Wouldn't it be safer?

Wouldn't it be safer if marijuana was legal? I mean, kids buy it from strangers whose nickname (something like The Striker or whatnot) is the only thing they know about them. If it was in grocery stores, behind glass cases, it would be safer, wouldn't it? The companies could follow regulations as to what goes in it or what comes out. It makes more sense than continuing to sell it on the streets. It's just like any other illegal thing: people are gonna do it, so it might as well be legal for everyone's benefit...

 

I agree fully. There is more to add, but I'm lazy.

My dealer is a friend of mine, and a pretty smart guy. He is trying to profit off his sales, though, 'cause he hasn't got a real job. So that sucks. Another dealer I know is extremely cool, so cool that they'll bring the deal to you, wherever you're at, and give you a discount if they had a busy day and you had to wait for a while. They'll even burn a couple of their J's with you sometimes. Seem like real nice folk. I trust my dealers, usually.. althought the one guy can rip you off fat.

 

marijuana will never become legal for one simple reason: there is nothing more difficult than trying to motivate a stoner.

if marijuana were legal everyone would smoke just like everyone drinks now.

and America cant compete with countries like China if a majority of the workforce are stoners. Theres no way

Why do you think China finally decided to make opium illegal? After that China just took off

What definately could work though is designating certain cities like New Orleans, Seattle, Burlington vermont, and others to have smoke shops like they do in Amsterdam and regulating them ofcourse. Just like gambling in the US is legal in some cities. I dont think that would be very dangerous.

In fact that would be awesome. imagine the possibilities. it could earn extra revenue through increased tourism for cities that really need it right now:


like New Orleans!

 

This is very much true. In the late 18th Century China was so self-sufficient that they had barely any interest in trading with the west. Then they started using opium medically and after a few decades it was being smuggled in by the british for non-medical use which fucked up their economy until they criminalized it.

one of the few reasons why marijuana will not be legalized in the states.

 

Actually it can't be legalized because the DEA and all those other anti-drug government agentcies would loose money. Think about it, if pot were legel then they'd have nobody to bust and therefore loose profit and government funding. Pot being illegal sucks but the government does make money off busting people and growers and importers.

 

Eh, isn't opium kind of addictive?

 

BUT if it was legal it would create a new economy that the government could take part in AND they could tax it...

 

Yeah, opium is addictive and it isn't really fair to compare it to bud..

But if it is legalized, the enthusiastic, hard working Americans would probably still not smoke... I don't think there would be that many non-smokers now that would start if it was legalized, 'cause honestly, what's really stopping them from smoking now? I think it would become bigger amongst the youth which could lead to a decrease in our work force for the next generation, though, but not by much. The kids with strict parent, high ambitions, etc. are still going to be anti-drugs, but the kids that aren't against it could start, and obviously the kids who are smoking will continue...

 

America is in some deep shit pretty soon with china and india. There already is very little chance of competing, there labor force is so much greator, and now that they are well on there way to industrialization, the U.S. will find a TON more competition. They constantly send citizens to the U.S. to get an education, and then they go back to their country to work, and compete with skilled american workers(engineers, computer stuff, etc.) And because america has to be "nice" to the rest of the world, and encourage free enterprise, they stand no chance.
The same way japan is taking over the automotive industry. Japanese companies can start up companies here, and pay the standard taxes that all american buisness pays, but when americans sell cars in japan they pay extremely engrossed taxes on every sale. Yet for some reason we keep buying jap cars, and not raising there taxes, just think if general motors went out of buisness? Thats about 10% of the american work force that just lost there jobs...

Something else interesting... Walmart. Every time walmart makes a sale... in any walmart in any country, a tally goes off someplace in china in some factory, and the VERY SAME DAY that product was sold, a new one is made, so walmart stock of items does not fall. If walmart was a nation, they would represent more than 10% of trade with china.

