Did someone watch Foreign Correspondent last week?
I don't necessarily care if it becomes legal or not. However I would love to know where the anti-tobacco laws fit in with this.
Do all the restrictions on advertising translate across or not?
This is a big one, because one has to assume that the tobacco industry is behind the push for pot. Trying to adapt because in the West they have lost the war with cigarettes. So they are pushing for POT which may get around a bunch of the anti-smoking laws and they are also pushing for it to be normalized behaviour.
The big issue is, will this simply be a case where 10, 20, 50 years down the track we will then have the evidence to definitively prove it's adverse health effects? If you ever read up, there's so many conflicting studies and claims. It's hard to definitively say at the moment due to the illegal nature. Also due to the fact it's often hard to separate out pot smokers from normal smokers. We know if has more tar than tobacco. It's still burning and ingesting into the lungs.
How often do we hear the, 'it's safe.' There's a heavy amount of the naturalistic logical fallacy going on here. 'It's more natural.' Which is just nonsense.
Then there's the dangers of THC. Which does have affects on the brain. Once again, this is something where we need more research and do you really want to risk finding out all the nasty effects after it's been legal and normalized for decades. We know when teens have it, it alters their brain chemistry and leads to problems. We know that it can be devastating with people with underlying psychiatric problems. Triggering and making worse. Add on top of this that the strength and amount of THC is now higher than ever and most of the research was from much lower doses.
It's potentially a ticking time bomb. We don't know it's safe. There's a lot to suggest it's definitely not.
When it comes to medicine, well we know there is some use but most of the arguments are really just people thinking they are clever and trying to bullshit. Look at California where you can get a weed card for anything. 'Oh I sometimes get stressed,' 'here sir, you can now buy pot.'
In theory I am not really concerned if it's legal or not. However there just is something sinister behind the push. The research and science to show it is safe is basically not there. What kind of problems will this open up down the line? There's just a lot of clear bullshit and misinformation out there claiming it is fine.
if the make it legal, it should definitely have all the same restrictions as cigarettes and there needs to be part of the tax on it going into rigorous medical studies from the get go. Not waiting until the effects are undeniable.
Oh holy crap, you just made me realise where I can make my mega bucks - my cousins farms.
They used to grow tobacco, they converted to wine and beef long time ago - after made squillions and baccy died decades ago with chop chop.
Anyway, issues you raise - smoking, THC strength, research, long term effects.
1. Smoking - weed does not need to be smoked.
In fact there are numerous methods of getting a buzz that would be more available if the stuff was legal.
IE vaporisers/eating/drinking the THC - all more difficult because it is illegal.
You need large amounts to make food or drink - too expensive not viable whilst illegal; vaporisers - well like you most don't know there are other and more pleasant ways to ingest, and these things are not readily available. I only heard of them last year.
2. THC strength, still don't believe most of the bullshit they are throwing around about this.
Still have never encountered a weed as strong as those my brother was smoking when I was 15.
It is bullshit - you don't think the Indians & Afghanis discovered how to increase potency over thousands of years?
I think it could be the chemicals and fertilizers used in hydro that may have adverse effects on somebody's system.
If legal you can regulate the strengths anyway.
3. Research
Humans have been using it for centuries, as far as we know nobody has ever died of weed - such as they do from alcohol and tobacco etc.
I would prefer laws here that allowed individuals to grow a little for their own use, and have a very small medical industry.
What is happening in the USA is a bit scary.
Funny fact, for years many of the local tags for weed have been registered business names waiting for the day - like Mullumbimby Madness.
Oh and what was Foreign Correspondent about? I didn't catch it - going to web search now.
