hblueeyes

When you read up on the history of pot and discover why it became illegal to begin with (the paper companies) you have to question why is it still illegal. Pot has many more medicinal uses besides chemo relief. Yes, like alcohol, you can legalize it, control,it and tax it to death like booze and cigaretts. The Al Capone types did not murder in the streets once it became legal. yet people are murdered daily over drug turfs. Now I am not sayiing legalize all drugs but lets take the criminal element out of the equation and start treating those with addictions or offing safe havens for those who need it like they do in the netherlands.

I bet if we were to dig deep enough, we would find that those same politicans and other government officals that cry the loudest against legalizing pot are the ones profiting from it.

me

ilovecats

I bet A bunch of them smoke it too.(the politicians and government officials,I mean)

Jolie Rouge

Study: Marijuana potency increases in 2007
By HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jun 12, 7:21 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Marijuana potency increased last year to the highest level in more than 30 years, posing greater health risks to people who may view the drug as harmless, according to a report released Thursday by the White House.

The latest analysis from the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project tracked the average amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, in samples seized by law enforcement agencies from 1975 through 2007. It found that the average amount of THC reached 9.6 percent in 2007, compared with 8.75 percent the previous year.

The 9.6 percent level represents more than a doubling of marijuana potency since 1983, when it averaged just under 4 percent.

"Today's report makes it more important than ever that we get past outdated, anachronistic views of marijuana," said John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He cited baby boomer parents who might have misguided notions that the drug contains the weaker potency levels of the 1970s.

"Marijuana potency has grown steeply over the past decade, with serious implications in particular for young people," Walters said. He cited the risk of psychological, cognitive and respiratory problems, and the potential for users to become dependent on drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

While the drug's potency may be rising, marijuana users generally adjust to the level of potency and smoke it accordingly, said Dr. Mitch Earleywine, who teaches psychology at the State University of New York in Albany and serves as an adviser for marijuana advocacy groups. "Stronger cannabis leads to less inhaled smoke," he said.

The White House office attributed the increases in marijuana potency to sophisticated growing techniques that drug traffickers are using at sites in the United States and Canada.

A report from the office last month found that a teenager who has been depressed in the past year was more than twice as likely to have used marijuana than teenagers who have not reported being depressed — 25 percent compared with 12 percent. The study said marijuana use increased the risk of developing mental disorders by 40 percent.

"The increases in marijuana potency are of concern since they increase the likelihood of acute toxicity, including mental impairment," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which funded the University of Mississippi study.

"Particularly worrisome is the possibility that the more potent THC might be more effective at triggering the changes in the brain that can lead to addiction," Volkow said.

But there's no data showing that a higher potency in marijuana leads to more addiction, Earleywine said, and marijuana's withdrawal symptoms are mild at best. "Mild irritability, craving for marijuana and decreased appetite — I mean those are laughable when you talk about withdrawal from a drug. Caffeine is worse."

The project analyzed data on 62,797 cannabis samples, 1,302 hashish samples, and 468 hash oil samples obtained primarily from seizures by law enforcement agencies in 48 states since 1975.

___

On the Net:

White House Office of National Drug Control Policy: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080612/...jCcLKptRNa24cA

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Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

gmyers

I don't think people should go to prison for a small amount like one joint. But I do think the ones with larger amounts that are selling it should go to prison. Or who have it around kids.

Jolie Rouge

Gas saver?
Pot makes gas gauge read half full
2 hrs 40 mins ago

SANDY, Utah – A stash of grass can take the place of a lot of gas, but it won't do anything for mileage.

A Utah man took his newly acquired used SUV to a mechanic to find out why the gas gauge always read half-full.

The mechanic in Sandy looked inside the gas tank and found about 35 pounds of marijuana in plastic-wrap packages that filled about half of the tank's volume.

Police estimate the pot is worth about $35,000.

The Nissan Armada has had several different owners and was once a rental car.

Sandy police are trying to figure out who stashed the pot but say the current owner is not a suspect.

Investigators in the town south of Salt Lake City say the drug packs could have been in the tank for months.

Information from KUTV-TV: http://kutv.com/



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090218/...Om9tyeY2TtiBIF

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Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

krisharry

LOL, going to get my tank checked!

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Jolie Rouge

Can Marijuana Help Rescue California's Economy?
By ALISON STATEMAN / LOS ANGELES
34 mins ago

Could marijuana be the answer to the economic misery facing California? Democratic State Assembly member Tom Ammiano thinks so. Ammiano introduced legislation last month that would legalize pot and allow the state to regulate and tax its sale - a move that could mean billions for the cash-strapped state. Pot is, after all, California's biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion in annual sales, dwarfing the state's second largest agricultural commodity - milk and cream - which brings in $7.3 billion annually, according to the most recent USDA statistics. The state's tax collectors estimate the bill would bring in about $1.3 billion in much-needed revenue a year, offsetting some of the billions in service cuts and spending reductions outlined in the recently approved state budget.


"The state of California is in a very, very precipitous economic plight. It's in the toilet," says Ammiano. "It looks very, very bleak, with layoffs and foreclosures and schools closing or trying to operate four days a week. We have one of the highest rates of unemployment we've ever had. With any revenue ideas people say you have to think outside of the box, you have to be creative, and I feel that the issue of the decriminalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana fits that bill. It's not new, the idea has been around, and the political will may in fact be there to make something happen." (See pictures of stoner cinema.)


