Just watch it for yourself.
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148 Responses to “The Flower: Great anti-prohibition animation”
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That was an interesting video.
Free the weed !
I’m all for a repel of marijuana prohibition but what this video is implying is a bit ridiculous. The video borders on propaganda. Legalization of marijuana is not a panacea for all of society’s ills. Crime, bars, and disease will still be prevalent after it is legalized. I would also be willing to wager if the government doesn’t align prices properly that there will still be street level dealers.
The video was very well done, but it was also a bit over the top. That being said vote yes on Proposition 19 Cali blaze a trail for the other 49 states.
wow, a friend told me the same thing about marijuana, should be legalized!
I can’t believe that you all really suport this things. Work hard and stop try to scape from raelity!
Poor Wladimir! First, learn how to spell and use our (American) grammar if you’re going to post; second, smoke a joint and relaaaax; third, the reality is that nobody (not a single person in recorded history) has EVER died as a direct cause of the use of marijuana. Why make something illegal if it has no direct connection to negative impact?
Brilliant!!! I’d say it actually represented the situation quite accurately.
@ Wladimir
you need to escape from your spelling
Wladimir-Why do you care? I have smoked since I was 14 yrs. old and have never hurt anyone, much less you. Why are you interested in what others care to smoke or inject or whatever–if you do not like drugs, DO NOT USE THEM. But please, leave us the fuck alone.Who appointed you the guardian of everyone else’s morality? I worked hard and paid taxes and did everything I was supposed to do-and I smoke weed. Legally, I might add. My hard work earned me three ruptured discs and a medical marijuana card. If your life is so empty that you have to worry about what I do, then you are pretty fucking pathetic.YOU go work hard and have fun with your reality-leave me alone. And learn to spell.
Wladimir, you’re an idiot. You should smoke a joint and go work hard on your spelling.
^loser
Remind me not to invite Wladimir to my party! everyone else.. you’re in!
Who says we’re trying to escape reailty?
So what if I enjoy smoking pot on occasion? I’m still a successful person. I own my own home, go to work at a job I love every day, and I’m happily married to the most wonderful woman in the world. Reailty is amazing. Pot does not let you escape reality. It’s a recreational drug, very similar to alcohol. Either one, used in moderation, is an enhancement to life. Light up, take a puff or two, then see what you think.
Marijuana use is encouraged by communists who want to take over America. If we all toke up then the commies win.
This is ridiculous. lol.
@Raygun: if that’s true, I say “woo Communism!”
Raygun is absolutely right. It undermines the American way of life.
Also, Marijuana needs to stay illegal because it’s a proven gateway drug.
The way I see it drugs aren’t the problem people are. Some are waaay overmedicated and some are not medicated enough. I have met my share of folks for whom even a healthy addiction to crack or heroin might even be an improvement, and I have met my share of people who would benefit from abstaining from every type of mind altering substance available both legally and illegally. Drugs aren’t for everyone, but there are always some absolutely perfect for someone.
LOL YOU GYZ CAN FIGHT AMONG URSELF WEATHER YOU WANT TO LEGALIZE IT OR NOT OR IS IT COMMUNISIM OR CAPTALISM BUT FOR ME WEED IS GREAT AND I WILL BE SMOKING IT WITHOUT A CARE… WELL BACK IN MY COUNTRY IT USED TO GROW AT THE BANK OF THE RIVER IN THE CITY, AT THE OPEN FIELD AND WHEREEVER IT USED TO FIND A PLACE.. WE USE TO MAKE HASH OF IT.. AND I DID CONTINUE AND I STILL DO… WELL I AM FROM NEPAL AND STUMBLED FROM NEW YORK…. AND LITTLE MORE IFO ABOUT MYSELF I HAVE TWO JOBS ONE IN REMITTANCE COMPANY AND ANOTER AS REAL ESTATE AND GOING TO FINISN MY MASTER IN FEW MONTH.. GOOD LIFE GUYZ DO WHAT UR FUCKING HEART SAY… PEACE OUT…
B
Boobs feel good
Dear John,
What exactly is the American way of life? I thought it was “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” I don’t think weed undermines that statement at all. Besides the only reason it’s a gateway drug is because the dealers who sell it also sell other drugs, easy access. If it was regulated there would be less of an issue. It’s not just weed but industrialized hemp that needs to be legalized. Can anyone say PROFIT?!
@john:
“Also, Marijuana needs to stay illegal because it’s a proven gateway drug.”
This argument really needs to go away because it is total nonsense. If anything is a gateway drug, it’s alcohol. But anwyay, let’s put it this way: I think if you asked most heroin addicts what the first illegal drug they tried was, most would probably say “pot”. But if you turn that around and look at the number of people who tried pot and then later became addicted to harder drugs, I’m quite certain the percentage would be minuscule. Nearly everyone I know has tried pot and I know many people that smoke frequently. (and most of them are perfectly successful, btw- doctors, lawyers, engineers, business owners) I don’t know a single drug addict. Wait, I take that back, I know a few alcoholics.
http://www.hoboes.com/FireBlade/Editorials/Legalize/
Educate yourself… If you haven’t already!
Great Video!
@john
have you considered maybe they tried pot first because its one of the easiest things to get and then they just got better connected with ppl who have so called “hard drugs” just because the first thing they tried was pot doesnt mean they wouldnt or couldnt have just as easily started with coke or shrooms pot is just easy to get if you insist that pot is a gateway drug then i say crackers are a gateway to soda or ice cream is a gateway to obesity anything can be a gateway for anything so stop making excuses and smoke a fuckin bowl
Gateway drug? I don’t even have the patience to write about it.. Saying pot is a gateway drug
is saying that you can’t control yourself. Please stop the bullshit and mind your own business.
John and Raygun,
Open a book. Our founding fathers were some of the biggest cannabis plantation owners in the world. Jefferson was a regular toker (which is documented in his journals). Washington owned large cannabis plantations. They spoke of cannabis on a regular basis and how it was far superior for the use of many things such as rope, clothing, and recreational smoking. Hemp was the cash crop America was founded on before the cotton fields of the South and was shared equally with tobacco and loved more so. Read about our history before you speak about our history.
P.S. I have a degree in History and Economics. Oh, and I teach your children. Sleep on that.
This videos message is more appropriate for Opium than Marijuana. Flowers that cure pain, seriously. I hate how everyone is all about ending Marijuana prohibition but not doing the greater good and ending all drug prohibition. We shouldn’t let our government legislate morality.
This is like the opposite of Reefer Madness. Just as stupid and ridiculous except on the pro instead of con side.
I agree with dan on that one, it looks like an opium based video. Furthermore I think that weed should not be legal just highly decriminalized. I would rather buy my weed from a little mom and pop shop (people like you and me) vs costco weed, which will probably happen if it becomes legal in cali. These huge companies will take over the industry and put all the little guys out of business. People who now make their living off it will suffer. This then will not bring crime rates down because they will have to switch to other drugs to make sure their families have food and a place to live. Honestly unless you are carrying over an ounce your just going to get a slap on the wrist or at most a ticket, its california for god sakes your in the minority if you dont smoke it
Well, just so you know- people who think weed will become some commercial leviathan that pushes dirt product- prop 19 allows the personal cultivation of cannabis. So hell man, who said anything about even paying for it.
And for anyone who says cannabis is some reality escaping tool I can simply say you are wrong. Weed exists, it and effects generated are just as much part of this reality as close minded individuals such as yourselves. Because if you think cannabis is a distraction, really look closely at your life and your applied logic now says everything can be viewed as a distraction from what our reality should be. Freedom to make our own decisions without the hands of others choking our free will.
I’m with you on that Dan. End all legislature against victimless “crimes”.
they say violent video games makes people violent. i play violent games, im not violent. they say smoking pot leads to more, i say f_ck that. stupid people lead to more. ive been smoking for 13 years and i never laid a finger on anything more than weed. weed is not a gateway drug, the mind is the gate. weak people are weak, pot does not make you weak. look at people like bill clinton (became president of the united states) and michael phelps. he smoked and won 12 olympic gold medals shattering all sorts of records. if it truly makes all users lazy and non-contributing to society then why do people excel and use marijuana simultaneously?
Hahahah Jack! Was going to say the same thing! Legalize Marijuana…. and if you don’t know how to spell then don’t put up an f-ing commment
man im glad i live in New Zealand and dont have to put up with crazed fundamentalists. regardless of the weed debate.
Pot is a gateway drug because you have to get it from drug dealers. Drug dealers are opportunistic and will sell anything they can make money on. So if you are offered heroin, cocaine, etc. when you buy pot, eventually you might try hard drugs. If you could get your pot from the pot store the gateway effect would go away.
