Marijuana Decriminalized in Cali

Though I don't often talk about it, I been smoking weed regularly for 16 years. I run twice a week, never short of breath, am active all day at my job, seems to have no major adverse effects to me at all. Since it was made medicinally legal here a year ago, it seems to be around more. Also mapping while high? Heh, try to find a map I made while NOT high is almost impossible, it's one of my favorite things to accompany any hobby, gaming, mapping, or hanging out or otherwise.

When I don't have it I'm moody and veg in from of the TV mostly, but that doesn't last long. I do have some mild insomnia after not having any either, but that just gives me time to read.

Smoking marijuana doesn't damage your lungs the same way tobacco does.

printz said:

So it is all a huge mass of misinformation (that it's dangerous)?

Yes, this is what millions of educated people (including medical professionals) have been saying for decades. America is not a meritocracy (a form of government wherein appointments are made and responsibilities assigned to individuals based upon demonstrated intelligence and ability), which means that half of the people that run the joint (no pun intended) are either uneducated, ignorant, brainwashed or all of the above.

Marijuana is decriminalized in a lot of countries already. In some countries it literally grows on the side of the road. Americans like to think that they are leading the world in terms of development but those days ended many decades ago. If anyone is leading the world today, it is the Scandinavian countries, or Switzerland, all countries where smoking weed is considered commonplace and acceptable by society.

Marijuana is a glorious gift bestowed upon us by the earth, meant to be loved, cherished, and propogated fiercely. Animals like to get stoned just as much as we do. I think plants do too.

Butts said:

Animals like to get stoned just as much as we do. I think plants do too.

The plants are swaying and happy while he blows shotguns at his cat (or goldfish?). ;p

kristus said:

Pot by itself is not addictive. But if you figure yourself a person that is prone to get addicted to whatever you enjoy, be it food, candy or whatever. Then you probably should think twice before trying pot.

This is an ill heard truth about marijuana and other substances for that matter, but it´s very hard to prove that a person is prone to addiction. Medically that is. Therefore it´s still something any con-marijuana "expert" will often hang his hat on.

Another hat-rack is the "marijuana can awaken dormant mental illnesses" and of course it can, as can several other substances like liqour and legal farmaceutical drugs, so the argument is not valid concerning the legality, in my world.

"They" always mix the wrong facts into the legality-debate. Every single time.

The usual: "some 15 year old kid started smoking pot every day the next ten years. He is now *insert something bad like: mentally ill, a social paria, dead, addicted to harder drugs* and that is why it shall not be legal"

And this tells us that the kid would have succeeded at life had he/she not tried marijuana. Right...

I´m happy to hear that Cali have eased up a little on the herb, as my country, the pityful US lapdog that it is, now will be more likely to be starting to decriminalize it.

On a side note: I have been smoking hash "regularily" the last 20 years or so and is yet to feel any ill effects from it. Don´t think i´m a good con-marijuana posterboy. I have a steady relationship, going on 10 years and she´s 3.5 months pregnant btw, an appartment that i own, a car and have even been working steadily as a carpenter throughout all the years i have been smoking. Am i so effin special? Are my smoking "pillars of the community" friends?

It is estimated that around 10% of adults are smoking "once in a while to regularily" (1/4 admits having tried it) and less than a small percentage of a percentage of these people have difficulty functioning in society because of it. Coincidentally these are the same figures when looking at the number of dysfunctional people within the population as a whole, when you don´t target any specific group.

In Denmark bikers and gangs profit from selling the leaf, as there is a demand. There is to this date no good reason not to legalize it and tax it and thereby remove this billion kroner way of income from these people.

Legalize it!

Edit: NOW!

People who use drugs like marijuana don't really care whether or not the drug is legal or not; they are still going to use it regardless. The only reason they want it to be legalized is because they are tired of sharing the planet with morons.

Sigvatr said:

People who use drugs like marijuana don't really care whether or not the drug is legal or not; they are still going to use it regardless. The only reason they want it to be legalized is because they are tired of sharing the planet with morons.

