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Legalize marijuana?

Gameface said:
There isn't an equivalent.

I'd say the intoxication curve for marijuana is MUCH steeper than it is for alcohol. At least up to a point. I consider marijuana more of a high or not type thing. Sure there is a little high and there is too high, but getting to the point of being high is quick and getting to the point of being too high takes effort and is usually intentional. With alcohol you can easily drink slow enough to never really get completely drunk. It's a much more linear process. It's pretty easy to consume at a constant rate and maintain a certain level of intoxication, or to drink at a faster rate and get more drunk. I'd say inexperienced drinkers can easily let things get away (not to say experienced drinkers don't, but they usually do so intentionally while it may not be intentional for an inexperienced drinker) from them and the alcohol intoxication often leads to an even greater rate of consumption.

A person a little buzzed off alcohol can do most things normally. A person a little buzzed off weed can too. A person high on weed might exhibit signs of consumption, but that person can likely still do most things normally. A drunk person starts to lose the ability to act and function normally. If you end up way overindulging in weed you'll likely lay down for a nap. A person who overindulged in alcohol starts to act and think erratically. At some point most people will get sick if they drink too much.

They just aren't the same.

I'm sure some people who've had plenty of experience with both will disagree with my post.
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I don't think it's much steeper. But it may feel much steeper due to alcohol having set standardizations of its ABV compared to weed, where the potency can differ not only from the strain but even from different areas of the plant the product was harvested from.

What makes booze something people can just sip on and not be as intoxicated quicker is the fact that booze like beer and wine has a low ABV, so drinking 12 ounces of something with a 4-7% ABV in a half hour doesn't get one intoxicated very much (an every day beer drinker may not feel anything at all, while someone like me who hasn't had any booze in 3 or so years might feel something from it), though if one drank 12 ounces of 40% ABV vodka they would be significantly intoxicated.

With weed the fact is the majority of the market (at least here...perhaps low potency weed still exists in the Bible belt states out there) contains pot that is the equivalent to vodka, and not beer. The average person smoking a 20% THC 0.5 gram joint is going to be pretty blazed after smoking the whole joint, while the person smoking a 5% THC joint will not be (and much like the booze example, the heavy smoker may not feel anything from it while the novice smoker could get a pretty good buzz, if not be completely stoned).

Frankly I wish there was a move to lower potency weed that still maintains the flavor and smell/look of the higher potency strains. Say weed's version of the craft beer. There are times I'd rather smoke a joint to myself instead of stopping after 2 hits because I know that will be too much for me. I also think a move to more balanced THC/CBD strains would help in people not getting too stoned out of their minds as well, even if they do over consume.
 
Nate505 said:
Frankly I wish there was a move to lower potency weed that still maintains the flavor and smell/look of the higher potency strains. Say weed's version of the craft beer. There are times I'd rather smoke a joint to myself instead of stopping after 2 hits because I know that will be too much for me. I also think a move to more balanced THC/CBD strains would help in people not getting too stoned out of their minds as well, even if they do over consume.
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Agree 100%. If you look around, you can almost certainly find some high CBD strains. There are still some oldtimers who grow mild, tasty outdoor weed that's good for outdoor work and the like. You live in CO, so you can always grow your own...
 
GVC said:
They should all be decriminalized. The funds would be better spent in education and treatment.
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I dont know if this was discussed but California passed prop 47 which is a step in the right direction. All drug possession charges are misdemeanor only now.
 
VINYLONE said:
I read this and thought it was specious. Where are you getting your information from?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blog...4/colorado-marijuana-revenues-hit-a-new-high/
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Rec. pot prices are 4-5 times BM price here in Wa. Lawmakers are basically trying to have their cake and eat it, too. They want the tax $, but they're trying to collect and at the same time to limit the amount of weed being sold by making it ridiculously expensive. Great idea if you ignore the fact that the BM takes up the slack for any limitations they impose.. No way to limit amount sold if you're serious about competing with the black market. If they did try to compete, they would pretty much flood communities with legal pot, and I think that's a hard pill to swallow for many law makers. They'd rather let the BM continue collecting billions in the background, rather than bring it out where people can see, and have their names tied to the flooding of communities with legal weed.
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They are basically choosing between these two options:
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A-Tax extremely high, therefore limiting amount sold while at the same time, still trying to collect as much as possible. You do this knowing very well that you're doing almost nothing to address taking on the BM.
B- Make a run at the BM money, which is by far the biggest piece of pie here. To do this, they would have to regulate prices to compete with the BM, which means VERY little tax on pot. They would actually bring in more money this way, even though the taxes are cut dramatically, but that means WAY, WAY more pot being sold in stores, which is very difficult to keep hidden from the public.
 
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I only recently started watching Boardwalk Empire, and I know it's 90% fictional, but it demonstrates the problems and the world of unintended consequences that come with prohibition.

Prohibition is an opportunity. It grows into an industry. There is money to be made. Money is like sunlight to a growing plant, it grows in that direction. Take the sunlight away but the tree is still there pointing in that direction.

Prohibition has gone on a very long time. The work around to this meaningless prohibition has been fine tuned. The illegal marijuana industry is much better established than the legal marijuana industry.

This is going to be a tuff nut to crack. I hope it works. Legalization is the right thing to do. It's going to take effort to make it work.

