Go Roll A Fatty In Washington/Colorado

And the wall of prohibition starts to come down! Congratulations to CO and WA!

I have been watching this very closely and couldn't be happier. Oregon would have been nice too, but whatever, its a step in the right direction. Alcohol prohibition was ended first by the states and marijuana prohibition is no different.

I've been a regular toker since I was 20, and I have been waiting for this day for the past 11 years. A big win for civil liberties :)

@Dagbiker: I dunno man, Washington has given the world Valve, Penny Arcade, the Oklahoma City Thunder, Amazon.com, AND Bryan Danielson AKA Daniel Bryan. I wouldn't exactly say they're all wastrels.

As for Colorado...South Park? The Denver Broncos Orange Crush defenses?

@ck1nd said:

I'll never agree that it should be legalized, but I do believe it should be de-criminalized. It's a sad day when someone smoking pot can get the same indictment as a pedophile. I detest any sort of non-medical required drug that renders an individual useless. I have a friend who smokes said plant and I know that I can never truly rely on him if I ever needed help with an emergency. It's a crappy feeling.

I'm sorry that you have shitty friends, but there are plenty of people who smoke weed that are more than productive members of society and it would benefit you greatly to remember that.

Dislcaimer - brit dude snd I've caned more weed than most in my time. I used to clear half once good skunk a week. I used to hate it when ex smokers people said it was bad for you but that shit it bad for you. Smoking it will fuck up your lungs your memory induce paranoia make you shun social circumstances etc . Drink is way worse but so what? Why make the comparisson? Bad for you is bad for you. Having said that it should be legal if I want to be fucked up that my bag. It's the same as making over eating illegal that shit will fuck you up too.
And also I know manchester in england has a drugs industry of upwards of a billion a year and some deeply unpleasant people getting very rich- so yeah the taxes...

@Colourful_Hippie: I thought you were saying "that horseshit" as in don't try to tell me marijuana isn't bad or as bad which I thought was strange for someone with an avatar of an artist that I would guess is no stranger to the ganj (hahah).

LOL, just laughed at myself, I didn't even read your name which sort of tells me we are most likely on the same team.

OOPS

; )

@Flawed_System said:

Giving it to cancer patients is fine. Recreational use should remain illegal.

Why?

@murisan said:

@Hunter5024 said:

Cool that the pre existing stoners can indulge in their habit without fear of prosecution, but weeds shitty in enough subtle ways that it can ruin your life without letting you know it's doing it, and I seriously hope legalizing it doesn't draw more people into the hobby.

lolwut? Guess what else is shitty in subtle ways? Beer. Liquor. Wine. Cigarettes. And they're shitty in NOT so subtle ways, too. Not sure where you've attained your perception of marijuana, but I'm sorry you think it can ruin a life.

Any drug can ruin your life, stop putting marijuana on the "IT'S NOT AS BAD AS EVIL ALCOHOL" pedestal.

@iAmJohn said:

@Flawed_System said:

Giving it to cancer patients is fine. Recreational use should remain illegal.

Why?

Some people are just too healthy to smoke pot.

@ck1nd said:

I'll never agree that it should be legalized, but I do believe it should be de-criminalized. It's a sad day when someone smoking pot can get the same indictment as a pedophile. I detest any sort of non-medical required drug that renders an individual useless. I have a friend who smokes said plant and I know that I can never truly rely on him if I ever needed help with an emergency. It's a crappy feeling.

I'm sorry that you have shitty friends, but there are plenty of people who smoke weed that are more than productive members of society and it would benefit you greatly to remember that.

I have no desire to partake, but I can't really see why I should stop anyone else from being able to do it freely.

That being said, putting similar social restrictions on using it like we do alcohol (so no getting blazed at work, etc.) would be good. Gotta assume that the dumbest of the dumbasses will do something dumb and we have to accommodate for that.

@Draxyle said:

Hopefully the residents don't abuse this privilege in dumb ways; I'd like the war on drugs to stop caring about marijuana. Hopefully this also puts a damper on drug trafficking in general with one of the only "socially accepted" drugs being taken out of the picture.

Yeah, now it's really up to the residents of CO and WA to take this new responsibility and not abuse it. I want to see marijuana become accepted in all states, but if society or crime seems to worsen in any way following these laws, that will probably never happen.

I have not smoked in a long time, but for me the greatest fear was getting caught, not anything directly associated with the drug's effects. Some people don't know how to handle themselves, and weed can make you do really dumb/potentially life-threatening things, but (as others have said) that applies to many legal drugs. Like any drug, it has to be respected, and hopefully the people of WA and CO can do that.

