAunty Kate Middleton's Outfit Took Prince William's Breath AwayUrbanAunty| SponsoredSponsored Cartoon: Trump-Republicans can multitask1. Trump-Republicans proposed cutting FEMA’s budget by 2.5 billion (and were prevented by Democrats): https://www.thirdway.org/memo/the-republican-debt-limit-plan-will-devastate-public-safety 2. But they claim to be sooo concerned about tragic...Daily Kos Ohio Republicans ask conspiracy theorists to speak at anti-vaxx hearing and it goes bananasRepublican Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio is a great example of what the GOP is today. He has found himself in the unenviable position of trying to offer up the bare minimum of public health policy, something that in previous election cycles would not have...Daily Kos It turns out Jesus is a Liberal After AllIt's a fun argument to watch on social media. On the one hand, you have the Conservative, and on the other, the Liberal. Both arguing about an entity neither of them believes in… Jesus. When a liberal argues Jesus, they usually argue his compassion...Daily Kos Another one will be heading to the Rainbow Bridge.Our Sweet little Fiona is very ill, and while We have the money to hospitalize her, she has Cat Diabetes and has gone into diabetes mellitus and is currently suffering from Diabetic Ketoacidosis. The Diabetes is not curable, and so we are looking at...Daily Kos How Vivek Ramaswamy made his fortune is as corrupt as you would expectIt seems that presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy really is a mini-Trump not just in belief but how he made his money. Essentially, it involves Ramaswamy acquiring a failed pharmaceutical drug that went through four unsuccessful trials that he would...Daily Kos Beverly Hills MD Plastic Surgeon: "Forget Anti-Aging Serums, Use This Household Item To Fill In Wrinkles"Skip the Appointment & Get Insider Knowledge from Top Cosmetic SurgeonBeverly Hills MD| SponsoredSponsored Cool Gadgets 15 Ridiculously Cool Gifts You'll Want To Buy Immediately15 Insanely Cool Gadgets You'll Regret Not Getting Before They Sell OutCool Gadgets| SponsoredSponsored With Mitch McConnell's health deteriorating, all eyes turn to Texas Sen. John CornynBy Matthew Choi The Texas Tribune Sign up for The Brief , The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen.Daily Kos Kitchen Table Kibitzing September 3, 2023Recycle Not too many decades ago littering was perhaps frowned upon, but not outside of norms. I remember creek beds filled with beer cans and glass bottles, and it was common to see trash ...Daily Kos