The Marijuana Legalization Thread

It looks like this will come up next year (2018), and relatively soon. Murphy strongly supports it. I understand there's still some opposition in the legislature.

What do people think? Are you for it, or against it?

I'm for it personally. Big time. grin

And in general pot news, I read this interesting article on a new cannabis-infused bottled water product. In the article, they predict that within 20 years no one will be smoking the actual herb anymore, as more and more different ways are found to ingest it. I personally give it 5 to 10.



I was in Venice California this morning so I have seen the future. 


I have mixed feelings. On the positive side, lower cost of prosecutions. People not being saddled with a conviction on their record. Ability to get a buzz on after a hard evening watching a movie at the Maplewood.


Negative, impaired drivers on the road. The tar content is higher than in cigarettes.


http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/06/nj_is_arresting_more_people_for_marijuana_than_eve.html

Christie's campaign to help drug addiction is a bunch of BS.  His administration has been targeting minorities for years via marijuana possession arrests. 9 out of 10 arrests targeted users verus dealers and blacks are three times more likely than whites to be arrested.  Plenty of white kids in SOMA are smoking weed and not getting in trouble.

If they do legalize recreational marijuana, it will hopefully lead to a more just legal system in NJ.




Tar content issues go away with edible and other delivery systems.

I wonder if the legal states have any data on impaired driving?

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

I have mixed feelings. On the positive side, lower cost of prosecutions. People not being saddled with a conviction on their record. Ability to get a buzz on after a hard evening watching a movie at the Maplewood.




Negative, impaired drivers on the road. The tar content is higher than in cigarettes.



Don't edibles get processed by your body in a completely different way than smoking?  I think people should be careful there.   Anyhoo, there's no question that this natural substance should be legal.


I only have a problem with edibles when the packaging matches traditional candy (KifKat, Buddhafinger, etc). Otherwise - do what you want.


I've long been pro-legalization but I no longer make a sharp distinction between pot and more dangerous drugs.  The War on Drugs is such an unmitigated disaster in multiple ways that it needs a radical change of direction.  I say that without discounting the dangers of opiods and other addictive drugs.



bub said: ....
 The War on Drugs is such an unmitigated disaster in multiple ways that it needs a radical change of direction. ....

That was my response to the Essex County judge when I answered why I would not vote to convict in a drug case.  I expressed my opinion that the war on drugs was a waste of taxpayer money. I mentioned my support of jury nullification and that my conscience would take priority over the court's instructions.

That was in 1994 and I haven't heard from the jury commission since. That is a shame because I am now retired and with reduced income, I could sure use the $5.00.


I support anything that doesn't suggest that a type of tobacco is medicine that needs to be prescribed by a physician. I mean, seriously? Are you high?



jersey_boy said:

I support anything that doesn't suggest that a type of tobacco is medicine that needs to be prescribed by a physician. I mean, seriously? Are you high?

?



Formerlyjerseyjack said:



jersey_boy said:

I support anything that doesn't suggest that a type of tobacco is medicine that needs to be prescribed by a physician. I mean, seriously? Are you high?

?

"Medical Marijuana."


By ingest, I don't only mean edibles. There's vaping, concentrated oils, the aforementioned water...

And with legalization, edible dosages will become standardized, so there's less danger in taking more than you expected. Though Maureen Dowd managed to screw that up too.

Yes, edibles are processed differently- but that's not the cause for caution. Dosage is.

Edibles also tend to produce more of a body high than a head high.

terp said:

Don't edibles get processed by your body in a completely different way than smoking?  I think people should be careful there.   Anyhoo, there's no question that this natural substance should be legal.



Of course possession of marijuana should be de-criminalized.



RobB said:

I only have a problem with edibles when the packaging matches traditional candy (KifKat, Buddhafinger, etc). Otherwise - do what you want.

It certainly wouldn't be hard to write a ban on that sort of packaging into the final law.



Klinker said:



RobB said:

I only have a problem with edibles when the packaging matches traditional candy (KifKat, Buddhafinger, etc). Otherwise - do what you want.

It certainly wouldn't be hard to write a ban on that sort of packaging into the final law.

Sure, but that’s a lesson Colorado didn’t learn until this year. 



terp said:

Don't edibles get processed by your body in a completely different way than smoking?  I think people should be careful there.   Anyhoo, there's no question that this natural substance should be legal.

Absolutely. It’s a much slower process and people will over-imbibe expecting the instant high of smoking. 

But, yeah, it should be legal. I don’t smoke (or anything else) pot but it makes criminals out of good people, and an inordinate amount of them are minorities. Legalize it, regulate it and tax it. It’ll still be cheaper, take the criminal element out of it (at both the seller and user sides) and the state will benefit from the tax revenues. The time has come. 

But fwiw, I thought the proposed law only suggested smokables...



RobB said:



Klinker said:



RobB said:

I only have a problem with edibles when the packaging matches traditional candy (KifKat, Buddhafinger, etc). Otherwise - do what you want.

It certainly wouldn't be hard to write a ban on that sort of packaging into the final law.

Sure, but that’s a lesson Colorado didn’t learn until this year. 

The price of going first.


Well, people will over imbibe if they're not educated about how to ingest it.  And eating a pot brownie put together by your BFF is different than eating a bagged edible that says it has 20mg of THC (or whatever the dosage is).

I didn't know the law might be limited to smokables only. Haven't seen that yet. Would be shame if so - smoking a joint is the worst way to get high, in several ways.


marylago said:



terp said:

Don't edibles get processed by your body in a completely different way than smoking?  I think people should be careful there.   Anyhoo, there's no question that this natural substance should be legal.

Absolutely. It’s a much slower process and people will over-imbibe expecting the instant high of smoking. 

