[Phil1]

Gene, I am not a user (at least yet) and the distribution and use of med hemp in Calif is a joke as I see it. The proliferation initially of med hemp stores and the hemp store advertising in surf magazines etc are examples. It is under gov't control like the southern border and Hope and Change came along. If the states intention was for legit med use it would have been distributed via pharmacies like the rest of the controlled substances.

A recent TV production on the 'open' but illegal hemp farming and distribution was on Nat Geographic or Discovery channels. It focused much on Calif. I will say most of the hemp use and distribution in Calif is illegal by fed standards and Obama should sue the state. (He he)

I'll take a wild guess that maybe 5% of the users have a legit prescription for a legit ailment. Quite a few users I have been familiar with would not be bright enough to obtain a faked or paid-off prescription. Many were caught in suprise Coast Guard crew pee test inspections and thus lost thier jobs over it's use.

[GeneV]

Gene, I am not a user (at least yet) and the distribution and use of med hemp in Calif is a joke as I see it. The proliferation initially of med hemp stores and the hemp store advertising in surf magazines etc are examples. It is under gov't control like the southern border and Hope and Change came along. If the states intention was for legit med use it would have been distributed via pharmacies like the rest of the controlled substances.

A recent TV production on the 'open' but illegal hemp farming and distribution was on Nat Geographic or Discovery channels. It focused much on Calif. I will say most of the hemp use and distribution in Calif is illegal by fed standards and Obama should sue the state. (He he)

I'll take a wild guess that maybe 5% of the users have a legit prescription for a legit ailment. Quite a few users I have been familiar with would not be bright enough to obtain a faked or paid-off prescription. Many were caught in suprise Coast Guard crew pee test inspections and thus lost thier jobs over it's use.

It seems to me law enforcement dollars could be spent better elsewhere anyway, and that is the point of the decriminalization. Running a stop sign poses more harm to society than firing up a joint and it will be treated accordingly. I don't use it, either, but this debate has been around the half century that I have been sentient, and no one has come up with a convincing reason why it does more harm than a few hundred things that are legal.

I agree that the CA system is flawed, and the SCOTUS has already ruled that the feds are within their authority to shut down the stores. A concern I raised in my article is that marijuana goes for close to $300 an ounce, according to internet sites. Even under the more tightly regulated system in New Mexico, which does not allow stores to sell, a person can grow and keep 6 ounces for personal use. How tempting will it be to thieves to know there is $1,800 for the taking in this apartment? How tempting will it be to the user to earn an extra $300 here and there?

[Phil1]

I could not agree more. Maybe a little bit related and funny:

Suspect Denies Owning Cocaine In His Butt | The Smoking Gun

[GeneV]

I could not agree more. Maybe a little bit related and funny:

Suspect Denies Owning Cocaine In His Butt | The Smoking Gun

His story is slightly more plausible than the headline suggests, but was even more stupid than the excuse. If he really did take "his friend's" crack and hide it in his own, he turned his friend's possession into his own. Now there is a search that definitely cries out for rubber gloves.

[Phil1]

"If the glove fits, its your coke and your butt"

[troglodyte]

Phil,
You do know that hemp is different than marijuana? Do you consider a poppy seed muffin the same as opium? The same with hemp. The two are from a different genus. Hemp is cannabis sativa, while marijuana is cannabis indica. The sativa specie has many uses, none of which include being used to become an idiot. Indica has poor fibre strength, can't be used for food, makes a poor fuel source and poor medicinal properties. Its only use is to fool the masses into thinking they saw god after enough use. By contrast, hemp is a very strong fibre for textiles/clothing, excellent source of nutrition and medical uses(80% of the hemp oil is essential amino acids like omega-3), highly efficient fuel source, paper and a high quality building material. Hemp contains almost no THC, about 0.3% or less, while marijuana has a minimum of 6% and as high as 20%, some even more. The joke is on the pothead who will try to smoke hemp and only get a headache!
Did you know that hemp was a very profitable cash crop for general George Washington and Thomas Jefferson? Benjamin Franklin also grew hemp so he could make paper. None of whom got high off their gourds from it, not even if they wanted to.

[Phil1]

You are correct of course. I used the term hemp the same way as some use the term grass for pot.