@Bump
So for instance, if you came into my store everyday as a non cigarette smoker and I offered you them everyday, you would eventually start smoking? Smoking weed vs. snorting cocaine or shooting/smoking heroin are completely different. If you are stupid enough to go from something mildly unhealthy to something life threatening/wrecking then it is no one’s fault but your own. I smoke weed, my dealer has tried to sell me other drugs, but I continue with the same answer “No, just the weed”. He stopped shortly after, I don’t do dangerous drugs, I smoke weed at night just like most people would have an evening drink. I don’t drive while under the influence and anyone who does needs to be put away, its all about responsibility and policing yourself rather than policing everyone else. Stop trying to force your beliefs onto us, because we don’t try to force our beliefs on to you. We are just trying to get the chance to practice our beliefs without fear of reprisal from the government.
Marijuana is not a way of escaping reality, but rather a way of enhancing it!
@john.
fuggin’ troll.
speed poppies!!
Reminds me of how great our country once was………… until the Republicans got themselves appointed.
this made me lol.
lol John. Marjuana is proven TO NOT BE A GATEWAY drug. Learn your facts. I smoke it all the time yet I avoid ciggs, alcohol, and deffinatly don’t want to do anything more.
Whoa, I just proved that it isn’t a gateway drug. Take that people who never even tried it yet have crazy biased opinions about it!
@critic, well put man i wish more people would think like you do
@Vanaeph. The video implies that marijuana has medicinal value, not that it will heal all desiese. It COMPARES marijuana to alcohol and bars, and shows the different effects of each side by side for illustrative purposes. And finally, it’s not saying that marijuana has a direct effect on the amount of crime in a city, rather that illegalizing marijuana CREATES crime by making it nessicary for you break the law in order to obtain it, and unregulated distribution provides ways for gangs and drug cartels to make money…and fight or kill over it. In a nutshell, prohibition of ANYTHING doesn’t work, and is a pointless waste of government funding, taxpayer dollars, and causes otherwise normal members of society to be labled as criminals.
marijuana is unfiltered and quite bad for the lungs….
Why can’t politics watch this video the way I do? It would be legal then.
Calling marijuana a gateway drug is practically offensive. I have been smoking for 3 years and 90% of the people I purchase from don’t align their business with anything but pot, and I have never felt obligated to try anything else. Despite what those of you who don’t smoke see in movies like Bad Boys 2 and other movies, dealers never push unwanted substances onto their customers unless THEY themselves want it. It isn’t a gateway drug, because in the end the only gateway is the choice YOU make. And as far as calling it “dangerous”, I would have to agree that driving is unacceptable when under the influence. In no way would I even compare marijuana to alcohol and tobacco, two of America’s biggest killers.
You can’t overdose.
You can’t become addicted.
How can we comfortably accept alcohol and nicotine products in society and not this? Legalize it.
That´s the most stupid thing I´ve ever seen…
@Hulo
Filtered cigarettes are much worse for your lungs than marijuana.
Additionally vaporizers are getting more advanced…they have little handheld things that look like big cell phones…powered by butane. So no actual smoke required.
And once again…Who is anyone to judge or control what others do when they’re not hurting other people? Ever been to a music festival? There’s alot of them in the northeast…everyone there smokes. They are some of the most laid back and genuinely friendly people on the face of the planet.
I support the legalization for marijuana, but this video is an exaggeration. I agree that it would be good for the economy, and decrease drug-related crime and the costs that go with it. Also, I believe it does have medical uses. Although, many people don’t realize that marijuana can be very dangerous. I used to smoke it all the time. I know it’s not physically addictive and impossible to overdose on, but it can trigger mental problems in certain people, including myself. Fortunately, I stopped before anything serious but many people develop mental illnesses like psychotic or anxiety illnesses. Also, even know your body doesn’t get addicted to it, it is psychologically addictive. I crave it pretty often. Luckily, it’s easy to stop with motivation.
What I’m trying to say is this video makes marijuana seem all good. It’s not, and I know this from personal experience. It has the potential to be psychologically dangerous in certain people. But, we have the right to smoke it by choice, just like we have the right to drink alcohol and smoke tobacco (which are both very physically dangerous drugs).
Smoke till i die
Honestly I just love the fact that on average most people who disagree with the whole premise of legalizing marijuana never tend to actually argue their points. They can make broad stroke cliche statements that involve key words they heard on some morning talk show “Gate-way drugs” or “Respiratory Health issues” or the occasional “Seriously get a job and stop smoking”. Now those people on the news using those words might actually stand a chance defending an argument that they could genuinely believe to be true. But see here’s the disconnect for me, just where the hell do some of you get the balls to pretend you can hold an opinion that anyone in their right mind could respect? Every time people like that are given an opportunity to make their argument all they do is use the same 5 words and then proceed to tune out their brains. Every negative angle has been discussed and dismissed as either hearsay or unfounded. Thousands of studies have been accumulated over the years that have disproven most of the stereotypes of the past. Many nations around the world have been experimenting with decriminalization, countries like Portugal and Spain, 5 years ago people said decriminalization would turn those countries into havens for crime and drug cartels, they were again proven wrong with crime rates plummiting significantly over the last few years and treatments for addictions proving much more effective than an unsustainable prison population packed with small time offenders. In California and many other states medical Marijuana used to be called a fantasy to joke about as well. But now you have literally more dispensaries than starbucks “look it up”. And now even its viability as a very valuable and taxable cash crop is on the table. And as far as how successful the drug war has been with your taxpayer dollars? Well I have worked in countries like Saudi Arabia where the punishment for smoking is death not prison, and yet it is still as vibrant and readily available as it was thousands of years ago, Why? Simply put there’s just too much cash to be made from selling it illegally.
So whats left? What other arguments can average Joe’s against pot make? See i am not against people passionately hating something from their very core and never wanting it to exist, but can you at least try and show you actually know anything about what your talking about? I mean when i pass by and see posts like this where the only real criticism of its cons are coming from the people who are supporting it (i.e: i also agree the above movie was borderline propaganda). So please If you got something against legalizing it then feel free to explain to me why in more than one sentence. Because right now it doesn’t feel like your trying anymore. Its almost as if your my girlfriend trying to pretend you care about my health when in reality your just bothered by how it smells… Well frankly i don’t like how you smell when your either barfing in the stall next to me or pissing on my shoes. So how bouts we call it even?
bazoro world, they make it work!
It’s really quite simple, anyone who opposes Marijuana should actually do some research. Or better yet – actually talk to someone who smokes marijuana. There are millions of good, kind-hearted, hard working Americans, Canadians, Indians, Chinese etc… etc… who smoke marijuana, people who build your homes, people who pump your gas, make your cars, heal you (doctors), Celebrities and more!
I am the owner of a web development firm and I smoke marijuana, I love my family and my friends. IN fact I love them MORE when I smoke marijuana. Face the facts people, THEY LIED TO US STRAIGHT IN THE FACE WHEN WE WERE ALL KIDS. They filled us with lies that we blindly believed because we were so young!!! Only those brave enough to test these blind lies have found the truth – maybe you should stop blindly following what others tell you and discover it for yourself.
to:Dorian D
the punishment in saudi arabia for smoking is not death , its death for smugling across the borders;
check ur facts;
lived there for 17 years
@ Mak
Even though my point was to compare severity of law enforcement at its extremist, you are still correct. However the distinction you make about Saudi Law is only whats on paper, the reality is that the ones who usually are arrested for drug offenses are almost never simply charged with that alone. Having lived in Saudi yourself you probably are using a standard of punishment which is reserved for those of the upper class who can afford getting chastised just for smoking or drinking without any other offenses that they usually reserve for the less fortunate. The distinction is not the same for the rest of the population, In most cases when an immigrant worker / Minority Group / Lower Class citizen is arrested for drug use, you can be certain they will pin any and all charges possible ask any Indian / Pakistani / Phillipino if they simply get off only with “Personal Use” charges. Whats on Paper is one thing and what really goes on is another. They get to decide if your a smoker or a smuggler not the evidence. So the lines are never as cut and dry.
