Marijuana Wars, Part 1: Vanguard Trailer

Well said.

Very well said.

I am guessing by your statement that there is no difference between alcohol drinking and marijuana smoking. I beg to differ. Let me explain.

You must first ask yourself, "What is my intention?" Society accepted that drinking is a social intent. One can have a hard day at work and decide to drink a beverage that will assist in relaxation. Drinking can be controlled to avoid becoming "drunk". It is accepted as a recreational activity for adults who enjoy the beverage.

Consequently, the primary objective of smoking a joint is to get stoned. After the first hit, you become high. The following hits do little in escalating the level of being high. The social consideration is that becoming high instantly can do nothing but cause chaos in society. The social dynamics are totally diametric, or opposite. Being high promotes laziness and impairs memory, promotes sleep and overeating.

An example would be: going to the Dentist to have a tooth pulled. In the first case. Novocain is used. In the second case, a much more powerful drug is used. Under Novocain, the patient is numb in a specific area. The patient can drive themselves home without assistance. The second, both are drugs, has a deeper affect on the patient. The patient is not able to take themselves home due to the affect of the drug.

Now, if you equate the two by comparing marijuana to "being drunk", you now have another situation completely.

Alcohol has been proved to provide control to the mature adult and is easily detected by the police. There will always be those who lose control with anything and suffer the consequences.

One more thing: Although the proceeds from the black market alcohol sales did find their ways to organized crime, almost all of the marujna sales are being used to support terrisom.

So here is my point. What is more relative in todays world? The sales of alcohol sometimes supporting organized crime which was heavily monitored by the government, or sales of marijuana which is supporting the biggest danger the USA faces today? The answer is a no brainer.

Any ex-hippie will tell you, if they are honest, that the movement of the 60's failed. The young people, who I was one, denied the existence of evil in the form of exploitation and corruption. The belief was, if everyone smoked, then peace and love would exist throughout the world, when in fact, the hippies were used and abused by those who exploited the ignorance for their personal gain.

You will find ex-hippies existing is the world today, but only located very far away from the dangers I speak of. They remain in their own little world, completely isolated from many, if not all of the evils of human nature. If they truly believed in what they preached, they would be accepted in the toughest areas of America. But, deep inside they know better.

@veeger
Since you took the time to respond reasonably to my comment, I will return the favor. I believe you are truly trying to grapple with the difficulties of prohibition, and what it really means for a society.

From my perspective, there are a couple of assumptions in your statement that I would draw your attention to:

Firstly, I believe you were reading a little more into my comment than I actually meant. Specifically, I was merely speaking to the fact that calling it a "War on Drugs" rather than a "Prohibition War", is a strategy intended to make people believe that the violence we are seeing is drug-related, instead of prohibition-related.

Whatever you may believe about marijuana vs. alcohol, you must see that regardless of the substance being prohibited, prohibition itself, by making the trade in the substance illegitimate, forces those who are trading it to resort to violence to settle their disputes, since the normal, non-violent course of action (i.e. tackling the dispute through the court system) is denied to them.

Secondly, you made an interesting statement, which I shall paraphrase slightly, that people drink alcohol to socialize and relax, and can do so without getting "drunk", whereas people who smoke do so only to get "high." Perhaps you have never smoked marijuana, so you are basing your position on what you believe a "high" to be.

Speaking from my own experience, the so-called "high" from marijuana is rather on a "sliding-scale", much like alcohol, ranging from a simple sense of relaxation (like that first drink of wine during a meal), graduating to an enhancement of the senses: i.e. brighter colors, more intense experience of music, visual arts or dance. This is often accompanied by a sense of creative revelation or insight. Certainly, one can overdo it, and taken in excess quantities, it has a soporific effect, leading to sleep. Actually, medically, it is used that way to induce sleep when one is plagued by insomnia.

In addition, there are different "qualities" of "high" experienced, depending on the particular strain of cannabis used. There is the so-called "body high" which is less of a change in mental perception, and can be likened to an intense relaxation. Again, medically, this is used for spastic conditions like those in occurring in people with MS. Muscle spasms, or chronic pain, or neuropathic conditions are ameliorated. This is why, for many people, it can allow people to resume activities, like cleaning and cooking, that they were unable to do prior to using cannabis. This "body high" usually occurs when one ingests an indica strain.

The sativa strain provides more of a "mental high." It tends to lift the spirits, and can be useful in treating depression.

One other factor is the balance of THC and CBD (two of the main cannabinoids in marijuana). A good balance of THC and CBD can result in a mildly euphoric experience (hence the laughter which often occurs in a social setting.)

