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Massachusetts Ballot Initiative


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I've smoked pot for 8 or 9 years and I've never tried any other drugs, nor have I wanted to. Ok except mushrooms once, but that's hardly what you're talking about. If pot didn't exist, maybe alcohol would have been your gateway drug? Blaming hard-core drug use on starting with marijuana is unfair, in my humble opinion. It's like being a hardcore, bottle-a-day vodkaholic, and blaming your alcoholism on when your parents used to let you drink half a beer at dinner when you were 14.
I'm pretty certain we agree here.That said, I believe that people who smoke pot are more likely to use heavier drugs than people who never try marijuana. That's all I'm saying. But the argument could be made that the reason it's a gateway drug is because it's easy to get, safe, etc.I think it should be legal and taxed just like tobacco or alcohol. Impossible to do though, so where does that leave us?
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I think it is time for a separate thread, yeah, but I gotta say that you sound really conflicted.
Absolutely not arguing that point. I think arguments can be made either way regarding the gateway comment, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter.I don't think it will ever be legal though.
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I'm pretty certain we agree here.That said, I believe that people who smoke pot are more likely to use heavier drugs than people who never try marijuana. That's all I'm saying. But the argument could be made that the reason it's a gateway drug is because it's easy to get, safe, etc.I think it should be legal and taxed just like tobacco or alcohol. Impossible to do though, so where does that leave us?
Regardless of the "gateway drug" issue, I know far more people who's lives were negatively mpacted by pot than alcohol. Thats partly, but not entirely, a generational issue.
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Regardless of the "gateway drug" issue, I know far more people who's lives were negatively mpacted by pot than alcohol. Thats partly, but not entirely, a generational issue.
Surely you agree that it should be legal though, yes? Smaller government, yes? The immediate effects or marijuana to a long-time-user are extraordinarily slight compared to the immediate effects of alcohol on an alcoholic. I probably got higher the first (and only) time I tried dip than I did the first time I got high off pot.
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Surely you agree that it should be legal though, yes? Smaller government, yes? The immediate effects or marijuana to a long-time-user are extraordinarily slight compared to the immediate effects of alcohol on an alcoholic. I probably got higher the first (and only) time I tried dip than I did the first time I got high off pot.
I think it should be de-criminalized, not legal, and to a large extent it has been.
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I think it should be de-criminalized, not legal, and to a large extent it has been.
For the most part it hasn't been. Not enough at least. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to legally sit in my living room and enjoy one of the fruits of the earth that enhances my creativity and productivity at no harm to anyone. Why should I have to close the blinds and hide when I'm not doing anything wrong?
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I have actually seen way more people devastated by alchohol and cigarettes than I have MJ. My grandfather just died from throat cancer and my dad has been an alchoholic all his life. He hasn't drank in almost a year, but he has upped his MJ consumption, which actually helps. I also have many friends that are productive members of society and yet instead of getting drunk at night they just get high.Also, on the gateway drug. I believe it leads to other drugs because growing up you are constantly told how bad drugs are and that you should stay away at all costs and that if you do these drugs your life will be over and you can look forward to being an addict on the street and sucking dick to get your drugs. Then we try some pot and we get high and we think to ourself well, if they lied about this then maybe they lide about the other drugs, so we try some of those. Some of us get addicted and some of us just try them and say nope not for me. I think they should take the billions of dollars that they use to fight the drug war and invest them into educating the masses on the reality of drugs. The guys that are going to be addicts are going to be addicts regardless of the legality. Why not just legalize everything, tax the hell out of it, let the addicts all kill themselves (Darwinism at it's finest) and let the rest of us live in peace. No more career criminals trying to peddle the drugs, no more "criminals" locked away for drug related activity (eases the tax berden there), and no more wasting money on this "war"Wow I actually wrote more than I thought I would...