 

Bullshit...I work harder than anyone I know at everything I do...as an example:

My sister let us use her condo for New Years Eve...the place was fucking trashed in the morning, I wake up, my friend Tracy stays with me to help clean. Note: Place is still incredibly trashed

We decide to smoke a bowl and clean, we clean up all the beer bottles, all the trash, 6 trash bags later, dishes done, house spotless, the place is cleaner than it's EVER been...my sister wakes up and leaves to hang out with her friend and tells us, "This is the cleanest it's ever been, thank you so much, throw a party anytime"...so we smoke 2 more bowls...and we decided the way her "fun" room looked was shitty, so we move all the furniture out, clean the shit out of it...go to home depot (smoked a bowl before we left) go to the grocery store as well, come back, clean the room continuosly...using the nails we got we hang these mirrors, move around the couches, organize the computer wires, fix the PS2 (all the while still smoking more bowls), clean the TV, move around the room...then we cook lunch so when my sister came home she'd have lunch...she comes home, nearly shits herself in joy at the site of the "fun" room because it's completely organized and completely functional before (you used to have to move a lot of shit around to get the pull out open, or 1 of the doors was blocked because of the recliner, the computer wires ran through the middle of the room, this desk was falling appart etc etc) and then takes us bowling and pays as a thank you

We get back, smoke a bowl, and I cook a fucking pound of fettucine alfredo, Tracy makes shrimp for it and cooks some awwwwwwweeesome buffalo wings for another day and wraps them up for Kristina

All in all, we spent $63.54 out of the goodness of our hearts on groceries and supplies, cleaned the house to emmaculate proportions, cooked and then I went to work after all of this...

So tell me stoners can't be productive.

 

that was a good counter

 

Well it seems that we might actually increase the workforce because if Cannabis were made legal the issue of drug testing would go away thus opening the doors to a very large body of people who currently won't work in certain companies or have been outright refused because of a positive result. The gist here seems to be that stoners are a bunch of lazy tards who can't do anything except smoke pot. WTF? That's gotta be one of the dumbest things I've heard in a long time and isn't too far from the anti-pot propoganda, actually isn't that what they spout in alot of them, if you smoke pot you'll just be un-motivated and waste your life away? blah blah blah.

 

very good point. Now that I look back I find that I too can get my shit done after smoking. And its safe to say that a majority of stoners arent gonna go to work stoned unless their either very smart or incredibly stupid. especially if theyre working in construction or at a saw mill or some equally hazardous job.


But it is the general assumption that stoners cant be motivated and that I think is the main barrier between us and legalization.

 

Right on.

 

I also disagree with the stoner laziness comment. I know many people who smoke all day long, while successfully going to full time college, and working on top of that. Opium cant be compared cannabis. Regular opium use is devasting, while regular cannabis use generally isnt for most people. Not only can people function while stoned on pot, there is no physical withdrawal symptoms when not stoned. This makes it easy to go through the school or work day sober, then chill at night and smoke.

And to answer the original question, it would be a lot safer. People wouldnt have to possibly get into bad situations from dealing with an unregulated, illegal market. The cannabis could be inspected for things like mold, and the potency and overall quality could be known.

 

The only stoners it's impossible to motivate are already lazy, it's not the weed that steals your ambition. I know plenty of people--myself included--that get shitloads of things done while high, so don't buy into that crummy propaganda.
But back to the original question, another thing legalizaton would bring would be unadulterated product, in addition to the benefits Concealed has mentioned above. However, assuming pot were to be legalized tomorrow, I hardly think the gov't would allow it to be completely unregulated (or untaxed!). I'm guessing that most likely they would treat it like alcohol or tobacco products. In turn, this would mean...you guessed it...no sales to minors, or whatever arbitrary age limit they set.
As far as the intelligence agencies are concerned...who knows? The CIA has refused to be audited about drug related matters and monies since the 1960's. It'd prob'ly be a fair bet to say they're getting their own piece of the drug money pie, but they certainly can't admit to THAT now, can they?

 

I agree with WishIWasAHippie - my old boss was a stoner and so am I, and he ran an extremely succesful restaurant working full time with very little help. And that's hard to do btw

 

So...what can we all realistically do to make it legal?

 

So i figure in a perfect worl the best way to go would be to own a plant. That way you know whats in it. If it were to be legalized (Possibly the next election in denver), I think it would need strict guidelines. Still growing your own seems to be the best option. Look at all the additives in tobacco, yuck.

 

I don't quite degree. I'm Dutch and as you may know, pot is legal in Holland. But this doesn't automatically mean everyone's smoking pot all day. I'm 18 and I've only smoked pot twice in my life and the majority of the people I know don't smoke it or hardly ever do. I mean, you're not drinking whiskey all day just because it's legal, are you?