Ammiano may be right. A few days after he introduced the bill, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that states should be able to make their own rules on medical marijuana and that federal raids on pot dispensaries in California would cease. The move signaled a softening of the hard-line approach previous administrations have had to medicinal pot use. The nomination of Gil Kerlikowske as the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy may also signal a softer federal line on marijuana. If he is confirmed as the so-called Drug Czar, Kerlikowske will bring with him experience as police chief of Seattle, where he made it clear that going after people for posessing marijuana was not a priority of his force. (See a story about the grass-roots marijuana war in California.)


California was one of the first states in the nation to legalize medical marijuana in 1996. Currently, $200 million in medical marijuana sales are subject to sales tax. If passed, the Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act (AB 390) would give California control of pot in a manner similar to alcohol, while prohibiting its purchase to citizens under age 21. (The bill has been referred to the California State Assembly's Public Safety and Health Committees; Ammiano says it could take up to a year before it comes to a vote for passage.) State revenues would be derived from a $50 per ounce levy on retail sales of marijuana and sales taxes. By adopting the law, California could become a model for other states. As Ammiano put it: "How California goes, the country goes."


Despite the projected and much-needed revenue, opponents say legalizing pot will only add to social woes. "The last thing we need is yet another mind-altering substance to be legalized," says John Lovell, lobbyist for the California Peace Officers' Association. "We have enough problems with alcohol and abuse of pharmaceutical products: do we really need to add yet another mind-altering substance to the array?" Lovell says the easy availability of the drug will lead to a surge in its use, much like what happened when alcohol was allowed to be sold in venues other than liquor stores in some states.


Joel W. Hay, professor of Pharmaceutical Economics at USC, also foresees harm if the bill passes. "Marijuana is a drug that clouds people's judgment. It affects their ability to concentrate and react and it certainly has impacts on third parties," says Hay, who has written on the societal costs of drug abuse. "It's one more drug that will add to the toll on society. All we have to do is look at the two legalized drugs, tobacco and alcohol, and look at the carnage that they've caused. [Marijuana] is a dangerous drug and it causes bad outcomes for both the people who use it and for the people who are in their way at work or other activities." He adds: "There are probably some responsible people who can handle marijuana but there are lots of people who can't, and it has an enormous negative impact on them, their family and loved ones." (See pictures of Mexico's drug wars.)


In response, retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray, a longtime proponent of legalization, estimates that legalizing pot and thus ceasing to arrest, prosecute and imprison non-violent offenders could save the state an additional $1 billion a year. "We couldn't make this drug any more available if we tried," he says. "Not only do we have those problems, along with glamorizing it by making it illegal, but we also have the crime and corruption that go along with it." He adds, "Unfortunately, every society in the history of mankind has had some form of mind-altering, sometimes addictive substances to use, to misuse, abuse or get addicted to. Get used to it. They're here to stay. So, let's try to reduce those harms and right now we couldn't do it worse if we tried."


Read "An American Pastime: Smoking Pot." http://www.time.com/time/health/arti...821697,00.html


See a story discussing whether pot is good for you. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...003570,00.html



http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/2009031...08599188495600

__________________
Laissez les bon temps rouler! Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.** a 4 day work week & sex slaves ~ I say Tyt for PRESIDENT! Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously ....Suki ebaynni IS THAT BETTER ?

shadowcats

medically it is a nessary treatment for chemo paticentss and some of the other kinds of illness,,,,,,,,,,,

and believe me there are idiots who will use it and go on to other things and other highs and wreck their lives,,,,,,,, my best friends old man and their kids are going this route now,

then there are others who handle it like a beer or other alcohols , just another pacifier, ,,,,,,,,,or social party

as for me lol im alergetic to the ingrediants so PLEASE SOME AWAY FROM ME LOL,

to me its and individuals right to kill them self the way they want. be it drugs , drink or stupidity ,

just keep it away from kids give them a chance to grow and decide for themselfs first,,,,,,
and if you cant control your self GET HELP ,,,,,,,,,,,,,

SHARON
oh well thats just my opionion, for give my spelling im dyslexic and somedays are better than others ,,,,,,,,lol

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jasmine

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07...e-marijuana%2F




Barney Frank and Ron Paul Team Up to Decriminalize Marijuana
Posted:
07/15/09
Filed Under:House, Democrats, Republicans
325 Comments +
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A new bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives that would "eliminate most Federal penalties for possession of marijuana for personal use, and for other purposes." H.R. 5843 is sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank and co-sponsored by Texas Republican Ron Paul, among others. The bill carries a very reassuring title, too: Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults.

Over the past few years, numerous states have passed so-called "medical marijuana" laws, allowing doctors to prescribe pot to patients to treat a variety of symptoms. A total of 13 states have also passed measures decriminalizing marijuana. This new bill would expand that tolerance of the drug to include open recreational use.

Interviewed recently by Esquire about the new measure, Frank was asked why Congress is taking so long to take action that so many states have pursued. Here's his response:


"This is a case where there's cultural lag on the part of my colleagues. If you ask them privately, they don't think it's a terrible thing. But they're afraid of being portrayed as soft on drugs."


Another politician who has never been accused of being afraid to express his beliefs on legalizing pot is Paul, who gave a memorable interview on the subject a few months ago. Watch it here.

So, it's clear what Barney Frank and Ron Paul think about decriminalizing marijuana, but what's your take?

hesnothere

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ElleGee

It's a tax maker.. Our government should be jumping on this bandwagon

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