Texas House passes bill that reduces penalties for Texans caught with small amounts of marijuana

[Younggun]

I’m pretty split on the subject. I have to admit that many of the anti MJ arguments aren’t all that convincing.

This coming from someone who doesn’t touch alcohol or MJ, my only vices are nicotine, caffeine, and high fructose corn syrup.

Since gateway drug was mentioned recently I have a question. What makes MJ a gateway drug, but not alcohol or cigarettes? Most I knew in school who smoked pot were drinking first. Personally I don’t think any of them are gateways. More of a correlation than causation effect but I’d be interested to hear others opinions.


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[ZX9RCAM]

I'm just wondering how many heroin addicts never smoked pot first, just jumped straight into heroin.

 

[Sublime]

I’m pretty split on the subject. I have to admit that many of the anti MJ arguments aren’t all that convincing.


Since gateway drug was mentioned recently I have a question. What makes MJ a gateway drug, but not alcohol or cigarettes? Most I knew in school who smoked pot were drinking first. Personally I don’t think any of them are gateways. More of a correlation than causation effect but I’d be interested to hear others opinions.


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CO has had real problems from legalization. Of course, I was convinced before that anyway. Honestly, most pot users I have come across are not that successful. There will always be exceptions. It also seems like many lose some of their intelligence with continued use.

My answer for the gateway question? It's just weed man. It starts with something small and leads to harder drugs. Hey I smoked pot, I might as well try ........ Again, are there exceptions? Sure. Kinda like a lot of criminals start out doing less serious crime that leads to serious felonies.

If we could point to MI users that actually benefit society on average, I would be all for it. They are a drain on society.



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[vmax]

I'm just wondering how many heroin addicts never smoked pot first, just jumped straight into heroin.

Yeah. If you could find the truth and ask some end of the road druggies living under a bridge and ask them if they just woke up one day, quit their job, left their families and decided to be a heroin addict.

 

[EZ-E]

I think cigarettes are more of a gate way drug than MJ. It seemed like when I was growing up 13-18yo. just about anyone who smoked cigarettes also smoked MJ. It also seemed like dealers always had more than one product to make money on.
I'd say most of the younger crowd under 30 does other drugs along with pot... of the ones that do drugs. I think most people grow up & dont touch em once they pull their head out of their ass & figure out they need to do something with their life. I also think it depends on how motivated you are & if you have that go get em attitude. Some people have no desire to do anything but work a minimum wage job & bitch about how the man keeps them down.

 

[Vaquero]

Drug laws don't work. Drugs are still everywhere. We can keep throwing billions at a losing endeavor or admit defeat and move on.

Like the "war on drugs?"

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Yeah. If you could find the truth and ask some end of the road druggies living under a bridge and ask them if they just woke up one day, quit their job, left their families and decided to be a heroin addict.

My question was in regards to MJ being a gateway drug.

ETA: I just realized I think you were agreeing with me.

 

[vmax]

@ZX9RCAM I was!

 

[Younggun]

I'm just wondering how many heroin addicts never smoked pot first, just jumped straight into heroin.

This is why I don’t get swayed much by most of the anti pot arguments.

How many heroin addicts never drank a beer first, just jumped straight to heroin?

How many pot smokers never touched heroin?

The questions really don’t address anything and without taking in to account numerous other statistics that probably don’t exist, even the answer to your question is meaningless.




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[ZX9RCAM]

Thanks.

 

[Bithabus]

Like the "war on drugs?"

Yep. We lost.

 

[DoubleDuty]

Ain't Nobodys Business If you do.

 

[OFFascist]

Yep. We lost.

It's hard to fight against capitalism and human nature. The Soviet Union died trying to do just that.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

If you drive a vehicle stoned out of your gourd, or do anything that requires you to be sober/able to concentrate fully and you injure people due to being weed high, your arguments fly out the window.

Sure, stay home and get as baked out of your mind as you care to, no problem, but instead get out and about, cause injury or death due to being high as a kite, don't tell me, 'hey man, I just smoked a little dope, I din do nuttin wrong man, sorry if I killed you....... f.y. and your pitiful arguments regarding smoking weed.

 

[Younggun]

If you drive a vehicle stoned out of your gourd, or do anything that requires you to be sober/able to concentrate fully and you injure people due to being weed high, your arguments fly out the window.

Sure, stay home and get as baked out of your mind as you care to, no problem, but instead get out and about, cause injury or death due to being high as a kite, don't tell me, 'hey man, I just smoked a little dope, I din do nuttin wrong man, sorry if I killed you....... f.y. and your pitiful arguments regarding smoking weed.

