[nolittdroid]

Should marijuana be legalized? Decriminalized? Show your work and be respectful.

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[NothingIsTrue]

If we're talking at a Federal level, yes, absolutely. I think States should be able to prohibit as they see fit, according to their respective legislative processes. but I feel like the Federal government should have no opinion whatsoever about that particular drug unless it becomes a national safety issue.

[palandri]

Should marijuana be legalized? Decriminalized? Show your work and be respectful.

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Interesting, the way you worded this.

Should it be legalized? My question is, for what purpose? To get high? No, we already have beer, wine and liquor for that purpose. For medical purposes? If there is real medical purpose to use THC, I have no problem with that, but put it in a tablet or liquid form, rather than smoking it.

I agree with decriminalization, like Portugal did, we waste too much money treating it criminally.

If states legalized it, I have no problem with the will of the people, so be it.

I am a union electrician, and 5 cents out of my benefits package, for every hour I work, goes into a random drug testing program, to show/prove to the contractors that i am not a drug addict.

Just my 2 cents.

[Live2ride883]

Yes, it should be legalized and decriminalized. The uses of hemp far outweigh the abuse's. For those unfamiliar with the history of hemp and why it is illegal I have posted two links below. I do believe there needs to be some type of regulation in place to prevent it from being used at the workplace or in places where it can cause safety issues. When I was a member of the UAW we had a forklift driver run into a building support beam hard enough that the fork went completely thru the beam. He admitted that he had gotten high during his lunch break earlier in his shift. I can't imagine what would have happened if that had been a coworker, or if a coworker had been caught between the beam and the forklift. So in some cases or occupations perhaps it's use should still be restricted.

History of hemp:

Why is it illegal:

[msndrstood]

Yes, it should be legalized and decriminalized. The uses of hemp far outweigh the abuse's. For those unfamiliar with the history of hemp and why it is illegal I have posted two links below. I do believe there needs to be some type of regulation in place to prevent it from being used at the workplace or in places where it can cause safety issues. When I was a member of the UAW we had a forklift driver run into a building support beam hard enough that the fork went completely thru the beam. He admitted that he had gotten high during his lunch break earlier in his shift. I can't imagine what would have happened if that had been a coworker, or if a coworker had been caught between the beam and the forklift. So in some cases or occupations perhaps it's use should still be restricted.

History of hemp:

Why is it illegal:

On this...we agree.

What?! ...I'm msndrstood.
via Gnex

[Bratigan]

It should be made legal for personal use and taxed appropriately. I know this sounds unusual for a conservative but I also have a libertarian streak as well.
If it was toxic to use I would say no, but there is not evidence to suggest it will do harm as it appears to do more good. Taxing it would place the burden on users and would provide some apparently much needed resources for our government. The government will jump at the chance for new revenue. As far as work place use, clearly you can't use on the job. I have experience with hiring certain trades that love smoking on the job, while I love their trade its still not a good idea, its not safe. Mid level managers can determine who is high on the job by using near, far assessment. If they "use" on the job read them the riot act, do verbal warnings, then after an amazing amount of patience and paperwork, let them go if they can't toe the line, after all there are many willing to work out there.

[Mellimel22]

It should be made legal for personal use and taxed appropriately. I know this sounds unusual for a conservative but I also have a libertarian streak as well.
If it was toxic to use I would say no, but there is not evidence to suggest it will do harm as it appears to do more good. Taxing it would place the burden on users and would provide some apparently much needed resources for our government. The government will jump at the chance for new revenue. As far as work place use, clearly you can't use on the job. I have experience with hiring certain trades that love smoking on the job, while I love their trade its still not a good idea, its not safe. Mid level managers can determine who is high on the job by using near, far assessment. If they "use" on the job read them the riot act, do verbal warnings, then after an amazing amount of patience and paperwork, let them go if they can't toe the line, after all there are many willing to work out there.

I smoke EVERYDAY AND I WORK IN FOR STAMPEDE MEAT CO. And im one of the best workers there next to my Latino homie who don't smoke. Maybe certain people don't need to smoke who can't handle they high. Just like certain people don't need to drink who can't handle they liquor.

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[A-android-B]

It needs to be decriminalized if only for the purpose of stopping the drug cartels from making money off importing it into United States. It would be impossible to tax because it grows so easily in our climate across the entire North American continent. We already pay way more tax then we should anyway.

tea candles are the duct tape of candles

[Live2ride883]

[nolittdroid]

Legalize it and tax it. The government would be able to create jobs and it would cut down on crime, prison costs, and arrests. Lots of benefits and few risks.

