Ip; With all due respect, we know HH used a modified version of JLM's handle to spread what passed for her thoughts. If this were HH in disguise I'm sure this forum would have filled up with poorly spelled vitriol days ago.:-?
Legalize Marijuana!
- Thread starter Mikayla
- Start date
Ip; With all due respect, we know HH used a modified version of JLM's handle to spread what passed for her thoughts. If this were HH in disguise I'm sure this forum would have filled up with poorly spelled vitriol days ago.:-?
The problem with legalizing pot, (or the idea of it) is that we are living in a period of neo-prohibitionism. This is a well orgainzed movement to try to repeat a disastrous program of nearly a century ago, but in a back handed back door way. So successful is this movement in the US that it can fund two huge government enforcement agencies, the BATF for legal but controlled items or subsances, and the DEA for the illegal stuff. The spoils of raids go right back to the coffers of either the local police or the federal agencies, no conflict there, right?:angry3:
Up here we've seen Dalton McGuinty follow the lead of Bridgewater NS in banning smoking in your own car with children present. He is going even further with prohibition extending to age 22 the zero tolerance BAC for drivers. NS will be lowering the allowable BAC for all drivers to .05% come the new year.
As for taxing the stuff, years ago the neo-prohibitionists lobbied to have the high taxes, (initially lowered to combat smuggling) reinstated on tobacco to cut down on teenage smoking, and smoking in general. That worked so well that the smash and grab artists now rob cigarettes from convenience stores and leave the till and safe alone.
Illegal smokes are a major revenue producer for organized crime. The penalties for having them would make Draco proud. Just a couple of months ago someone was convicted of having a cube van full of them, and decided to take 8 months to a year in the clink in lieu of the $1.2M fine. Just the cost of doing business.
BTW, I don't smoke either substance, (but I've been known to tipple now and again), but even I can tell that the pendulum has swung too far left for there to be any hope of de-criminalizing, let alone legalizing pot any time soon.
Up here we've seen Dalton McGuinty follow the lead of Bridgewater NS in banning smoking in your own car with children present. He is going even further with prohibition extending to age 22 the zero tolerance BAC for drivers. NS will be lowering the allowable BAC for all drivers to .05% come the new year.
As for taxing the stuff, years ago the neo-prohibitionists lobbied to have the high taxes, (initially lowered to combat smuggling) reinstated on tobacco to cut down on teenage smoking, and smoking in general. That worked so well that the smash and grab artists now rob cigarettes from convenience stores and leave the till and safe alone.
Illegal smokes are a major revenue producer for organized crime. The penalties for having them would make Draco proud. Just a couple of months ago someone was convicted of having a cube van full of them, and decided to take 8 months to a year in the clink in lieu of the $1.2M fine. Just the cost of doing business.
BTW, I don't smoke either substance, (but I've been known to tipple now and again), but even I can tell that the pendulum has swung too far left for there to be any hope of de-criminalizing, let alone legalizing pot any time soon.
I fail to see the similarity in literary style.
JLM,You are overly generous to call her scribble a style.
JLM,You are overly generous to call her scribble a style.
even I can tell that the pendulum has swung too far left for there to be any hope of de-criminalizing, let alone legalizing pot any time soon.
bobnoorduyn,Yup, the levels of hysteria are reaching epidemic proportions. It is too bad that they don't teach critical thought in schools. There wouldn't be so many idiots believing stupidity.
bobnoorduyn,Yup, the levels of hysteria are reaching epidemic proportions. It is too bad that they don't teach critical thought in schools. There wouldn't be so many idiots believing stupidity.
bobnoorduyn - I used to drink (a lot) and drive (a lot) and both together (a lot) but thankfully saw the error or my ways before there was any serious problem or anyone got hurt. Now I see absolutely no problem with ZERO tolerance- you can travel quite a way in a cab for $20 which is a hell of a lot less than you spend when you go out drinking. AS far as pot goes I'm not an expert (tried it once and went right back to drinking), but for all intents and purposes I think it's pretty well "legalized"- just not on paper. Anyway I hate to spoil anyone's fun- just don't like to see people get hurt.
Yep, I was being polite- and on second thought the term "literary" also seems generous- Maybe "swill" is a better term- LOL :lol:
Cliffy; I'm afraid of what they do teach in schools. The only critical thought accepted is that which is critical of those who do not espouse the orthodoxy of the zeitgeist. It is even more prevelent in the hallowed halls of higher education.
JLM; The problem with zero tolerence is that it means just that. I heard about a young fellow a year or so back who was caught while still under that restriction through the graduated license system. He had 1/2 glass of champaign before he knew what it was, (and didn't like it). He blew a .01, shortly thereafter his BAC was unmeasureable, but hey, zero isn't zero, it is .000. (I don't remember the final outcome). A healthy serving of Grandma's trifle will put you over zero.
Studies have shown that about 85% of alcohol related accidents involved drivers that had a BAC of .12, and half had a BAC of .16 or more. The statistics used for lowering the BAC limit have been misrepresented. Accidents where the driver was under the limit and wasn't at fault or there was a passenger who was drinking are classed as alcohol related. The wider you cast your net the bigger your haul.
Resources are wasted trying to catch someone who has a couple glasses of wine at dinner and poses little, if any danger, rather than those who get blotto and are likely to ram a school bus.
Much like the war on drugs, the likelyhood of catching the repeat offenders or the big fish is prettry remote. Catching a bunch of small fish makes for better optics, "hey look, we're doing a good job, but we could do better with more resources". Self fulfilling job security.
Cannabis / Marijuana (and other street drugs) Have Been Linked to Significant Increases in a Person's Risk for Schizophrenia
Re: Cannabis and schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a disease of the mind. It has more to do with genes but some substance abuse, like cocaine and heroin can set a person off who would have gone through life without being triggered. I think that the pot link is so much farting in the wind. The number of actual cases are so minuscule as to be non-existent. Someone would have to be predisposed to get it. Just a bunch of scare tactics by Big Pharma to promote their addictive drugs. More people die of prescription drugs than all others combined and that includes alcohol and tobacco.
Schizophrenia is a disease of the mind. It has more to do with genes but some substance abuse, like cocaine and heroin can set a person off who would have gone through life without being triggered. I think that the pot link is so much farting in the wind. The number of actual cases are so minuscule as to be non-existent. Someone would have to be predisposed to get it. Just a bunch of scare tactics by Big Pharma to promote their addictive drugs. More people die of prescription drugs than all others combined and that includes alcohol and tobacco.
I have a relative, Cliff, extremely bright person, when she was going to U.B.C. to study medicine, I guess she got into some street drugs and very quickly went wacko and was diagnosed as bi polar - 15 years later if she so much as smokes a joint she winds up in the psych ward.