Ranman wrote:
This is good topic with a lot of good viewpoints; so I wanted to share mine.

When it comes legalizing Marijuana I am a little bit torn. One side of me wants it to remain illegal, but my Libertarian side of me wants the Federal government to just butt out.

When I was 15 years old, I experimented with Marijuana once. It was something that came back to haunt me several times throughout my adult life.

When I joined the US Navy back in 1990, I was coerced (through my own guilt) into divulging that tidbit of information. And again when I had to apply for a top secret security clearance. And again... And again... and again. And still again when I was hired on at Lockheed Martin.

It was not something I was particularly proud of. Unless you are a good liar, this type of experimentation (or whatever you want to call it) will come back to haunt you.

Actually, what I've heard from people who are/have been involved in the process of dealing with security clearance applications is that for a lot of questions about lifestyle decisions and youthful experimentation is that they aren't so much concerned about whether you have or not, as whether you are willing to admit it (and more importantly whether it makes you a liability for blackmail). Other than that I pretty much agree with your post. My political/economic philosophy says "not the federal government's business, keep out of our personal lives", but my personal philosophy says you're an idiot if you aren't extremely careful about what you do to your body and what chemicals (especially neurologically active ones) you expose yourself to.

Dontar wrote:
ya think if Marijuana is legalized its gonna happen in real life like it did in the show (certain people pushing for re-illegalizing it due to it cutting into their profits for things that hemp can be used to for cheaper, like paper)

Well....the original push to illegalize it was due to a push by the wood-pulp/paper/newspaper, petro-chemical, and cotton industries, and actually took the medical community of the time entirely by surprise.
elfprince13 wrote:
Actually, what I've heard from people who are/have been involved in the process of dealing with security clearance applications is that for a lot of questions about lifestyle decisions and youthful experimentation is that they aren't so much concerned about whether you have or not, as whether you are willing to admit it (and more importantly whether it makes you a liability for blackmail). Other than that I pretty much agree with your post. My political/economic philosophy says "not the federal government's business, keep out of our personal lives", but my personal philosophy says you're an idiot if you aren't extremely careful about what you do to your body and what chemicals (especially neurologically active ones) you expose yourself to.

Excellent point elfprince. And that is exactly right. Integrity of ones character is what they are after... if you are willing to admit it, then they are okay with it.

But... That still doesn't take the pain away from having to admit past mistakes.
If it were legal, there would be no more pain in admitting to smoking marijuana than in admitting you had corn flakes for breakfast.
DShiznit wrote:
If it were legal, there would be no more pain in admitting to smoking marijuana than in admitting you had corn flakes for breakfast.

Or more aptly, that you had a drinking problem in college, which while legal, isn't a necessarily a pleasant thing to come to terms with.
I think that even if it was legalized, it would still have that "drug" stigma, sort of like alcoholics get that sort of treatment. Just because something is legal or illegal that doesn't mean the public's views of it change. It's not limited to substances either. Speeding, for instance, most people take little notice of, but it's still illegal and very risky. People just don't care that much.
shmibs wrote:
However, one must take into account that marijuana being illegal makes it "cool," and as soon as it's legal, teenagers will have to resort to other things to be "cool," like cocaine XD.


Not really. Alcohol is legal, but it's still "cool" to get it in highschool because it is illegal for minors to have. Same thing with cigarettes. I'm totally fine with something like marijuana being illegal to minors. Hell, I'm in favor of that.

elfprince13 wrote:
Or more aptly, that you had a drinking problem in college, which while legal, isn't a necessarily a pleasant thing to come to terms with.


That falls back into the "abuse of <something>" category and really has nothing to do with marijuana since it isn't an addiction forming substance.

It would instead be like admitting you drank beer in college. No one will care. At all.
Kllrnohj wrote:
shmibs wrote:
However, one must take into account that marijuana being illegal makes it "cool," and as soon as it's legal, teenagers will have to resort to other things to be "cool," like cocaine XD.


Not really. Alcohol is legal, but it's still "cool" to get it in highschool because it is illegal for minors to have. Same thing with cigarettes. I'm totally fine with something like marijuana being illegal to minors. Hell, I'm in favor of that.

The "cool" phenomenon (along with making treatment more readily available), are at least in my opinion, two of the stronger reasons for the legalization of many drugs, not just marijuana (though certainly for harder drugs I think there are also a lot more counter-arguments than for marijuana).
just one problem with the "cool" thing: If marijuana becomes legal, the "cool" kids will just start using a different illegal drug. no problem solved, IMO, and marijuana is less harmful (not saying safe) than most drugs.
willrandship wrote:
just one problem with the "cool" thing: If marijuana becomes legal, the "cool" kids will just start using a different illegal drug. no problem solved, IMO, and marijuana is less harmful (not saying safe) than most drugs.


Do you have anything to actually support your claim? No, you don't. You're making it up, and it doesn't even jive with reality. Kids also get high in a variety of ways by abusing legal substances. Legalizing pot won't make it any less "cool" because A) it still gets you high as a kite, and B) it would still be illegal for minors - aka, the only people who try to be "cool".
Kllrnohj wrote:
Do you have anything to actually support your claim? No, you don't. You're making it up, and it doesn't even jive with reality. Kids also get high in a variety of ways by abusing legal substances. Legalizing pot won't make it any less "cool" because A) it still gets you high as a kite, and B) it would still be illegal for minors - aka, the only people who try to be "cool".

For example......salvia, and nutmeg.
Kllrnohj wrote:
willrandship wrote:
just one problem with the "cool" thing: If marijuana becomes legal, the "cool" kids will just start using a different illegal drug. no problem solved, IMO, and marijuana is less harmful (not saying safe) than most drugs.


Do you have anything to actually support your claim? No, you don't. You're making it up, and it doesn't even jive with reality. Kids also get high in a variety of ways by abusing legal substances. Legalizing pot won't make it any less "cool" because A) it still gets you high as a kite, and B) it would still be illegal for minors - aka, the only people who try to be "cool".

agreed (and my bringing this up was a bit of a joke in the first place. hence the XD)
no matter what the laws say there will always be idiot 15-year-olds who drink an entire bottle of robitussin in one go.
elfprince13 wrote:
Kllrnohj wrote:
Do you have anything to actually support your claim? No, you don't. You're making it up, and it doesn't even jive with reality. Kids also get high in a variety of ways by abusing legal substances. Legalizing pot won't make it any less "cool" because A) it still gets you high as a kite, and B) it would still be illegal for minors - aka, the only people who try to be "cool".

For example......salvia, and nutmeg.


As well as certain kinds of incense and morning glory seeds.
swivelgames wrote:
Quote:
In 1492, Christopher Columbus brought cannabis as rope of hemp into the New World. In 1619, Jamestown colony law declared that all settlers were required to grow cannabis. In 1797, George Washington grew cannabis for fiber production at Mount Vernon as his primary crop. Prohibitions of cannabis as a drug arose in many states from 1906 and onward. By the mid-1930s, cannabis as a drug was regulated in every state by laws instituted through The Uniform State Narcotic Act.


My Botany professor said that if the plant is good for fiber production, you're really not going to get high off of it. So its not like they were growing good pot.
This is easily one of the lulziest forum threads on the entire internet. Good show!
  
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