Potheads are a leading economic indicator

A Texas man is accused of growing his own weed because, police said, it was getting too expensive to buy.

Comments

[Sasquach]

1) Growing along side your driveway is probably not the best idea.

2) FL just passed a law within the last year that makes possession of 25 or more plants an automatic charge of trafficing, regardless of any evidence (or lack thereof) of intent or attempts to sell or distribute. Pot is the new (but not that new) moonshine.

[What a waste]

Don't cops have more important things to do than bust a harmless guy growing weed? I'm sure this puts a HUGE dent in crime.

[Some Other Guy]

"Don't cops have more important things to do than bust a harmless guy growing weed?"

Do you watch the news?

Seems arresting stoners, writing tickets, and beating up people in handcuffs is about all they're trained to do.

[me]

This is so stupid. We have criminals all over the country and they're busting potheads! I've smoked my share of this stuff and I can't see the harm. Is it worse than booze? NO! Ciggarettes? NO!. All it ever did for me is make me eat. Now there might be something. I would rather deal with someone who is stoned rather a drunk,FOR SURE!

[J Dizzle]

when will America get over Reefer Madness!!! leave the pot heads alone!!!

[I totally had a point.]

Wait, huh?

[Melvin]

I smoke between 1/2 to 1 oz. of pot daily and aside from just a teeny bit of brain damage life (to me) is normal.

[J Dizzle]

Reefer Madness (aka Tell Your Children) is a 1936 exploitation film revolving around the tragic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try "marihuana": a hit and run accident, manslaughter, suicide, rape, and descent into madness all ensue. The film was directed by Louis Gasnier and starred a cast composed of mostly unknown bit actors. It was originally financed by a church group and made under the title "Tell Your Children". everyone should see it at least once in order to see how ridiculous people can be.

[Sid Vicious]

Actually the tide is turning. There is a bill before congress that would make possession of 4 ounces legal at a federal level. It would also make non-profit sale and transfer of up to an ounce of legal. It has a lot of steam and big names behind it so it's looking like it will be passed on to the senate.

Finally the feds are waking up to the fact that pot smokers aren't going away and the vast majority commit no crimes.

[J Dizzle]

That is the best news i have heard all day.

[Mickey Mouse]

Sid Vicious

Who introduced this bill and what bill# is it?

[Some Other Guy]

"Actually the tide is turning."

I wish very much I believed you.

Unfortunately, decriminalizing anything rarely wins votes, while anything with the name "crackdown" in it wins immediate adulation.

Melvin,

1/2 to 1 zip daily? Your lungs must hate you. Quit buying brick. Get u some good nugs and won't have to even smoke an 1/8 a day. ; )

[SM]

H. R. 5843
introduced by rep-Frank (MA) and rep-Paul (TX)

[Sweet Jon E]

Pot is destoying American youth. All you stoners like to talk like there is nothing wrong with it but I have seen kids going through rehab who cannot stop smoking so yes, it is addictive.

And it is a stepping stone to harder drugs. Not all stoners move on to hard core drugs, but the vast majority of hard core drug users started out using pot. Once you convince yourself it is OK to break the law and do illegal drugs you are on the path to self-destuction.

[Sasquach]

How many of these kids drank before they smoked pot Sweet? Or smoked cigarretts? There are always going to be people with poor self control, and there will always be rehab centers to deal with those people. It is a waste of government resources to prosecute people for pot possession and put people in jail for something that is really no worse than alcohol. Legalization and regulation are better routes. At least then the black market has one less cash cow, and the product can be regulated for adulturants. Hell, it could be a huge new tax base for the govt. used to fund enforcement for drugs that are a real problem (i.e. meth).

[GMoyscher]

Sweet Jon E ... are you serious? You need to do some research and look into drugs and addiction. Contemporary scientists and counselors will tell you there is less harm in Marijauna than cigarettes, alcohol,caffeine, and the majority of sugar based products in our supermarkets. It is also well know that Marijuana's addictive nature is less than those products. I went into counseling for Marijuana use because of an individual with no knowledge like yourself and was set straight with the facts. I have since done other research as well. You are just wrong.

