Congress Loosening Up on Marijuana?
Filed under: Politik
Massachusetts Congrassman Barney Frank told the House on Wednesday that the U.S. should stop arresting responsible marijuana users and introduced a proposal to end federal penalties for Americans carrying fewer than 100 grams.
Not that we smoke the 420, but woo hoo!
Representative Frank went on to say that current laws targeting marijuana users place undue burdens on law enforcement resources, punish ill Americans whose doctors have prescribed the substance and unfairly affect African-Americans.
"The vast amount of human activity ought to be none of the government's business. I don't think it is the government's business to tell you how to spend your leisure time."
Funny, something tells us that Representative Frank won't get far with his proposal.
[Image via Mavrix Online.]
Re: Shopg – You make a very true point, and sorry about the "dumb American" comment, most european countries see Americans as uneducated so I was just trying to avoid such a comment in response from you considering that I'm half-American and didn't want that to get in the way of the debate. That being said, I do agree with what you're saying about how if other countries de-criminalized it, it would take the un-wanted load off of Holland. You come off as an educated person (I love Americans too but I do find a lot of them to be more uneducated than Europeans in general) and make an educated, thoughtful point. Sorry I didn't get your point after your first comment but had I understood then I would have been agreeing from the beginning
why wouldnt he get far with this proposal??… its already LEGAL in DENVER COLORADO… up to an ounce =)
Re: Natal – YOU MUST BE REALLY HIGH RIGHT NOW BECAUSE CATARACTS ARE NOT A DISEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, I'm a pot smoker, I am also a mom of 2 awesome kids, I am also a full time nurse. I come home cook and clean up after my family and when my kids go to bed I like to sit outside and smoke myself a doober. Does that make me a "druggie" or a lazy ass pothead? No. I don't know if it should be legal, but if one has to pass a drug test to get a job and get that paycheck then it should be mandatory for all the scumbags on welfare to get that check from us hard working taxpayers. I could careless if it was legal, I am still gonna smoke mine at the end of a hard day. Hey it could be worse, I could be getting shitfaced drunk and not taking care of my kids and not be able to get up for work the next day.
i love you people that post comments about what you THINK you know about marijuana. do your homework before you make false statements and cast judgment. it's not a gateway drug. marijuana does not make you smoke crack, you smoke crack because you chose to do so.
CNN.com had a poll last night asking whether we should allow marijuana to be legal. Out of 179,000+ people (at that time) 67% of people voted that it should be legalized. Now if only the old codgers that run this gov't would PAY ATTENTION to what we want……
God I love being from the People's Republic of Massachusetts
Re: no – I've been a pot smoker for over 10 years, and I detect no hints of mental illness in myself. In fact, I think that there has been absolutely no detrimental affects on me at all during the past 10 years, and those were the years when I was going to school and college. I got all A's in my science courses, including the ever-so-hard anatomy and physiology, and have never entered into a mental institution or taken any drugs for depression or whatever else you're saying pot causes. Just because a small portion of the population has a tendancy towards mental illness brought on by possible drug use (and please, show me where you found this scientific evidence because I'd like to review it) doesn't mean that it is the end-all, be-all cause of these issues. People are born w/the triggers that cause mental illness. If you want to say a drug causes problems like that, then look towards meth. It actually leaves big holes in your brain.
Re: kiounne – There are great risks in smoking cannabis, a new report has revealed
A single joint of cannabis raises the risk of schizophrenia by more than 40 per cent, a disturbing study warns.
The Government-commissioned report has also found that taking the drug regularly more than doubles the risk of serious mental illness.
Overall, cannabis could be to blame for one in seven cases of schizophrenia and other life-shattering mental illness, the Lancet reports.
The grim statistics - the latest to link teenage cannabis use with mental illness in later life - come only days after Gordon Brown ordered a review of the decision to downgrade cannabis to class C, the least serious category.
The Prime Minister is said to have a 'personal instinct' that the change should be reversed, with more arrests and stiffer penalties for users.
Cannabis has been implicated in a string of vicious killings, including the recent stabbing of fashion designer Lucy Braham.
The authors of the latest study, the most comprehensive of its kind and commissioned by the Department of Health, said: 'Policymakers need to provide the public with advice about this widely-used drug.
'We believe there is now enough evidence to inform people that using cannabis could increase their risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life.'
Re: kiounne – There are great risks in smoking cannabis, a new report has revealed
A single joint of cannabis raises the risk of schizophrenia by more than 40 per cent, a disturbing study warns.
The Government-commissioned report has also found that taking the drug regularly more than doubles the risk of serious mental illness.