In strains with an over-abundance of THC (like the pure THC found in marinol), the effect tends to be more intense, and are not quite as pleasant, though some prefer it, because it can intensify the thought process, though many don't really like it.

Clearly, some people simply should not use cannabis. Just like some people simply should not drink alcohol. That is only common sense.

With regard to the "hippie" question: having been there, and done that, I would say, again from my perspective, that the movement succeeded. We raised the issues of sustainability, recycling, taking care of this planet we all live on, sharing resources, being honest in relationships, letting go of "being right." This is a movement which has entered the mainstream. You can see it all around you. And, it is a good thing.

Finally, your comment about marijuana sales fueling terrorism speaks exactly to my point, that by driving commerce around marijuana underground, we have made something that would normally have the agricultural value of parsley into something that can make someone very wealthy with little effort. By taking away social oversight (because if something is prohibited it cannot be controlled), we not only lose the economic benefit that the society as a whole would have enjoyed, but we turn over all that benefit to cartels and the like.

Of course, all I have said is open to debate, but I wanted to share a different perspective with you.

BULLSHIT

oh i beg to differ too....
go to the ER on any friday night and see who comes in bleeding and dying . shot or beat up....drunks...

you said "Drinking can be controlled to avoid becoming "drunk". It is accepted as a recreational activity for adults who enjoy the beverage."

i say "12,000 people die every year because they think they are in control of a car but they aint."

where is your stats for people dying from cannabis..driving? OD?... period...

none, never, case closed....

booze kills what ? 80,000 ? 100,000 ? what about lost wages and spousal abuse

You make your point in an intelligent manor. There are so many shades of grey in place here that I often confuse myself. It seems that the experience of smoking varies dramatically from person to person, however, I did not see this during my youth. I smoked very often, but it was always, "instant high". After only one hit. Any more after that did relatively nothing.

Even as a young man, I did not see how adults, or anyone in authority, could get anything done while being high. My experience was, in this order, get high, become paranoid, laugh, get dry mouth and red eyes, laugh more, figure out some sort of complex social issue, forget what I just figured out, eat a lot, then sleep.

So, even though you make some interesting and thought provoking points, I am still fighting the urge to say; "go ahead and make it legal". Again, too many shades of grey.
I do find it difficult poking holes in your position. I will just continue to give the subject more thought.

Thanks for the interesting give and take.

You can learn a lot from brinna. Notice how she decided to communicate.

legalize cannabis......

deaths from marijuana vs deaths from alcohol
its really that simple

actualy really negative impact on us as individuals and as a collective vs that of alcohol.

Why even bring up the Subject of Someone Performing some sort of action that is important, in a sense to the operation and maintaining of a "System", Nobody is saying " Hey, I'm gonna smoke and go to Work today" or"Hey,I'm gonna drink and go to Work Today," Nobody sensible at least.

In my Opinion, it is more of People(Those that i know that smoke) are saying that " I can Legally Smoke a Pack of Newports or take 14 Advil and die, but i can't roll up a joint,in the privacy of my home without the Police trying to Lock me up."

I can Understand a War On Safety, Stopping people from willfully harming themselves to reach some sense of Mental Altitude above that of which is Normal, but "If Alcohol, Tobacco and Prescription Drugs are legal, Why is Marijuana illegal?"

Just some Info on me. 17 years old, High school Junior, Smoke Occasionally,Currently Stoned. I haven't seem the world yet but if at my age i can Understand the difference between Marijuana and Cocaine, it must mean our Government is ran by a bunch of Morons.

Supporting terrorism is nothing to brag about let alone profit from. If you don't agree, educate yourself. Take your business to Mexico and save the shipping charges.

LEGALIZE CANNABIS

where do you get your information. these have not been the results of legalization, um, anywhere.

The rapes and murders are a direct result of the illegal drug trade. California is a total mess without this problem. Things will only get worse. The illegal drug kindpins are using the desparate Mexican citizens to run their operations. If they fail, it would mean death not only to the workers, but also their families. We should spend as much as needed to put a serious dent in this business and to keep it under attack.

YOU SOUND LIKE A COP

weve already spent billions trying..but cannabis is more popular than ever....
maybe because its the best medicine on the planet and we dont believe people like you anymore...with your lies and propaganda...
have you ever heard of science ? i have....
cannabis cures
hemp will save the planet...

or take away the market from them and legalize it.
a lot less taxing on our pockets, and a nonconfrontational method.