B.C. pot petition would end enforcement of possession laws

[steven lloyd]

Stevenlloyd has in his comments, unambiguously declared himself an expert on the topic of marihuana; the enforcement of the law in respect to it; the actions of the courts respecting prosecutions; and in the area of addiction/treatment, etc. Perhaps he could take a minute of two to enlighten us as to his knowledge regarding the pharmacological effects of tetrahydrocannabinol. It seems odd to me that such informed persons never speak about the negatives or downsides to marihuana use. Or, is it possible that he believes that marihuana is a "harmless" substance?

Hardly an expert, and in no way naive enough to believe marijuana use is completly harmless. I am just a person with an opinion, and like many have noted that the harm and costs created by our marijuana laws are far greater than the harm and costs created by its use. As Donald notes, everyone is entitled to their opinion and most everyone has one. Mine on this issue has been formed over many years from education, directly associated research and over twenty years of experience working in the field (both direct and related). As a non-user I even think my opinion is somewhat objective – although I admit I do regularly bear witness to the destructive collateral damage created by these archaic laws and experience the frustration of limited available resources while billions in tax dollars are being completely wasted on a regular basis on this proven ineffective and counter-productive strategy. Let’s not make any further erroneous suppositions here either (ie. incorrect assumptions regarding conviction rates, confusing correlation and hypothesis with causation and conclusive proof, etc.). Only a few people here presume marijuana use is completely harmless, and I’m not one of them. However, it is certainly no more harmful (and very likely far less harmful) than tobacco and/or alcohol use, and both of those drugs are legally regulated – a strategy that, while maybe not perfect, has proven to be far more effective and less destructive than prohibition ever was or ever will be. Is it even possible for us to learn from repeated and ongoing failure? It would be unrealistic to assume we could move straight to legalization; however, decriminalization is long overdue.

[CorkSoaker]

This has been posted before somewhere before but still holds its legitimacy in my opinion.

http://www.upworthy.com/every-war-on-drugs-myth-thoroughly-destroyed-by-a-retired-police-captain

[Donald G]

The war on drugs has been "destroyed" by the words of ONE retired police captain?

I wonder if anyone has told the other TEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX retired and acting Police Captains yet?

[WhatThe]

The war on drugs has been "destroyed" by the words of ONE retired police captain?

I wonder if anyone has told the other TEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX retired and acting Police Captains yet?

They don't need to be told, they are already amongst us- http://www.leap.cc/about/who-we-are/
What of the argument?

[Donald G]

As I have told you before I am not opposed to small amounts of marijuana being decriminalized providing certain safeguards were included regarding 'in flight' changes based on scientific information, pregnant women and teenagers. It would add more small and large problems to maintaining or increasing our mental and physical worth through genetic evolution but booze, cigarettes and many illegal prescription pills are heading us in that direction anyway. Rather pessimistic view of the worth of your suggestion.

[JLives]

Given the huge assortment of other legal and illegal drugs that are available I personally have no serious objection to the decriminalization of up to an ounce of marijuana ... with the reservation that I would object to people smoking while pregnant or teens ingesting marijuana during their teen years ... due to the resulting psychosis and lack of neuron development that result in some such people.

Like alcohol, it will present its own slate of serious and less serious problems in society. To some degree, the lack of enforcement regarding small amounts has already had much the same effect as decriminalizing it.

You are forgetting to add the part of it being brought out in people already predisposed to it. One of my family members has experienced this.

While marijuana is not harmless, as there is no substance on Earth that is, it has killed less people than pretty much anything else in history with the rate currently at zero. More people have died from drinking too much water.

Keeping marijuana illegal is a war on our citizens, with people not even involved as collateral damage. My kids were playing outside in full view of the Grand when the Bacon brother was shot down with the getaway vehicle going right by us. That is more dangerous to me than any direct effect of the drug itself.

[steven lloyd]

The war on drugs has been "destroyed" by the words of ONE retired police captain?

The war on drugs was lost the first day it started, and on a global scale society (victims of violent crime, gang crime, organized crime, terrorism funded by drug profits, etc.) and those of us who pay tax have and continue to pay the cost.

I wonder if anyone has told the other TEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND NINETY SIX retired and acting Police Captains yet?

