On the legalization of weed.....

Could be a hit.

I could never be considered a liberal, but I'm for legalization.  It's counter-intuitive for conservatives, and especially for law enforcement types......but you can get there,  and then see the futility of the enforcement we do now. 

I've posted it before......I lost a partner who was shot and killed over a 30.00 bag of weed fighting the "war on drugs".....dumbest chit ever.

you say you're not a liberal....but you seem to land on the liberal side of most social issues in COJ

Yeah, on social issues I'd agree with you......but I tend to think they ought to be left out of politics/govt. to begin with....but I haven't given much thought to how that would be done.  I guess I just don't want the govt. messing in issues that don't really concern anyone else except the party(s) involved.......like gay marriage, abortion, smoking weed, etc........geez, there are plenty of issues that actually do affect other people to worry about.  All of this time wasted on issues of a personal nature just makes me shake my head.

I don't know......you could make exactly the same argument about alcohol, and yet the majority of kids don't drink.  It's mostly parenting in my experience or, I should say, the lack of parenting.  As for 12 year olds smoking weed....that went on when I was in middle school in the 70's, not much has changed there.

That being said.....I do have a bit of concern with young people smoking weed these days due to the crazy amounts of THC in the weed today.  It's 5-10 times more potent then the ditch weed we smoked as kids.  I think we should really go out of our way to keep kids away from it while their brains are developing.  But laws won't do it......we've tried that.

There are all kinds of things in the world that can hurt kids....and most of them are already legal.  I see no point in keeping the drug war charade up in the name of legality.....being illegal doesn't stop anyone from using it, but it sure is big business in the name of lawyers, police agencies, prisons, etc.

BINGO. 

First, excellent post!

Second, making it legal doesn't change anything.  People don't stay away from things that will hurt them because they are illegal.  They stay away because someone took them by the hand and walked with them.  Along the way they said, "no, not that way, this way."  Without that, it's really hard to navigate.

O.k., so we've talked about the kids.  Now let's talk about, "We" the adults.  I live here in Colorado, and here are my perceptions.

1.  Making it legal to smoke privately = Potheads think it is legal to smoke anywhere.  Literally, all over Denver, out in the open people are smoking and cops do nothing.  Yesterday, during the 1/2 marathon I was running we come around a corner and the whole area smelled.  As we get around the corner, there is the cop blocking traffic.  What the hell?

2.  Grow houses stink.  There are parts of the city where Block of Block, all you smell is weed 24x7.  Guess what.  I don't want to smell it!!!!

3.  Legalization = people think it is o.k. to smoke and drive.  Pulled up to a traffic light the other day.  Smell pot.  Look around.  Guy next to me has a bong in his lap.

4.  MJ is now appropriate for all occasions.  It used to be that when you went to concerts you would smell some pot.  Now it is like 70% of the audience smoking.  And even at indoor events like sporting events there are people smoking.  We even saw some people smoking at a College graduation last week.  Crazy stuff.

I know people will say that people drink, or this has been happening forever, but the fact is these occurances have increased significantly, and show no signs of lessening.  If I didn't love Colorado and my Job, I would think about leaving.

So while I understand the idea of legalization, I just hope we can get control of this so everyone else doesn't have to be affected by those that want to partake.

I've been thinking about your post for a couple of days trying to decide how I felt about it.  On the one hand it probably just goes to show how many people have been smoking weed behind closed doors.  I doubt most of the 70% in your example started smoking when it became legal.

The grow house issue will probably be straightened out eventually.  I can see how the smell will become a nuisance issue. My guess is that the driving and smoking deal will start to get enforced more as well. 

Actually, I think every issue you raised is valid.  I also think it will take a bit of time for us to figure out just what we want to regulate and what we don't.  There are plenty of regulations regarding alcohol and tobacco, and I think we'll get there with weed in time.

I wish I could find some numbers on how the black market trade is doing out there.......I can see that being a problem as well if there is too much regulation....and that's the part I want to see cleaned up the most.

Seriously? 

You know what stinks? Tobacco products.  People think its just ok to smoke everywhere. I run down the street and into a cloud of tobacco smoke.

It used to be that people just drank inside, now, I go out on the street and theres people drunk everywhere. Throwing up in the streets, etc. etc. People think its ok to drink and drive. A friend of mine almost died in a drinking related accident.

Oh heavans, i saw people drinking before a football game in the parking lot! and in the stadium too! smoking cigs and cigars.  can't believe people would think that drinking is for every occasion.

I don't see how anything you said applies to just weed.  Maybe the growhouse thing...but that will be sorted out in time and with zoning laws. Drycleaning shops smell like shite too.

You know what, your right.  Tobacco does stink.  And so do E-Cigs and so on.  But you know what at least here in CO, when I'm running on trails there is more Weed then CIgs.  Now in the city that may be different.

And as for alcohol, it doesn't affect those around them unless they run into you and hurt you.  But the same applies for weed or any other drugs.  Definitely doesn't apply to Tobacco.

The thing is 2 wrongs don't make a right.  I'm not trying to justify one over the other.  I don't drink, smoke or do drugs.  I think they are all bad.  But I don't have a problem with individuals doing any of them until they start to affect me and my family.  Weed is doing that.  

I put weed in the same class as Alcohol.  But you know what.  The act of someone drinking at a sporting event doesn't affect me.  If they become beligerent that is different.  but smoking does affect me.  My clothes will smell, I don't need my daughter having to smell it.  It's just not appropriate.  Here in Colorado, they do not allow smoking in bars.  You know what, it makes it a lot more fun to go to the bar.  Even if I'm not drinking.

So basically dmiller, you can have your opinion and I'll have mine.  We can agree to disagree.  And yes, SERIOUSLY!!!

It has been my experience that alcohol and marijuana are vastly different.  I'd hate to put a number on it, because it would somewhere close to 100%, but virtually every family disturbance or assault I have to deal with has alcohol involved.  People are stupid when they are drunk, but a large percentage of those idiots are also violent.  It affects EVERYBODY around them.  Again, I'd hate to put a number on it because it'd be close to 100%.....but I can't recall dealing with some violent azzhat because he was stoned.  It just doesn't happen. 

If we are going to be stuck on having drugs be illegal, let's make a 1 for 1 trade for weed over alcohol......we'll all be MUCH better off.

Colorado Gov. says, "what we've found is that people who smoked marijuana before it became legal still smoke it and people who didn't smoke it before it became legal still don't smoke it".......well................DUH!!!

http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/15/news/companies/dish-employee-firing-marijuana-colorado-court/index.html