Denver Voters OK Marijuana Possession

hey all..

a friend of mine called me today to clue me into this tidbit he found on Yahoo News.

read all about it!

slowly, but surely..

someday all of this will come to fruition.. just as soon as we can clear the alcohol and pharmaceutical hurdles anway.

HUZZAH!

(where's Darko?!?)

Awesome news.

Puff, puff, pass.

-Ghoti

The "war against drugs" is the biggest waste of my tax dollars in history... Hopefully votes like this will help kill it.

Way cool!
I don't smoke it myself but I can't figure out why it's illegal. Maybe it's not healthy, but it's probably better for you than something legal like a super-sized fast food value menu.

The sad facts .

-Ghoti

Here's an interesting question :

Does a society choose its acceptable (legalised) drug(s) to match it's cultural style, or does it's accidental early choice of drug determine its cultural style ?

The west is culturally characterised by ambition, competitiveness, drive, materialism, aggression, hedonism and selfishness.

Alcohol enhances exactly those characteristics.

The east is characterised rather more by passivity, fatalism, superstition, reduced ambition, rejection of violence, rejection of materialism, and value systems weighting the spiritual more heavily.

Its drugs and religions have similar characteristics.

It's obviously a simplification, particularly the description of the east, but what do you think ? Is there a connection ?

If so, which is cause and which effect ?

Could it explain the violent objection of our institutions to these alien drugs? They are subconsciously seen as an attack on our very culture? Dont want our young people sinking back into peaceful contemplation of the universe, losing their ambition, and questioning the greed and materialism they see around them? Maybe even doubting the need to reproduce ? Being happy on the poverty line, with no hassle ?

Not an entirely fictional fear, is it ?

I so need to move to Denver.

Not to be cynical about it, but if you don't think Ashcroft and the Justice Dept isn't going to challenge this up to the Surpreme Court...well, you're smoking something more than just pot.

State and national laws are still enforceable. The general effect will probably be this: Before you may have been able to avoid prosecution by being scrupulously respectful to the cops and generous in your judicious sharing of your weed with them. Now you are much more likely to avoid prosecution by being scrupulously respectful to the cops and generous in your judicious sharing of your weed with them.

Its been years since I went to "Hash Bash", but Ann Arbor, Michigan used to have Marijuana defacto decriminalized.

It used to be something like a $25 fine if you were caught with pot there. Then at some point, it got raised to something like $100, but I can't remember for sure. No clue where it stands today.

mutter..mutter...grump...pearls...muttergrump...swine........pffftttt......

Anyone interested in Marijuana laws should see the documentary "Grass". It's a good rundown of exactly how stupid the government has been in regard to it.

Not really sure how to take that comment - I can't figure out if you're for legalization or against, but I'll make my comment anyway.

I firmly believe that most people who want to do drugs are doing them even though they are illegal. I doubt we'd see a rush of new folks running out to buy a pack of Camel Doobies if marijuana were to become legal. There might be a small uptick, but doubtful in large numbers.

I approach it from a financial aspect - we are losing BILLIONS each and every year from direct and indirect costs of this 'war' - which, by the way, we will never be able to win. We are also losing millions, if not billions, on tax revenue.

How does a drug have superstition?

What are the countries in "the east" this refers to?

What drugs are being discussed other than alcohol?

Does "the east" really have a record of peaceful behavior by it's inhabitants?

What does it mean for a drug to reject materialism?

Do societies chose what drugs are legal or does the State?

I was well aware that I was laying myself wide open to a nit-picker, Suezanne, but I had no idea a master was about to appear. Try going with the flow, blurring your eyes to the detail. Do you not think alcohol and western culture fit well ? If so, why ? Which influenced which ?

Give it a try - go on............

Alcohol is largely responsible for mankind's social evolution though.

Also, it's certainly not a "western" thing.. Alcohol is common to nearly every human culture on earth.

Can't you see the fence, Juro? I'm sitting on it.
If you force me off, I'll fall the legalisation side, but I'm afraid they'd tax it to hell and the price would quadruple. And the small number of proto-schizophrenics it will push over the edge will become the governments fault, instead of being their own. We'll need beds for a few more of them. Their relatives will sue the government, and the supplier. Sue everyone in sight.
May get more difficult recruiting for the army, and persuading new discoverers to work. Oh, I don't know - I'm tired now.........

Ok , Roland and others. I submit. The idea is crap, and the postulates flawed. Thats ok. I'm not proud.

On the contrary, I think it was actually a fairly interesting idea. It needs a little work though.

When I smoked pot it made me want nice physical brownies and ice-cream, and stereo headphones to listen to Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd and the Moody Blues. The guys would get on their big motocross bikes and I would get on my stock Honda XL-175 and we'd go to the local huge "future construction site" and they'd ride with skill and grace while I'd fall down over and over.

Are the eastern countries that are so peaceful India and Pakistan, or the eastern parts of the remnants of the former Soviet Union?

What is the drug law situation in China?

Does alcohol make you ambitious? Alcohol makes people get drunk, and pass out, and wake up with bruises and scratches they can't remember getting.

I am not picking nits. I question the entire premise.

Mandatory death penalty for anyone buying, selling, or using most drugs.

Interestingly enough, it actually DID solve their drug problem, which was growing very quickly.


It kind of supports the notion that if you're going to bother making laws against something, then you need to actually enforce those laws, or else it becomes a complete waste of time and money.

Although, personally, I'd prefer if they just got rid of the silly laws.

Is there any plausible figure available for the number of drug related executions the Chinese government carries out?

Hmm.. you might be able to dig it up, but the Chinese aren't exactly "open" when it comes to the practices of their government.

However, I believe I read a while ago that it went something like this:
First: Lots of executions.
Afterwards: Very very few executions.


Knowing for a fact that you will be executed for smoking opium is a very strong deterent to trying it.

Here's one passage I found on drug use in China:



Stopping the supply of heroin by killing the distributors and producers actually makes the problem of drug use harder for those who want to use heroin.

Well, if that source is correct, then I stand corrected... I think I'll stick with my belief that the war on drugs is simply flawed and should be done away with.