And as a former resident of Eugene, OR, a total hippie-stoner town, I am shocked that this didn't happen in Oregon first.

@murisan said:

@Hunter5024 said:

Cool that the pre existing stoners can indulge in their habit without fear of prosecution, but weeds shitty in enough subtle ways that it can ruin your life without letting you know it's doing it, and I seriously hope legalizing it doesn't draw more people into the hobby.

lolwut? Guess what else is shitty in subtle ways? Beer. Liquor. Wine. Cigarettes. And they're shitty in NOT so subtle ways, too. Not sure where you've attained your perception of marijuana, but I'm sorry you think it can ruin a life.

^this

Regardless if the weed is bad or not ... you consuming is bad because the money you buy it with mostly goes to the narcos (and other criminals) who kills people and has increaed criminal endevours here in Mexico ... all those deaths are on you Pot heads. (And no I dont give a damn if someone consumes it or not , but dont go around thinking that you do no harm , and long as it is ilegal in MOST places you have to obey the law)

@LikeaSsur said:

@murisan said:

@Hunter5024 said:

Cool that the pre existing stoners can indulge in their habit without fear of prosecution, but weeds shitty in enough subtle ways that it can ruin your life without letting you know it's doing it, and I seriously hope legalizing it doesn't draw more people into the hobby.

lolwut? Guess what else is shitty in subtle ways? Beer. Liquor. Wine. Cigarettes. And they're shitty in NOT so subtle ways, too. Not sure where you've attained your perception of marijuana, but I'm sorry you think it can ruin a life.

Any drug can ruin your life, stop putting marijuana on the "IT'S NOT AS BAD AS EVIL ALCOHOL" pedestal.

No, because it's simply not as bad in any way, shape or form. It's not physically addictive, it's not physically damaging if vaporized (my preferred method of intake), and there's no hangovers. Marijuana can ruin your life if you are predisposed to psychological addictions, but then again so can masturbating or drinking cough syrup.

@JasonR86: dude don't you live in washington? you should know this stuff by now.

also yay for those states (also yay for gay marriage)

@Dagbiker said:

@LikeaSsur

@murisan said:

@Hunter5024 said:

Cool that the pre existing stoners can indulge in their habit without fear of prosecution, but weeds shitty in enough subtle ways that it can ruin your life without letting you know it's doing it, and I seriously hope legalizing it doesn't draw more people into the hobby.

lolwut? Guess what else is shitty in subtle ways? Beer. Liquor. Wine. Cigarettes. And they're shitty in NOT so subtle ways, too. Not sure where you've attained your perception of marijuana, but I'm sorry you think it can ruin a life.

Any drug can ruin your life, stop putting marijuana on the "IT'S NOT AS BAD AS EVIL ALCOHOL" pedestal.

Yah. Any drug is dangerous and will have consequences. That's why they usually only let doctors prescribe them.

Except, you know... Tylenol... which has more consequences ranging from liver damage to death every year than the entirety of the United States' marijuana users combined over the history of the nation.

I have no desire to partake, but I can't really see why I should stop anyone else from being able to do it freely.

That being said, putting similar social restrictions on using it like we do alcohol (so no getting blazed at work, etc.) would be good. Gotta assume that the dumbest of the dumbasses will do something dumb and we have to accommodate for that.

@Animasta

@JasonR86: dude don't you live in washington? you should know this stuff by now.

also yay for those states (also yay for gay marriage)

I live in Washington, and hell no, that weed legalization bill is fucked.

@Aetheldod said:

Regardless if the weed is bad or not ... you consuming is bad because the money you buy it with mostly goes to the narcos (and other criminals) who kills people and has increaed criminal endevours here in Mexico ... all those deaths are on you Pot heads. (And no I dont give a damn if someone consumes it or not , but dont go around thinking that you do no harm , and long as it is ilegal in MOST places you have to obey the law)

the colorado law also makes it legal to grow yourself (I don't know about the washington one)

@Animasta: If the laws said is ok then is ok ... what Im arguing is thats most people here at giant bong do not live in these places and before saying that weed aint bad , their actions cause a lot of wrong doing in many places .... if in the world it was legal etc then I wouldnt put any blame , but alas it is not so

I like the idea that everything is better in moderation and that too much of anything is bad for you...except weed apparently because it came from mother Earth and it's not physically addicting and shit.

@Aetheldod said:

@Animasta: If the laws said is ok then is ok ... what Im arguing is thats most people here at giant bong do not live in these places and before saying that weed aint bad , their actions cause a lot of wrong doing in many places .... if in the world it was legal etc then I wouldnt put any blame , but alas it is not so

well yeah but I'm saying that if the people of colorado grow it themselves then they won't necessarily need as much weed from dealers themselves. and Washington usually gets it's weed from British Columbia anyway so that's not really a factor there.