I say this knowing that marijuana can be a harmful substance that debilitates people. It isn't "just a plant." It is a drug that often saps ambition, numbs perception and stupifies it's user. But prohibition is morally wrong and prohibition enforcement is an outright atrocity. The effects of marijuana prohibition enforcement is far far more harmful than marijuana...and the kicker is that all the ills of marijuana exist right along side the ills of prohibition.
 
Nate505 said:
With weed the fact is the majority of the market (at least here...perhaps low potency weed still exists in the Bible belt states out there) contains pot that is the equivalent to vodka, and not beer. The average person smoking a 20% THC 0.5 gram joint is going to be pretty blazed after smoking the whole joint, while the person smoking a 5% THC joint will not be (and much like the booze example, the heavy smoker may not feel anything from it while the novice smoker could get a pretty good buzz, if not be completely stoned).

Frankly I wish there was a move to lower potency weed that still maintains the flavor and smell/look of the higher potency strains. Say weed's version of the craft beer. There are times I'd rather smoke a joint to myself instead of stopping after 2 hits because I know that will be too much for me. I also think a move to more balanced THC/CBD strains would help in people not getting too stoned out of their minds as well, even if they do over consume.
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Most of the high CBD strains here have a lower thc%, like 5-10%. Is that not so in Co.?
 
freakazoid said:
To do this, they would have to regulate prices to compete with the BM, which means VERY little tax on pot. They would actually bring in more money this way, even though the taxes are cut dramatically, but that means WAY, WAY more pot being sold in stores, which is very difficult to keep hidden from the public.
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I'm not so sure. As operations grow, and less is spent on keeping everything covert, costs of production should decrease. Getting the product to market is almost certainly cheaper under a legalized regime as well. You need to ease the taxes in to allow for the early investment and growth, and in time, you'll be able to tax it at a higher rate, and use the proceeds to better fight the black market.

You're right though, virtually the only positive from legalization in WA is that use is now legalized. They're trying to shut down medicinal as well.
 
GVC said:
I'm not so sure. As operations grow, and less is spent on keeping everything covert, costs of production should decrease. Getting the product to market is almost certainly cheaper under a legalized regime as well. You need to ease the taxes in to allow for the early investment and growth, and in time, you'll be able to tax it at a higher rate, and use the proceeds to better fight the black market.
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I'm guessing you may have highlighted the wrong part? Anyway, if you were making a point about low taxes in the beginning not equating to more $ brought in at first, I agree, and that's not what I intended to say, but that one way or another, prices have to be regulated if there is any chance of cutting into the BM.
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At $800 an ounce, rec. pot isn't touching the BM. Regular users could never afford that, so you can safely say that regular users are choosing between Medical or BM pot currently. For the most part, IMO, rec. pot has created a new market including pot tourism, occasional users/locals without connections who probably wouldn't smoke if it hadn't been legalized, etc. Among regular users, they do contribute(connoisseurs who want to sample), but very little compared to what they consume. It's just not cost feasible.
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Just for an example of how far out of whack they are price-wise with the BM, when they first got edibles here, they were selling 3 cookies for $115, and they were 10 mgs each. Anyone with any kind of tolerance would probably need to eat all 3. Flower goes from $20 - $40 a gram.
 
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Nate505 said:
Frankly I wish there was a move to lower potency weed that still maintains the flavor and smell/look of the higher potency strains. Say weed's version of the craft beer. There are times I'd rather smoke a joint to myself instead of stopping after 2 hits because I know that will be too much for me. I also think a move to more balanced THC/CBD strains would help in people not getting too stoned out of their minds as well, even if they do over consume.
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I don't like this idea at all....... and if it did happen then that weed better be alot cheaper
 
freakazoid said:
but that means WAY, WAY more pot being sold in stores, which is very difficult to keep hidden from the public.
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Why should this be an issue.
The people have spoken and said that they want weed legal so doesnt that mean that they know that they will be seeing it sold legally alot.

This shouldn't be some shock to the people... selling pot in stores is what the people wanted
 
Gameface said:
I say this knowing that marijuana can be a harmful substance that debilitates people. It isn't "just a plant." It is a drug that often saps ambition, numbs perception and stupifies it's user. But prohibition is morally wrong and prohibition enforcement is an outright atrocity. The effects of marijuana prohibition enforcement is far far more harmful than marijuana...and the kicker is that all the ills of marijuana exist right along side the ills of prohibition.
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Great post
 
GVC said:
What's so bad about altering your mind temporarily?
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Since Hantler didn't bite on this question, I'll quickly share my thoughts.

One disclaimer: I'm a dysfunctional human being. That was probably more true before I started smoking weed, and probably less true before I started limiting my weed smoking over the last year plus (I really should start smoking more again...).

Alright...I think occasionally altering your mind can be beneficial. It's easy to get locked into the same patterns of thought and become myopic. Psychotropic substances can take us out of these patterns and help us see the bigger picture (even if only by slightly shifting the angle at which we view the world).
 
GVC said:
Since Hantler didn't bite on this question, I'll quickly share my thoughts.

One disclaimer: I'm a dysfunctional human being. That was probably more true before I started smoking weed, and probably less true before I started limiting my weed smoking over the last year plus (I really should start smoking more again...).

Alright...I think occasionally altering your mind can be beneficial. It's easy to get locked into the same patterns of thought and become myopic. Psychotropic substances can take us out of these patterns and help us see the bigger picture (even if only by slightly shifting the angle at which we view the world).
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what are your diet & exercise levels like? Both will impact your neurochemistry intensely as well. Almost always beneficially.
 
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