Weed is just like any other drug: it’s different for everyone. while for some it’s not a gate way drug, for others it is. I think the point of this is that we ALL need to be a little more educated before we open our mouths about ANYTHING. We also need to be a bit more accepting of things we don’t ourselves do. just because you don’t smoke, doesn’t make those who do bad. if you don’t like the smell, or the idea, cool. say your peace, but then leave it alone. i don’t go around telling people that don’t shower they’re bad people because of it, or moreso, should be punished. i accept them and their bad smell, and keep it moving. person to person, it’s not of your business what i do, and you’re in for it if you attempt to tell me otherwise. i smoke, almost daily. i’m responsible, i have a great job, i’m not living on assist or food stamps, i don’t do anything else, nor do i associate myself with anyone else who does. (there’s about 10 stereotypes busted right there) there is MUCH money to be made in illegal sales of it. i can see where the government would have a hard time getting their money from it if i can jus grow it in my back yard. however, i don’t believe that just keeping it the way it’s been for 1000′s of years and making it a punishable offense, death, jail, fines, whatever, is working either. the world evolves all the time. we have all adjusted ourselves to the internet and cell phones. I think we could find a “half way point” between those that want to smoke and those that want to make money on it. for those that jus oppose it because thats what we were taugh are narrow minded and don’t deserve much of my attention or effort. worse things happen as a resilt from ALCOHOL or RXs than weed. the worse i’ve seen happen after smoking are the munchies and sleep. we don’t kill people in our cars, we don’t have major psychological effects and go on kill sprees. and i do think that if it were to be legalized the crime WOULD go down, violence WOULD go dow, and the politicans and congress and the president could still make money.
i think its about time our younger generation understands what is true and false. threw out my school life i was forced to sit threw many many drug lessons and all they told me was how bad “this” was and how bad “that” was. its time we tell our kids what is really good and bad so in the future they know the right decisions to make
@ Isaac Karam, Well it is obvious what damage grass done to you, OR you attended neither English nor Spelling class. You are the very poster child for the evils of grass.
Check your own post Robert.
Jonathan says:
September 17, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Jonathan, I might be happily married, but can I just say…I love you. Also, you can teach my children anytime.
“John and Raygun,
Open a book. Our founding fathers were some of the biggest cannabis plantation owners in the world. Jefferson was a regular toker (which is documented in his journals). Washington owned large cannabis plantations. They spoke of cannabis on a regular basis and how it was far superior for the use of many things such as rope, clothing, and recreational smoking. Hemp was the cash crop America was founded on before the cotton fields of the South and was shared equally with tobacco and loved more so. Read about our history before you speak about our history.
P.S. I have a degree in History and Economics. Oh, and I teach your children. Sleep on that.”
OMG that was great!
let’s legalize it, use all that war money to feed hungry people and then explore space, in peace, forever (thank you Bill Hicks!) :P
awesome! the should be playing that on cable television.
Robert litman (who mysteriously starts his last name with a lowercase ‘L’) responds to a comment by Isaac Karam: “Well it is obvious what damage grass [has] done to you, OR you attended neither English nor Spelling class. You are the very poster child for the evils of grass.” Is it your position Mr. litman, that Cannabis retards the development of English and spelling skills in its users? Can you point to a study? Or did you form that opinion more from anecdotal evidence? If it’s the latter, I submit that the overwhelming evidence suggests that fundamentalism causes 10 times as much damage to language usage skills as smoking Marijuana. Just say no to simplistic thinking Bob. Jail for Fundies. Save the Children.
The most ironic thing in my opinion is that people tend to engage in many more dangerous and harmful acts when they are drunk (legal) rather than baked (illegal). When you are baked you (generalized of course) don’t feel like doing much except having a chill social night, listening to music, exploring some cool location, getting creative, watching a good movie and just being smiley and friendly. AND people generally drive SO slowly and cautiously because 50 km per hour feels like light speed! Drunkenness creates much more recklessness, aggression, irresponsibility and disrespect than marijuana does. I just don’t get how alcohol can be legal when pot is illegal. It doesn’t make sense to me, but then again, I am Canadian…
P.S. – yay to LadyMass – I agree :) honestly I think a large part of the reason marijuana is illegal is because it makes people more open minded and questioning of the odd things society and laws and governments have come up with and are imposing on them! Contrary to popular belief, many people tend to think MORE when high on weed, they have a much more organic and creative flow of thoughts – or maybe that’s just me.
In the last four years, I’ve gone from smoking a little weed once in a while, to smoking daily, to not smoking at all and back. It’s a harmless past time. An interest. An activity. To be locked up for it, as I have been, is unjust.
Those who worry about marijuana damaging people’s brains, or being a gateway drug to children need to pipe down (hah) and take a look at alcohol, the only drug that can kill you from quitting cold turkey when you’re addicted.
In 2006, more than 19% of drivers ages 16 to 20 who died in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking alcohol.
http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/facts/drugs-sources.aspx#alcohol
I never saw any other drugs until I started drinking.
Hiya.
I live in a country (Finland), where the maximum sentence for 1st deg. premeditated murder is 12 years, and the max for aggravated narcotics case is 16 years. I know our jailtimes for crimes are ridiculously low, but my point is the ratio between the crimes…
And being drunk is grounds for lesser punishment here in almost any crime imaginable, whereas being high on something else makes up for a more severe punishment. Here you can get off with a probationary sentence if you run someone over with your car, back it up on him just to make sure he’s dead, and the drink a bottle of booze and pass out before the cops come… That wouldn’t be a manslughter, but a DUI and a reckless endangerment…
@A1 Skeptic and others. Geez! Lighten up dudes. lol I was just having a little good natured fun with the guys spelling of ‘through’. Hell I enjoyed grass as much as the next guy and I suffered no damage mentally. (debateable) I assure you l have no right to seriously harass a guy when l’ve done the same thing. However there are some folks who have used grass as a stepping stone.
Seriously guys….Especially Robert litman…debatable is spelled wrong, and you were the one poking fun at someone for spelling through differently. Colour? is the spelled wrong? No. Just because you’re from America doesn’t mean you’re right about everything…not everything that’s “The American Way” is right by any means. All of you in this whole post don’t back up anything you say about marijuana (good or bad). Jonathan on September 17th, you said “Jefferson, and Washington grew cannabis”. Untrue. Washington was a hemp farmer, and there is a big difference between between the two:
The two are related through the same genus of plant. While industrial-grade hemp is a rather helpful resource in the world, it lacks the stimulating power of the substance known as delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or for short, THC. It is this active chemical of THC that brings about the “high” associated with marijuana. Hemp contains 1.5% of this substance, while marijuana possesses between 4 % and 40%. Overall, the plants are rather close in details, but supply very different functions for many dissimilar reasons, which especially shows through in the physical makeup of the two plants.
Also, you stated that Jefferson kept logs of his cannabis use: prove that one. I’ve been to every history museum in America, and nearly all in Europe, and I’ve never seen any such journals. I’ve studied the history of hemp and cannabis for about 15 years now, along with good ol American history, and never once have I cone across the slightest mention of an authentic journal of Jefferson stating he smoked cannabis. I’ve found novel humorous cartoons and depictions of the two smoking, along with several pot-promoting sites that say they smoked it…however, you will never find any such journal about either of them smoking cannabis…as for you teaching my kids anything, especially about history, you should really change careers. Or show the commitment to educating yourself first to the facts before you try to instill your historical meanderings in anyone. I’m proud of my life, and what I do in it…I smoke daily, but do not use any drugs, I have a masters’ in psychology, and a good career. I teach what I know and what can be proven. History is not one of those things. it has been skewered and manipulated from day one, more so in American history than any others…I’ll never understand why this was done. Well I understand that “America is the country ever” mentality that many people possess, but that’s neither here nor there. Maybe in another discussion I could get into the atrocity that is the “American crisis”
Have we forgotten: “Anything is possible…”?
this is a good video
@ Robert Breiner.I bet it mus really suk 2 b u……….eh.
Self centered jerk!
English is not my first language so please forgive any grammatical errors, language is a beautiful method of conveying concepts, ideas and descriptions. So go ahead get carried away by the exuberance of your own verbosity… but please, it amazes me that everyone who has commented on another’s spelling/grammar have themselves made mistakes or has used the correct spelling but in the wrong tense i.e. “You spelled that wrong” (is in the past tense and should read “spelt that wrong”) perhaps you are all stoned. I smoked pot for 29 years but decided at Christmas this year to go 12 months without, to give me some perspective on what it is like to be completely “straight”. I haven’t drunk a drink (past tense) in 10 years. A personal choice. Not a moralistic judgement, and it is my intention to return to smoking marijuana on Xmas eve 2010. One year to the day from the beginning of my abstention (subject to deciding as I suppose that I have no long term damage as a result of smoking pretty much daily from about the age of 15). I think that pragmatism should be the order of the day. Prohibition has been shown time and again to be ineffective and only result in handing control over to the criminal element within our society (a generalisation I know. Please forgive me those of you who grow your own) who knows where the money eventually ends up. Maybe it paid for that rocket launcher and ammunition that killed your/our children by terrorists.
I’ve been studying Japanese while high (ironically with Japan’s strict drug laws) and I’m up to about 1,000 characters in. I only have to worry about forgetting my immediate thoughts but has no effect on long-term memory that I’ve noticed.
