Ban marijuana???

[Blank Rune]

It began to look like we needed to pull a subject from one of Eye's blogs over into the arena so to speak.

If you go to the "recent blogs" and scroll down to Eye's blog about "banning marijuana" you can get caught up on what has been said so far.

Let's look at the benefits and the risks, the truth and the propaganda...and everyone's opinion about this herb that is wonderful to some, dangerous to others, and just out right evil to a few!!

What are some of the benefits of marijuana?

What are some of the risks?

Should it be banned?

Why should it be banned?

[EyeCanBlackStars]

I think the biggest risk is if it goes to a public market, there is no longer an opportunity for organized crimes to make money off of illegal trafficking and selling of marijuana. Without illegal things it's really hard to raise funds fast, unless you are involved in healthcare or military exploits.

Also, if we weren't to ban marijuana and all hemp with the slightest psychoactivity, then we'd run the risk of the fossil fuel market losing value, and this scheme is crucial for our conquest of the world and disenfranchisement of the world's youth. Also, with new biofuel/biomaterial technology being developed it would be too much of an open market not enough room for monopolization. Then our conflicts might actually be real instead of artificially manufactured, this would be against the interest of the international system of lordship.

Also, by banning marijuana it makes it makes it easier to penalize someone for being an annoyance and creating psychoactive smoke upstream from me.

[bsbray]

Benefits of legalization:

1) Immediately getting tens of thousands of non-violent offenders out of jails and prisons and freeing room for violent offenders (many states are opting just to require inmates to serve 65% of their sentence to get them out to make room faster).

2) Non-toxic pesticides can be developed from hemp.

3) Hemp is an extremely fibrous and inexpensive textile, which is why big corporate lobbyists like Dupont and the Rockefellers originally had marijuana (and hemp) banned by Congress.

4) It can be used medicinally in the place of several different manufactured pills without the side-effects, or in place of other types of treatment.

5) Smoking marijuana actually REDUCES your chances of getting cancer. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but it actually causes healthy cells to die at a healthy age, rather than to live on and mutate into carcinogenic cells. In fact, the radiation in tobacco is not natural to tobacco but actually comes from commercial fertilizers that contain radon. Look it up. Not that any of the other additives to commercial cigarettes are any good for you, either.

6) It's already used by tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people, as a non-addictive stress reliever.

7) Studies have shown it has no real detrimental effect on driving, because unlike when you are drunk or on a cell phone, your judgment is not impaired, but to the contrary, you over-compensate for being high by paying more attention to your driving. This is what studies have shown, again, if we want to look them up.

8) Legalization could offer billions of dollars in tax revenue. California is already looking at making over a billion dollars by itself through legalization/decriminalization.

9) It's less harmful to one's health than either alcohol or commercial cigarettes, making it hypocritical to be illegal for health reasons anyway. And it is also less intoxicating than alcohol.

10) It can increase body awareness, as anyone who's ever tried it an experienced the "body buzz" can attest to. This can be beneficial to those beginning energy work, like mobile body awareness techniques.


On the bad side,

1) It can cloud your memory.

2) If you smoke it habitually, when you stop, you create a natural deficiency of a certain hormone/neurotransmitter that your body has to re-learn to compensate for, which in effect makes you feel more depressed for a period of time.

3) It just gets you in trouble in most places simply because it's illegal. Not that there is a good rhyme or reason for it to be illegal, or especially to justify throwing someone in jail, or slapping them with a massive fine and probation. But to me the bigger problem here is with the laws themselves.

[EyeCanBlackStars]

Since, this threat is looking for opinions from both sides. I channeled my inner Republican, Ann Coulte, since I don't care enough to be really anti marijuana.

I think if they legalize marijuana, it would be good, because they can tax it, to fund more anti-marijuana commercials. There should be more child education about how twenty year old marijuana dealers sell it through their younger brothers in school. And that marijuana is used to exploit youth, similarly to alcohol. It reduces their inhibitions, so if there is a girl that regularly gets drunk or smokes pot, they are probably twice as likely to have STDs as well. I'm not saying that people have a weakened immune system when smoking mj, it's just they are just a lot more promiscuous, mentally irresponsible and prone to steal.

Drugs is often the main way people try to score with highschool girls. Lets get her drunk or get her high then have our way with her. The guys will usually try to get the shy girl to smoke mj then she will come out, and oneside of her face will droop the next day, because she contracted a strain of HSV. Oh so noble the people I associate with psychoactive substance. But to be honest this is the majority of drug users that I met physically, they are also people users as well. Drugs is the main way people try getting people to live above their means and get money from them. Normally, a person wouldn't steal things to get a nicer car, but for drugs, yes a person will steal. All thieves I've seen also I've seen smoking mj. Also, I don't know any beggars, that will beg for food, they beg for money to buy alcohol and mj. I'm very sure that 90% of money that goes to these obnoxious beggars on the street goes straight to drug dealers.

