Legalizing Marijuana

whispering hands

Welcome to the circus Oregon.. That's three states now.. How long do you think it'll take to re-legalize Pot in a fully on board manner? ( because hemp used to be legal, it was even so valuable it was used as tender, with seeds being the greatest form of currency). I've noticed here in Colorado that kids are getting this fucking crazy potent stuff here, ( we have strains that are upwards if 26% THC, CBD! If you know your pot, that stupid crazy!) and honestly, I don't think they know how to handle it. It is effecting them adversely.
Thoughts? Oregonians, your thoughts?

Go Beavers

Here in Oregon it was basically seen as natural and inevitable since Washington took the lead. It's not too big of a shift since medical pot has been legal for many years, and possession has been just a 'violation' for a long time, too. I think for the people 40 years old and up, it may become more socially acceptable. It'll be interesting to see if it has a difference on level of casual use amongst teens. Eliminating the criminal element and connection to it will be immediately beneficial. I'm also expecting alcohol related crime to go down as the guy who usually drinks and does something stupid may just decide to burn one, have some ding dongs with his xbox and call it good.

i_lov_it

So it's Legal in Oregon now interesting...I mean you have Alcohol which is Legal and of course Cigarettes and who only knows what's in the drugs the Big Pharmaceutical companies give us so why not Marijuana...I'm in Seattle atm and I see it advertised everywhere not to mention get a good whiff of it everywhere walking Downtown.

whispering hands

It's like that here in Colorado too! When my oldest sister moved out here from Mo, she was shocked and kept taking pictures of all the signs advertising Pot! It was actually amusing! Then came the day recreational went over.. On the day the first store opened in Denver, we drove up, and made history by legally buying one joint each, ( though cause of my work, I couldn't smoke mine, so I gave it to her), IN FRONT OF A POLICE OFFICER!! Which totally tripped me out!! But I honestly think it should be legal.. Get the potheads out if the jails, so we have room to keep the truly dangerous fuckers off the street. I just worry for the kids getting into this.. Their brains are still developing.. And Pot screws that up.. I hope that this all works out well and that it just becomes Federally legal all round so we can start keeping REAL criminals under wraps versus pot dealers etc.

brianlux

whispering hands said:

Welcome to the circus Oregon.. That's three states now.. How long do you think it'll take to re-legalize Pot in a fully on board manner? ( because hemp used to be legal, it was even so valuable it was used as tender, with seeds being the greatest form of currency). I've noticed here in Colorado that kids are getting this fucking crazy potent stuff here, ( we have strains that are upwards if 26% THC, CBD! If you know your pot, that stupid crazy!) and honestly, I don't think they know how to handle it. It is effecting them adversely.
Thoughts? Oregonians, your thoughts?

I all for legalizing but , yes, some education has to go along with it. The higher THC potency actually is good because it means less smoking for the same high. In the sixties, you had to smoke a bale of weed to get a buzz- now just a hit or two. It's like 3.2 beer compared to hard liquor. Know you limits. That's what needs to be taught.

2-feign-reluctance

Its not good for your brain, even for occasional users. Those are my thoughts.

whispering hands

brianlux said:

whispering hands said:

Welcome to the circus Oregon.. That's three states now.. How long do you think it'll take to re-legalize Pot in a fully on board manner? ( because hemp used to be legal, it was even so valuable it was used as tender, with seeds being the greatest form of currency). I've noticed here in Colorado that kids are getting this fucking crazy potent stuff here, ( we have strains that are upwards if 26% THC, CBD! If you know your pot, that stupid crazy!) and honestly, I don't think they know how to handle it. It is effecting them adversely.
Thoughts? Oregonians, your thoughts?

I all for legalizing but , yes, some education has to go along with it. The higher THC potency actually is good because it means less smoking for the same high. In the sixties, you had to smoke a bale of weed to get a buzz- now just a hit or two. It's like 3.2 beer compared to hard liquor. Know you limits. That's what needs to be taught.