[Hates Ignorant People]

SM- Seriously? Really? GET A LIFE.

1- I've seen people hopelessly addicted to JUST ABOUT ANYTHING. Video Games, Food, Sex, Porn. Its a personal problem, not a drug problem.

2- Yeah, sure, its a 'gateway' drug. People who smoke pot are more likely to do cocaine. The same was that people who learned to ride a bike as a child are more likely to die in a motorcycle crash. What you're talking about is called CIRCUMSTANCIAL EVIDENCE and its NOT CORRELATED to hard drug use.

If you think America's youth has such a problem, and it's even partially because of pot- then its more likely that ignorant, uninformed adults like you are causing this problem, not drugs.

Take a puff of that.

Sweet Jon E,

I hate to break it to you, but you are a very ignorant person. I don't blame you though. The reason you are misinformed is because the people that are successful in life and choose to smoke marijuana are forced into hiding. You hear way more unsuccessful stories than you do successful stories, because we choose not to share our success stories with you for fear of persecution from our peers who otherwise have no idea what we may choose to do in the privacy of our own homes. I bet if it were decriminalized a lot more success stories like mine would come out of the woodwork. You need to stop buying into the propaganda you've been being fed. People that want to be successful, and are willing to put in the time and effort required to be successful, will be successful. People that are destined to be failures anyway are the people you are talking about in your post. We need more education about how to enjoy marijuana responsibly instead of the rampant ignorance that I see on a daily basis in comments such as your own. I'm going to go ahead and guess that the hard core drug users you mention did NOT start with pot. I'd put money on the first drug they tried being either alcohol or tobacco, NOT marijuana. Those people chose to do other drugs, and it is nothing but ignorance to assume their choosing to do hard core drugs was caused by smoking a joint.

Q.E.D.

[chuckrizzo]

Hey all you people bashing the cops guess what Pot is still illegal so guess what THEY ARE DOING THEIR JOBS. Just because you don't like it doesn't make it any less illegal. That is the point your not supposed to do it, it isn't as big of a deal as rape/murder/etc but it still is illegal period. Basically what you all want is them to look the other way for the laws you don't like and focus on the laws you personally find important. Personally I want pot to be illegal I like the cops busting stoners, makes my day.

[Hates Ignorant People]

Lol. In the heat of the moment of wanting to BLAST someone for their moronic remarks about pot being a leading cause of problems in kids today, I looked at the wrong poster name.
SM- applause

Sweet Jon E- get a life.

[please sign your comments]

chuckrizzo,

Why not make tobacco illegal, and have the cops busting cigarette smokers all day? That would make me as happy as you are when a stoner is arrested.

The point is, we live in a "free" nation and we do not have the freedom to do what we want even if no harm is caused by it to other people.

Cigarette smokers, however, do cause others harm, but yet they are allowed to do what they choose to do. Why should my non-harmful habit be prosecuted while cigarette smokers go around harming people without having to risk getting thrown in jail? Let me remind you that when stoners get arrested your tax dollars go to imprisoning them. Why do you like to waste money so much?

[ChuckRizzo Is a Tool]

You got beat up a lot in high school huh?

Just because archaic laws make it illegal doesn't mean I can't protest them. Doesn't mean I can't want them changed. Doesn't mean I can't find their enforcement irreprehensible.

How would you feel if Tobacco or Alcohol had been / still was pointlessly made illegal? Would you change your tune?

Just because you happen to be and uptight PR!CK and prefer your booze to bud, doesn't make you right.

Give that guy some XANAX- it'll shut him up and mellow him out, (just like pot would) but if he's gonna be a corporate snob, let him pay for the prescription. If the doctor says you don’t need it, you can just tell him "I'd smoke pot, but its illegal, and I NEVER DO ANYTHING WRONG..."

