Comments on: Pulling Stastistics from your Ass (Will marijuana consumption double or triple if legalized?)

By: Lawrence of Jersey City

Lawrence of Jersey City — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:10:21 +0000

I lived in Franco’s fascist Spain, and was actually there when he (finally, and “still”) died. I even saw him twice. Fear was second-nature in such a long, 40 year, regime. No one questioned authority, and laws were unopposed as long as some perceived connection to order was attained. One such law was a six-year sentence for marijuana possession. When Franco died in late 1975, the pendulum did swing left into “La Movida,” “The Movement,” of the late 70s early 80s. Hashish, already well-known in Spain for centuries from almost-neighboring Morocco, and undoubtedly then a universal counterculture symbol from our own sixties movement, took root among the disquiet youth. Soon, Spanish progressives decriminalized it “for personal use” and the reactionaries warned the “gateway” was now open to horribly overwhelming hard-drug use. Yes, for a brief period the unmistakable fragrance wafted over plazas, and even on line at the post office. However, society itself regulated that form of indiscretion. Within only a few years, public hashish consumption, responsive to the decorum characteristic of the Spanish People’s spirit, retreated to the privacy of one’s home. The very same has occurred here: just how often do we smell pot burning in Balboa Park or at the beaches anymore? Trust in the People was not misplaced. Note: Spain has since partially returned to the Dark Ages, thanks to the uniformity of the European Community’s laws.

By: Jon Kanis

Jon Kanis — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 05:19:32 +0000

Thanks Ed for being so level headed once again about social issues. Why aren’t you running for office? Any office?

By: Peg Pollard

Peg Pollard — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 01:38:31 +0000

Love the article, Edwin. I enjoy your prose and reasoning even more than the subject matter at hand. Belinda’s comment made me queasy. I recall being in high school about 172 years ago–and watching the dregs of the “burnouts” who would almost assuradly never be motivated to do a damn thing in life. Pot IS harmful to young minds, if used heavily on a regular basis. Doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be LEGAL. WITH age restrictions. And I aint no drug-o-phobe, but I hate the way pot affects half of the people who use it. For me, it only ever served to make me 3 things. 1) stupid
2) paranoid and 3) pass-out tired. Who wants to be dumber than they already are? Paranoid–cause that’s fun? And I cant even stay awake half hour after one hit of pot! Its always astounded me when I’ve known highly successful people who smoke on a daily basis. But the fact is, I’m pretty sure half the populace (stat pulled from my rectum) is affected in different ways than the other half. Hell, I smoked the shit for YEARS before I realized I didn’t even ENJOY it. ??
Anyway, its NOT FOR KIDS. Just sayin’…

By: Karyl Miller

Karyl Miller — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 01:02:21 +0000

Legalizing pot will lead to government getting involved and ruining it. Decriminalizing pot is the way to go.

By: Belinda Rachman

Belinda Rachman — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 23:52:11 +0000

I met 2 teenagers the other day and after some interesting discussions about the Occupy movement, the economy, the Federal crack down on the pot biz in CA, I apologized to them for my generation having not legalized pot yet. WTF????? JOBS, TAXES, FREEDOM, we have NO excuse for letting the idiots make decisions for the rest of us.

By: charles pratt

charles pratt — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:39:35 +0000

Increasing use should also be predicated on MJs medical properties still unrecognized by much of the medical community. Because it addresses many of the infirmities of aging, it may be impossible to sort out using for meds versus using for fun. Why don’t we stop trying to make the distinction. This will make more time for fun.