I'm not saying everyone that goes into the public stall open at night time is a bum or a prostitute, I know there are many nice people that just need or wouldn't mind the stall being open at night, but the amount of abuse. All it takes is 3% of people to abuse something before the public reconsiders it's use. Stripping the virginity away from young children, and allowing children to be influenced by 20 year old men with low values, that is something that isn't acceptable. And I'd say evidence of abuse of society norms is very prevalent among observable mj users...

Oh the "threat to daughter" trick. That works every time...

[bsbray]

People that regularly smoke marijuana do have a tendency to be around a lot of other crime, other drugs, even things like prostitution in bad parts of town, I'm sure. The reason for all of this, is because marijuana is illegal, and if someone wants to smoke it, they're going to have to go to a dealer that likely deals in other things besides marijuana. Simply because there is more money to be made than just by selling marijuana illegally, if you are going to break the law to begin with.

If marijuana were legalized, you wouldn't have to go through people also dealing coke, crack, meth, whatever, to find it. You would just go to the gas station, just like you would to buy alcohol or cigarettes. I have a feeling it would be a serious blow to other illicit drugs that are more harmful and addictive, that marijuana would be less of a "gateway drug," if exposure to illegal dealers and everything that comes with them is reduced.


I know this is kind of unrelated, but the drinking age in this country is 21. So high schooler's can't legally drink. I think that's the biggest thrill of doing it: it makes them feel older, more mature, and they're breaking the law and could get caught, which is the extra thrill of it. Because consider European countries: you can legally drink alcohol at 18, 16, sometimes even younger in Europe, and as a result, the attitude there is not as adolescent. If the legal drinking age in this country were increased to 30, or 40, for example, instead of just not drinking, you would have a lot of 30-40 year olds just going to more trouble, doing illegal and more immature things, to get it. But they would still drink it just the same.

[EyeCanBlackStars]

Are you sure adolescents in America aren't just more immature in general, regardless of laws?

That point on marijuana being a gateway drug because of it's illegality is a very good one, and also it being a gate to illegal activity due to it's illegality makes sense. Although, it's hard to really tell until doing an experiment and looking at net effect. I personally think marijuana should be legal, but attitude and opinions are made from the incentives of parties. Due to marijuana being made illegal, maybe the public has associated it with other illegal activities, which in turn had a positive feedback where it creates a greater association due to original perception.

But who is to say that the place would actually be a better place with legalization. Either way it doesn't really affect me. Just stay away from my daughters! And don't take away my right to overprotect her! :P j/k I haven't procreated yet.

[bsbray]

Are you sure adolescents in America aren't just more immature in general, regardless of laws?

Maybe in general, but there's hardly any law that's going to remedy that.

No, we Americans are really a very diverse lot. The melting pot, you know. Most Brits seem very tame and subdued to me, like they've been drinking too much fluoride through all the generations.

I hate our federal government, which is a cancerous sore. The US used to be all about local governments. States minded their own business, and for the most part the states even let local governments do their own thing. Not anymore. I feel sorry for Europe being united into a single entity as well, because god only knows the leaders aren't nearly as intelligent as the collective whole of all individuals living in Europe, left to their own.

Just don't associate what you see on the media, and hear about our government, with all Americans. Believe me, many of us are more pissed off about it than anyone else in the world. We live here!

[EyeCanBlackStars]

The expansion of federal government is due to the weakness in community. Not so much lack of community participation in politics. But lack of the community's competence to provide for itself, and at same time hold altruistic values and sense of duty so as to not make enemies. So just as poorly constituted people suffer from cancer, it is a natural cause and effect, that weak Gods of community are conquered by a more energetically favored movement.

I personally see lots of opportunity in expanded more centralized government. More so than community run things. People want medical professionals, people want Walmarts, people want consumerism, people want big companies, people want pyramid schemes, people want slaves. Everything is happening for the competent people's gratification and their slave's gratification.

Many times hidden within big schemes and ideals, are just selfish desires and identity/purpose effect. Most people don't deserve control over their own lives. Because through their own lives they affect something of much greater importance than their own lives, the future.

Until people are humbled, have sense of duty, have true sincere direction, have love and kindness in our hearts, and are free of lust, then we together will suffer. Sometimes there really are no good directions, either way we are going to have to leave some valuables behind and get dirty, but it's always easier to complain about a path when we are already knee high in muck. I am one to believe that the direction humanity goes is always the best, if not for humanity, for the universe, because that is something that makes sense.