I get what you're saying but this law, and decriminalizing/legalizing weed elsewhere will only be helpful to the bad shit that it causes in Mexico. (not to say it'll go away of course but still)

I live in Colorado and voted for the marijuana amendment, but I don't really care about smoking. It's already so easy to get medical marijuana here that most of the people who care about smoking weed are already doing it, and it hasn't created a massive crime problem. I mostly voted for it because it'll generate a lot of income for the state (10-60 million dollars projected), and better to make the potheads pay for government programs than to raise taxes on everyone.

Oh my god progression! Now perhaps we will stop fighting wars and burning oil.

@Atlas said:

WARNING: British person about to talk about American society and politics...

It kinda seems like a silly idea, legalising it on a state level. Doesn't this just mean that Colorado and Washington are going to be inundated with potheads and undesirables - the very worst elements of 420 culture. If you're going to make a change, it makes more sense to me to do it on a national level. I understand that the complex nature of American state politics makes this unrealistic, but still, isn't there a way it could work as a national initiative?

Anyway, in principal I feel about marijuana is pretty much the same way I feel about other narcotics and prostitution. I do not take drugs, and I have zero love of drug culture, but in free countries in which we allow people to intoxicate and kill themselves with tobacco and alcohol, why not also legalise marijuana, which some studies suggest is less harmful than booze and cigarettes and even has positive medicinal purposes? The US government spends an absurd amount of money on the war against drugs, money which could be spent on education, healthcare, social programs, and balancing the budget if it was legalised, regulated and controlled by the state. As for prostitution, wouldn't legalising and controlling the industry mean it would be less corrupted by human trafficking and other human rights abuses? At least prostitution is mostly harmless for those who choose to indulge in it, except for the possibility of contracting an STD.

It would be smart to do it on a national level but it's very difficult, if not impossible, to make a sweeping change like this nationally. Usually it starts at the state level and spreads from there, so this is like a first step. Or you could even call it the second step, with the first being its legalization for medicinal use in California a few years ago. I definitely agree with you about the wastefulness of the War on Drugs but we'll probably see a continued pissing contest between the feds and the states that allow the use of marijuana, at least until the movement picks up more momentum and it becomes legal in more states. Eventually the feds may back off and then we can see it legalized nationally, but it will probably take several more years at least.

@KlUMZeE said:

@Atlas said:

WARNING: British person about to talk about American society and politics...

It kinda seems like a silly idea, legalising it on a state level. Doesn't this just mean that Colorado and Washington are going to be inundated with potheads and undesirables - the very worst elements of 420 culture. If you're going to make a change, it makes more sense to me to do it on a national level. I understand that the complex nature of American state politics makes this unrealistic, but still, isn't there a way it could work as a national initiative?

Anyway, in principal I feel about marijuana is pretty much the same way I feel about other narcotics and prostitution. I do not take drugs, and I have zero love of drug culture, but in free countries in which we allow people to intoxicate and kill themselves with tobacco and alcohol, why not also legalise marijuana, which some studies suggest is less harmful than booze and cigarettes and even has positive medicinal purposes? The US government spends an absurd amount of money on the war against drugs, money which could be spent on education, healthcare, social programs, and balancing the budget if it was legalised, regulated and controlled by the state. As for prostitution, wouldn't legalising and controlling the industry mean it would be less corrupted by human trafficking and other human rights abuses? At least prostitution is mostly harmless for those who choose to indulge in it, except for the possibility of contracting an STD.

It would be smart to do it on a national level but it's very difficult, if not impossible, to make a sweeping change like this nationally. Usually it starts at the state level and spreads from there, so this is like a first step. Or you could even call it the second step, with the first being its legalization for medicinal use in California a few years ago. I definitely agree with you about the wastefulness of the War on Drugs but we'll probably see a continued pissing contest between the feds and the states that allow the use of marijuana, at least until the movement picks up more momentum and it becomes legal in more states. Eventually the feds may back off and then we can see it legalized nationally, but it will probably take several more years at least.

The main reasons for not seeing any talk about legalization at the federal level is pharmaceuticals and congressmen wanting to keep their positions. Think how weird it would be to see many people in Congress come around to saying they are pro legalization when it wasn't even long ago that these people used weed as a scapegoat for their anti-drug platforms around election time, those people would most likely get voted out.