Alcohol makes me angry and cigarettes give me headaches, stomachaches, loss of appetite and the smell is repulsive. Not to mention that both are more likely to cause addiction and have strong withdrawal symptoms. I do crave pot on occasion. Although I could live without it if I wanted to and usually go weeks without smoking without a problem.
Happy tokin’ and learning errbody! :)
very well done
@Hans: Some people think they can win a debate by nit picking. “You can’t spell! I’m smarter then you! I win!” It doesn’t matter what kind of ignorant crap spews from their mouth either. It works though, it takes focus from the point and redirects it to something quite a bit less intelligent. It’s called a logical fallacy. In this case “amphiboly” fallacy from grammatical confusion. This is really only a problem when the misspelled word changes the meaning of the point. For example the there, they’re, their and your, you’re problem. But, Grammar Nazis still like to use it when they realize their argument doesn’t hold water.
As for the film, fantastic! Stop the hypocrisy! ☮
Well, I would have to agree with the boarder line propaganda idea about this. Although it’s a little extreme it’s still a good representation of the idea behind it being outlawed. The only thing I wish they had added was the man who smelt the flower and led the campaign against it should have been a different type of flower grower. (The idea that hemp was taken out because it was being used for trees and the people cutting down trees had more political power at the time.)
One last thing, Dorian was talking about the fact that most arguements against weed have been discredited or complete lies. I disagree, if I didn’t smoke it I would be against it being legalized cause i don’t want people eating all my damn food. About the only legitimate arguement i could think of against it. =]
@ Robert Litman: No, it’s really wonderful being me, I’m smart, non-judgmental, I love to listen to people, unless they are criticizing liars like yourself. You say you’re a teacher, but you follow up my comment with this drivel: “Robert Breiner.I bet it mus really suk 2 b u……….eh.” Wonderful words of wisdom, 2 b u…it’s so charming that you can type like the farce that is your life.
@ Robert Breiner. Wow! I am so impressed. By all means, please carry on. I myself am quite a bullshitter, however occaisionly l have to stand in AWE from observing a real MASTER bullshitter like you. Please do carry on so that l may learn some real bullshitting techniques from a genuine master bullshitter like you and further my own career. Oh, and please overlook any mispelled words as I am now, totaly aware that no one, not even I can dare compete with all your wonderfulness.
Thank you, O great and wonderful Robert.
From my full submissiveness, from every fiber of my being , I remain humbly yours! Robert.
Robert the inadequate one.
I feel so truly put in my place right now. Is my face red? I bow to you sir, for you have shamed me in my house. Teach me Robert the Inadequate, teach me…..how I may be so humble.
@ Robert B.
Your an allright guy. I think I like a man like that. Enjoy the banter. lol
Have a good night Sir!
Was there a video here, or simply the calamity of a flame war that had little, if anything, to do with the video? As for the video, I found it cute and clever albeit a touch dramatic… I do agree entirely with the artist, however.
I believe it was Albert Einstein who alluded that if one wishes to seek knowledge, the first thing they should do is to quit formal schooling… and in many instances, I agree with his concept. Our schools are simply part of the government propaganda machine. I was told since childhood that marijuana would ruin my life… instead, it has allowed me to stop taking the antidepressants and other chemical drugs required to regulate my less-than-perfect brain.
I am not a daily smoker. My usage varies greatly on my mood… lately, I don’t smoke much at all. Ultimately, it’s entirely based on personal choice, and I feel that we should all be entitled to live as we wish, so long as it harms no one (except for ourselves if we so choose). My argument for ending marijuana prohibition is as simple as economic principle… In the US, we’ve spent a shit ton of money (no I don’t know the actual dollar amount, and I don’t particularly care… common sense was once a greater asset then the ability to regurgitate statistics)… I am offended and upset that my tax dollar has almost always (I’m a child of the 80′s) gone to this farce known as the War on Drugs…
One would have thought that history shows that prohibition simply increases crime and violence while doing nothing to curb the problem. Honest and truthful education would cost significantly less than prohibition has cost us and yield much greater results.
… and in closing, if anyone wants to disagree with me or point out my errors in grammar, please do it in a funny and outlandish way… be creative… I can appreciate that.
If you cant figure this out, the basic message shows the discovery of weed and how it helps, at first it shows how its not for everybody and people just calmly pass the herb on no problem, and shows the improvements made from it, but once the government steps in and stops it and makes the herb an underground drug, that is when it becomes associated to violence.
basic message: fuck you government, bunch of pricks.
Wow…..after all that I think I’ll smoke a bowl.
I truly started to believe that governments are living off of drug trafficking, because there is no other rational reason behind the current law against marijuana.
This animation tells a story, with maybe not very realistic parts. It is still a bold move and we certainly need ones like that.
I think it’s not a matter of health or crime issue, it is purely medieval to ban a natural growing plant.
The solution is actually very simple: If they let people to grow their own plant, there will be no issue of smuggling or back-alley deals.
Some people may like it, some don’t, it helps to some and make the others sick, but in the end who and under which sense, could ban something from me where i’m positively willing to “smell”?
So, please let’s not take this platform out of context:
It’s not a matter of good or bad, it’s about freedom!
I really appreciate this video, and all the intellectual comments following it. It’s nice to know that there are other rational thinkers out there, ready to challenge what they’re told and find answers of their own.
@Robert litman, you sir made a mistake initially in judging isaac for simply misspelling a word or not being grammatically correct. I don’t really care how you want to rationalize it (I read all your posts arguing the matter), just say sorry, admit your mistake, and be the person you claim to be.
@ Dorian D, you are an inspiration. I thank you for giving your time to a world that takes it for granted.
Love, peace, happiness.
I’m not against marijuana legalisation, but this animation is very one sided, it shows none of the problems with marijuana, of which there are many (I used to smoke it alot). I think the nonchalant attitude toward it from the people who smoke it is the main problem, also the education about it is wrong. Smoking abit of weed every now and then is fine, but if you come to be a person who relies on it, is not addicted (like the physical addiction of many drugs) but you smoke it because its what your used to. I’ve seen weed rob many of my friends of any ambition or purpose in life they once had, and it works in a vicious cycle because once they feel they have no purpose they feel as though “hey, may as well smoke more weed”.
It is a very subtle and slow process, unlike any other drugs really, but if you smoke weed once or twice a week for an extended period of time, it will come to have very damaging effects in the end which are hard to notice because its such a slow process.
However, I’m not saying that legalising it is a bad idea, I think all drugs should be legalised, as it reduces crime, tax can be claimed, society will be more open about the problems, the drugs themselves will be safer and the education about them will not be bullshit. Also the most important point, that many people miss, (if drugs were made legal globally) that they could then be more ‘fair trade’, as the drug trade in some countries is completely tearing them apart with crime it cannot handle, such as alot of South American, Middle Eastern and Asian countries.
I just didn’t like this animation as it seemed to show marijuana like “legalize it because there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it”. Whereas it should be saying “Marijuana affects society and individuals in all kinds of ways, legalising it would make dealing with the problems of drugs and the drug trade far easier”
Thankyou xx
P.S. I suppose actually I should really say that weed will always affect people in different ways, one person might smoke it everyday for a year and be almost the same by the end. Whereas another person it will of completely changed (possibly ruined) the film seems to suggest that these people will simply go “its not for me” and walk away, when in reality, because the process is slow, they will not realise the affect weed has had on them until it is too late and they have a real problem.
ANOTHER POINT: Will the people with the opinion that “It grows out of the ground naturally, its fine” please wake the fuck up. A myriad of plants grow naturally that one small digestion of will kill you, also alot of modern marijuana has been genetically modified or unnaturally fertilised anyway (skunk for example). So this argument really is not in anyway valid at all and is usually adopted by anachronistic hippie idiots.
Does anybody out there know that for the first time in American history the U.S. Army was used in a war operation against the American people? Right near here, up in Humboldt County about 200 miles north of San Francisco right near a town called Shelter Cove, get this: Three to four hundred American G.I.’s dressed with automatic rifles and fully armed for battle, fanned out on maneuvers through the woods, backed up by a dozen Blackhawk attack helicopters. The mountain people up there were frightened out of their wits! They thought there was a war going on, especially the ones that had soldiers kicking in the doors to their cabins and putting guns to their heads in front of their children.
Why?! Who was the enemy in this war? Not the communists! Not Saddam Hussein! Not Earth First! Or even the spotted owl. No! The enemy they called out the army to put down, secretly, so few people outside Humboldt would get alarmed as possible, it wasn’t even a person or an army or a terrorist group! It was a plant, the marijuana plant.
And they actually did manage to find a few for the G.I.’s to pull up, and then they had to fly in more from the government stash so the pile would look big enough when they lit the bonfire for the network TV news cameras, so that they could say “Yes! Another triumph in the Drug War!”