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ROFL
The effect of almost every psychoactive drug involves an interaction between your intention, your environment, and the substance itself. Anything that changes my perspective is often enough to help me see a problem or thought in a new light. In fact, it was my early experience with natural psychoactive compounds that inspired me to pursue cognitive science in the first place. The place these plants have come to hold in our culture is a shame, and to me represents much of what is misguided about modern life. Part of the reason they are disrespected and misused is because there is no cultural foundation for their proper use. The fact that they are illegal is total koyaanisqatsi.
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Regardless of the "gateway drug" issue, I know far more people who's lives were negatively mpacted by pot than alcohol. Thats partly, but not entirely, a generational issue.
I believe you....but I find this shocking. For me, I dont buy the argument that pot is just as bad as alcohol. As far as I am concerned, alcohol is ten times WORSE than pot. Quick story, when I was in college I was fairly friendly with one of the landlords who owned a lot of campus housing. I lived in a building with lots of pot smokers (hey, it's college). I asked the landlord if that bothered him. He said, hell no, I will take potheads over drunk college kids any day. Less property damage, less noise, less problems.And I agree with him. People are loud, rude, emotional, violent, and very much not themselves when drunk. (Nobody is all of these things when drunk obviously, but most people are more of one or two of those adjectives when inebriated.) Potheads are quiet and mostly stay on the couch and eat doritos. Now, I think that pot can have a very debilitating effect on people in that it can make them very lazy and remove their motivation. Very much an "escape" drug. But if I had to choose between having 10 potheads in my house or 10 drunks I am taking the potheads every time.
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In fact, it was my early experience with natural psychoactive compounds that inspired me to pursue cognitive science in the first place.
Ironically, I have a friend who, after taking mushrooms for the first time, decided that he no longer wanted to pursue his degree in pre-med with a plan on entering neurosurgery, but would instead study what he really wanted - creative writing. I'm not exaggerating at all. However, no he did not become a Turn on Tune in Drop out guy, and he is doing well making comedy these days.
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I don't really see the distinction between booze and weed, tbh.also, lawrence has something similar to this. getting busted with weed is like $300 ticket (as long as you don't have some ridiculous amount).
Same thing in Missoula. In fact there is a law on the books that the police cannot pursue an investigation into marjuana use if that's the only law they suspect being broken. So basically they ignore pot use as long as you're not on the street corner selling it I guess. It was considered to be mainly an issue of budget and Missoula felt their police force could put their time to more productive use than busting majuana smokers. That might be why the Hell's Angels decided to hold their convention here this summer,lol. :club:
I hate that they are raising my taxes on Cigars by 110% at a time, making it illegal for me to smoke these in most places, all while putting effort in legalizing a carcinogenic which stunts your sperm count.where's the justice?
Seems to me that's an added benefit for legalizing it. Think of it as planned obsolescence.
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The effect of almost every psychoactive drug involves an interaction between your intention, your environment, and the substance itself. Anything that changes my perspective is often enough to help me see a problem or thought in a new light. In fact, it was my early experience with natural psychoactive compounds that inspired me to pursue cognitive science in the first place. The place these plants have come to hold in our culture is a shame, and to me represents much of what is misguided about modern life. Part of the reason they are disrespected and misused is because there is no cultural foundation for their proper use. The fact that they are illegal is total koyaanisqatsi.
The effect of almost every psychoactive drug is self-delusion. You would have found that "new light" without it.
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Ironically, I have a friend who, after taking mushrooms for the first time, decided that he no longer wanted to pursue his degree in pre-med with a plan on entering neurosurgery, but would instead study what he really wanted - creative writing. I'm not exaggerating at all. However, no he did not become a Turn on Tune in Drop out guy, and he is doing well making comedy these days.
Introspection and self actualization is a bit different than "creativity"
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The effect of almost every psychoactive drug is self-delusion. You would have found that "new light" without it.
I strongly disagree.Let me give you an example. The brain of an adult human has a real knack for linguistically classifying everything it sees. The downside to this is that we often experience the world entirely through these concepts. If you take something that temporarily interferes with that linguistic process, you are then able to consciously process the perceptual information before it has been classified. This not only gives you access to an important source of information, but may also reveal to you the way your cognitive process normally works.
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Introspection and self actualization is a bit different than "creativity"
I wasn't talking about creativity, vb was :club:.Edit: Oh, the creative writing part. Well the point was just that it was funny that the decided to not do brains, while vb decided to do them, to put it grossly.
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I strongly disagree.Let me give you an example. The brain of an adult human has a real knack for linguistically classifying everything it sees. The downside to this is that we often experience the world entirely through these concepts. If you take something that temporarily interferes with that linguistic process, you are then able to consciously process the perceptual information before it has been classified. This not only gives you access to an important source of information, but may also reveal to you the way your cognitive process normally works.
"Along the coast you'll hear them boastAbout a light they say that shines so clear.So raise your glass, we'll drink a toastTo the little man who sells you thrills along the pier."
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The government owns your body and therefore gets to decide what you can put into it, for good or for bad.Line up an accept it, and stop with the "freedom of choice" nonsense.

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The government owns your body and therefore gets to decide what you can put into it, for good or for bad.Line up an accept it, and stop with the "freedom of choice" nonsense.
Brutal....I think that marijuana and alcohol both have their good and bad side. We could save money as a country my not criminalizing it. I agree with what someone said about how when you find out you were lied to and weed wasn't the embodiment of evil, then hey maybe these other drugs aren't either.I am just not sold on why we need our government to butt into our lives in this way? Educate us, but don't limit us. I can assume many of the laws we have on drugs are related to when in the 1800's and turn of the century so many people were addicted to the then legal opiates. Well, if people were adequately educated I think that sort of thing would be minimized. Then again, people are pretty darn stupid. And so we come full circle to why we have these laws.
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Brutal....I think that marijuana and alcohol both have their good and bad side. We could save money as a country my not criminalizing it.
Not if we have universal, single-payer healthcare.
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