But, yeah, it should be legal. I don’t smoke (or anything else) pot but it makes criminals out of good people, and an inordinate amount of them are minorities. Legalize it, regulate it and tax it. It’ll still be cheaper, take the criminal element out of it (at both the seller and user sides) and the state will benefit from the tax revenues. The time has come. 

But fwiw, I thought the proposed law only suggested smokables...



one of my BFF’s is a Medical Marijuana Patient.  It is a miracle plant that has relieved their pain to the point where they barely take any opioids.  This person went from 20mgs of Percocet every 4-6 hours to 1 Vicodin every now and then.  In the last 4 months they said they have not renewed any opioid medications  

The MMJ not only aids in pain replied, but for the first time in years, they have slept 6-8 hours without pain and needing to get up and move around. 

When the right variety is found for the relief needed, I can only say.... amazing


It's too bad that is so difficult to do any controlled studies of medical marijuana, due to how the Federal government classifies marijuana.


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK425757/

SammiJ said:

one of my BFF’s is a Medical Marijuana Patient.  It is a miracle plant that has relieved their pain to the point where they barely take any opioids.  This person went from 20mgs of Percocet every 4-6 hours to 1 Vicodin every now and then.  In the last 4 months they said they have not renewed any opioid medications  

The MMJ not only aids in pain replied, but for the first time in years, they have slept 6-8 hours without pain and needing to get up and move around. 

When the right variety is found for the relief needed, I can only say.... amazing



While I am for legalization, a couple of words of caution:

  • Traces of marijuana remain in the system much longer than alcohol.  This will lead to many more DUI cases.
  • Many companies routinely screen for drug use.  Both in the hiring process, and also in case of workplace accidents.  I know of an individual who smoked Saturday, had a minor accident on Monday, which necessitated a visit to the ER, and was fired after traces showed up in a blood sample.

One would hope that the testing regimen is improved as legalization progresses. I would also imagine that, due to the inaccuracy of THC testing, that such DUI cases are much harder to prosecute.

How does cannabis testing work anyway? Alcohol works on the basis of blood alcohol levels. Is it the same for cannabis?

tomcat said:

While I am for legalization, a couple of words of caution:


  • Traces of marijuana remain in the system much longer than alcohol.  This will lead to many more DUI cases.
  • Many companies routinely screen for drug use.  Both in the hiring process, and also in case of workplace accidents.  I know of an individual who smoked Saturday, had a minor accident on Monday, which necessitated a visit to the ER, and was fired after traces showed up in a blood sample.



Cannabis can only be tested with a blood test.  As of now there is no roadside test like a breathalyzer, so it makes identifying and controlling DUI very very difficult.


this

mfpark said:

Cannabis can only be tested with a blood test.  As of now there is no roadside test like a breathalyzer, so it makes identifying and controlling DUI very very difficult.




drummerboy said:

It's too bad that is so difficult to do any controlled studies of medical marijuana, due to how the Federal government classifies marijuana.




https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK425757/

SammiJ said:

one of my BFF’s is a Medical Marijuana Patient.  It is a miracle plant that has relieved their pain to the point where they barely take any opioids.  This person went from 20mgs of Percocet every 4-6 hours to 1 Vicodin every now and then.  In the last 4 months they said they have not renewed any opioid medications  

The MMJ not only aids in pain replied, but for the first time in years, they have slept 6-8 hours without pain and needing to get up and move around. 

When the right variety is found for the relief needed, I can only say.... amazing

This is the same reason they are having issues with researching new ways to test how much THC is in someone's system, because marijuana is considered a Class I drug


This is a fun read for a CO resident. cheese

All the same issues were brought up here in the ramp up to legalization. Interestingly, most of them worked out just fine. There was some tweaking on rules, for example edibles can't look like candy anymore, max THC levels per serving (10mg), and very clear education on dosing during purchase (Maureen Dowd probably had the largest educational effect). The high from edibles comes on slower, takes about an hour to really effect people and then lasts a lot longer, so eating a second dose 10mins after the first, because it didn't do anything is a bad idea.

DUI doesn't seem to be a major issue https://cbsdenver.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/cannabis-dui-statistics-and-trends-in-colorado_041116.pdf

Overall, it did not have any large impact on daily lives that I can notice. Those who got high before still do, those that didn't might have tried it, but non of our friends suddenly turned into stoners.

Decriminalization is huge, though, and tax revenue is a big plus for schools (that's where most of the money goes).


Food for thought.....

https://www.denverpost.com/2017/08/25/colorado-marijuana-traffic-fatalities/

The number of drivers involved in fatal crashes in Colorado who tested positive for marijuana has risen sharply each year since 2013, more than doubling in that time, federal and state data show. A Denver Post analysis of the data and coroner reports provides the most comprehensive look yet into whether roads in the state have become more dangerous since the drug’s legalization.


Meanwhile, as expected, Sessions is rolling back the Obama era policy regarding Federal enforcement of pot laws.


    Attorney General Jeff Sessions will roll back an Obama-era policy that gave states leeway to allow marijuana for recreational purposes.

    Two sources with knowledge of the decision confirmed to The Hill that Sessions will rescind the so-called Cole Memo, which ordered U.S. attorneys in states where marijuana has been legalized to deprioritize prosecution of marijuana-related cases.

    The Associated Press first reported the decision.

    Sessions, a vocal critic of marijuana legalization, has hinted for months that he would move to crack down on the growing cannabis market.

    Sessions, since taking over as head of the Justice Department, has appeared to show a harder line on marijuana. In May, the attorney general sent a letter to congressional leaders requesting they get rid of an amendment in the department’s budget that blocks DOJ from using federal money to prevent states “from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana.”



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