When will Maryland get on the marijuana bandwagon?? (organic, tax)

[Mr Beco]

Hogan is bent on fixing Maryland's heroin issue. So, I'm pretty sure he wont be legalizing Pot....

I mean, these schools apparently cost billions of dollars, billions.....wow, why not use pot as a financing avenue?

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Barry Rock

Hogan is bent on fixing Maryland's heroin issue.

That sort of phrasing might lead some to believe the nature of the problem is singular.
Because it ISN'T singular... no 'fix' can work.
It's rather like squeezing a balloon.

Until we're willing to separate out the public health aspects from the criminal aspects
associated with "the problem" not much that can be done will make much difference.

[R_Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by adelphi_sky

All I care about is sentencing laws. Marijuana possession needs to be seriously decriminalized.

I can carry two kegs of beer in the back of a truck and various hard liquors for a party and not be arrested.
I can carry a bottle full of nighttime cold medicine and not be arrested.
I can smoke various tobacco products in public and not be arrested.
I can carry half a cabinet of prescribed and over-the-counter drugs and not be arrested.

When will government come to its senses and stop this insane criminalization of a substance that is no more harmful than those I listed above that are perfectly legal, but can cause more deaths than marijuana ever could?



CDC - Fact Sheets-Alcohol Use And Health - Alcohol



CDC - Fact Sheet - Tobacco-Related Mortality - Smoking & Tobacco Use



CDC - Facts - Drug Overdose - Home and Recreational Safety - Injury Center


Deaths from marijuana? The CDC has no statistics. Hmmm. Wonder why? Therefore, why does someone have to go to jail for a bag of weed? Seriously? I know why. Because of big tobacco. They see marijuana smoking as a threat to their product offering. That is the ONLY reason I think marijuana is as illegal as it is today. And is probably why the tobacco companies tried to make cigarettes more addictive. So that they could compete with any recreational substance people put in their bodies including drugs. Just a hunch.

Like today, people who control the "news" (and I use that word loosely) are the ones who imprint people's brains with fear, misdirection and misinformation. Anyone who doesn't realize the news is tainted and they are being misled, is really lost. This is why we have sites like CD and other places where you can at least discuss things and figure out where, in the midst of spin and smoke and mirrors, you can find something close to what really happened.

So - as always, ask the question, "Cui Bono?" ALWAYS ask that question, whether someone is telling you ALL Republicans are evil, or ALL immigrants are evil, or ALL XXX hate YYYY... WHO is BENEFITING from that message?

So, here's your answer in a nutshell - a newspaper magnate by the name of William Randolph Hearst owned forests, lumber yards and paper mills back in the early 1900's... he ALSO owned a chain of newspapers. He sold his products to his other companies -- essentially triple dipping. Now comes the end of the war. Americans were encouraged all over the USA to grow hemp for the war effort. Hemp makes amazing products like rope, paper, oils, and many other things. In the early 1900's it was also a wonderful little break from alcohol. Smoking dope was legal.

OOPS. Hearst and his buddies at DuPont didn't want to lose money on all their ventures that were in competition with the much more eco-friendly and healthier Hemp. Hemp was in their way. (Yes, if you are a history buff, my apologies for simplifying this. Many Others were also involved, including those Nanny bureaucrats we still have with us today -- people who think they should be your caretakers and make the government big enough to run all our lives...)

Thus began REEFER MADNESS!

Some of you may recognize the Hearst name from the Patricia Hearst/Steven Weed (yes that was his name LOL) saga. She was kidnapped in 1974 and drama ensued.

Her grandpa William, also of Hearst Castle fame, was one of the key money backers in the fearmongering that suddenly surrounded Marijuana. Kids in school were taught that, "If you smoke just ONE REEFER you could go on a hysterical and maniacal killing spree and kill your grandmother!!!"

It was legendary how quickly they got everyone and their grandma up in arms.
It doesn't take much now and took even less at that time to convince people something is true even when it's a pile of horsepucky. Humans are just so easily influenced that within a short decade, people were plowing under their lucrative hemp farms, dope went underground, criminals and the black market took over, and here we are...100 years later still trying to convince bureaucrats that this weed is far less harmful than that Xanax or Percocet or godknowswhatelse you took to temporarily get rid of that pain.

For more - go here HOW DID we get here?
and here Statement of Harry J. Anslinger -- fascinating

I'm happy to see states like Maryland finally FINALLY allowing Medical Marijuana. Cannabis oil actually has been found to cure, or at least lessen the severity of, many types of cancer. That has been known for 100 years. It's criminal that it took this long to be legal again. We know the truth now. People are figuring things out. Unfortunately there are many who stand to lose if it's completely legalized. Just think about it. But the moment cash-strapped states understood the huge - HUGE tax advantage of legalizing it, suddenly - "Hey, maybe we should take another look at this, guvnor!" From the sounds of it, the Commission is finally getting the ball rolling to make it available to the people.

And so here we are, kids. End of lecture. (yes, the history buffs, please jump in, I'm sure I got something squirrelly. I've been giving this lecture for far too long...)

[Andrea44]

Why would you want to decriminalize it??? So more people can do that bull* ?? Ridiculous

[Mr Beco]

Originally Posted by Andrea44

Why would you want to decriminalize it??? So more people can do that bull* ?? Ridiculous

It can cure disease......its not bull. Plus the revenue it brings in can pay for all the special interest programs like free tuition for illegal immigrants, and fix our roads and bridges. Plus we can throw more money into that black hole called Education......god knows they need billions more. I mean, gambling money only goes so far!!!

[Mr Beco]

Allegedly, it can cure disease.....I should have said so many years ago. No proof of that so far....IMO

[south77]

July 1st.

[Quick Enough]

Originally Posted by Mr Beco

Rhode Island is next.....

Major profit center.............

You are free to move to another state that has de-criminalized it

[Mr Beco]

Originally Posted by Quick Enough

You are free to move to another state that has de-criminalized it

Tons of choices now!

[roodd279]

Look, touchy subject, especially among the connoisseurs, but here are my observations in "pot legal" places, as well as over the years being on both sides of the issue:


1. You do not "think" as well when you're high, you simply do not. Decision making suffers.
2. EVERYONE knows when you're high. Everyone. Never think "you fooled them." You did not.


Because of these facts - and they are facts - and combined with the OTHER fact the plenty of places do not drug test - we regularly enter a business where the entire staff is too stoned to help. They're giggling or sitting on the floor or unable to answer questions or busy eating. Their defense is, HEY IT'S LEGAL. Sure. But it's stupid.


Do that crap at home, or at fishing, or at the golf course, or something - but why would you do it at your job, and expect customers to return? Why would you do it at home - if you have kids, since any urgent situation would require a smart decision within seconds - and you might not be able to provide it? Yet folks do..."cuz it's legal, mannn."



Making it legal SHOULD have removed the stigma, and allowed folks who want to smoke responsibly to do so in a comfortable environment, preferably their own house. Not their car. INSTEAD, it gave the green flag to show up at any and every venue including your job or school too stoned to be useful. Without any repercussions, this is now what we have. And it's why I can't support legalizing it. Not because I am anti-weed - that would be crazy hypocrisy - but because I'm anti-idiot. I do not care if you're high. I care that I have to deal with you while you're high, and that you being high is preventing me from doing whatever I need to do - like order a burger.