Good idea! Really, that IS the scary thing! People are getting this crazy potent weed, and smoking an entire joint, or the stupid aurora dude that are twelve cookies and jumped to his death from a three story balcony! Stuff like that! I live that they are making the CBDs in more concentrated access versus having to take in the THC as well when there are those that use it to alleviate pain, but don't necessarily want a buzz. As well they are isolating this factor into foods and candies just for those people. I also live that it is now accessible in formats that aren't destructive to the lungs! As well, the salves are amazing and work wonders I hear! But yes, I really would like to see some education happening here. This isn't the same shit you could buy a cow with two hundred years ago! Now days it can kill a cow!

hedonist

Just apply common sense and moderation to its use, like anything else.

2-feign, I've been smoking since my early teens and pulled badass grades while in school. Most of my friends/classmates fared the same. And, all these years later, I think my brain's doing alright

rr165892

hedonist said:

Just apply common sense and moderation to its use, like anything else.

2-feign, I've been smoking since my early teens and pulled badass grades while in school. Most of my friends/classmates fared the same. And, all these years later, I think my brain's doing alright

Stress kills how many people a year either directly or indirectly?????? How many die from pot?Zero to the later.Like with anything in life common sense and good judgment go along way.FYI Harvard,Princeton and Cornell,etc sure have a lot of pot smokers(fact!!!)just saying .

whispering hands

rr165892 said:

hedonist said:

Just apply common sense and moderation to its use, like anything else.

2-feign, I've been smoking since my early teens and pulled badass grades while in school. Most of my friends/classmates fared the same. And, all these years later, I think my brain's doing alright

Stress kills how many people a year either directly or indirectly?????? How many die from pot?Zero to the later.Like with anything in life common sense and good judgment go along way.FYI Harvard,Princeton and Cornell,etc sure have a lot of pot smokers(fact!!!)just saying .

There are.. Actually two Pot related deaths here in Co. They happened early
Last year, shortly after it was made legal.. Not overdosing or anything..( that WOULD take a shit ton of Pot to do!!) but they ate too much if the concentrated edibles.. One man went crazy and shot his wife in the face, and the other jumped off a three story balcony... But that was pure idiocy! None the less, Pot has officially caused only two deaths.. At least on record that I know of.. I'll try to look those articles up.. Was insane!

whispering hands

DENVER - This week, two Denver deaths were linked to marijuana use, and while some details of the deaths have yet to emerge, they are the first ones on record to be associated with a once-illegal drug that Colorado voters legalized for recreational use, as of January 1, 2014.

One man jumped to his death after consuming a large amount of marijuana contained in a cookie, and in the other case, a man allegedly shot and killed his wife after eating marijuana candy.

Wyoming college student Levy Thamba Pongi, 19, jumped to his death at a Denver hotel on March 11 after eating more of a marijuana cookie than was recommended by a seller, police records show - a finding that comes amid increased concern about the strength of popular pot edibles after Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational marijuana.

Pongi consumed more than one cookie purchased by a friend - even though a store clerk told the friend to cut each cookie into six pieces and to eat just one piece at a time, said the reports obtained Thursday.

Pongi began shaking, screaming and throwing things around a hotel room before he jumped over a fourth-floor railing into the hotel lobby March 11. An autopsy report listed marijuana intoxication as a "significant contributing factor" in the death.

Marijuana cookies and other edibles have become increasingly popular since Colorado allowed people 21 and over to buy recreational marijuana this year at state-regulated stores. Federal authorities don't regulate edible marijuana because it remains illegal under federal law.

In a separate case, a Denver man, Richard Kirk, 47, is accused of killing his wife, Kristine Kirk, 44, on Monday while she was on the phone with a 911 dispatcher. Police say he ate marijuana-infused candy and possibly took prescription pain medication before the attack, according to a search warrant affidavit released Thursday.

The affidavit states that Kristine Kirk told the dispatcher her husband had ingested marijuana candy and was hallucinating.

She pleaded with dispatchers to hurry and send officers because her husband had asked her to get a gun and shoot him. She said she was "scared of what he might do."

