Quote :

"Americans are growing more comfortable with marijuana, with 58 percent favoring legalization according to the latest Gallup poll. At the same time, some researchers believe they have identified a side benefit to increasing availability of the drug: It could lead to decreased consumption of alcohol among young people. In a paper in the winter issue of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, two researchers — D. Mark Anderson of Montana State University and Daniel Rees of the University of Colorado at Denver — report that legalization of marijuana for medical purposes has been associated with reductions in heavy drinking, especially among 18- through 29-year-olds, and with an almost 5 percent decrease in beer sales. In addition, the increase in the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 seems to encourage greater marijuana use among people under 21, usage that drops sharply when they reach the legal drinking age. If marijuana is widely legalized for recreational purposes (only Washington State and Colorado have taken that step), the consequences are far from clear. But assuming the argument that alcohol and marijuana are “substitutes” bears out, that could be good news, especially for road safety. Of the two substances, alcohol is far more hazardous. For the most part, marijuana-intoxicated drivers show only modest impairments on road tests. Several studies have suggested that drivers under the influence of marijuana actually overestimate their impairment. They slow down and increase their following distance. The opposite is true of drivers under the influence of alcohol."

ahahahahaha

11/3/2013 10:01:02 PM

If you partake in both, does that mean you drive normally?

11/3/2013 10:07:14 PM

i used to HATE riding in cars with a stoned driver

11/3/2013 10:08:26 PM

OFF KAPLAN?!?

11/3/2013 10:12:12 PM

Quote :

"and with an almost 5 percent decrease in beer sales. "

11/3/2013 10:19:33 PM

I know people that drive high. No thank you

[Edited on November 3, 2013 at 11:49 PM. Reason : !]

11/3/2013 11:49:10 PM

How fast was I going officer?


You were going 7mph.

11/4/2013 6:27:00 AM

row-ads
r00ds

11/4/2013 8:02:45 AM

He's already pulled over! He can't pull over any farther!

11/4/2013 8:07:31 AM

"You're on third street!"

11/4/2013 8:46:23 AM

My mom's best friend was killed by two 14 year old stoned drivers that went the wrong way down an exit ramp.

11/4/2013 9:13:51 AM

Quote :

"14 year old"

11/4/2013 9:19:10 AM

how were they both driving? was one working the gas and break pedals and the other was steering?


disincentivizing the black market is a good way to get drugs away from kids.

11/4/2013 2:08:02 PM

Americans are growing comfortable with marijuana

11/4/2013 2:13:04 PM

haha, i'd hate to have a stoned driver drive me around

I took a buddy, who was stoned out of his mind, to a party about 5 miles down the road and he literally said "when are we going to get there, man? we've been driving for 2 hours."

11/4/2013 2:19:09 PM

your buddy sounds like an idiot. cause i'm pretty sure most people who use it don't confuse 5 minutes with 2 hours. it doesn't work that way.

11/4/2013 2:23:06 PM

did you confuse 5 minutes with 5 miles because you are smoking?

11/4/2013 2:38:12 PM

i assumed it was in the 60 mph zone of I-440.

11/4/2013 2:48:54 PM

ah ha ha ha ha ha

11/4/2013 5:29:44 PM

Quote :

"If you partake in both, does that mean you drive normally?"

ya

that makes perfect sense

1 makes you drive fine

1 doesn't

the logical conclusion is that you'll drive just fine

11/4/2013 5:31:05 PM

I for one hope its never legal, I wish tobacco products would also join the list. If it does nothing good for you why should it be legal.

11/4/2013 7:24:15 PM

Terrible troll is terrible.

11/4/2013 8:10:49 PM

wow

http://www.policymic.com/articles/71559/this-5-year-old-s-tragic-story-proves-what-medical-marijuana-advocates-have-been-saying-for-years

11/4/2013 9:12:34 PM

Its not a troll for once. Legalizing marijuana will do nothing but have more people smoking it. Smoking is a terrible habit, doesn't help with anything, and leads to death. Just because more people want to get stoned does not mean it should be legalized. And after you legalize it what about all the (black) people in prison for it? What about all the people that have records because of it? etc etc.


If I had a child I'd rather they drink than start smoking. Legalizing marijuana will not remove the criminal element, government marijuana will not be laced like the dealers so drug dealers will still be in business.

11/5/2013 5:46:12 AM

you don't have to smoke it

11/5/2013 5:59:11 AM

Thats another issue, what happens when kids start eating it?

11/5/2013 7:33:47 AM

AHAHA, excellent point.

11/5/2013 8:00:26 AM

Quote :

"Legalizing marijuana will do nothing but have more people smoking it."

It will do many things besides having more people smoking it.

Quote :

"And after you legalize it what about all the (black) people in prison for it? What about all the people that have records because of it?"

It's not the first time this situation has ever come up and it depends on how the law legalizing weed (or anything else) is written. It could have a retro clause allowing anyone incarcerated prior to the law taking effect to file a motion for release. Any activity on your record will stay there though.

Quote :

"Legalizing marijuana will not remove the criminal element, government marijuana will not be laced like the dealers so drug dealers will still be in business."

This is the troll part of your statement? Criminal element of what? Laced with what? What percentage of weed sold in the US is laced with something? All drug dealers lace weed?