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[Paul627g]

I am a union electrician, and 5 cents out of my benefits package, for every hour I work, goes into a random drug testing program, to show/prove to the contractors that i am not a drug addict.

Union Heavy Equipment Operator here.... Same goes for us too and I applaud this practice to make sure I'm not working along side someone who is impaired from performing their job. Yes we have had drug related accidents and personally I don't feel like being injured, run over or crushed by an operator running a heavy piece of equipment while being high. That would just ruin my day and my families too...

[Live2ride883]

I wasn't sure if anyone missed this so I brought it over to show that legalization is gaining popularity, even among politicians.

[nolittdroid]

Legalization has so many benefits but BigPharma has so many politicians in their pocket, its ridiculous. They would never allow it. That's the big thing standing in the way right now. Not a bad thing at all when marijuana helps control 200+ diseases and ailments and is great for pain management. I swear my asthma has subsided since I started to partake.

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[Live2ride883]

I spend a lot of time with Vietnam vets that suffer from PTSD, and other injuries and some of them self medicate after trying just about every other method of pain management.

The medical and spiritual uses of hemp have been long documented and proven.

I hesitate to mention this simply because I don't have more accurate information, but I think I saw an article where Rand Paul was holding a conference on legalizing hemp for industrial purposes. Do you have any information on that?

[nolittdroid]

Unfortunately I don't know much about Rand. I have seen a few documentaries on Netflix that I would really recommend. MJ is a safe, natural substance and I hope the govt comes to their senses soon! Canada is thiscloseto legalization! I wish the US was a little more like Canada.

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[Irate Iguana]

Union Heavy Equipment Operator here.... Same goes for us too and I applaud this practice to make sure I'm not working along side someone who is impaired from performing their job. Yes we have had drug related accidents and personally I don't feel like being injured, run over or crushed by an operator running a heavy piece of equipment while being high. That would just ruin my day and my families too...

Drug tests only prove that a person has used the substance in the past few days. With cannabis that time frame can be as short as 3 days and as long as 60. If someone smokes the night before for whatever reason and something happens the next day while they are NOT intoxicated, they will still be screwed by a drug test and the consequences that follow. Would you like to lose your job because you had a beer a few nights ago and then had an accident at work while completely sober?

Now my opinion on legalization is that cannabis should be legalized for the sole reason that it is someones right to make decisions about their own body, not because it has practically zero health consequences.

[Paul627g]

Drug tests only prove that a person has used the substance in the past few days. With cannabis that time frame can be as short as 3 days and as long as 60. If someone smokes the night before for whatever reason and something happens the next day while they are NOT intoxicated, they will still be screwed by a drug test and the consequences that follow. Would you like to lose your job because you had a beer a few nights ago and then had an accident at work while completely sober?

Now my opinion on legalization is that cannabis should be legalized for the sole reason that it is someones right to make decisions about their own body, not because it has practically zero health consequences.

The comment about being held liable for a few drinks days earlier is not relevant. That would probably only come into play if there was a known history of alcohol problems or alcohol present in your system at the time/hours (not days) leading up to the accident.

As for legalizing it.. The states and government can do what they want. Its still going to come down to the insurance companies who hold the insurance on your job, the employees and its assets that you seek. If they have a drug testing policy in place its most likely going to over ride any law of being legal because its in the workplace and the safety of its employees and everything that is insured (including yourself). So if you test positive for drugs regardless of today, or a cigarette of cannabis you smoked 3 days/3 weeks ago they look at it as a safety hazard/risk on their part. Personally do you really want to work along side someone who maybe impaired at work from their after hour partying lifestyle? What is your family going to say when they get a phone call that Dad was killed on the job because " Joe " or " Michelle " was impaired possibly from using drugs at or before/after work? Huge risk in my book and I'm sure not something anyone wants their loved ones to have to face.

Before anyone says that you can function perfectly fine while using cannabis I'm sure we can find plenty of documentation materials showing that it does have an overall effect on your reaction times, judgement skills and many other points.

[Irate Iguana]

The comment about being held liable for a few drinks days earlier is not relevant. That would probably only come into play if there was a known history of alcohol problems or alcohol present in your system at the time/hours (not days) leading up to the accident.