As for the pharmaceutical companies they will throw millions at lobbyists to prevent legalization because they never want to see the day when anyone can grow their own medicine in their backyard. These companies are dumping shit tons of money into developing synthetic cannabinoids because of the huge amounts of revenue they could get by exploiting weed's many benefits without having to worry about not being able to patent a plant.

People like to think it's because of the common misconceptions about marijuana that keep it illegal but things have moved far past that point a while ago.

@bombHills said:

@iAmJohn said:

@Flawed_System said:

Giving it to cancer patients is fine. Recreational use should remain illegal.

Why?

Some people are just too healthy to smoke pot.

Medicinal purposes. I don't support recreational drug usage.

About time it became legalized somewhere in the United States.

Anyone else think that there is a big divide amongst the marijuana consumer group ? Mostly talking about the people who enjoy smoking as a pass time ie people who smoke joints or pipes as opposed to bog smokers who only see it as a means to an end ?

Anyway congrats to both states, though I hear the Washington bill is kinda fucked.

So now we are legalizing drugs based on the 3 year old mentality of "If they get to drink beer and smoke, I want my drugs too."

@Flawed_System said:

@bombHills said:

@iAmJohn said:

@Flawed_System said:

Giving it to cancer patients is fine. Recreational use should remain illegal.

Why?

Some people are just too healthy to smoke pot.

Medicinal purposes. I don't support recreational drug usage.

Recreational/Therapeutical/Medical

It's all from the same plant. How much benefit does one need before it's considered medical? My "recreational" use keeps me happy, gives me insight, helps me relax & sleep. Is that medical enough for ya?

Also, I take it that you do not partake in any recreational substance like caffeine, nicotine, alcohol or viagra (yes, that's recreational). That's great, but please support the right of all people to make their own decisions as to what if any substances to ingest.

Grow it, regulate it, tax the shit out of it, pull in the revenue.

Edit: I don't smoke, I've never smoked, but I think it's asinine that this is still a major issue.

@Flawed_System said:

@bombHills said:

@iAmJohn said:

@Flawed_System said:

Giving it to cancer patients is fine. Recreational use should remain illegal.

Why?

Some people are just too healthy to smoke pot.

Medicinal purposes. I don't support recreational drug usage.

Note that you didn't actually answer my question, you just restated your position. So I'll ask again: Why do you think people should not be allowed to smoke pot if they want?

@iAmJohn said:

@Flawed_System said:

@bombHills said:

@iAmJohn said:

@Flawed_System said:

Giving it to cancer patients is fine. Recreational use should remain illegal.

Why?

Some people are just too healthy to smoke pot.

Medicinal purposes. I don't support recreational drug usage.

Note that you didn't actually answer my question, you just restated your position. So I'll ask again: Why do you think people should not be allowed to smoke pot if they want?

Because paying mexican drug cartels is better than paying tax paying businesses.

Its been de criminalized in MA for like three years its not like you can just roll into CVS and buy a bunch of it.

@Animasta said:

@Aetheldod said:

@Animasta: If the laws said is ok then is ok ... what Im arguing is thats most people here at giant bong do not live in these places and before saying that weed aint bad , their actions cause a lot of wrong doing in many places .... if in the world it was legal etc then I wouldnt put any blame , but alas it is not so

well yeah but I'm saying that if the people of colorado grow it themselves then they won't necessarily need as much weed from dealers themselves. and Washington usually gets it's weed from British Columbia anyway so that's not really a factor there.

I get what you're saying but this law, and decriminalizing/legalizing weed elsewhere will only be helpful to the bad shit that it causes in Mexico. (not to say it'll go away of course but still)

You know, this could be solved by simply having the government produce and tax the drug, just like they do with tobacco. Even Mitt Romney's own cousin said that the only way to curb his country's Cartel violence is to stop America's ridiculous war on drugs. Of course putting people in prisons is still super profitable, so fuck it if a couple more Mexicans die right....

I hope this works out in the end for these states, but I have a feeling the DEA is going to have a fit and start wrecking some shit in Colorado & Washington.

@JasonR86 said:

I like the idea that everything is better in moderation and that too much of anything is bad for you...except weed apparently because it came from mother Earth and it's not physically addicting and shit.

Who the hell says that? Of course you would want to use weed in moderation and no it isn't physically addicting. The only form of addiction that marijuana can create from extensive use over a long period of time is psychological. There are absolutely no elements in weed that can create a physical withdrawal effect.

@Dagbiker said:

So now we are legalizing drugs based on the 3 year old mentality of "If they get to drink beer and smoke, I want my drugs too."

Ugh.

@Mageman said:

@iAmJohn said:

@Flawed_System said:

@bombHills said:

@iAmJohn said:

@Flawed_System said:

Giving it to cancer patients is fine. Recreational use should remain illegal.