I care. I really dont like sponsoring criminal organisations.

Edit: Im unsure whether the moron argument is a valid point in the legalizing debate. Whether or not pot is legalized will not affect the number of morons in the world, nor the having to deal with them bit.

Having just put down the bong, I can only say....whatever dude

Really though, I enjoy smoking while on long drives. Joints are best but, I've done it with a bowl as well...I'd say it's not even as bad as talking on the phone :P

One of our cats loves getting high, the other one runs away from smoke

In my public speaking class we have to give speeches on two opposing sides of the same argument (You pick an argument you personally want to make, but first you make the opposite argument). So yesterday this girl who I think is really annoying, made a speech about why weed should be legalized. It was a pretty good speech content-wise, and I was like yeah these are all good arguments, but then I was like wait, this means what she actually wants to say is that weed should not be legalized. WTF

I want weed legalized...

If you people want to put burnt organic material in your lungs, that's fine. I just don't want to smell it.

exp(x) said:

If you people want to put burnt organic material in your lungs, that's fine. I just don't want to smell it.

No more BBQ's for you.

Talking on a hands-phone + driving is illegal, and so is driving while stoned. Weed does shit to your brain and car accidents can happen in an instant.

TimeOfDeath said:

Talking on a hands-phone + driving is illegal, and so is driving while stoned. Weed does shit to your brain and car accidents can happen in an instant.

Please, if you're quoting someone's response, then make that clear. Now, if your making an obvious observation then - HUUUUURRRRRRR.

I don't care what anyone says, but marijuana DOES slow reaction time and it is unsafe to drive whilst stoned. If I actually ever catch anyone smoking and driving I will probably beat them to death.

I really have no problem with people smoking the stuff, and but as with alcohol you have to be responsible.

Nomad said:

I don't care what anyone says, but marijuana DOES slow reaction time and it is unsafe to drive whilst stoned. If I actually ever catch anyone smoking and driving I will probably beat them to death.

I really have no problem with people smoking the stuff, and but as with alcohol you have to be responsible.

Stoned drivers getting into accidents is fucking impossible because they are driving at ten miles an hour.

Bill Hicks actually has a joke about that.

But I'm inclined to say that having slow reaction times while stoned is a generalization. I used to fucking own in Battlefield 2142 when stoned, and I'm talking fucking owning like having a 30:1 kdr.

Sigvatr said:

No more BBQ's for you.

I don't know how you BBQ, but I typically try not to inhale the smoke.

exp(x) said:

I don't know how you BBQ, but I typically try not to inhale the smoke.

You should try barbecuing while smoking a J, it's a favorite Australian pastime.

exp(x) said:

If you people want to put burnt organic material in your lungs, that's fine. I just don't want to smell it.

Cookies. :D

Sigvatr said:

Bill Hicks actually has a joke about that.

Because Bill Hicks was a genius.

Yay for Cali, go Prop 19 in November. I don't personally smoke it but I think it's seriously retarded that a drug less dangerous in habitual use than alcohol is illegal (and I fucking love alcohol). And over such bullshit reasons: the gateway drug argument, the bad driving argument, the secondhand smoke argument. All of these are things that apply to already legal substances but conveniently, due to some political bullshit almost 90 years old, marijuana is illegal, and not said other substances. Also the decriminalization thing has been a long time coming ever since the Three Strikes Law passed.

Clonehunter said:

I want weed legalized...

I want it legalized just so i can find some. :( Still, here in Washington it's as easy as telling a doctor you need some. You can get it for stuff like chronic migraines or back pain. My friend is trying to convince his wife to get it for her chronic migraines. NO ULTERIOR MOTIVES AT ALL! :P

Danarchy said:

I want it legalized just so i can find some. :( Still, here in Washington it's as easy as telling a doctor you need some.

Are you saying that the 'black market' has dried up? Because of the medical availability?

Or perhaps you're going through a short dry spell when suddenly NOBODY has any which happens from time to time?

What's going on in California right now? Still plentiful?

bytor said:
Are you saying that the 'black market' has dried up?

