Anybody got a stance on legalization of pot?

[blithe spirit]

It's a ballot initiative this year in FL...for medical purposes.
I've been reading articles about the Colorado and Washington efforts and how it's working so far.
I know our FL Attorney General says even though the states legalize it it's still illegal because of the laws at the national level...and those who want to peddle it are no better than a common drug pusher on the street. This woman pisses me off so much...
I downloaded several petitions to get it on the ballot and have gotten four pages signed by voters just right around here which is a pretty conservative area. So my stance is it's time to get over the reefer madness movie and all the propaganda over the years.
I know there are legitimate medical reasons for folks to use it...nobody has ever died from a overdose...unlike all the other drugs big pharma has contocted for us...certainly safer than alcohol and all the other illegal substances for those have that desire to go that route to death.
What's your take on it? Think folks where you live might support it?

[T2Friends]

We passed something last year.  I know in Boston they were working on zoning to control where the shops could be opened, but to be honest I haven't heard anything more about it.  I have no problem with legalizing the stuff. 

[Lucinda Stone]

I'm all for it.... But then you have the workplace drug testing.... So even if it was legal to buy and use, could you lose your job?

[blithe spirit]

Pat...my younger sister has recently been diagosed with Psoriatic Arthritis after she had her first flare. It's been awful for her...it's in her sholder, both hands and a foot. So far they haven't gotten it under control and the pain is really bad. I was reading in a magazine in the waiting room at the clininc about there are types of pot that work really well and it's being grown just for that purpose...the THC has been reduced which is what gives the pot high but strenthen the pain controlling part.
We are thinking about making a trip to Colorado where it's being cultivated and available with a prescription. I'm thinking I might be needing some too...just for medicinal purposes...smile.

[crestofwaves]

Alcohol is probably worse than pot.  I never saw someone die from too much pot. And, it seems to cut itself off.  My nephew smoked for years.  Now it makes him paranoid, so he can't and he doesn't.  He didn't go through withdrawal.

[Wayne Goodwin]

North Carolina is think a about . Hope some day it will get passed . Only things I know is sex is good if ya both happy and Most people that use it a lot  has a different way of speech ...

[Lifesighs]

I'm for legalizing it everywhere. If there are workplace issues don't do it there, like smoking outside. I'm not in favor of any prohibition.

[frenchy]

well right now we have two states that are flirtin with legalizin it .. and they are bein watched closely .. they are the test cases .. as goes washington and colorado goes the rest of the country .. and once its legalized the gub,ent will tax it at the same rate as ciggarettes and alcohol .. maybe even higher .. and all the same laws like in the workplace or on the road should apply like alcohol .. and keep it away from anyone under 21 .. but once they get past all that and see the revenue it can raise .. plus the amount of jobs it will create .. and the amount of people we don't have to incarcerate to the tune of 69 grand per a year .. let the ATF control it so no jobs will be lost from the dea .. they'll just transfer over .. probably create even more jobs .. denver is at the point now that they have rented so much empty commercial real estate to grow weed that their economy would take a serious hit if they flip flopped now .. i think one by one we'll see other states lookin hard at the money colorado is makin instead of spendin because of weed , and one by one they'll look the other way too .. and the cherry on top of all this is we'll finally get weed out of that hard drug atmosphere its been in for so long .. at this point in time the guy who will sell you weed is also the guy who will sell you crack .. or meth , or coke , or heroin .. if there's money in it he'll sell it to you .. once you can get weed legal why would you buy it illegally and put yourself in them sticky situations .. makes no sense .. 

[Wayne Goodwin]

Back in the early seventys I bought a bag of what he called Redbud . I paid 45 dollars for that bag . Never bought anymore . Wonder what it would cost today .. The prices I saw in paper cost around 4 , 5 hundrred dollars for just a little bit . Boound too  still be cheaper on the black market .. If I had some I would smoke it but not those prices legally ....

[Shadowman]

Aw gee blithe, how can anyone resist venturing an opinion on this?  I think it good that some states are experimenting with this so we as a nation can watch and learn.

"...the price of legal commercial-grade pot has doubled to $400 an ounce since the start of the year, says Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association. That’s twice the price for medical marijuana at state dispensaries that require a doctor’s prescription. On the black market, high-grade offerings are fetching $156 to $250 an ounce, according to data compiled by Narcotic News."  http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-09/colorado-legal-mari...

With that in mind I don't think it will eliminate the black market aspect. However, as growing it legally increases the demand should be more addressed and one can presume the price will come down. Look at how difficult it is to grow coffee and tea and then transport it around the world and then sell it for next to nothing by comparison.  Marijuana is even easier to grow in a wider range of climate and growing conditions.

Heck, law and order legislators are still resistant to letting farmers grow industrial hemp as a market product and it has all the drug use value of lawn clippings.

Remember the old government propaganda books and films such as Reefer Madness: On the Trail of Killer Weed? Remember the drug in A Brave New World called Soma? Anyway, just my musings on this today.

[blithe spirit]

Just an interesting aside to our initiative here in FL...The law firm of Morgan and Morgan who is funding and organizing the initiative also happens to be Charlie Crist's firm, who defected from the republican party and is considered to be the best chance to unseat Rick Scott ( also known as Voldermort in some circles).

[uno,dos,3]

I'm concerned that legalizing it would take the fun out of it.........sort of like how being single takes away some of the thrill of 'getting lucky'.  

[Wayne Goodwin]

Be like getting lucky for a bj ...