Overall, cannabis could be to blame for one in seven cases of schizophrenia and other life-shattering mental illness, the Lancet reports.
The grim statistics - the latest to link teenage cannabis use with mental illness in later life - come only days after Gordon Brown ordered a review of the decision to downgrade cannabis to class C, the least serious category.
The Prime Minister is said to have a 'personal instinct' that the change should be reversed, with more arrests and stiffer penalties for users.
Cannabis has been implicated in a string of vicious killings, including the recent stabbing of fashion designer Lucy Braham.
The authors of the latest study, the most comprehensive of its kind and commissioned by the Department of Health, said: 'Policymakers need to provide the public with advice about this widely-used drug.
'We believe there is now enough evidence to inform people that using cannabis could increase their risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life.'
Re: kiounne – The analysis does not look at the age at which schizophrenia is likely to develop. However, previous studies have shown that smoking the drug as a teenager raises the risk of developing schizophrenia in one's twenties or thirties.
The researchers, from four British universities, analysed the results of 35 studies into cannabis use from around the world. This suggested that trying cannabis only once was enough to raise the risk of schizophrenia by 41 per cent.
At greatest risk, however, were heavy users, with those who took cannabis over 100 times having more than double the risk of those who never touched the drug.
With up to 40 per cent of teenagers and young adults in the UK believed to have tried cannabis, the researchers estimate that the drug could be behind 14 per cent of cases of schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses.
'Although individual lifetime risk of chronic psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, even in people who use cannabis regularly, is likely to be low - less than three per cent - cannabis use can be expected to have a substantial effect on psychotic disorders at a population level because exposure to this drug is so common.'
Re: kiounne – Cardiff University researcher Dr Stanley Zammit added: 'Even if cannabis does cause an increased risk of developing psychosis, most people who use cannabis will not develop such an illness.
'Nevertheless, we would still advise people to avoid or limit their use of this drug, especially if they start to develop any mental health symptoms, or if they have relatives with psychotic illnesses.'
In an accompanying editorial in the Lancet, Dutch psychiatrists said the focus on heroin, cocaine and other Class A drugs meant the dangers of cannabis had been overlooked.
'In the public debate, cannabis has been considered a more or less harmless drug compared with alcohol, central stimulants and opioids.
'However, the potential long-term hazardous effects of cannabis with regard to psychosis seem to have been overlooked, and there is a need to warn the public of these dangers, as well as to establish a treatment to help young frequent cannabis users.'
Previous studies have shown a clear link between cannabis use in the teenage years and mental illness in later life.
Research completed by leading psychiatrist Professor Robin Murray in 2005 showed that those who smoked the drug regularly at 18 were 1.6 times more likely to suffer serious psychiatric problems, including schizophrenia, by their mid-20s.
Re: kiounne – For those who were regular users at 15, the stakes were even higher, with their risk of mental illness by the age of 26 being 4.5 times greater than normal.
It is thought that, used during teenage years, the drug can cause permanent damage to the developing brain.
Professor Robin Murray, of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, warned yesterday that the risks were likely to be heightened by the increasing use of powerful skunk cannabis.
'My own experience suggest to me that the risk with skunk is higher. Therefore their estimate that 14 per cent of cases of schizophrenia in the UK are due to cannabis is now probably an understatement.'
Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said: 'This analysis should act as a serious warning of the dangers of regular or heavy cannabis use, doubling the risk of developing schizophrenia - a condition in which a person may hear voices and experience strange thoughts and paranoid delusions.
'The debate about classification should not founder on statistics but take into account the potential damage to hundreds of people who without cannabis would not develop mental illness.
Re: kiounne – 'While the majority can take the drug with no mind-altering effects, it is estimated that 10 per cent are at risk.
'You only need to see one person whose mind has been altered and life irreparably damaged, or talk to their family, to realise that the headlines are not scaremongering but reflect a daily, and preventable, tragedy.'
However, others questioned the link, pointing out there has been little change in rates of schizophrenia in recent years despite the rise in cannabis use and the increasing strength of the drug.
That sounds reasonable. He's right that the cops do have way more crime to worry about than busting people for petty shit.
It's about time. Unfortunately the US drug laws affect Canada's (where I am) drug laws, and the closer to legalization the better. I am getting it PRESCRIBED for pain. It's a GODSEND. I am off narcotics because of it. Legalize it, tax it, smoke it.
i 100% agree with you….then if people choose not to do these things it would be purely out of their morals and values and not bc they could get in trouble with the law…
Everyone I know who uses this stuff have issues with jealousy, paranoia and aggression. They turn from nice to nasty in minutes. I’m sure this is related to this substance. yuck. If they legalize it they have a responsibility to the consumers of the stuff to label with health warnings accordingly and control the potency and quality at least.
