Some things you may not know.

[pasithea]

A couple of weeks ago, I signed a petition to legalize marijuana in California. If you haven't seen the petition floating around, here's the website for it. http://www.jackherer.com/ April is rapidly approaching. Sign if it interests you.


Personally, I don't smoke marijuana. I had it a few times about 15 years ago and while it was amusing, it really just didn't have the appeal to become a part of my life. It was like going to watch movies or something. The time commitment was just not worth it for me.

What I find more interesting about hemp is how usable the plant is. It's a FAR more efficient and durable fiber than cotton plus it's an oily plant and the whole thing can be used for alternative fuel. So basically... potheads can have their fun off the flower and the rest of the plant can be used for industrial needs. Cannabis grows fast and grows in poor soil and in just about any environment. (It's not called 'weed' for nothing) I'd love to see it legalized, although I would also appreciate if it were taxed and regulated similar to tobacco and alcohol. Make it into a revenue source instead of a revenue loss (putting people in prison)

It would also cripple revenue for gangs. If there's no black market for it, it becomes very hard to compete with your corner grocery store. Perhaps even more important: Every time a reasonably safe psychedelic (like marijuana, ecstacy, or lsd) has been made illegal, it's resulted in an upswing of deadly and addictive drugs like heroine, meth, and cocaine. If people have a safe way to 'feel different' that is readily available, there's less interest in taking-what-you-can-get-even-if-it-kills-you. (I am just supposing here, but it'd be easy to test this hypothesis if this legalization occurred)

The other interesting thing I didn't know about marijuana (I'm listening to a psychology lecture) is that if you have less than an ounce in California, the maximum sentence is a misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $100. No jail time. No felony. Far less punishment than say running a traffic light.

If it were legalized, would I take it again? Maybe, but probably not. Tobacco is legal. I've had one cigarette and I really didn't care for the effects. Though nicotine is often quite addictive, I've felt no desire to have another. Marijuana is not addictive for most people, and when I had it before, I also didn't find its effects particularly desirable. I might revisit it if it were in the form of brownies or something, but I really like my lungs and smoking anything just isn't my thing, and I generally have better things to do with my time than feel stupid and sit around laughing at sitcoms.

(BTW, this post is intentionally public. If a future employer might not hire me for having committed a misdemeanor without getting caught over a decade ago, they probably aren't someone I care to work for anyhow.)

Comments

[prickvixen.livejournal.com]

Ah, but having a large prison population is a revenue gain. You create a huge slave labor force, which not only increases the corporate bottom line, but undercuts workers' wages generally. I mean, maybe the government has to provide assistance to whoever's lost their job to a slave worker, but that's the government's problem, not the problem of business. Anyway, then you just cut benefits and narrowly define who receives them. Problem solved! Who cares what the result of that is when you ride around in a bulletproof limousine and live in a gated fortress? Stupid proles!

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

Like any psychoactive chemical, THC's effects are highly influenced by mood and context. I've never really found that it makes me feel stupid, and it hasn't left me likely to sit there and watch stupid TV.

YMMV of course.

[salia-chan.livejournal.com]

I find particularly amusing all the 'zomg smoke one slice of pan and you light your car on fire!' commercials. Utterly ignoring that people get drunk and run into heavy immobile objects on a comparatively regular basis and such.