As for legalizing it.. The states and government can do what they want. Its still going to come down to the insurance companies who hold the insurance on your job, the employees and its assets that you seek. If they have a drug testing policy in place its most likely going to over ride any law of being legal because its in the workplace and the safety of its employees and everything that is insured (including yourself). So if you test positive for drugs regardless of today, or a cigarette of cannabis you smoked 3 days/3 weeks ago they look at it as a safety hazard/risk on their part. Personally do you really want to work along side someone who maybe impaired at work from their after hour partying lifestyle? What is your family going to say when they get a phone call that Dad was killed on the job because " Joe " or " Michelle " was impaired possibly from using drugs at or before/after work? Huge risk in my book and I'm sure not something anyone wants their loved ones to have to face.

Before anyone says that you can function perfectly fine while using cannabis I'm sure we can find plenty of documentation materials showing that it does have an overall effect on your reaction times, judgement skills and many other points.

My only point was that drug tests are horrible at determining if a person caused an accident because of their recreational use in their own time. It's just plain wrong to use a failed drug test as the sole excuse for a person's negligence because they do not prove that that person was under the influence during the time of the accident. It's physically impossible for someone to be impaired during work if they only have an "after hour partying lifestyle", and frankly that's none of my business if someone does that. That's their choice, and as long as they come to work sober no one has a right to tell them what to do. I guess if they're addicted to meth and not sleeping that's a different story, but if they're addicted they need help, and I'm pretty sure someone who is that damaged by a substance would be pretty easy to spot before they even get into situations where they could harm others. If someone shows up to work and is "out of it", management shouldn't allow them to operate machinery. Until there is a reliable way of determining if a person is intoxicated at the time of the accident, a drug test is just plain stupid. If the drug is not inhibiting a person at the time of the accident then throwing every single person who smokes cannabis under the bus just because someone sometime might smoke before working is too much of an overreaction the problem.

[maryjane2300]

Let me smoke my weed man!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

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[nolittdroid]

Let me smoke my weed man!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Sent from my Sammy S3

:thumbup:

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[Live2ride883]

[xlDeMoNiClx]

Unfortunately I don't know much about Rand. I have seen a few documentaries on Netflix that I would really recommend. MJ is a safe, natural substance and I hope the govt comes to their senses soon! Canada is thiscloseto legalization! I wish the US was a little more like Canada.

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Yeah, we're a lot more easygoing about alot of things. Not always great tho.

[paintdrinkingpete]

Interesting, the way you worded this.

Should it be legalized? My question is, for what purpose? To get high? No, we already have beer, wine and liquor for that purpose. For medical purposes? If there is real medical purpose to use THC, I have no problem with that, but put it in a tablet or liquid form, rather than smoking it.

I agree with decriminalization, like Portugal did, we waste too much money treating it criminally.

If states legalized it, I have no problem with the will of the people, so be it.

I am a union electrician, and 5 cents out of my benefits package, for every hour I work, goes into a random drug testing program, to show/prove to the contractors that i am not a drug addict.

Just my 2 cents.

FWIW, I used my fair share of mary jane in college, but haven't touched the stuff in well over 15 years (nor do I really have a desire to now).

Regarding the comment, "To get high? No, we already have beer, wine and liquor for that purpose". I have a few problems with this. Many would argue that marijuana is both safer and less addictive than alcohol, and as someone who has used both, I'm inclined to agree. Granted, both can be addictive and both can cause people to make poor decisions that may harm themselves or others, however I honestly think that users of marijuana display these effects much less than users of alcohol in general. On top of that, assuming you would at the very least qualify marijuana as being in same realm of alcohol in terms benefits/effects/dangers of use/etc, then who is the government to tell me that I can do one but not the other?

Frankly, in my opinion, marijuana use has pretty much become mainstream in our culture, and most people don't even care if you tell them you've used it. The various state laws (as inert as they may be vs the National policies) that have been recently passed show a definite attitude of tolerance among the voting majority in those areas...and probably many other areas as well.

By making marijuana legal, it seems to me the government could make back a lot of money by taxing it, and by no longer having to invest millions of $ to enforce the existing laws -- money that could be used to help revitalize the economy or even be used to further the enforcement of laws against those drugs that are much more dangerous and DO present an inherent risk to those who use them and on our way life.

Many people also use the "gateway" drug argument, which may be valid, but I'd be willing to guess that once people no longer had to seek out drug dealers to acquire the drug, less folks would be inclined, or have the opportunity, to try other more dangerous substances. That's just a thought.

It seems the laws currently in place are nothing more than antiquated policies that were established in response to misleading propaganda and racism, and that frankly, marijuana's current classifications at the federal level do not appropriately reflect the actual dangers that the drug exhibits. Therefore, yes, I believe it should be legal.

[kilofoxtrot]

It's physically impossible for someone to be impaired during work if they only have an "after hour partying lifestyle"

Define "after hour".