Forward thinking and experienced members from all venues of of law enforcement who have recognized the ongoing futility and destructive consequences of a failed strategy are working on it. Overcoming entrenched moralistic ideology can be slow.

http://www.leap.cc/

http://leap-canada.ca/

https://www.facebook.com/LEAPinCanada

http://www.meetup.com/leap-canada/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_Enforc ... rohibition

[steven lloyd]

I would object to people smoking while pregnant or teens ingesting marijuana during their teen years ... due to the resulting psychosis and lack of neuron development that result in some such people.
.

You are forgetting to add the part of it being brought out in people already predisposed to it. One of my family members has experienced this. While marijuana is not harmless, as there is no substance on Earth that is, it has killed less people than pretty much anything else in history with the rate currently at zero.

There’s also a positive correlation between listening to country music and the incidence of suicide and suicide attempts – but that’s a topic for another thread. Ah what a beautiful evening. >insert sunshine emoticon here<

[Treblehook]

American Lung Association is generally considered a credible source of information. Their comment on pot smoking is of interest: http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/about- ... smoke.html

[steven lloyd]

American Lung Association is generally considered a credible source of information. Their comment on pot smoking is of interest: http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/about- ... smoke.html

I’ve never doubted smoking marijuana would be harmful to the lungs. I would think smoking anything would be. I fail to see what that has got to do with marijuana prohibition though. Should we make smoking cigarettes illegal? Education has already proven to be far more effective. Should we make alcohol use illegal? Prohibition has already shown us what a failure that was and the real cost of marijuana prohibition cannot even be calculated. What about skateboarding, mountain-biking, rock-climbing? Where do you think we should stop in legislating risky behaviour? If you are putting someone else’s life or well-being at risk that’s a different story. Right now our marijuana laws are a far, far greater risk to yours and mine and our family’s safety than some pot-smoking, Dorito-eating stonehead and I’m really tired of my tax money being burned faster than a bad joint for it while our government’s tell us we have to tighten our belts. Prohibition has never worked, is not working and will never work. It is a long failed strategy costing society far too much in wasted resources and far too much destruction in innocent people’s lives. It’s political madness. You don’t have to smoke the stuff to know stupid, and that is what our marijuana laws are. Whatever the arguments are for or against the health impact of marijuana use to a free thinking adult there is no positive argument (where a positive impact can be demonstrated – conclusively or by correlation) for marijuana prohibition.

[Treblehook]

You are probably right on all counts. For sure the fact that pot is against the law has not been a deterent to it's use. I do wonder what the impact will have been on our youth as we look back a few generations from now.

[Donald G]

To jennylives ...

Good point. It is what I meant when I said "some people". Thanks for elaborating.

Your comment about bringing out certain effects in people PREDISPOSED (through DNA) TO IT has been proven true for many drugs. Violence resulting from alcohol consumption is not CAUSED by the alcohol, but the alcohol drug is an enabler in people predisposed to violence, because of the imbalance it causes between the emotional and thinking part of our brain in people predisposed to such imbalances.

Lifestyle is the onset CAUSE of almost all addictions regardless of their DNA arrangement. Genetics alone do not cause INSTANT addictions as erroniously believed by any number of people.

[WhatThe]

Lifestyle is the onset CAUSE of almost all addictions regardless of their DNA arrangement.

Got a link for that, or where do you erroneously get that statement from, because that is not what what present evidence shows.

[Donald G]

To What The ...

That is the conclusion presently being taught in a semester long, 24 lecture series at most medical universities that follows the endocrine system through from fetal development to later life. The series was adapted from actual lectures by Stanford University Professors as part of their regular teachings. Take them for what they are worth. Personally I consider them HIGHLY credible and accurate from a medico-scientific point of view.

It was at one time available on the internet under a lecture documentary video series that contained around 500 such scientific lectures. Due to the passage of time and internet options I personally no longer qualify to receive such lectures.

You should recheck you source if you believe the information given by them to be false.

[steven lloyd]

There are real problems with trying to guess at causation here – as any credible researcher will report. In the long standing argument of nature vs nurture it has been accepted for some time that the answer is a complex interaction between both – and not necessarily the same in any two cases. For example, assuming lifestyle is the onset cause of almost all addictions regardless of their DNA arrangement dismisses the possibility (as is sometimes the case) that DNA arrangement contributes to resultant lifestyle. In any case, this is all irrelevant to the topic of the continued failure of prohibition.


mmmm - I think my DNA arrangement predisposes me to BBQ chops. See ya :o)