I feel like MJ can be very helpful for certain people who really need it, like people who are sick receiving intense medical help in eating again and regaining their appetite but who knows how long it will take to really go into effect in the state.
I think its a good start and from what I've heard it looks like AZ is trying to do a better job of this than Cali. in terms of regulation. It's much safer than prescription pain pills in terms of overdose possibility.
Also, I agree that alcohol is the main gateway drug. Myself and many I know growing up tried alcohol before we ever tried pot. I also don't believe that the drug itself is what leads people to other drugs but more the crowds/people that some get involved with. That's just peer pressure, and you have that no matter where you find yourself.
I also don't believe that the drug itself is what leads people to other drugs but more the crowds/people that some get involved with. That's just peer pressure, and you have that no matter where you find yourself.
From what I've seen this is it really. I don't think alcohol is really any more of a gateway drug than caffeine. There's so many things out there that we "self medicate" with, from stimulants, to booze, even the endorphin release from eating a fat filled meal. They all teach us that we can artificially produce a more pleasant state of mind through chemicals. What chemicals are acceptable depends on the people around you. I've seen crowds that think alcohol is akin to the devil, but pot is your friend, others who had the rock star mentality that it's all fuel for the party. Then there's the "hippy mentality" that says as long as it's natural it's food for the mind.
I think that most people wouldn't touch harder drugs with a 10 foot pole until they were approached by someone they respected. Almost no one seeks it out for them self.
I find it interesting that a citizen of Hawaii (not exactly the bastion of strict drug laws) is coming into an Arizona forum and telling the citizens of AZ that this prop is a bad thing. It is NOT the minority pushing this, otherwise the prop would not have passed at all. If an overwhelmingly conservative state like Arizona can pass this, then there is clearly some unity amongst Americans on the subject.
First off, I don't necessarily appreciate your personal comments. They're strictly forbidden here - and this is your one and only warning. But if you must know:
I'm in the Marine Corps, currently stationed on Oahu, and move around quite a bit, of course. I lived in Arizona for about a year a while back.
I wouldn't call myself a Hawaiian - there's plenty of things that I don't agree with here, but that's another thread.
Besides that point, this is an open forum and anyone from any state is welcome to post anywhere they like. Such is the beauty of CityProfile. If you have an issue with that, please PM me
And, by the numbers, the majority of people in the United States are not drug users and have never even tried any sort of drug. On the opposite side of the debate, if California, an incredibly liberal state, can't pass a law allowing marijuana, then I find it hard to believe that any state in the US will have much success on the same argument.
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Those statistics will be skewed because MJ is currently part of the drug subculture here. You'd have to go to a country where it is legal to see if there is a correlation between marajuana and other ilicit drugs.
I don't smoke either, because its ILLEGAL. However, I see no problem with it. Its just like alcohol as far as I can tell. (I don't drink either btw)
What I have seen are HUGE marajuana busts on our border, complex tunnel systems to traffic the weed. There is a whole ton of money in growing and selling marajuana that is funding these drug cartels. If we attack the cartels in the pocket book by flooding the market with legal weed, they will collapse.
I don't have stats, but if you take a drug user, chances are they'll be doing pot + something else. The something else will vary, but pot will stay the same. Drug cartels won't survive on meth and cocaine alone. There is money in other drugs, but I'd be willing to bet the constant cash flow is in marajuana.