Weed - should it be legal?

[i-need-a-martini]

Uruguay has just changed its legislation and is now the first country in the wrold to sanction the growing, selling and smoking of marijuana.

They have done it to put the illegal drug trade and drug traffikers out of business.

Personally I think it makes sense. If nicotine is legal than there is very little difference between the 2.

Your thoughts?

http://www.smh.com.au/world/uruguay-becomes-first-country-to-legalise-marijuana-trade-20131211-hv59x...

[patchoo78]

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@darksideofthemoon wrote:

Right on stawka... it's a great pain reliever and is used for terminally ill patients..  

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/259482.php

In fact it has a lot of uses other than smoking it and losing your brain.

Hemp is used to make twine, rope, nets, canvas and 

Paper can be made from it and building materials.....  to name just a few things... in fact any country that de-criminalises it stands to make a whole new industry out of it.

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Food, clolthes, soap, body lotions, oils, fuel etc... It's more sustainable than growing trees just to cut down, grows faster and takes up less room..

People confuse cannabis with hemp, the plants grown for hemp have no THC in them

[imastawka]

I remember when Arnie was Governator of California he wanted to outlaw hemp

car seat covers because people might be tempted to smoke them,

[freshwater-2]

Personally I think it makes sense. If nicotine is legal than there is very little difference between the 2.

Except if you are getting behind the steering wheel of a car.

[love*today]

http://youtu.be/1Snjuqq6jvg

[love*today]

And to answer the op, YES!
And one day soon it will be 😄

[patchoo78]

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@freshwaterbeach wrote:

Personally I think it makes sense. If nicotine is legal than there is very little difference between the 2.

Except if you are getting behind the steering wheel of a car.

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That's why Martini said "very little difference" not that there is no difference... 

Just don't drive while you're under the influence

[buzzlightyearsgirlfriend]

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@kennedia_nigricans wrote:

The significant other here:

He can do whatever makes him happy

We have made vows and we take them seriously. They did not include anything like "he can't eat or smoke that because wowsers don't approve of it"

I am sure of that and I resent the idea that other people tell us how to live our lives.

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It's nice for you that his alcohol and drug use doesn't affect others.

I know at least 2 addicts who truly believe their alcohol and drug use doesn't affect them or anyone else. They are in total denial of their addictions. They are physically sick, look like total **bleep** and lie so often they have ruined many relationships with others. They are also abusive **bleep**holes. One takes more sick days off work than anyone I have ever known. I know people with cancer who attend work more than this bloke. 

I resent the addicts who used to be in my life, they can really **bleep** things up for people close to them.

[love*today]

In all of my life, with all of my travels and the many manyyyyyy people I have come across. I've only ever known one that was a nutcase, but he was a nutter before the dope. He liked to blame the dope of course.....but even his parents knew that guy was messed in the head bad....lucky he had "legal" prescribed psych drugs to help him be a part of society (barely).... And they only helped the poor guy cause they made him a **bleep**ing zombie *eye roll

[just_me_karen]

Well, isn't it all comparative, LT?

As for graduation from marijuana to harder drugs, it has nothing to do with the drug itself, it's about the individual's attitude to drugs, the amount of "cool" they attribute to taking drugs. Legal or not, the attitude makes the difference.

I have seen heaps of people who have serious mental health issues as a direct result of drug taking. I'm not sure whether marijuana causes the problems, or just provides the trigger...but there's no doubt it's a causal factor.

[patchoo78]

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@just_me_karen wrote:
Well, isn't it all comparative, LT?

As for graduation from marijuana to harder drugs, it has nothing to do with the drug itself, it's about the individual's attitude to drugs, the amount of "cool" they attribute to taking drugs. Legal or not, the attitude makes the difference.

I have seen heaps of people who have serious mental health issues as a direct result of drug taking. I'm not sure whether marijuana causes the problems, or just provides the trigger...but there's no doubt it's a causal factor.

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It's a trigger in the same way that the polio vaccine was a trigger to causing problems in certain people who got the vaccine. They likely would have ended up with the problems eventually as it was already in their bodies, but the vaccine just provided the trigger, it didn't cause the problem.

I don't believe that it causes psychosis but more than likely triggers a mental illness that was probably there in the first place, if it wasn't pot that did it, it would have been something else, even something perfectly legal like alcohol or another legal medication.