I doubt it, but who wants to be abused by cops or branded by the authorities just because they smoked a joint?

The law in California is still shitty. They need to make personal use legal. As with any intoxicant, it's naturally regulated in hazardous situations already, such as driving. The arguable social issues are from mass production and commercialization, where they'd need regulations like with anything else kids shouldn't be using and people shouldn't abuse. If that were to make some hicks poop out a conspiracy theory about "Latino drug lords" or the the government starting Operation 1984, so be it.

I think we should legalize marijuana in this country just so potheads won't have anything to talk about ever again [/tosh]

Nomad said:

I don't care what anyone says, but marijuana DOES slow reaction time and it is unsafe to drive whilst stoned. If I actually ever catch anyone smoking and driving I will probably beat them to death.

This. I would drive if I was slightly drunk (keeping to the back roads where possible, keeping an eye on my speed etc). But not when stoned.

To people who claim to be able to function normally whilst stoned: I think if you smoke enough of the stuff to get to the stage where you can use it without noticing the effects it has, then you smoke too much of it.

I live in a place where weed grows so fast that to eradicate it would be to completely destroy the natural landscape here. So the solution? Raze it anyway and build houses on it!

DoomUK said:

I would drive if I was slightly drunk (keeping to the back roads where possible, keeping an eye on my speed etc). But not when stoned.

To people who claim to be able to function normally whilst stoned: I think if you smoke enough of the stuff to get to the stage where you can use it without noticing the effects it has, then you smoke too much of it.

I´d NEVER drink and drive or rather, i´ll never do it again, after doing it once, one eyed drunk... you know, having to close one eye to see straight... my companycar full of tools was parked at a bar in a slightly bad neighborhood and i felt obligated to move it the 2 miles to my home. Damn i regret doing that. Even stopped for a pizza. Young and dumb and today very pleased that i didn´t learn it´s bad the hard way.

Young and dumb, yes... drove my moped dead drunk and severely stoned many times... good times... dumb times...

I rarely smoke and drive. Not because of any real ill effects, but since i become an Old Lady Driver. It´s a bad trip: i drive relatively slow, get overly causious and hyper observant of absolutely everything on or near the road, so it´s quite nervewrecking really. But i´d do it if i had to, as i think i´m a safe enough driver.

Several of my friends can smoke and drive and i never knew of anyone who had an accident.

People handle being stoned very different and there are degrees of stonedness.

A friend of my gfs gfs husband had a car-accident a few years back, driving slightly drunk. He killed a woman and two children. Sentenced to four years in prison (ridiculous sentence), served two (there´s justice for ya)... now he´s out again and word is he´s driving drunk still, now also doing amphetamine and stuff... "I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out:" I´m hoping he kills himself some time soon and hopefully before and without hurting anyone else.

---

"I smoke. If this bothers anyone, I suggest you look around at the world in which we live and shut your fuckin' mouth."

DooMikE said:

stuff

For clarification. By "slightly drunk" I was referring to having two or three glasses of wine or beer. Not exactly enough to establish "one eyed drunk" drunkenness, as you describe it, but not being a heavy drinker there would certainly be enough alcohol in my bloodstream to alert my conscience to the fact that I've had a drink.

Ugh, driving. It pisses me off that anybody is ever allowed to drive if they can't do it as well as a professional driver. Stupid, sprawling North American cities!

That aside, we should legalize marijuana here too. Every second person I know smokes it and few people really care. I also think the smell is less bad than most cigarettes. I find what most people here like to smoke is nasty smelling and should be banned in public for that reason alone.

I think driving should be criminalized. People suck balls at driving all the time no matter what the situation, are polluting the fuck out of the planet, constantly rushing around to and fro cutting each other off and crashing. Driving is especially bad here in California.

Fuck, while I'm at it, breeding should be criminalized. Humans are taking up too much space in the garden of earth, crowding out the other life and causing it disease. Now the earth is covered in a gray mold (the urban sprawl) and above it is hazy skies.

I think it's almost time to get stoned...