Urban Dictionary:
weed marijuana pot bud herb smoke mary jane grass reefer high joint chronic bong green ganja slut stoned spliff pipe smoking dope cannabis bowl hash trees whore blunt dank maryjane 420 toke munchies stoner gang (p)enis lowie fire northern lights bitch kush cheeba lighter tree jamaica greens ass love slurry hashish alcohol

[Ira]

Ira, Arnold should be put in jail for signing that.
I told this story before, but since you seem to think it's only pot, here it goes.
My parents werer big potheads and everything else. When I was a kid I got so much second hand pot I was out of my mind.

---------- Post added 10-01-10 at 08:42 PM ----------

Rather than admit it was the pot making me 'stupid' it was instead I was just mentally challenged. They both killed themselves on drugs. I was then put in the custody of my grandparents. In a matter of months I was surpassing the rest of the class. I was

---------- Post added 10-01-10 at 08:45 PM ----------

tested with an IQ over 123. The school officials were shocked. They were clueless idiots, just like my parents. I'm glad they're gone. It's a shame every single pothead can't enjoy the same fate. It would get rid of a whole lot more child abusers.

Well, gee:

I seem to have forgotten that it's all about YOU, huh?

Sorry about your horrible past, but that doesn't mean the rest of the world has to suffer because of it.

[Phil1]

I believe Tro's point is what a efn waste of and on mankind drug use is. You really can't speak to it unless you have known someone close waste him/herself on them, especially young people (booze included). Screw the old ones like me.

[magkelly]

Pot is no worse than alcohol though. I've always thought it was rather hypocritical that you could walk into any liquor store in the USA and buy the one but not the other. I don't personally care what people do at home, but the one thing I do want to see is the DUI laws used to bust people who are driving stoned. I don't want cab driver, school bus drivers, etc to get off simply because their one ounce is now legal in CA. Having it, no big deal, driving while intoxicated, big deal...

BTW, the cop in CA don't give a d- about people smoking a joint. I've actually seen people light up and walk on by the police station or several cops and nothing happens. It's a waste of time going after people for one joint and they know it. Crime rate out there being what it is, the last thing on their minds is pot smokers. The growers, that's another story, but your average Joe on the street with a couple of joints in his pocket, nah...

[troglodyte]

magkelly,
The big differrnce is alcohol is others aren't using it at the same time you are. There's no such thing as a second hand drunk. You also can't smell alcohol unless you're within a few feet of a person. It also doesn't have the horible odor.

---------- Post added 10-04-10 at 09:58 AM ----------

Marijuana users are selfish, like I said before. They are also stupid and that's why they don't get it. Why not get high on life? It's much more satisfying. Shoot some Pentax rather than a joint. LBA only hurts you.

[Phil1]

"Pot is no worse than alcohol...." I would say, for many alcohol is worse over the long term. I have a relative with acute pancreitis puking blood and wont stop drinking. Death is around the corner for him and so damaging to his family. I am not an advocate for pot at all but my limited experience says it might be less harmful to some. The exception of course is that it is recognized as a gateway drug to worse addictions as well as damaging as reported to heavy long time users. Not to mention the social economic harm it can cause. Neither one is good in excess. Just define excess.

[deadwolfbones]

magkelly,
The big differrnce is alcohol is others aren't using it at the same time you are. There's no such thing as a second hand drunk. You also can't smell alcohol unless you're within a few feet of a person. It also doesn't have the horible odor.

Marijuana users are selfish, like I said before. They are also stupid and that's why they don't get it. Why not get high on life? It's much more satisfying. Shoot some Pentax rather than a joint. LBA only hurts you.

It's certainly rude to smoke anything, be it weed or tobacco, around someone who doesn't want you to. That said, it's perfectly possible to smoke it in the privacy of your own home and not inconvenience anyone else with it. Moreover, it's possible to use it in cooking and make cookies, brownies, muffins, etc, that deliver the same effects with a gentler high, no annoying smoke, and no ostentatious smell.

(My previous post got deleted because it was a direct insult to another user. Apparently the statement that all marijuana users are "stupid" isn't—interesting since I'm 100% certain there are a few here—but I'll leave that one for the mods to sort out.)

[gnaztee]

Why not get high on life? It's much more satisfying.

Hilarious...funniest thing I've read in awhile! This sounds like a saturday morning commercial directed at grade school kids watching cartoons...not sure I've ever heard it used in adult conversation.

[Phil1]

Maybe you havn't looked around much. Lots of people don't drink or use drugs. Lots too use either one only rarely.