I loathe the stuff and think it's useless recreationally and damaging to both the mind and lungs.
Chemical Imbalance, some can handle it some cant. Bud is not like coke or crack, major drugs like that eat you from inside out weed dont do that it just turns your eye balls red, but who cares thats why clear eyes was created.Im down for burnin the good stuff.
Legalize pot baby its all good
did perez say he doesn't smoke the 420?
wow your a dumbass. that doesn't even slightly make sense.
im gonna go smoke the 420 until it does
Yea right Perez, u must be the biggest stoner ever! nothing wrong w dat! 420 BITCHESSS
before you start criticizing me for the slang that i type, why don't you look over your entry for punctuational errors, idiot. btw, your boyfriend must have some pretty easy classes if he's getting a 4.0. pre-med in my downward spiral was a little too rough for me. looking back on it now though, i know i could have succeeded.
and i do have a bond with my students especially when i suspect they are going through some tough times. you know how i suspected he was coming to school high? he came right out and admitted it to me! no 'possibly' about it. you have no idea how much time i spend on my students. how many nights i stay up thinking about them and how i can teach them better.
for the record, this boy does not have a learning disability. if i thought he did i would recommend him for testing. being a teacher you can tell those sorts of things. the fact that this kid can't even get papers out of his bookbag because he forgot about the first time that i asked him, and the second time he just wasn't motivated enough. that is NOT a disability!
and its middle school, not high school. being exposed to it at such a young age will have harmful effects not only on him, but others as well. in middle school these kids are still at that awkward stage where they dont know what to do and they dont know who they are.
Re: elle –
Elle, please do some research before you make your opinion. Marijuana is not a gateway drug - that's just what you've been programmed to think. As for not doing anything on it, I have a great job, make 6 figures and can sit back and read Perez so obviously it's not impairing my judgement so fuck off.
Re: elle – HA HA she thinks weed is bad. Can someone get this girl a joint.
Re: no – ha ha ur stupid. Weed is NOT bad and it does not Make u Crazy. Ur crazy if u think weed is bad. ha ha. can someone please smoke with this crazy ass.
Re: Teati – it means time to get high
Re: no –
Wow man - you remind of me my douchebag college roommate who got high and freaked the hell out - if you are a retarded idiot, yes, pot could cause your mental 'illness' aka stupidity and lack of social skills come to the forefront. But that could also happen if you drank too much robitussin. Pot is no more dangerous than alcohol, and yes, it is a drug, and yes, it has the potential to be abused - but the question is, is the cure worse than the disease? In this case the answer is yes, the war on drugs (aka the war on drug USERS aka Americans) has torn apart countless lives and families, and the great majority of these people were just fine with their little smoking habits until the cops came and put them in JAIL for smoking a PLANT!
Re: chris – ugh, you're giving other stones a bad name. The unfavorable things that have been said above have merit and are rooted in scientific truth., either counter that with intelligently made points and facts that discredit that information or remain silent if all you can muster are stoopid remarks.gah
Re: noooo – Sounds like a shitty situation , hope everything works out .
Finally
Re: devon – actually no, you'd rather insult than accept a drug i.e. weed has been overwhelmingly scientifically proven to cause mental illness obviously. There's a wealth of stuff from credible medical journals like the lancet to substantiate that. Marijuana has legitimate medical applications as a controlled substance however. It's of little or no consequence to me what you want to believe - it's established scientific fact cannabis used frequently by recreational users dramatically increases the users risk of developing a mental illness.
I'm not here to brawl or pick fights. those are the facts , sorry if they're not trendy enough or don't tally with a popularized opinion that cannabis is "a harmless drug".
gateway drug!!! and I know this for a fact!
Re: Natal – your husband doesn't smoke as much as you because you can't run a business effectively while you are stoned. choosing not to smoke is responsible. you said it yourself.
and i don't know how much i buy the upbringing not geared toward college thing, unless your parents were farmers or gang members.
i didn't stay up late trying to think of what to say, i know where i stand on these issues, and where responsible people should stand. stupid website lost my long ass post and i had to type it up again. i wouldn't waste my time if i didn't care though.
i really don't think it would benefit anyone to set age and amount limits of this drug. i don't think anyone uses this drug responsibly judging by what it could do to you. setting age limits does little in deterring kids from using a substance, case and point: alcohol. by having irresponsible parents you also have irresponsible children who are probably sneaking into the weed stash every night. and like i said, exposing kids to this stuff is not a wise idea because of the numerous negative health affects.
finaly! it will save the government hundreds of millions most likely-
Re: elle – oh simmer down there negative nancy… smoke a joint and i guarantee you'll walk through the gate of i'm a fucking no it all and i need to shut the fuck up. 420 lives.