[Sasquach]

Actually, Chuck, most of us don't want them to look the other way. We want them to take a good hard look at the reality of the situation. Look at the actuallity of the claimed harm pot does to society. Look at the opportunity cost of resources proportioned to enforcing the prohibition compared to the alleged risk it creates. Look at the potential tax revenue that could be generated by it.

A history channel special on pot a while back talked about how when pot was effectively legalized in The Netherlands, there was no significant uptick in drug usage, and enforcement spending on pot control went to 0. I'd say that the enforcement of pot laws there were actually worse for society than repealing prohibition (no increased problems with a huge decrease in opportunity cost).

People have been looking the other way for most of a century while the Govt. and the prohibitionists lead them down the primrose path. People need to take a good look at the issue of marijuana, the pros, the cons, and the expenses of prohibition.

P.S. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it needs to be illegal. Hell, if it did there'd be a crap ton of emo kids in jail right now.

P.P.S. Being emo is much more harmful than smoking pot.

[winkyb2me]

Sassy, isn't August "Love an Emo" month?

[Some Other Guy]

It is the ethical obligation of the citizen not only to protest those laws which are unethical, but to entirely disregard them, indeed to fight them at every turn.

[pootie tang]

Sa da Tae my Biddies.
tippie Tie on my Campidy town.

[Carlos Boozer]

Booze it up and smoke it up...mmmmm phuck yeah!!!!!!

[4/20]

I'm doing my best to stimulate the economy.

[redwalnut]

I'm repeating off the top of my head from an article I read online, so forgive any inaccuracies, but I believe a large argument FOR the legalization of marijuana was coming from law enforcement agencies upset about the mind-boggling amount of money spent arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating people for no more than a few ounces of pot. Law enforcement agencies all over the country were producing monetary amounts that could single-handedly wipe out the debt of small nations just for pot-related enforcement. These same agencies are backing the House bill because they are sick spending money on potheads out looking for munchies versus meth heads blowing up houses in rural towns.

When your local Deputy Dawg is saying "Wait a goldarned minute, hoss, I could have bought a new combine for what it cost to raid, process, dispose of, and prosecute Junior's 100-plant Mary-Gee-Wana stash. That ain't raaiiight.", something needs to change.

I come from a small town where going to the bar is taboo, but the LEOs there are a helluva lot more focused on meth than pot. Maybe it's time for the federal government to start listening to the towns that are doing broke enforcing ridiculous and antiquated laws. If places like my hometown are willing to accept the change, isn't it time Washington did, too?

[Brian]

Those in favor of legalization, I appreciate seeing your comments here.

If you could take a minute to let your elected officials know your feelings it would have a much greater impact than this blog.

As Q.E.D. posted earlier, if 'potheads' were to come out of the closet en mass, we would see some significant change.

-Brian

[dude]

"if 'potheads' were to come out of the closet en mass, we would see some significant change."

Not going to happen. That would require getting off the couch and maybe even going outdoors.

[Chuck Rizzo]

Agreed arrest emo kids.

I guess I should have said my point differently I said busting stoner's I guess my point was busting law-breakers and since the topic was about pot smokers I put that in there.

I speak from a personal place when I say I don't mind pot being illegal, I've seen it turn people into herion addicts and meth heads, yeah they may have done it anyway but they started smoking pot and it snowballed, granted it may have been their personality but it doesn't make it any better. The people who say pot didn't make them snowball how do you know? Just because you didn't doesn't make you everyone. Granted what I've witnessed doesn't either but I know where it starts and I know where it can lead. I'm lucky I got out I have a corperate job and left that scene. The group I hung out with when I was younger 2 died 2 are in jail and the other ones have all been to prison multiple times not for pot but for meth, coke, herion etc. So yeah I maybe biased since I've seen pot ruin lives.