Drug war. War. The American army sent to war against the American people. And we’re supposed to feel relieved and secure and protected. Protected from what?!
A lot of people with more guts than I’ll ever have risked their life and limb all last summer at the Earth First! Redwood Summer Action up in Humboldt County. They were chaining themselves to redwoods that were three times wider than they were, 800 years old, they were spread-eagled, as the saws buzzed right over their heads. They stood in the dirt as the bulldozers charged them and stopped right at their toes. Or people waved clubs at them, charged them with logging trucks, shotguns, you name it. All to try to save some of the last unspoiled virgin forest we have left anywhere in this country from being chopped down and turned into toilet paper, TV Guides and the Weekly World News.
On the other side the loggers saying “What about our jobs!? What about our families!? What about our lives!? You needed wood and cardboard to make those protest signs!”
We need more fuel! We need paper! It’s almost gone! Where are we gonna get more? The answer, for centuries, has been right under our nose: Grow more pot!
If we’re serious about saving the earth, saving the ozone and our freedom to go about saving the earth and the ozone, we should start by paying all those dirt-poor coca farmers in South America and out-of-work loggers in Fortuna and Eureka, and Midwest family farmers and rest-belt families too, to all get together and grow more pot!
Why? Get ready for this….! There’s book out called The Emperor Wears No Clothes. The author’s name is Jack Herer. It’s published by Queen of clubs, and I think there’s ads for it in High Times, or NORMAL, the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, could direct you to a copy I’m sure, and in this book, among other places, it is written that before the 20th century, the marijuana plant provided almost all the world’s paper, all the world’s clothing and textiles, and almost all the world’s rope.
According to non other than the U.S. Department or Agriculture you can make four times as much paper from one acre of hemp plants as you can from an acre of trees. And instead of chopping down all the redwoods in Humboldt County and turning Northern California, Oregon and Washington and Appalachia into the Sahara Desert, if you do it with hemp plants, you can just grow another crop a few months later and make more paper! At one-quarter of the cost of making paper from wood pulp and only one-fifth the pollution. The ancient Romans knew this and grew it, Henry VIII made each farmer in old England grow their share, because they knew if you want the strongest natural fiber there is, you all have gotta do your part for the King and grow more pot!
And we did, too! Guess what Levi jeans were originally made out of? And guess what American flags used to be made out of? And guess what the early drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were written on? And if that’s too un-Christian for you, guess what they made Guttenberg and King James Bibles out of? Guess what you can use to power a car? You can get at least four times as much cellulose to make gasohol or methanol from hemp stems as you can from a corn stalk. Which along with solar energy would be a great way to avoid dying for oil in Saudi Arabia.
In the 1920’s and 1930’s most American cars and farm machinery had the option of running on gas or on methanol, most racing cars still do run on methanol. And George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew cannabis on their plantations and smoked it, too!
In the 1760’s in the American colonies you could even be jailed for not growing pot! Because that was part of the key to becoming economically independent from Britain. Hemp was legal tender in the Americas, a substitute for money, from 1630 clear up to the early 1800s. And hemp seeds are a great source of protein, better than soybeans, and it’s cheaper than soybeans, too. Or so says the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Marijuana is legal for medical use in 34 states used to treat glaucoma and pain caused by cancer, and you can digest more protein from a hemp seed than a soybean seed. It’s even shown some signs at being able to combat herpes. And, guess what kind of parachute Mr. Drug War Junta-Man himself George Bush used when he bailed out of that bomber in WW2?
Hemp was illegal by then, but farmers were briefly ordered to grow it again in this country for the war effort and all, and the U.S. Army had their own stash all along in the colonies in the Philippines.
So, how did everything get turned around so damn bad? Doesn’t it strike you as a little damn that we burn oil and choke ourselves and chop down all our trees and ruin innocent people’s lives by branding them criminals and throwing them in jails, or sending them off to drug camps, or taking all their property and selling it before they’re brought to trial? In process, making crack and heroin cheaper and easier to get than pot? Why do we do this we don’t have to?
Meanwhile the Police Chief of L.A., Darryl Gates gets front page approval for telling a U.S. Senate committee that pot smokers should be shot on sight. Because smoking pot is treason because, after all, it’s illegal.
Why was marijuana cracked down on? And why was it done so violently? Well… Ready?!
In 1936 Popular Mechanics magazine hailed the invention of a new machine to process hemp, predicting that marijuana/hemp would once again become the world’s largest cash crop. This did not at all sit well with people like Hearst Paper Manufacturing or Kimberly-Clark or other cutthroat multinationals who happen to have large timber holdings. It didn’t sit to well with tobacco barons for obvious reasons, and it sure as hell didn’t sit too well with old buddies DuPont. Hemp processing uses only one-fifth the chemicals needed to process wood pulp, and DuPont had just patented a new wood pulp sulfide process, and DuPont’s patented plastic fibers had just passed up hemp as the No. 2 fiber, next to cotton and they wanted to keep it that way!
And the last thing the big drug companies wanted was to lose their share of the ever lucrative disease industry market, to more affordable medicine made from marijuana or other natural ingredients because, check this out, you can’t own and make money off a patent for medicine in this country, unless the medicine has chemicals in it. If it’s all natural ingredients, you can’t patent it. Maybe that’s why we don’t have access to a cure for cancer or AIDS, or why the health food store I go to keeps getting harassed by federal authorities for selling herbal medicines.
Meanwhile, guess who owns Congress? SO marijuana was outlawed in 1937 and they fanned the racism fires playing the racism card just like they do when they want to crack down on rock-and-roll or rap or hip hop or something like that. They said that smoking marijuana might cause you to fall under the influence of listening to jazz! I believe that it was even said on the floor of Congress that Marijuana had to be banned because smoking it might make a black man look at a white woman twice. And let’s not forget that U.S. Treasury department funded documentary film, called, “Reefer Madness!” SO marijuana was outlawed as devil weed in 1937. Only 53 years ago it was legal. Need I say more, on why our beloved fearless leaders go out of their way to censor our access to information so damn much? Can you imagine the mass outrage if this kind of stuff ever really got out? And people knew that this big drug problem that they keep reading about and hearing about is being caused by the government themselves? And people knew how easily each one of us individually could turn our ecological and human crisis around without resorting to Nazi bullshit like oil wars and drug was by just saying no! to George Bush.
And if people knew that the very companies that provide us with such crucial conveniences as Kleenex, paper towels and junk mail, have systematically and brutally rearranged every single one of our lives so that we are literally wiping our ass with our own future?
And it doesn’t have to be this way! I mean, I’ll tell you, I do feel kind of funny saying all this because I used to be a pothead and I hate smoking the stuff, and the whole low-energy stoner Deadhead vibe that comes with it. But, you don’t need to smoke pot to realize that the real drug problem in this country is not the drugs. And we can help solve drug problems, crime problems, environmental problems – even our racial problems if we say no to George Bush and get together and grow more pot!
Everyone on here seems to know a side but the info your giving is patchy. Marijuana can do so much harm to people its untrue, like my mums cousin whos mentally ill because of smoking it for 35 years of his life, yet at the same time if your lucky enough it just gets you stoned or helps some form of illness. For those of you to say its not a gateway drug then your obviously sitting in a good situation because 8/10 times it is, whether or not you decide to jump onto anouther band wagon the CHOICE is still there and i know from experience that most dealers dont just deal weed. Although weed is a less harmful drug than most out there it can be very addictive to certain people just like anything else so whoever thinks its not wakey wakey it just depends on the user! People can be really stupid tho and blame the drug for whatever reason losing a job or a partner whatever but thats not the drugs fault thats the persons fault im a chef and have been for the last 5 years i have no problems with getting to work or in work and im usually stoned 24/7! Im not trying to have a go at people i just want you to realise that even tho it is amazing it can be very destructive and people need to open their eyes to this
Sorry, that’s just not true. Mentally ill from only marijuana use? There is simply no way to determine this. The gateway theory suggests that smoking marijuana will increase your desire to try a new drug, which countless studies have dis-proven over the course of these last couple decades. Whether or not a dealer has a certain drug on supply is irrelevant if you the weed smoker/in-jester has no interest in that other drug. You can’t form an argument based on speculation or opinion. Sorry man, you’re just plain not right.
Leave it to a pot head to base their opinion on a cartoon.
plants vs pothead zomblies?
Leave it to an ignorant conservative bitch to make ignorant conservative comments.
@Stac: I don’t base my opinions on cartoons, I base them on peer-reviewed, scientific data. Should “@Stac” be right about you being a “conservative bitch”, I wouldn’t expect you to understand the relevance of the results of honest, scientific work.
When the old guy in the wheelchair takes the medicine and gets a sore stomach is when I stopped watching. Because he took the drug and everything was fine it suggested Marijuana had no negative side effects which is just plain wrong.
