Some feel good marijuana stories

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Here are a few feel good stories about marijuana users. I'm sure our resident police officer and fireman could tell their own stories about consequences marijuana use from seeing the results firsthand. These revelations will have to do for now:

Neglect, death of a child, pothead father:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/specialprojects/news/crimewatch/article.aspx?subjectid=450&articleid=20120209_11_A8_ULNSba205338

Seriously injured passenger, pothead driver:

http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/582881_Police--Teen-driver-used-marijuana-before-crash.html

Jogger killed, pothead driver:

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/valparaiso/drug-test-lands-driver-accused-of-killing-jogger-in-jail/article_001ce187-7273-588c-aff8-43e954f49c62.html

Convenience store clerk murdered, pothead robber:

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Prosecutors-Teen-sentenced-in-Ballard-clerk-s-2970601.php#page-2

Driver killed, alcohol and pot mix for driver...gee, can't wait for more of this legal combination:

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP04cd5422e8874d6285eac1c3b731cda8.html

Child neglect, pot and cocaine...pot's not a gateway drug...nah, perfectly safe...good for fathers of infants:

http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/02/06/1954936/father-uncle-of-missing-infant.html

Another study for potheads to ignore, smoking marijuana doubles risk of car accidents:

http://rumors.automobilemag.com/report-smoking-marijuana-doubles-risk-of-car-crashes-109727.html

Teen dies, mix of alcohol, marijuana, and helium:

http://news.opb.org/article/medford_teen_dies_after_hits_of_helium_gas/

Murder, marijuana and alcohol mix:

http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2012/02/09/news/news04.txt

Teen heroin overdose, parents "thought she was only smoking marijuana"...yeah, of course, it's not a gateway drug, remember?:

http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-tragic-price-of-heroin-for-teens-feb17,0,1766331.story

Murder of MTSU basektball players, had told roommate to keep marijuana out of the apartment...potheads are mellow about what you tell them to do with their stash:

http://www.dnj.com/article/20120207/NEWS06/302060037'>http://www.dnj.com/article/20120207/NEWS06/302060037

7-year old raped, stabbed, murdered, pothead maintenance worker at apartment complex:

http://www.dnj.com/article/20120207/NEWS06/302060037'>http://www.dnj.com/article/20120207/NEWS06/302060037

17-year old on skateboard, killed by driver who mixed alcohol and marijuana:

http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/driver-gets-four-months-in-death-of-skater/article_3dcefd46-520c-11e1-a1a2-0019bb2963f4.html

Murder with baseball bat, just another pothead mixing his weed and alcohol:

http://centralny.ynn.com/content/top_stories/573837/wayne-oxley-takes-the-stand/

Murder, just another marijuana and alcohol mixer:

http://www.wlox.com/story/16620602/accused-killers-ex-wife-talks-about-his-prison-death

11-year old beaten to death, pothead boyfriend of mother:

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2012/02/14/beating-victims-mother-questioned-by-pittsburgh-police

One killed, three others seriously injured, pothead driver mixing it with alcohol:

http://www.kveo.com/news/february-14-2012-news-center-23-morning-update

Pedestrian killed, pothead driver "thought he'd struck a sign":

http://www.tulsaworld.com/specialprojects/news/crimewatch/article.aspx?subjectid=450&articleid=20120206_11_A13_Tulsap153683

Failed field sobriety test, pothead admits to use...no alcohol, just pot...sobriety test failed...how could this be? Pot proponents say it's safe, unlike alcohol. Crazy:

http://homewood-flossmoor.patch.com/articles/butt-slapping-game-turns-serious-homewood-police-blotter

Manslaughter, a little marijuana use, a litte fooling around with a shot gun:

http://www.ocala.com/article/20120209/ARTICLES/120209652

Double sexual assault, pothead mixes with alcohol again:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Former+real+estate+agent+convicted+violent+assaults/6066250/story.html

That's probably enough for today. I've discovered you could do this for hours. Marijuana use is no safer than alcohol use. The crimes don't lie. Pot isn't safer than alcohol. Mixing the two is a terrible idea. Keep it illegal. There's enough bad in the world with alcohol without throwing pot legally into the mix.

[Censored by Laurie]

Man...you need to relax.

Do you want some weed?

[Green P1]

These threads that make me wanna kill myself are coming 2 fast and 2 furious these days.... Been a rough 1/4 mile.

[Monkeypox]

I'm gonna post the ones about guns!

[rcade]

The crimes don't lie. Pot isn't safer than alcohol.

Linking violent crimes to marijuana use is ridiculous. You think smoking pot made a guy shoot a convenience store clerk twice in a robbery?

[GreenGuy123]

Yawn. What is the point of this post? I hope you don't drink or like rock and roll music. Wouldn't want to call you a hypocrite.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Linking violent crimes to marijuana use is ridiculous. You think smoking pot made a guy shoot a convenience store clerk twice in a robbery?

Linking? All I've done is show recent stories about potheads. I'm sure marijuana had nothing to do with the circumstances of theses people's lives - or, the lives of those they killed, injured, raped, etc. while stoned. I'm sure that in every instance it was just a coincidence that they had been smoking marijuana prior to the crimes they committed.