I also agree that we are all entitled to our opinions and I don't hate stoners......well not normal stoners I may hate hippie's....okay done...arrest emo kids.

[JJRocks]

Hey Rizzo, Pot is not a gateway drug and that is a fact.
The majority of users of heavy drugs and illicit drugs in general, smoked cigs or drank booze FIRST.
If anything is a gateway drug, it is Cigs and booze.
1-3 does or has smoked pot.... If Pot was the the evil gateway drug that everyone sais it is, then how come 1-3 people arent addicted to harder drug, why are 1-3 in jail?
Pot is not physically addictive, that is also a fact.
Another fact is cigs kill 400k a year, booze kills almost 40k, now go to the cdc website and tell me how many die from pot every year.... thats right...NONE....

[More facts]

I always thought that anything that elicited a change in physical or emotional feeling was addictive (whether physically or emotionally). It would seem that pot fits this definition and would therefore be addictive. Again, you could argue that pot doesn't create a physical dependence, but in reality it does not matter, if it creates a change state of consciousness it is addictive. I would suppose that pot smokers believe there are more of their brethern than truly exist, the same is defintely true of the non-smokers. If we were able to poll every US adult, I believe the majority would not want pot legalized. This is probably why it is not, but society can change, for better or worse, and this prevailing mindset could change.

[More facts]

I lied! I wanna get high!!!

[JDizzle]

In my opinion this law will help establish a state level taxed and regulated system for ADULT marijuana use. By passing this law, there can be standards set for legal cultivation, distribution, and use, resulting in a safer product for the user. No longer would adult users be forced to buy black market marijuana that contains who only knows what. Like the story in Germany where there was lead particles found in the marijuana to increase the weight, and therefore increase its value. It is similar to when there was alcohol prohibition. In that time in order to get it, you had to go to the newly created alcohol black market speakeasies. When you purchase alcohol today, you don't go to a illegal bootlegger do you?

[ole red eyes...]

I had something imortant to say....but I forgot what it was.....now someone pass me that bag of oreos.......

More teens are in treatment each year for marijuana dependence than for alcohol and all other illegal drugs combined. This is a trend that has been increasing for more than a decade: in 2002, 64 percent of adolescent treatment admissions reported marijuana as their primary substance of abuse, compared to 23 percent in 1992.

Smoking marijuana can lead to increased anxiety, panic attacks, depression, social withdrawal, and other mental health problems, particularly for teens. Research shows that kids aged 12 to 17 who smoke marijuana weekly are three times more likely than nonusers to have suicidal thoughts.
Marijuana use also can cause cognitive impairment, to include such short-term effects as distorted perception, memory loss, and trouble with thinking and problem solving. Students with an average grade of D or below were found to be more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the past year as youths who reported an average grade of A.

For young people, whose brains are still developing, these effects are particularly problematic and jeopardize their ability to achieve their full potential.

As the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) noted, "Epidemiology data from . . . traffic arrests and fatalities indicate that after alcohol, marijuana is the most frequently detected psychoactive substance among driving populations."

Marijuana causes drivers to experience decreased car handling performance, increased reaction times, distorted time and distance estimation, sleepiness, impaired motor skills, and lack of concentration.

[please sign your comments]

One in six (or 600,000) high school students drive under the influence of marijuana, almost as many as drive under the influence of alcohol, according to estimates released in September 2003 by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). A study of motorists pulled over for reckless driving showed that, among those who were not impaired by alcohol, 45 percent tested positive for marijuana.

[GMoyscher]

Anything taken in excess can be bad for you. Marijuana for teen developing minds can cause harm but, so can alcohol. And alcohol is more devastating that marijuana. Why is there an age restriction on cigarettes and alcohol? Marijuana's negative effects are greatly overstated.

[jethro]

For anyone who has not seen it, I really recommend "In Pot We Trust". Great truths about cannabis revealed. It is hosted on google video. http://www.wizmovies.com/fullscreen/9628/In-Pot-We-Trust--Full.html