11/5/2013 8:15:00 AM

Quote :

"If I had a child I'd rather they drink than start smoking. Legalizing marijuana will not remove the criminal element, government marijuana will not be laced like the dealers so drug dealers will still be in business."

lol nice

11/5/2013 8:31:02 AM

Prediction: Marijuana will be legal in all 50 states before gay marriage

11/5/2013 9:24:38 AM

I'm getting comfortable with it right now.

11/5/2013 9:38:29 AM

I am comfortably out =3

11/5/2013 12:11:47 PM

Quote :

"If I had a child I'd rather they drink than start smoking. Legalizing marijuana will not remove the criminal element, government marijuana will not be laced like the dealers so drug dealers will still be in business."

I know this is a troll post.

but believe it or not theres a difference between people who smoke up twice a day, and people who occasionally like to smoke a joint with friends.

just like there are people who have a couple beers on the weekends, and those who down a bottle of vodka every other night and wrap their car around a tree

[Edited on November 5, 2013 at 12:23 PM. Reason : .]

11/5/2013 12:23:15 PM

twice a day

LOL

11/5/2013 12:29:12 PM

OH MAN

11/5/2013 1:27:21 PM

WATCH THIS MOVIE

http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/law_enforcement_opposed_to_the_war_on_drugs_2006/

Quote :

"Cops and former cops who have put in decades fighting the war on drugs speak out against prohibition."

11/5/2013 5:05:55 PM

Quote :

"but believe it or not theres a difference between people who smoke up twice a day, and people who occasionally like to smoke a joint with friends. just like there are people who have a couple beers on the weekends, and those who down a bottle of vodka every other night and wrap their car around a tree"

because people who smoke up twice a day = people who down a bottle of vodka every other night? WTF?

One plus about teens/adults smoking over drinking is that you can't smoke yourself to death.

11/5/2013 5:13:49 PM

Let it slide. He's on our side!

11/5/2013 5:20:38 PM

^ yeah, I get that. But that comparison was a bit outrageous. Grass has soooo many more benefits than alcohol.

11/5/2013 5:47:10 PM

http://www.alternet.org/marijuana-miracle-5-exciting-new-discoveries-about-pot

11/16/2013 4:53:48 PM

I wish people would drop the medical argument.

Yes, cannabis has effects on certain conditions and could even be said to be effective in treatment of those conditions. However, the truth is that synthetic drugs are much more effective and have less negative side effects.

I do agree it should be legalized, regulated, and taxed like alcohol and I think that it's way less harmful than drinking or smoking tobacco, but let's not kid ourselves with the medical argument.

11/16/2013 5:20:08 PM

do you work for a pharmaceutical company?

11/16/2013 5:43:59 PM

^^ I'm pretty sure my doctor would disagree with that.

[Edited on November 16, 2013 at 6:54 PM. Reason : with the less negative side effects part...]

11/16/2013 6:53:09 PM

what he said is correct; there are much better drugs for almost every medical benefit marijuana is touted for in it's presently available form. Marijuana has many different cannabinoid chemicals present in them, and the quantities and ratios of these different cannabinoids are altered by strain and by growing conditions. There's no standardization to the ratio of different cannabinoids present in marijuana available today, and they can have very different effects both physically and mentally.

If they'd remove that stupid Schedule I status and allow biochemists to perform more testing on the individual chemicals, then we'd probably come up with medical forms of marijuana that could be standardized and taken in a measured dose. Poppy tea isn't a good medicine because it varies widely in contents and potency, but it's chemical constituents of morphine, codeine, and papaverine make excellent medications when isolated and administered in metered doses.

11/16/2013 6:55:02 PM

Quote :

"Prediction: Marijuana will be legal in all 50 states before gay marriage"

I could see that. I predict neither will happen in my lifetime.

I always knew we'd have a black president before a woman president. At least he's got "manhood"

11/16/2013 8:11:08 PM

that coon ain't even black, he's a raghead

11/16/2013 8:32:58 PM

#Racism

11/16/2013 10:02:19 PM

Quote :

"do you work for a pharmaceutical company?"

No, but my last job was with the National Institutes of Health. I'm not a health professional and my views don't represent those of the NIH but it was interesting reading scientific abstracts on the subject. You can access almost all of them (that are not in progress) on pub med.

11/17/2013 12:04:07 AM

Quote :

"there are much better drugs for almost every medical benefit marijuana is touted for in it's presently available form. "

"Better" is a subjective term IMO. If MJ is sufficient at providing a medical benefit it's a tough call to say that another drug is "better" IMHO. I think Opioids are a good example of this. They're "better" at relieving pain, but if MJ is sufficient for a person's needs it would be hard to classify opioids as "better" due to the addictive properties and the propensity of opioids to cause bodily harm.

I don't smoke, but I do think MJ is a much safer alternative than a lot of the pharmaceuticals that people tend to take on a daily basis. If it is sufficient at relieving a person's symptoms I see no reason that they should be forced into the world of manufactured pharmaceuticals if they don't want to be.

[Edited on November 17, 2013 at 2:40 PM. Reason : s]

11/17/2013 2:39:34 PM

next

11/17/2013 8:33:12 PM