Richard Kirk could be heard in the background of the 911 call talking about the candy he bought from a pot dispensary earlier that night, and surveillance footage from the shop captured the transaction, police said.

A detective who interviewed him after the killing noted that he appeared to be under the influence of controlled substances based on his speech and inability to focus, according to the warrants. Blood samples will be tested to see whether he was on any drugs or medications

After voters approved recreational pot, Colorado lawmakers tasked regulators with setting potency-testing guidelines to ensure consumers know how much pot they're eating. Those guidelines are expected to be released next month.

Lawmakers also required edible pot to be sold in serving sizes of 10 milligrams of THC, marijuana's intoxicating chemical.

The cannabis industry tries to educate consumers about the potency of marijuana-infused foods. But despite the warnings - including waiting for up to an hour to feel any effects - complaints by visitors and first-time users have been rampant.

Investigators believe Pongi, a native of the Republic of Congo, and three friends from Northwest College in Powell, Wyo., traveled to Colorado on spring break to try marijuana.

At their hotel, the group of four friends followed the seller's instructions. But when Pongi felt nothing after about 30 minutes, he ate an entire cookie, police said.

Within an hour, he began speaking erratically in French, shaking, screaming and throwing things around the hotel room. At one point he appeared to talk to a lamp.

"'This is a sign from God that this has happened, that I can't control myself,'" Pongi told his friends, according to the reports. "'It's not because of the weed.'"

Pongi's friends tried to restrain him before he left the room and jumped to his death, police said.

One of his friends told investigators it may have been his first time using the drug - the only one toxicology tests found in his system. All three friends said they did not purchase or take any other drugs during their stay.

whispering hands

There ya go! And the guy jumped from four stories.. Sorry I was incorrect in my facts.

hedonist

whispering hands said:

rr165892 said:

hedonist said:

Just apply common sense and moderation to its use, like anything else.

2-feign, I've been smoking since my early teens and pulled badass grades while in school. Most of my friends/classmates fared the same. And, all these years later, I think my brain's doing alright

Stress kills how many people a year either directly or indirectly?????? How many die from pot?Zero to the later.Like with anything in life common sense and good judgment go along way.FYI Harvard,Princeton and Cornell,etc sure have a lot of pot smokers(fact!!!)just saying .

There are.. Actually two Pot related deaths here in Co. They happened early
Last year, shortly after it was made legal.. Not overdosing or anything..( that WOULD take a shit ton of Pot to do!!) but they ate too much if the concentrated edibles.. One man went crazy and shot his wife in the face, and the other jumped off a three story balcony... But that was pure idiocy! None the less, Pot has officially caused only two deaths.. At least on record that I know of.. I'll try to look those articles up.. Was insane!

Used irresponsibly or without properly being informed of dosage, and one person possibly had other drugs in his system.

whispering hands

hedonist said:

whispering hands said:

rr165892 said:

hedonist said:

Just apply common sense and moderation to its use, like anything else.

2-feign, I've been smoking since my early teens and pulled badass grades while in school. Most of my friends/classmates fared the same. And, all these years later, I think my brain's doing alright

Stress kills how many people a year either directly or indirectly?????? How many die from pot?Zero to the later.Like with anything in life common sense and good judgment go along way.FYI Harvard,Princeton and Cornell,etc sure have a lot of pot smokers(fact!!!)just saying .

There are.. Actually two Pot related deaths here in Co. They happened early
Last year, shortly after it was made legal.. Not overdosing or anything..( that WOULD take a shit ton of Pot to do!!) but they ate too much if the concentrated edibles.. One man went crazy and shot his wife in the face, and the other jumped off a three story balcony... But that was pure idiocy! None the less, Pot has officially caused only two deaths.. At least on record that I know of.. I'll try to look those articles up.. Was insane!

Used irresponsibly or without properly being informed of dosage, and one person possibly had other drugs in his system.

