I have friends in Mendocino County and I go turkey hunting down there. We drove hours down dirt roads off the main highway to get to a sheep ranch property on the eel river deep in bud country. Beautiful back in there and all weed growers. Some strange paranoid dope growers living in there. Two dirty 20 somethings were carrying trash bags of weed, we were lost and they gave us directions. The town smells like weed and people complain. But the dope growers spend dope $$$. The local law lets it go but dea busts growers here and there. CNBC is doing a show on weed. Maybe Obama will loosen laws. Let the people get HIGH! If someone wants to burn let em burn. Turn that hemp into oil and burn it in cars.
Apparently if one smokes enough hemp, one can get high, else why did sailors in the 19th century smoke rope.
For the same reason people smoke tobacco now. The THC content in commercial hemp is usually less than .05%. The stuff we smoked in college now can get to 25%, do the math. 1 joint of college gunja = 500 joints of commercial grade hemp. That is one serious headache. At one joint a minute it would take you 8 1/3 hours to get a buzz and you would have already hyperventilated. Proof positive politicians don't have common sense.
I don't care for the stuff myself, but I'm all for decriminalizing it now and legalizing and taxing it later.
I disagree that it's a great post. I understand the sentiment, but what you're basically proposing is lawlessness. There's always going to be any number of things that you are told that you cannot do (such as drive 100 mph in a school zone). The trick is to outlaw those things which pose a reasonable threat to others. Some laws are obviously good to have. With pot, I don't think it's any worse to have legal than alcohol. There should be laws about driving under the influence, etc., but I think adults should be allowed to use it if they want. In the case of cigarettes at least you're not going to significantly impair your ability to drive, and that's a big advantage cigarettes have in terms of staying legal. Also, yeah, it's crazy and sad the number of basically harmless and gentle souls who doing hard time for getting caught with pot. They don't belong behind bars. What a waste of a life, and of taxpayer money.
Great post! In addition, on the History channel, MJ was originally outlawed here to keep the "negroes" from commiting violent acts on whites. It was called "wicked weed," and the propaganda that went with it were pics in newspapers (cartoon pics), depicting blacks with their eyes bulging out attacking whites. I'm really amazed that the black community hasn't taken issue with that, and asked for the MJ laws to be overturned based on racism, and false fears. Of course, this is America, the land of less common sense each day. Again, great post. I agree with you, and am a part-time Police Officer. I've NEVER fought with a stoned person. I've fought tooth and nail with drunks more than I can count. Picked up a dead child from the highway a few times due to drunks. NEVER had an incident with pot heads, ever. Amazing how smart, yet dumb America is at the same time.
<i>"I once smoked a whole ounce one day and saw God. . . "</i> Um, try that with some modern strains grown in the deep loam riverbottoms around here and you won't see anything but your shadow on Groundhog Day. You'll be in a coma from now until then