Gupta on weed

General Off Topic
1

so I’m kinda on the fence about the legalization of marijuana…I smoked when I was younger, but honestly when I reached the legal drinking age I preferred a beer to a joint…plus the legal issues with pot helped me decide I didn’t care about doing that any more…but I find it interesting that the medicinal side of this issue is now knocking the rough edges off…then I see that Dr. Sonjay Gupta not only admits he has smoked pot, but now also has changed his mind about weed…I feel a sort of ground swell coming in the legalization move…
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/08/dr-sanjay-gupta-changes-his-mind-on-weed/?hpt=ac_mid

EDIT: this is a better link to the article
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/health/gupta-changed-mind-marijuana/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

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2

At the very least, I am leaning towards decriminalization for small amounts(personal consumption amounts) or, writing a ticket that only involves a fine with no arrest or jail time unless the ticket is not paid. LE spends way too much time dealing with puny amounts of weed. Most folks possessing truly only have enough for a few joints for themselves. Dealers on the other hand. Heck, if it is legalized, tax it like tobacco or alcohol.

PS: I never smoked weed.

“Apathy is the Glove in Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.

3

I smoked my fair share back in the day. I’m torn…I don’t think it is worse than alcohol, just different. The main difference between pot and alcohol is that you can have a beer and not really have a buzz but smoke just a little bit of weed and you are buzzing. So I am on the fence about legalization, but I am certain that I believe that possession of small amounts of weed should be decriminalized for those over 21.

If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.

4

It’s a long article, but it’s worth reading.

I agree that doctors should be able to prescribe anything they think will help their patients, and politicians should get out of the way of treatments.

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5

How many deaths are caused each year from someone under the influence of weed? What about alcohol?

6

I’m on the fence as well. The government tried prohibition with alchohol and that didn’t fair very well. Just made a buch of scumbags rich, including the Kennedy’s. The government has spent what…$1,000,000,000,000 (yes, 1 trillion dollars) in the war on drugs and I don’t think we’ve made much of a dent in it. And how has the legalization of tobbacco and alchohol worked out for us? Has cost the taxpayers more and more to care for people that can’t manage to keep their habits under control.

I do know that in 25 years I have never had to fight a suspect that was high on weed. I can’t count the drunks that I’ve had to tussle with. But like anything else, legalization, even for small amounts, is a slippery slope. What if someone’s drug of choice was meth or heroin (which is making a huge comeback) and they get the ball rolling for the legalization of them in small amounts? I am very interested in this issue and will be watching Washington and Colorado closely to see the fallout (if any) for the states legalizing personal/recreational use. Mostly focusing on the economic and social impact. I wonder what the employment market will look like in 5 or 10 years in these states.

I do agree it has medical value, in spite of the fact that DEA classifies marijuana as a Shedule I Controlled Substance (which means it has no current accepted medical value):
Schedule I Controlled Substances
Substances in this schedule have no currently accepted medical use in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and a high potential for abuse.

Some examples of substances listed in Schedule I are: heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), peyote, methaqualone, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (“Ecstasy”).

While states may legalize it, the federal government does not. This will be pretty interesting to watch unfold over the next 5-10 years. I recently saw an article on a guy that was growing, legally, in Colorado that was arrested by the DEA and

7

Having a small amount is going to be difficult without dealers, unless one grows his own. The buyer is providing a market that produces dealers. One is no better than the other. Wonder if they should/could legalize it for x number of years then do a study on the effect on law enforcement, health, crime, etc.

8

Gupta laid it all out perfectly and agree with you DF. Only allow folks with the appropriate licenses to sell it, tax it, and still arrest the ones that are not licensed.

Red, I don’t think legalizing weed would be a springboard to heroin and meth considering their addiction rates, deaths resulted from overdose, and crimes while on said drug are so much higher than weed. You will never see popular support for drugs like that.

9

Interestingly enough - meth and cocaine are both sched 2 because they both have accepted uses in medicine.

10

Never smoked it, but have drank more than my share. I don’t believe it is worse than alcohol. I knew guys in college that smoked everyday and were able to make deans list every semester. Kids I knew that drank excessively NEVER made the deans list! Alcohol made me and many others want to fight. Never saw weed make my friends want to fight. That being said, I believe that if it is natural, then it should be legal. I think much of the stigma is just from the fact that it is illegal and if it were legalized that would go away. There would be a little adjusting time period, but I think it would become the same as alcohol is now. We know the affects. We know it can be very bad for you. There are laws about driving under the influence. Most will use if they want and use socially and some will ruin their life with it, same as alcohol. Time to let people stand on their own and make it or not. Too much money being spent against it and too much money going into the drug dealers pockets for selling it. The government can make a lot of money on it if it were legalized, instead of the drug dealers. that would make them the drug dealer I guess! I do not believe this for drugs that have to be “manufactured”.

11

How about all of the tax payer dollars going in to every govt. agencies that may have a chance of getting money for law enforcement. Big business, hiring cops, vehicles, aircraft, watercraft, radios, computers and the list goes on and on. No interest in winning the war on drugs just continuing this huge cash cow.

12

hhi I understand your feelings of frustration. I can tell you, as a soldier on the front lines of that war, there is an interest in winning on the part of law enforcement. The cops, federal/state/local, all want to win. We see the end results and the crime that addictions bring. Don’t think MJ is addicting? Then why is the number 1 reason for teens being admitted to drug treatment centers due to addiction is marijuana addiction. Albiet it may well be a pshchological addiction, but aren’t most addictions psychological.

Shelvin: I was just using those as an example of the “slippery slope”. As for the crime involved…I can personally tell you that I have lost a lot of property to theft to fund weed. I know it was to fund weed because the perpetrators told me that’s what it was for when they got caught.