Yes. But still, they went on record as being caused by the levels of THC.. Was my point. But honestly outside of these lunatic cases, used responsibly, no deaths have been recorded EVER! This was a set of cases where people were not being wise.

whispering hands

And the one guy WAS told to sit up the dosages,and the shop keeper explained that it would cause I'll effect.. But the dumbass ate like two or three cookies!! While each cookie had 65 MG of THC, a d should have been split into 6 parts and not to exceed two in a twelve hour period..

2-feign-reluctance

hedonist said:

Just apply common sense and moderation to its use, like anything else.

2-feign, I've been smoking since my early teens and pulled badass grades while in school. Most of my friends/classmates fared the same. And, all these years later, I think my brain's doing alright

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/education/edlife/this-is-your-brain-on-drugs-marijuana-adults-teens.html?smid=fb-share&_r=2&referrer

whispering hands

See this is why it is good to discuss all this stuff ultimately, it is a users responsibility to use the Pot resposnsibly and within reason. I also think we need to make it harder for kids to get ahold of. Because as the article 2 feign just posted stars, our brains are developing into our twenties. However I very strongly disagree with the mental issues statement made in said article. I was NOT smoking Pot when I developed BiPolar, I was four!! I wasn't smoking ANYTHING! However.. When I DID start smoking Potat 24, I noticed that it actually helped me to be at rest, it helped me with my supreme anxiety. ( from 23-24 I had a hard time leaving my house because I'd have anxiety attacks that would cause seizures! I posted on this sites out it many times back then!) so it can actually be beneficial. And likeHedonist stated.. I too pulled off a stellar grade pint average, granted I only smoked the last year of University too, so perhaps that's why. And every so often, I have some Pot.. Not much, but maybe once or twice a year.. And my IQ has never waive red from it's solid 150. So I really don't know how true this article is for every single person as an individual. But it is good to look at this from all sides. After all, it seems we're headed towards fully
Legalizing this stuff, I think we should make sure we know what we're in for if we do.

2-feign-reluctance

its not intelligence that gets affected - it doesn't say anything about smokers getting bad grades. THC = psychoactive = not ok for the brain per research. also, idiots are ODing on THC now that its more concentrated. ER visits have doubled in denver since it became legal. paranoia? acute psychosis? severe panic and anxiety? no thanks. sorry, in my 12 years as a clinician, i've not seen a single positive thing about THC and young people. yes, completely biased. that's my opinion.

2-feign-reluctance

and, none of you who use know when or how it may catch up with you. yes, just like eating, yes, just like genetics. i get it. your brain is a delicate chemistry set. the most delicate out there and introducing psychoactives is risky. simply risky. again, opinion.

hedonist

2-feign-reluctance said:

and, none of you who use know when or how it may catch up with you. yes, just like eating, yes, just like genetics. i get it. your brain is a delicate chemistry set. the most delicate out there and introducing psychoactives is risky. simply risky. again, opinion.

I guess we're in different camps on this - and it's OK. I'm going by my own experiences and those similar to mine (which aren't so far-fetched!). Sometimes biases can't help but play a part, regardless of the view.

As to it catching up with me...hell, life itself can do that. I'm good with the choices I've made and continue to make in this particular realm.

whispering hands

I totally respect your opinion 2 feign, and with you being a clinician I can see how you would see it from that perspective. But I stand on a different side of the fence. I am
Only able to use it sparingly because I work with very serious machinery, or in jobs where it is required to provide clean drug screens. But if I could, I would. It really does ease my
Paranoia.. And I have Acute Social Anxiety Disorder, as well as other Chemical imbalance issues, likeBP, ADHD, and PTSD. And [Marijauna]helps me, plus, it's much cheaper than the psycho meds they have me on.. So like I was saying it doesn't effect everyone the same. I honestly think it's a matter of knowing what you can handle.. Again thank you for your view point, and I am very sure that you are not the only one that sees those effects so distinctly as you would, be a clinician. So thank you for your participating in this conversation. Cause it really should be held more often. There certainly needs to be more research done in gijngs as they stand NOW. I mean seriously, like I said before, in Denver there's more than one strain at 26%! That's nuts!!