@James: Yes, you are correct, marijuana isn’t some holy miracle drug. However, I have depression, anxiety and many of the complications that follow them, and so far, cannabis has served me better than every other short-term drug I have been given. (they are quite a few)
Besides, any damage done by cannabis isn’t immediate; how would you show the damage done on the lungs for instance in the style of this video? While a lot of medication does, in fact, give you almost immediate side effects. (5-30 minutes)
“Pot is a gateway drug because you have to get it from drug dealers. Drug dealers are opportunistic and will sell anything they can make money on.”
so my doctor is a drug dealer, too, apparently.
cannibas vs. alcohol.
nuff said
No, people are destructive, disfunctional, lazy, etc…If you smoke pot and your lazy, its gonna make being lazy feel better… It enhances what your doing, makes it FEEL BETTER. Thats why people think stoners are lazy fucks, because they only see the lazy fucks who smoke it. As for your relative with mental health issues, those issues are usually programmed into your DNA, and can sometimes lie dormant for a LONG LONG TIME. Marijuana has never been proven to bring out these dormant issues. Schizophrenia usually begins to characterize itself in young adulthood which is why I believe people try to link it to marijuana use. I.e. Young people smoke marijuana and they seem to be going schizophrenic, ergo, IGNORANT PEOPLE thinnk its due to the marijuana usage.
So interesting video. Flowers have an amazing power, I see.
“Free your mind and your ass will follow” :-)))
I think that marajuana should be legalized in all states!! I dont care what anyone says, it is not the drug that causes people to commit crimes against society, or even others for that matter!! It has many more medicinal purposes than it does negative effects, no one commits violent crimes, or goes out and robs a store to get more pot!! That is however what they do to get the money or items they trade to the meth dealers to get more meth, heroin, crack, and similar chemical drugs!! So what if people smoke pot- the ones who do usually are not the ones causing a problem!! So Legalize pot- and free all the time we are wasting busting people who use it, so we can focus on the real problem. The chemical drug users and manufacturers!! That is where the true problem lies- Stop stereo typing people who use marajuana into the same category as people who use methamphetamine or other similar drugs!! They are not even close to similar in how they affect those who use them. I mean lets get real here- how many stories do you see on the news about someone jacked up under the influence of pot, robbing a 7-11, or mini mart?? How many pot smokers do you see out carjacking someone? Or how many do you see out running around stealing stuff at 3 am?? NONE!! Because it doesnt make people crazy like the other drugs do- It does not cause a person to stay up for 2 weeks with no sleep- or to waste away to skin and bones, or have out of control mood swings…. and people arent sick in bed for weeks coming off of marajuana use!! So wake up people !! Marajuana is not the problem!! Its hypocrites that dont know the difference in the effects of each drug- and who are miserably uninformed and unwilling to open their eyes to the truth – Marajuana is not bad- chemical drugs are bad- leave the pot smokers alone and focus on stopping the real problem drugs!! And stop wasting our hard earned tax dollars on busting people who are not hurting anyone!!
‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’
Ganja Granny is looking forward to a legal hit! Ganja Granny was born 1937 the same year of prohibition. As an activist and as a citizen of the U.S. I find that Prohibition has accomplished nothing. People continue to smoke regardless of Prohibition Laws. People in need of Medical M are not thinking about any law let alone the consequences. They are sick and want relief. Having survived 3rd stage breast cancer that spread several times I know that was how I felt wanting to do whatever to live and to avoid heavy side effects of any legally prescribed Rx.This past week I tried desperately to help a 100% disabled Navy Vet living in the St.Louis area. He was injured while in the service. He has had 3 heart attacks as a result of heavy duty morphine, etc. He could not tolerate the medication or side effects. He has 6 stents. He was arrested Sept 9th. for possession of 2 plants. The arrest was a scene worthy of taking down Osama himself. In jail an inmate suggested an attorney who charged 3 thousand, allowing him to pay in 100.00 monthly payments. He was a wreck, worried about his a 11 yr old son whom he swears has never seen him indulge and witnessed his father’s arrest. In addition,his wife had to borrow bail money. He had little communication with his attorney and went to court yesterday where his case was postponed until 12/20. Missouri is not legal medical state. Obviously he will have to move which is not easy when you live on SSI and his gov. pension.I have emailed every organization asking for direction and help. I thought he should definitely be our Poster Guy for Legalization. I wanted to publicize his case the best I could. Yesterday before finding out the case was postponed, I finally got a lead. I was not happy about it because it was like getting a reprieve After they have thrown the switch..I was not yet aware of the postponement. However, I did email these people and will follow up with phone calls on Monday.I had hoped we could get some students or someone to at least be there in court for moral support. If anyone knows any one willing to be there for Ken Ulger please let me know at http://www.greenribbonworld.com I reside in NYC and at past 73 yrs old I am not exactly jumping on and off planes but am seriously thinking of going to St. Louis on the 20th. In reference to mental health and legalization… there are many things that can trigger an episode. When I am asked about it I usually respond by stating alcohol might also exacerbate the problem and they do not test you to see if you are mentally challenged when you go to purchase. People ask about the children and I say the kids have better stuff than we’ll ever see. When I was a little girl in the 40′s just as there is today, you could always find an obliging adult to help you out and get it for you. I remember that was how the teenagers got it back then and undoubtedly can get it that way now. It is not a gateway drug. People who are going to commit a criminal act already have made their mind up or are naturally wired that way. They do not need marijuana or anything else to spur them on. Its time to legalize totally for medical, spiritual and recreational use. Everyone has to stand in solidarity to make it happen, including people in their smoke filled closets who think someone else will fix it for them. Ganja Granny sez LEGALIZE.Keep it lit, stay blazed and pass it on!
Thank you Ganja Granny for that story. I agree with you 100%. I am not in the area either but fully support Ken Ulger and the legalization movement. Sadly, it failed in my native state of California just a few weeks ago but hopefully has opened up the lines of communication that were much needed here.
Thanks Granny! It’s good to know someone of the oldest generation that is open-minded. But I have to correct you on one point. I had a girlfriend that had a very good heart to the point of being a sucker and was used for that. She got hooked on crack and that drug as well as meth, heroin, and others will make you hurt your grandma or do any crime to get another $10 rock. Those are very evil drugs that take complete control over a person. But MJ is a natural, female herb that can have very positive effects.
I understand your concern MizzE, but had the marijuana not been sold by criminalized individuals also selling other illicit substances she probably would possibly have been less likely to have been introduced to those more dangerous drugs. Prohibition has never worked.
DUDE!! Word up to B.P. and all that he/she is saying!!! Everything that this person says is true!!
To be fair, a lot of those other more dangerous drugs may never even have come into existence if drugs weren’t illegal in the first place. People may never have invented crack or meth if cocaine were legal, accessible, and reasonably priced (just a theory). Many overdose deaths are the result not of the drug itself, but due to other substances the drug is cut with or laced with. Heroin and cocaine in their pure forms are much safer than they are after they hit the streets and are screwed around with, mixed up, cut up, and processed due to illegalization.
Many people support marijuana legalization because they personally have smoked marijuana and find it to be safe, but look down on other drugs as dangerous or terrible. I.e. “I smoke marijuana and it’s great so it should be legal! But I’ve never done cocaine, heroin, mushrooms or lsd, and I’ve heard this or that, so those must be dangerous and terrible and should remain illegal!”
I don’t see why any of the other drugs should be viewed so differently, or why marijuana should be in some special category. Cocaine and heroin may be relatively more dangerous than marijuana, but the reasons for legalizing marijuana largely apply to heroin, cocaine, and other drugs as well. Prohibition doesn’t eliminate the drug or the trade thereof, whether it’s marijuana, LSD or heroin. It just forces it underground, causes the drug to be cut and diluted, it obscures quality control, decreases accountability, and fosters gang crime and black markets. Illegalization of any drug, whether you personally enjoy it or have tried it, inevitably causes violence. Thus, they should all be legalized.
My body, my mind and my choice. If you use physical force to persuade me, then the previous sentence is without me. If I choose to allow your choices and opinions to inspire me then the first sentence is unchanged. If the second sentence leads to me choosing for myself then that’s because I do. If the third sentence leads to you using physical force to persuade me then the previous sentence is without me too. Logically, I do what I do and what I do is not what you do.
We will ruin all potential of a presentable, human society with this sort of crap. THIS is why we don’t have nice things!
Jenn, I do not agree that all drugs should be legalized for the mere fact of addiction and the harm they cause our bodies. Marijuana, used through vaporization (and other ways), is safe and has so many medical benefits. Other drugs can be dangerous whether cut or not, depending on the drug of course, or be addictive and toxic. Surprisingly though, there are steps being taken to legalize other drugs for medical use such as MDMA, Ketamine, LSD etc. for their medicinal properties.