As with any substance there is a potential for abuse, addiction and overindulgence. Food and alchohol are too. Anything can be abused to the point of health hazards.

My views tend to lean heavily toward libertarian. I’m all for legalizing most things. The rub comes from when the people that wish to enjoy the liberties have problems and then look around for someone to help unf%@* their lives when they realize that they have gotten a little too carried away. Once again the government has to step in and we, the taxpayers, get the bill later. That’s my biggest issue with it. All of it.

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Ernest Hemingway

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As far as addiction, Gupta said that addiction rate for MJ was 9% versus 15% for alcohol. Most people that want to smoke weed are probably already smoking weed. I don’t think that the “slippery slope” argument holds up. In my years, I have known a LOT of people that do\did weed, coke, ecstasy, etc. They can get their hands on anything they want. I can’t say that I know of ANYONE who has ever dabbled in crack, heroine, meth. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen. I’m just saying that it’s available now and those drugs are for drug addicts, not your average party go’er. It takes a “special” person to stick a needle in his arm to get high…

As far as the kids who stole your stuff to fund weed… If they didn’t have weed, they would still have stolen your stuff to fund something else. I predict that crime would drop when legalizing weed.

14

Well I’d rather ride in a car with someone who has smoke a few joints over someone who has drank a few beers…just sayin

“you win some, you lose some…but nothing beats getting some!”

15

I like Crown and hot Women.:slight_smile: I said i like LOL

Stonoman

16

You can get just as altered with weed as you can with alcohol. When I was younger, like high school/college students do, I got quite drunk a few times. Did it enough to figure out I did not much enjoy ‘drunk’ and really didn’t enjoy hangovers. Still, I like a good beer or two. So, I don’t see the harm in a drink and wouldn’t see the harm in a joint.

But,…

For me it comes down to a societal issue. Prohibition didn’t work. True. But, the reasons and logic behind the push to prohibition were completely sound. Alcohol is a poison. That’s why it gets you drunk. It impairs your brain in the immediate, damages it in the mid to long term and takes your liver with it, if/when abused. Weed does different but similar stuff if used regularly. (Maybe not quite as bad. Maybe so.)

Obviously, prohibition didn’t work. And, I’m glad. I like a good German wheat beer. But, back to the societal dynamic. In order for a society to function, it has to expect or require a certain level of function or responsibility of its members. A society can tolerate (probably needs) some recreational or irresponsible or aberrant behavior. But, if we get too much of it, the society begins to degrade. Less stability. Less productive. Less cohesive. Etc. Etc.

Currently, we allow alcohol under certain conditions. And, we pay a societal price for that. Many many people are injured or killed by those under the influence. Those who drink heavily damage themselves. Alcohol makes us stupid and we do stupid things. So, we limit it to older people and prohibit it in cars and, and, …

If we relax the limitations on the use of alcohol, we should expect more of that bad stuff to happen. We have enough history to see it works like that.

I think the liberal (classically liberal, not modern political liberal) relaxation of limits on other substances should/would have the same general effect. We’d see more of the negative effects on society.

What’s the balance? I want my liberty. I want my beer. I’m slightly as

17

Judging from my own experience, you can get wayyy more messed up on a night of hard drinking than you can on a night of hard smoking. Legalize and tax it.

18

If you legalized cocaine tomorrow, how many of you guys are going to rush out and try it? Chances are, if you wanted to, you would have already tried it by now.

I’ve never heard of anyone “losing themselves” in weed. I’ve heard it way too many times for alcohol. Bottom line, there is no way that weed is worse than alcohol in any aspect. I would rather there be a cigarette ban. At least I don’t have to worry about getting lung cancer from people who stand outside of the door of retail establishments blowing smoke in your face and tossing their butt out of the window of their car on the highway.

Speaking of cigarettes (which are also addictive), why don’t people claim that they are a gateway to smoke weed? The “gateway” argument couldn’t be more silly if you think of it along those lines. Maybe if we ban all cigarettes, this “gateway to weed” won’t be there anymore and nobody will smoke weed… R-r-r-r-r-r-right…

19
quote:
Originally posted by Edistodaniel

Judging from my own experience, you can get wayyy more messed up on a night of hard drinking than you can on a night of hard smoking. Legalize and tax it.

Why tax it? I'm curious as to why people think that taxing everything under the sun is a natural way of life?

By the way, I am not totally anti-taxes. I think that with the amount of health problems that cigarettes create and that taxpayers have to pay for in the form of healthcare, that they should be HEAVILY taxed. The rational I don’t think it’s fair for me as a taxpayer to have to pay for other people’s lung cancer when they walk into a hospital without insurance. I think that other smokers should have to pay for that. I think that they should tally up the cost of healthcare for lung cancer, divide by the number of packs of cigarettes sold each year and add that number as a tax.

20
quote:
Originally posted by skinneej

As far as the kids who stole your stuff to fund weed… If they didn’t have weed, they would still have stolen your stuff to fund something else. I predict that crime would drop when legalizing weed.

Agree with you here. Probably just the type of kids they were. Meth, Coke, heavy painkillers, Heroin all cause a physical addiction. Because people don’t want to face the withdrawals they will go to great lengths (robbery, murder etc) to fund their addiction. A few kids from my high school traveled down that path…the potheads I knew didn’t.

PS sorry to hear your stuff was stolen TexasRed. Nothing worse than thief.

Palmer…I disagree about getting “just as altered as drinking”. Never seen somebody throwing up all night/next morning, completely blacking out, or losing their ability to control their bodily functions after smoking weed.