Thank you. Less brothers taken from their kids for a little weed. Charge them if something happens, just like alcohol. Alcohol is worse than weed and that is legal. Next is prostitution, why should the government tell me who I can pay to sleep with. They need to lock up my wife, I have been paying her for 20 years.
I fucking love Kal Penn..hottest indian guy..i should know :0)
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
finally.
no about our parents. they should loosen up too
HAHA i love how ALL the comments r about the green & legalization! WHOOOOOOOOOOO NORML MAN! it will help the economy too! everyone wins
Barney Frank is a true hero!! Have you ever seen someone get violent after smoking pot? Or get pulled over for driving stoned?? No one beats up their girlfriend or starts a fight on pot. It is the best chill and high at the same time. Much better than drinking. So GO BARNEY GO!!!
i live in vancouver b.c
ever heard of b.c bud we got the best weeed out here!!
noone cares if ur blazing here either..cops could give 2 fucks..so might as well make it legal!!!
u see atleast 10-15 ppl lighting up in their cars when u go for a drive
its awesome!! I LOVE CANADA:D
If this passes I am buying stocks in the snack food industry.
for sure.
Re: noooo –
"your boyfriend must have some pretty easy classes if he's getting a 4.0."
is that an attempt at an insult?! haha….oh dear, you're in way over your head
here.
yeah, pre med classes are known for be easy. nice try.
would you like to try again? i'll give you a free shot…..
Re: brand – please bitch don't insult my intelligence. i dont comment to argue about my intelligence, i know where it stands and i know its far better than yours - that is one area that im absolutely positively sure of. im arguing for the fact that i don't think marijuana should be legalized for rec use. if you want to argue about your boyfriend, argue with him - you'll get much better sex out of it.
yay!
YAY!!!! hahaha dude even if this isnt nationwide hopefully this barney dude brings back some ideas to MA cuz thats where i reside whoop whoop!! =)
Re: tattooed white trash –
I completely agree.
that is like the best thing i have ever heard…
Nice. I don't smoke pot either, but I don't think it should be illegal if used with discretion.
The war on drugs is an excuse to justify bigger government(ATF anyone?) not to mention a way to confiscate people's property. If our government was serious about "winning the war on drugs" then shouldn't they be securing our borders?. Cos' I guarantee you that if they aren't securing our borders from illegals entering then they sure as hell aren't keeping out terrorists and drugs. The police need to be going after real criminals like pedophiles, rapists, murderers, etc. Don't Legalize it, DECRIMINALIZE it.
Re: ?? –
Taxing pot won't help the economy. The government would just misappropriate the funds like they do with every other tax dollar. Or they'd sent it to foreign countries as "Aid". You people have way too much faith in the efficiency and integrity of government. It's scary. You actually believe more government is good. You actually trust government. Bunch of neo marxists.
Whats cool is that that whole argument the pro-pothead made saying that current laws criminalizing pot smokers places undue burdens on law enforcement is really the correct constitutional argument. The government uses the "undue burden" test all the time to make laws that make pot users illegal. A taste of their own medicine.
Mmm.
I love weed
Re: devon – You're very rude. someone goes out of their way to share relatively esoteric important enlightening information with you and your supposedly collage educated brain respondes with worthless personal demeaning attacks?
Can you say immature juvenile attitude?
Thnx for that info no. I'd heard somewhere pot can cause stuff and after doing some googleing there is a litany of stuff that backs up what you've been saying and is eye opening to say the least.
I don't know what they should do though , legalize maybe with along with information on what it can do to mental health ect?
Meh.. dope addled harpies jack hammering people with insults…
Marijuana is especially insidious amongst illegal substances because it's widely and inaccurately believed by many to be a soft harmless drug that has no severe long term negative effects on its users.. WRONG.
Gateway drug? Jeesh. Get over yourselves already. Wake up and smell the reefer people…legalize it for God's sakes. I would be happy to pay a tax just so the people that say "it's a gateway drug" will shut the fuck up.
they shouldn't make it LEGAL……they just shouldn't make the consequences so drastic unless is a large amount of weed…liek ALOT
"I don't think it is the government's business to tell you how to spend your leisure time."
Exactly.
It's Chairman Barney Frank.
You should be more respectful, especially with all the strides he has made in the LGBT community.