Why?

Some people are just too healthy to smoke pot.

Medicinal purposes. I don't support recreational drug usage.

Note that you didn't actually answer my question, you just restated your position. So I'll ask again: Why do you think people should not be allowed to smoke pot if they want?

Because paying mexican drug cartels is better than paying tax paying businesses.

45-60,000 deaths were directly attributed to the mexican cartels in the past 10 years. Thats almost as costly to human life as the vietnam war was to US soldiers. Anything that takes power away from those assholes is worth it. If you are against legalization than you are literally allowing the cartels business to exist. Also, I am convinced that the only people who are against marijuana are people that have never smoked it. Thats the only explanation I have for their irrational fear of what can be used as a spiritual tool in high doses or just to relax and enjoy, while also perfectly safe. Maybe some people just want to impose their beliefs on others.

If you don't support recreational drug use you might as well get started trying to close down your local bars.

@Aetheldod: Not for nothing but I highly doubt the stuff I see around here comes from Mexico, more like home grown in the good old U S of A or comes down from Canada.

The first thing I think of when I hear Mexican marijuana is seedy Mexican brick weed with sticks and pubes mixed in (great for broke high school kids).

Only half kidding though, I'm sure Mexico has some good bud...

Regardless, don't you think if it were legalized and anyone could walk down to the store and buy some that it would cut down on the illegal smuggling of marijuana from said cartels?

If marijuana didn't exist than Mexican cartels would still be getting the actual harmful drugs across our border.

Take marijuana out of the equation and the war on drugs might be something to fight for, against heroin, cocaine, or whatever else the lovely cartels push up here.

@Colourful_Hippie:

Cool.

Regardless of my feelings on it, I think when and if it does become legal in the rest of the country, it won't be as big of a revelation as most people think it will be. Once the excitement of being able to legally do it wears off, people will just go back to doing what they were doing before the law was passed. So I don't really expect things to be that different in the long term.

It's like how women are legally allowed to walk around topless now, but no one ever does it. They just wanted the right to do it. They never had any interest in actually doing it, they just wanted to be allowed to do it. Maybe that's a bad example, but whatever.

@RedRavN said:

Maybe some people just want to impose their beliefs on others.

Boom...and this can be applied to so many other things too.

cough(gay marriage)cough

I fucking hate when people say "IT'S ALREADY DECRIMINALIZED, WHAT MORE DO YOU FUCKING DIRTY USELESS JUNKY DEGENERATE HIPPIES WANT?!?!"

I wanna be able to smoke a fucking bowl without some washed up high school jock with a beer gut and marine cut up my ass with a flashlight. Plus, not all of us can afford that $100 fine. Plus with all the "doctor shopping" that goes on for Oxycontin and Percocet I fail to see how people getting med cards just to legally get high is that big of an issue.

Wasn't it virtually legal in Colorado already? I thought pretty much anyone who asked their doctor could get a medical card.

@Colourful_Hippie said:

@RedRavN said:

Maybe some people just want to impose their beliefs on others.

Boom...and this can be applied to so many other things too.

cough(gay marriage)cough

Yes absolutely. Its the root cause of most conflicts both on a large scale and personal. To some extent everyone does, for example, I am strongly against random murder and robbing people. But I think as long as what someone does has no overtly negative effect on someone else than its ok. Personal freedom and all that. In the case of weed I think its the legislation surrounding it that is directly causing all the problems and not the plant itself. The real science overwhelmingly points to that being the case. Look at Holland; their society seems to be doing fine.

@Dagbiker said:

So now we are legalizing drugs based on the 3 year old mentality of "If they get to drink beer and smoke, I want my drugs too."

Good lord, that has to be the most reductive, ignorant and just plain stupid thing I've read on these forums, that's counting jay444111's threads as well.

@Freshbandito: @Colourful_Hippie: Then can you explain why I should feel that legalizing Marijuana is a better option then making Smoking and Alcohol Illegal?

@Dagbiker said:

@Freshbandito: @Colourful_Hippie: Then can you explain why I should feel that legalizing Marijuana is a better option then making Smoking and Alcohol Illegal?

Because mother nature?

The entire country should just make it legal. The number of people in jail and the amount of money spent by the government due to the criminality of marijuana possession, use, and sale alone makes the case for just making it legal already, regardless of your feelings about the actual drug.

@Dagbiker said:

@Freshbandito: @Colourful_Hippie: Then can you explain why I should feel that legalizing Marijuana is a better option then making Smoking and Alcohol Illegal?

Because they tried that... and it failed... like HARD!