@sssunflowerrr – regardless of addiction and danger, most of the reasons for legalizing marijuana, and in my opinion the most important reasons for legalizing marijuana, apply to even the most dangerous drugs. Those reasons are that prohibition DOES NOT WORK. It does not get rid of the drug, but only drives the trade underground, increases organized crime, perpetuates organized crime, reduces transparency, and increases overdose dangers and deaths. This is true of ALL BANS. It was true with prohibition of alcohol and continues to be true of bans of other substances. No matter how dangerous or addictive the substance, criminalization simply isn’t the answer.
I’ve had severe mental health problems growing up. I’ve had every synthetic drug you could imagine thrown at me. Most the damn drugs have severe side effects so they have to put me on another drug to counteract those side effects. They have me shoveling pills like a front end loader shovels gravel.
Well it seems all fine and dandy for the RX people to make synthetic drugs that can kill you,but they wont take a good hard look at some of good things marijuana can do for people!
When I used marijuana in the past it helped with my anxiety and my A.D.H.D. as well as my severe mood swings.
Now I’m living off the friggen government and lost my carrier as one of the top sale reps. in Idaho. Would weed change my situation maybe,maybe not. I’ll never know because it’s illegal and I have to put my family first and obey the law no matter how wrong I might think it is!!
I can’t get over some of these statements Lazy , gateway drug, It’s all happy horse s@#t I smoke to relieve chronic pain your telling me that morphine (that what they give me for the pain) is better then smoking herb. Opiates kill thousand of people Alcohol kills millions more and your telling me that is better for me then herb which has never killed anyone. Is the world brown for you with head that far up your a@# ?
Well if your going to legalize pot you may as well legalize everything. Switzerland they legalized heroin so its only $13 a day and yo get clean needles. But Americans will indulge in the drugs like in China a long time ago with opium.
It’s insane to liken THC to heroin or any other hard drugs for that matter. They are in a completely different category. As said before in this forum by many people, pot has never killed anyone nor have I ever heard of anyone committing a violent crime to obtain some weed. The same cannot be said for other drugs. I’ve personally been addicted to hard drugs before and although I feel for those in that situation, it doesn’t mean that legalizing all drugs is going to fix anything. I’m 100% behind legalizing pot, not so much for other drugs.
“Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.” – Abe Lincoln
enough said, the government needs stop being stupid. i cant believe they would be so incompetent about marijuana laws. people are scared to support it because it might dirty their image to the ignorant majority of american society, despite hard evidence and facts about the benefits of marijuana, economical, medical, and intellectual. bloody cowards. or at least thats the only reasonable explanation for government incompetence i can think of at the moment that doesnt involve somesort of conspiracy theory, hahahaha.
our government has forgotten what values it was founded upon, the interest of the people has been clouded by individual greed. what is happening?
You know what maybe we should do what Chris asks legalize then treat it a medical problem instead of a crime. We’re spend Billions to enforce law’s and losing badly. Unless the point is to make the Drug cartels rich. In countries were drug abuse is treat as a medical problem they have little to none of the crime or the victim on both sides of the question. As it is now drug pour across the boarders without any kind of control. All of the enforcement has lead us to is more drugs at cheaper prices everyone’s paying the price in health and crime cost’s. The young teens to the old drunks all of us while a few get richer. I can’t help but wonder if those who make the laws aren’t getting kick back from the drug lords to keep them that way. You want to take a bite out the drug lords riches look what happen in Ca. since Medical Mj has been in place the drug lords have lost major amounts of income. But something else has happened as well the amount of alcohol use have fallen. The big brewers spent major amount of money to keep pot illegal in Ca.
Ganja Granny is still trying to get some publicity for Ken Unger’s case in the St. Louis area. More than 800 thousand people are arrested each year… Recent statistics inspired me to place a clock on my web site( http://www.greenribbonworld.com)that states, every 37 seconds someone in the USA is busted for Marijuana. I realize, as one person I cannot attempt to stand up for everyone that is unfortunately placed in the situation that Ken in St. Louis finds himself in. I realize that most of the reputable organizations working on our behalf are involved with legislation, lobbying, etc. They can’t stop what they are doing for every unjust arrest that is made. I decided I could make a difference, we can all make a difference, even if it is one case at a time. I am proposing to all of you to write the editors of the St Louis newspapers. There are only a few. I will list email addresses here. You could write in the same, educated respectful manner as you write on this site or any site. In this case it will be about the archaic laws ( Yes! We know Ken broke the law by having 2 plants( IN A SECURED LOCKED PLACE AND WAS THE ONLY PERSON WITH THE KEY)We know its not legal for any reason in the state of Missouri as well as many other places. BUT… is this how we treat a 100% disabled Vet who served our country to protect us? His injuries occurred when he was on active duty in Grenada. He has 3 major heart attacks w/ 6 stents as a result of overly prescribed opiates including morphine.This guy has never had a criminal record not even a jay walking walking ticket! Did they have to take him out like he was Osama Bin Laden???We need to stand in solidarity… We need desperately to remove the stigma attached to marijuana. We need to educate society in general. We need to let the public know our opinion regardless of where we live in this country, what our gender, ethnicity, lifestyle, religion, no religion, race or age. It is amazing that anyone would equate marijuana with hard drugs. We need to sway public opinion the best that we can and if we live in the area, be there in court when the time comes. He will make a plea on the 20th. After the plea on the 20th we will know the exact court date.There is time for all of us to help. In less than 3 months, God willing I will be 74 yrs old. I want to see Cannabis legal in my life time, considering I was born in 1937 the year prohibition began. Its long enough! Maybe you don’t think we will be effective .I am telling you that everything we do will benefit all of us. There for the grace of God go I. It could happen to any one…. every 37 seconds! Lets ALL stop token’ long enough and lets do it! Ganja Granny sez Keep it Lit and Pass it on! P.S. go to my web site, read Ganja Granny’s last few blogs to familiarize yourself with details of Ken Ungers arrest..A winner never quits and a quitter never wins!
ST LOUIS AREA PAPERS.Thanking you all in advance, sending you love. Can’t send anything else… IT AINT LEGAL
http://www.stltoday.com/ St. Louis Post-Dispatch
http://www.ksdk.com/
http://kmox.cbslocal.com/
When I was a kid I could stand out side an ABC store and get some one to go in and get me a bottle. Not so now where there are state run liquor stores. That is why drugs , all drugs should be legal.
When a 13 year old can cop a bag of heroine or coke faster than he can can get a beer, then we have a frick’n problem in this country. A 13 year old tries drugs because a 14 year old who not done them long enough to see the down side of drug abuse tells him it is fun. They are fun at first, do them for 20 years and tell me what you think.
Still if you legalize them it gets out of schools. I dont care if an 18 year old makes the decision but a 13 year old does not have sufficient information to make that choice. legalize all of it get it off the streets and make it an automatic life sentence to sell drugs or guns to a minor child and watch how fast the demand for drugs and the crime rates go down.
When inter-city school kids can’t depend on crack sales to get em buy they will go back to school and get jobs. This is a no brain er . The war on drugs is a waste of time and money and it turns cops into Gestapo agents. It fills our prisons with petty drug offenders and allows the early release of dangerous and violent repeat offenders. WTF?!
Come on people write your congressmen and lets change this things. If you ave time to blog you have time to shoot an e mail to your representatives. Be about it dont talk about it
@ Jenn; If marijuana isn’t different from any other drug, what’s the difference of any other drug to alcohol?