So this kind of ties into what is going on with MJ. Even though I look around at other societies like in India, most people smoke weed occasionally for religious purposes, but never would become attached to it. My step uncle was a groovy drug user, and thought mj was such a cool thing to do and when he went to India, he whispered to his cousin "do you guys have any marijuana?" and he said "oh yeah sure you want some?" He had his dad send a servant out in the back and came back with a whole bucket full of fresh ganja. Anyway, this guy thought mj was such a cool thing to do and anti-peer and something to make him feel privileged. Well his eyes lit up at the sight. And he carefully laid them out dried them and rolled them up, it took him hours because the quantity. Anyway, he started smoking them, and his uncle was right there in front of him the whole time, thinking what the heck is this kid doing? Well he went through the whole thing in a couple days to a week. And then he realized "What the hell am I doing, just smoking weed?" It wasn't cool now since no one was acknowledging it as cool, and no peers cared, they just looked at him funny, and once there isn't a scarcity of something there is much less desire for it, kinda like girls playing hard to get. Well, after that experience he didn't touch weed for the rest of his life. I think that was the reason he got sent over there too, because he was just smoking weed with the friends all the time and not doing well in school. Funny story kinda.

I think a sign of a mature and noble society is a lack of laws and regulation. Some see the laws and regulation as a restricted or pressured society from government. Or the government trying to take over people's lives. That is true to an extent, but this would never be possible without a flawed society in the first place. Sure the lobbyist do get power out of telling the government to regulate something, but it's only because that area could use some regulation due to exploitation. Youth was being exploited by drugs. MJ got hit hard due to lobbyist having other motives.

If community was strong enough and loyal enough that they wouldn't rat each other out or have desire to sell the plant for money, then they could get away with it. A strong community will not be taxed, because they don't need to use a money system. Not part of a strong community? Or causing public disturbance? Or doing illegal activity that didn't stick? Or a police officer just doesn't like you are pity you, not getting bribed, or you're unlucky? Then the pharma companies want to put you in jail. People get fined a million dollars for 10 illegally downloaded songs. The state of things is temporary. Regulation is minimizing of destabilizing factors and promoting growth, the government isn't concerned with morality, although it does care about morale

[bsbray]

The expansion of federal government is due to the weakness in community.

I don't quite look at it that way. The feds assumed power, and then used it to gain more and more influence over communities over time. I wouldn't say the communities themselves were "weak," but they were overcome by the intentional manipulation by federal authorities. The American Civil War was the big tipping point for all this, because "the union" were all states taking direct authority from the federal government in Washington DC. The "confederacy" were all states that had re-asserted their own sovereignty. Those states all banded together to fight the union, and established a collective capital in Richmond, but it was clear they ultimately wanted to mind their own business and to have nothing to do with taking orders from one single over-arching government. To this day it remains an important sentiment though it hardly gets attention on mainstream media: states rights vs. federal authority.

California has re-asserted its sovereignty in modern times, which is why marijuana is decriminalized in at least 3 counties there (I recently heard the whole state decriminalized it but I haven't seen any reports to that effect yet). The DEA (a federal authority) comes in, but time and time again California judges rule that the DEA has to either enforce California laws, or get the hell out. That they can't enforce federal law over state law. Several other states and even cities have also been re-asserting their own authority with legislation in recent years. All politicians fighting for power if you ask me, but when power is being dismantled from the federal government, I'm not going to complain.

If community was strong enough and loyal enough that they wouldn't rat each other out or have desire to sell the plant for money, then they could get away with it.

That's basically how "the trade" already works, except money is still involved. I know many people that smoke and deal and I don't have any intention of ratting any of them out; they're my brothers and sisters.

The cops and big pharma are whole other topics... Big pharma has a lot to do with why marijuana is illegal, though, while cops are just... corrupt as hell. I was just reading an article before I came here about how an officer was pursuing a teenager on a bike with his squad car, tased the teen on the bike through his window, the teen subsequently lost control of his bike and fell in front of the cop car, which then ran him over and killed him. The cop dragged him something like 15 to 35 feet under his car. And then got out and asked simply, "Where are you?", according to witnesses, while the guy's foot was still sticking out from under the cop car.

I read horror stories like that all the time... I have absolutely no respect for the way authority is dished out in this country.

[EyeCanBlackStars]

I have similar sentiments, but I think that everything is relative to perspective. I find most of the times we are living the lesser of the evils. Idealism is great and all, but idealism that is not complete or scientific will need balancing by a opposing idealism. This is defensive strategy, a quality of greater fitness, due to lack of understanding or empathy on part of the parties.