Would you smoke marijuana if it were legal?

[deepdiver]

To me, the benefits or negatives of marijuana v alcohol or any other substance are irrelevant. This country was based on individual liberties and freedoms. Unless someone's use is infringing on the rights of others (eg intoxicated driving regardless of what substance caused the intoxication and therefore being dangerous to others on the roadways) I don't care what they do to themselves. If you want to sit in your house and shoot of heroin and have a homosexual orgy with 5 of your closest friends, as long as everryone is 18 and all acts are concensual I really could care less. Why? Because if you are doing it in your house and keeping it in your house it has absolutely NO effect on me. It is only when you take it outside of your private residence and into general society where it does effect others that anyone has any right or reason to care what a consenting adult is doing.

[Ryan102676]

another good point, this thread is deep as the abyss. Alot of views and opinions , interesting.

[deepdiver]

Originally Posted by jalley

....I think the majority of people that would smoke if it were legal, are already smoking now. I don't think too many people would jump on the bandwagon just because it became legal.

Interesting point. About 15 years ago when I was studying this issue (my BS is in psych and I did an independent study on drug abuse and treatment options) the research was indicating that when drugs were legalized, there was an initial increase in useage. Within a generation, the usage actually stabilized at a level significantly lower than pre-legalization levels. Once it was available and legal, the allure, especially for teens, evaporated. Until the late teens early 1920's, pretty much all now illegal narcotics and marijuana were legal and usage levels are thought to have been lower than today (it is difficult to be sure as such things weren't tracked back then like they are today).

[nsnate02]

Its just one more thing for people to get addicted to and abuse. People have enough problems without ok'ing another one. To be consistent, I have the same feelings about alcohol and tobacco in general......also sugar and everything else that is biochemically altering and addicting. The reality is we need to be self-regulatory in what we consume in any form, drug or otherwise.

To answer the question, yes some would. Would it be that it would increase or decrease? I don't know. I tend to think not.

[Pugs]

Originally Posted by Ryan102676

WHEN i smoked, it made me concentrate more, maybe cause Iwas more paranoid.

I've read, and my few experiences with pot bear out, that THC does help you focus. This leads to:

• Tunnel vision - you're so focused on one cool spiral thing, that you tune everything else out.
• Enhanced hearing - we can always hear the conversation going on in the next room, there's just so much other ambient noise that we can't make it out until the THC helps us to focus on that single thing.
• Conspiracy theories - Because you can focus that much more clearly on one thing, you end up seeing the abstract, loose threads and connections more clearly.
• Better sex - the enhanced focus allows you to block out extraneous thoughts/distractions that can decrease performance/sensations.
• Time dilation - you're so focused on whatever is happening at the moment that the passage of time gets ignored and seems to go really fast or really slow.

And so on...

[Talon]

Hello Krackels,

Myself, If this would come to a vote I would vote to legalize it, for a plethora of reasons. Primarily it would shift massive "out tax dollars" from prevention and prosecution, to "incoming tax dollars" this makes alot of sense to me. I also see benefiet for those who are teminally ill, or are going through heavy medical treatments ie. cancer

I dont think that driving while baked is a doable thing LOL I look at it as the same as drunk driving.

I also think that there would be a large increase of those who would never smoke because of its current state of illegality would at least try it if it became legal. Some would taper away while others would embrace it. And ,there will be those that will abuse it.

Myself, I'm pretty much positive I wouldn't try/consume it recreationally if it became legal. I dont have a problem drinking a beer etc. because I can limit it to one and still be able to legally function. However, I believe with pot one hit (depending on THC strength) can blow out your self control.

Peace
Steel Talon

[bham shooter]

One other thing to mention. While my wife and I were on our honeymoon in the Bahamas, a lady was selling cigars, Cubans and a few others, on the beach at the resort, along with cigarettes. I walked over to buy a couple of cigars to smoke on the beach, and she asked if I needed anything else. Like what? was my response, and she pulled out a few joints from a drawer in her kiosk. Perfectly legal in the Bahamas. And she was a resort employee, complete with uniform and name badge. Later my wife joked that we should have tried it while we were down there, since it was legal and we were enjoying ourselves with all of the alcohol anyways, what could a joint hurt? In my lifetime I never thought I would have heard her utter those words. She's Mrs. 2 glasses of White Zin and I'm sleepy.

[Krackels]

A few other topics have cropped up:

Is it really a right to get high? Would our founding fathers say that when they talked and wrote about inalienable rights they would say that being drunk (marijuana/hashish usage was rare) was one of them?

Does marijuana really have saving qualities that outweigh the downsides?

• Tunnel vision - you're so focused on one cool spiral thing, that you tune everything else out.
• This sounds incredibly dangerous if you're trying do do anything that requires a moderate amount of concentration. So that would rule out driving, working, mowing the lawn, and just about everything else except sitting on the couch.
  
• Enhanced hearing - we can always hear the conversation going on in the next room, there's just so much other ambient noise that we can't make it out until the THC helps us to focus on that single thing.
• Again, is it enhanced hearing or selective hearing. To stay with the mowing the lawn theme, you could be so focused on the music you're listening to that you don't hear the neighbor yelling that their kitty is right in front of you.
• Conspiracy theories - Because you can focus that much more clearly on one thing, you end up seeing the abstract, loose threads and connections more clearly.
• Or is it just foolishness cropping up.
• Better sex - the enhanced focus allows you to block out extraneous thoughts/distractions that can decrease performance/sensations.
• Wouldn't that create a dependency that would make you desensitized to sober sex. What's it say about one's sex life if they're so dissatisfied with it that they feel drugs will make it better.
• Time dilation - you're so focused on whatever is happening at the moment that the passage of time gets ignored and seems to go really fast or really slow.
• Again I only see this as a positive if you're stuck in a decompression chamber for 16 hours.

Many of these things seem to be band-aids for an otherwise dissatisfied life. Shouldn't one work on being happy with one's life and circumstances instead of trying to mask it.

One more:

People can have a beer or two in an hour's time with friends with no impairment depending on metabolism and physiology. Can the same be said about marijuana?

How would the government control it to provide moderate or mild strength marijuana as opposed to high THC content?

[jonny4523]

I don't like using anything that changes my state of mind, except maybe a full body massage. I do like to have the occasional beer, but I'm extremely picky about which beer I drink (has to be dark) and I hardly ever have more than one simply because I don't like having that 'tipsy' feeling. I drink for the taste, not for the effect. The same goes with marijuana, except that it probably doesn't taste like a good German beer. The entire point of it is to change the state of mind..... not my bag.

[lobster_roboto]

I would'nt touch the stuff. I have nothing against it and do believe it should be legalized to an extent. I just have a desire to be on the top of my game at all times.