I was invited as a guest to appear on LET THEM TALK a local NYC TV show hosted by Paul DeRienzo and Miss Joan Moossy this past Tuesday night. !2/14. If not today, it will be posted in a day or 2 on the web. It was a live call in show and Disabled Vet, Ken Unger from the St. Louis area called in. All in all it was a successful attempt to shed light on the details of Ken’s arrest. It took 12 seriously armed cops to take him out. How much did that cost to the taxpayers?Ken is in such bad shape physically, a Meter Maid would have been more than enough. How many criminals got away, with who knows what because resources were used on this DANGEROUS mission. I think Hollywood would reject the plot. Its too ridiculous for words to describe.I became an activist when I read about a 70 yr old Afro American Great Grandmother who suffered w/ colon cancer for 8 yrs. Her family would get her the Marijuana that relieved her pain, helped her to eat and lessened the side effects of chemo. One day no one was around to help her, she went in the street to a known spot and was immediately busted for 2 dime bags. She was thrown to the ground, handcuffed,taken to the station, fingerprinted, had the mandatory mug shot and placed in a holding cell. Ron Kuby a well know civil rights attorney who was a protege of the late William Kunstler in NYC represented her. I was outraged when I read the story. I called the attorney, stating we were close in age, I had breast cancer,I lived on the upper east side of Manhattan, I was white and the chances of that happening to me were not impossible but highly improbable. I felt it was prejudice and a known fact that our law enforcement resources are mostly in certain minority ares. At the same time some thug was running around mugging and hurting little old ladies w/ walkers and they could not find him. How could they when needed cops were off in other area looking to bust little old ladies for buying weed. Unfortunately BARBARA JACKSON passed in 2008. We became the black and white scotties on a scotch bottle, doing all the rallies, meetings, etc. We talked to anyone who came near us, attempting to educate people one by one and joint by joint. We were prepared to do it all. When she passed, both families hers and mine said I should continue. I am doing the best I can but realize we ALL need to stand together. My priority at the moment is to get support for our guy in Missouri.I am relying on all of you who read this and agree with the injustice in cases such as Barbaras’ and Kens. Please write to the St.Louis news papers. State your opinion about how you feel about Ken Ungers’ arrest. It makes me feel shame to think this could be done to anyone who is sick, let alone someone like Ken who served honorably to protect this country could be treated as if he were a terrorist. If you live in his area perhaps you could attend his court proceedings to show support. We can no longer expect someone else to do what we are ourselves can do in a respectful peaceful way.Write letters, send emails, make phone calls, text messages to key people and by all means vote when the time comes. Know who your reps are and what they stand for. Last but not least, educate anyone who comes within earshot. I hope I live long enough to share a legal hit with all of you.Ganja Granny sez DOWATCHAGOTTADO!
@Adriana – I did not mean that marijuana is just like every other drug. Obviously, there are different levels of dangers, side effects, etc. with each drug, whether it be MJ, alcohol, cocaine, etc.
My point was that regardless of the different qualities of these substances, the most important reasons for legalization of marijuana apply to other drugs as well. These reasons are that prohibition, criminalization, and other regulations DO NOT WORK. Making something illegal does not make it disappear. This was the case with alcohol during prohibition. This is the case with prostitution. This is the case with gambling. This is the case even with cigarettes to some extent – although they are legal, hefty taxes imposed by certain states have caused people to smuggle them across state lines and create a black market for cigarettes. The higher the tax, the more you will see cigarettes associated with smuggling, underground activities, and gang activity.
People will continue to do it, whether it is marijuana, cocaine or heroine. Banning it just causes more dangers, because it drives the trade underground, removes transparency, removes quality control and competitive controls, and feeds gang violence and gang crime. This also applies to alcohol.
Of course, we should educate people and encourage them not to use dangerous substances, but criminalization is not the answer.
Great vid!
Greetings from Holand where the ideas around weed are different from the rest of the world.
Smoke on!
Ok, so let me ask this question. How is marijuana any worse than alcohol or cigarettes? Putting aside the fact that it is illegal, it causes cancer just like cigarettes, and it impairs judgment/awareness just like alcohol. However, unlike alcohol and cigarettes, marijuana is not addictive physically. Any substance is addictive for the simple fact that it will give you a mental escape from your problems. Just look at how many millions of alcoholics there are in the United States alone, but alcohol is still legal. Look how many people are still smoking cigarettes even after major health problems landing them in the E.R. as a result. Not to mention, you cannot overdose on marijuana. Most every other substance can kill you if you ingest too much. So looking at it from that perspective, marijuana could be potentially less harmful than alcohol.
Where did you get the idea that marijuana causes cancer? There is no science to support that conclusion.
What’s everybody’s thoughts on recreational use? The possible medicinal applications are staggering yes… but what’s wrong with smoking on a daily basis for the pure enjoyment? I’ve never hurt anyone, stolen anything, done anything (too) stupid while under the influence. Why does smoking it make me a criminal? I live in CT and our neighbors to the north in MA have decriminalized it.
What gets me is the district of columbia,better known as washington d.c. has legalized medical use of marijuana,so there”s proof right there that the politicians think they are better than us and therefore do as i say not what i do!!!They can all sit at the round table blazing their herb due to stress but if we do it we”re a criminal and could possibly be kidknapped and thrown in a cage.District of columbia resides in 2 states Maryland and Virginia yet neither state is medicinal and you will be persecuted for using.Makes no sence to me other than them blatenly showing us what a socialist country we have become.I live in a state that butts up against a medicinal state yet my neighbors across the street can legally grow and smoke their medicine and yet i”ll be arrested for doing the same thing my neighbor is doing.Just make it legal nationwide already.Leagalizing the hemp industry would resolve this depression within 4 yrs but the big beaurocrats (drug companies,logging ect.)use their money to buy politicians to not make it legal for the fact it would crete millions of u.s.jobs and take from their profits.
Yea weeds great blah blah blah we all know the facts, quit writing fucking essays about it you self righteous pricks.
We’ll stop “whining” when people’s lives are stopped from being destroyed for a victimless crime like using weed, and a more sensible approach like legalization is executed.
The Govt. is dumb to keep it illegal.. it has such great money making ability. If the govt gave..no..actually SOLD a weed card, and to smoke/possess/buy weed you need a weed card, this alone could make the government BILLIONS a year. think about it, lets say 1/3 all of the US smoke weed occasionally.. about 100 million people… lets say the government on a yearly basis renews your weed card at..idk..say 30 bucks?.. that’s 3 billion a year (not to mention the sale of cannabis AND hemp etc etc).. and i’m pretty sure more than 1/3 of the US would smoke pot occasionally and that people would be willing to spend well up to 100 a year..
And if people are caught dodging these charges, then fine them like crazy..and make even MORE money…
Legalize Pot NOW!
Sugar is a gateway drug, its the first thing kids get hooked on.
Alcohol is a hard drug and it’s legal, it’s also a gateway drug. We know from the 1920′s that prohibition does not work, so why not legalize marijuana?
Its only a gate way to crime due to our laws based on politics,(Money), whatever you want to call it… not fact and reason as they should be. It has known medical benefit but yet it is still a schedule 1 drug , that classifies it as having no medical benefit. I’m calling incompetence on out law makers, seems they have no care what the people want , the people who pay them their massive paychecks that they cant obviously manage, yet they want to throw people in cages instead of dealing with the huge social issue
The only reason it is considered a gateway drug is because kids are buying from street dealers, and obviously they want to make more money, so they offer the kids other drugs like coke or ecstasy and then that makes it look like its a gateway drug simply because they started with pot but the street dealers pushed them to try harder drugs. If weed was legal, the government could regulate it and you would have to be a certain age to buy it just like alcohol. Kids turn to drugs because it is far easier to get their hands on them than it is alcohol or cigarettes which are regulated and controlled by the government.
I enjoyed this, a lot. (: I thought it was cute.
It’s obvious by the fact that almost all of the comments are pro-legalization and only a few are against it that most people support legalizing pot. Most of the people that posted a comment against it sounded really dumb, and the comments that followed showed that. It’s obvious that most people are in favor of legalizing pot, yet it still isn’t legal. America is supposed to be a “Free Country,” so why can’t a smoke a plant if I want to? The government telling me that it is illegal to smoke a plant makes it sound like this country is the opposite of free.
I think it would be great to legalize marijuana. I voted yes when California tried to legalize it. But later I realized that everything the government regulates gets tainted. Tobacco was a “natural” thing, too. Now there are additives. And the other day I found a pack of Camel shorts for $7.50 (I quit smoking- I just wanted to see how much they’re charging nowadays). And even our beer uses artificial flavoring! Not only that, but anything that’s grown in our country is most likely genetically modified and sprayed to death with nasty stuff like Round Up. If we legalize marijuana and our government can regulate it, greedy corporations will turn it into a poison that could kill us. Maybe for once we should keep something off the market.
I was high, but I zoned out on all the douchey peoples’ comments, it totally killed my high.
DAT IS HOW SHROOMS WAS MADE xP HAHAHHA
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amen!
If you want to argue about weed, first try sitting back, putting on some pink floyd, and smoking a bowl with some buddies. Tell me what you think after that.
Everything is a drug because it’s a chemical. And guess what? Even food changes your mind on a very small scale. But weed is NEVER to be confused with something that is processed and that’s what most people think when they hear the word drug, so it’s not really smart to call it that…be more specific it’s a herb. GREEN!!! XD
I lately saw some comment saying “cannabis is ruining america”, c’mon… you need more information, how many people die from smoking cigarettes in a year, maybe 100,000? from alcohol abuse, 200,000? people get killed by drunk drivers and alcohol is actually destroying many families. and how many people died from abusing weed?????? oh yeah that’s it…. none.
Don’t you people see?! Wladimir isn’t really Russian at all! He’s…..a troll!!!