And the same for alcohol, right?

If you drive a vehicle drunk, or do anything that requires you to be sober/able to concentrate fully and you injure people due to being drunk, your arguments fly out the window.

Sure, stay home and get as drunk out of your mind as you care to, no problem, but instead get out and about, cause injury or death due to being drunk, don't tell me, 'hey man, I just had a couple beers, I din do nuttin wrong man, sorry if I killed you....... f.y. and your pitiful arguments regarding drinking alcohol.[/B]

Hard to see the argument against weed when people aren’t consistent with what is probably the most abused drug in the nation? If one is bad enough to justify removing the option of individual responsibility, it seems the other should obviously fall in to the same category.



FWIW, my opinion is that anyone who causes a death due to drunk driving should be charged with murder and get the same sentence one would expect to get for choosing to take a like in any other situation.




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[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

Y.G.

We agree.

Drink at home and stay there while drunk. No problem. Same with weed.

I thought that perspective was clear.

But, seeing Judy in the Sky with Diamonds while driving baked or drunk, cause death or injury - go to prison - no waiting.

The Laissez-faire/Live and Let Live philosophy works quite well if the high and/or drunk don't involve the rest of the world.

Stay home high or drunk.

Fine by me.

 

[Younggun]

Y.G.

We agree.

Drink at home and stay there while drunk. No problem. Same with weed.

I thought that perspective was clear.

But, seeing Judy in the Sky with Diamonds while driving baked or drunk, cause death or injury - go to prison - no waiting.

The Laissez-faire/Live and Let Live philosophy works quite well if the high and/or drunk don't involve the rest of the world.

Stay home high or drunk.

Fine by me.

Yep.

At that point the main issue I see is that all the state legalization is just going to lead people right in to a federal bear trap.


Oh, and there also needs to be a massive shift in how we deal with “social safety nets”. As in, we don’t have everyone holding the safety net for a drunk or stoner...or crack head, etc, etc.

These are the other side of the coin for me. We have to move back towards a society that focuses on personal responsibility. Not just for this situation, but if we expect our nation to last at all. We are too the point of rewarding poor choices. Someone shouldn’t be able to choose to survive on welfare.

Wasn’t too long ago people were crying about drug testing for welfare benefits in Texas. But if you are living off the state, you have already become the states bitch. It sucks, and it should suck.


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[toddnjoyce]

Yep.

At that point the main issue I see is that all the state legalization is just going to lead people right in to a federal bear trap.


Oh, and there also needs to be a massive shift in how we deal with “social safety nets”. As in, we don’t have everyone holding the safety net for a drunk or stoner...or crack head, etc, etc.

These are the other side of the coin for me. We have to move back towards a society that focuses on personal responsibility. Not just for this situation, but if we expect our nation to last at all. We are too the point of rewarding poor choices. Someone shouldn’t be able to choose to survive on welfare.

Wasn’t too long ago people were crying about drug testing for welfare benefits in Texas. But if you are living off the state, you have already become the states bitch. It sucks, and it should suck.

This is pretty much where I sit, too. Until the Feds remove marijuana from the Schedule I list, medical MJ is unlawful at the federal level, despite state decisions otherwise. Even if it’s reduced to a Schedule V drug, there is still unlawful abuse.

Which leads to the path that MJ should not be classified as a drug. Personally, I believe it should be lumped in the same category as all the other natural remedies, such as St John’s Wort...it then becomes a supplement, which is essentially unregulated.

The question then becomes how to deal with short- and long-term impairment and outcomes related to that.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

"I believe it should be lumped in the same category as all the other natural remedies, such as St John’s Wort"

Natural remedies, like opium?

Which is often refined into morphine.

Then heroin was originally designed to cure morphine addiction. Great results derived from the natural remedy poppy plant, btw.......

Also, 'Wort' is simply old English for the word 'plant'.

 

[toddnjoyce]

"I believe it should be lumped in the same category as all the other natural remedies, such as St John’s Wort"

Natural remedies, like opium?

Which is often refined into morphine.

Then heroin was originally designed to cure morphine addiction. Great results derived from the natural remedy poppy plant, btw.......

Also, 'Wort' is simply old English for the word 'plant'.

My comment was specifical to Marijuana. But, like opium, it’s a slippery slope...opium refined to morphine. marijuana plant refined to hash/hashish.

Which is probably the logic behind MJ being a Schedule I drug. And why it probably won’t come off that list for a while.