A couple of the stories did surprise me, though. The one about the study showing marijuana use doubling the risk of an automobile accident. Doesn't seem right, does it, because potheads say it's different and not as dangerous as alcohol.

And, the other one was the guy who flunked the DUI roadside test even though he had only been smoking marijuana and not drinking. That one was also weird, because...duh...potheads say marijuana doesn't effect people the same way alcohol does.

I guess the cops are just setting up these poor potheads.

[Monkeypox]

A couple of the stories did surprise me, though. The one about the study showing marijuana use doubling the risk of an automobile accident. Doesn't seem right, does it, because potheads say it's different and not as dangerous as alcohol

Actually scientists will tell you it's different and not as dangerous as alcohol, as will anyone with a background in neuroscience or pharmacology.

Edited February 22, 2012 by Monkeypox

[Rudy]

Actually scientists will tell you it's different and not as dangerous as alcohol, as will anyone with a background in neuroscience or pharmacology.

Perhaps the problem is that people dont THINK it will affect them to the point it does. I know what legalization proponents want to keep saying. But perhaps you should rely on what those of us who deal with drugs see at work.

Just a thought...

[Monkeypox]

Perhaps the problem is that people dont THINK it will affect them to the point it does. I know what legalization proponents want to keep saying. But perhaps you should rely on what those of us who deal with drugs see at work.

Just a thought...

Quite frankly, law enforcement officers aren't people to trust on the issue of a drug's effects. Law enforcement during Prohibition would gladly have told you all the evils surrounding liquor. Violent crime surrounds marijuana today primarily as a SIDE EFFECT of it being illegal.

The problem is that the vast majority of people that law enforcement come across are dirtbags. And yes, when you engage in one crime, it's far more likely that you engage in others. BECAUSE marijuana is illegal, then the primary source of information for law enforcement are going to be dirtbags. I'd be willing to bet that it becomes increasingly difficult to separate their interactions with marijuana from ones that have combinations of marijuana, alcohol, and meth these days. I know functioning members of society, who have kids and families and make 6 figures and lead productive lives and aren't violent and commit no other crimes than being casual marijuana smokers. In fact, I'd say I worry far more about my alcoholic friends than the ones I know that smoke WAY TOO MUCH weed (some of whom get more done in a day than I do all week, the bastards).

It's not a reporting issue. It's a reality issue. There's a plateau for the effects of marijuana. You can't smoke it until you piss your pants, puke, or die. Alcohol, however, can kill you all by itself. Also, whether it's the paranoia or the neurological effects of marijuana that cause it, studies reveal that alcohol makes drivers more likely to speed, marijuana more likely to drive slower. Now, they're equally likely to cause an accident, because in both cases, reaction times are significantly slowed. BUT, once again, there's a plateau for marijuana. You won't find a person driving 100mph and passed out on marijuana. You will on alcohol.

My brother's a police officer, and I've talked to him in length about this. I have NO PROBLEM with enforcing the laws, stupid or not. But I wouldn't trust a single person involved in law enforcement to lecture me on the physiological or behavioral effects of different drugs. They don't deal with drugs, they deal with criminals. The inability to separate the two presents an obvious bias. A cop's never going to be at a party where people smoke marijuana and drink and nothing bad happens.

And, once again, for the record, I don't smoke. But there's so much misinformation being thrown around here that it's ridiculous. I just think it's funny and hypocritical that anyone who drinks or owns a gun is against the decriminalization of marijuana.

[GreenGuy123]

Quite frankly, law enforcement officers aren't people to trust on the issue of a drug's effects. Law enforcement during Prohibition would gladly have told you all the evils surrounding liquor. Violent crime surrounds marijuana today primarily as a SIDE EFFECT of it being illegal.

The problem is that the vast majority of people that law enforcement come across are dirtbags. And yes, when you engage in one crime, it's far more likely that you engage in others. BECAUSE marijuana is illegal, then the primary source of information for law enforcement are going to be dirtbags. I'd be willing to bet that it becomes increasingly difficult to separate their interactions with marijuana from ones that have combinations of marijuana, alcohol, and meth these days. I know functioning members of society, who have kids and families and make 6 figures and lead productive lives and aren't violent and commit no other crimes than being casual marijuana smokers. In fact, I'd say I worry far more about my alcoholic friends than the ones I know that smoke WAY TOO MUCH weed (some of whom get more done in a day than I do all week, the bastards).

It's not a reporting issue. It's a reality issue. There's a plateau for the effects of marijuana. You can't smoke it until you piss your pants, puke, or die. Alcohol, however, can kill you all by itself. Also, whether it's the paranoia or the neurological effects of marijuana that cause it, studies reveal that alcohol makes drivers more likely to speed, marijuana more likely to drive slower. Now, they're equally likely to cause an accident, because in both cases, reaction times are significantly slowed. BUT, once again, there's a plateau for marijuana. You won't find a person driving 100mph and passed out on marijuana. You will on alcohol.

My brother's a police officer, and I've talked to him in length about this. I have NO PROBLEM with enforcing the laws, stupid or not. But I wouldn't trust a single person involved in law enforcement to lecture me on the physiological or behavioral effects of different drugs. They don't deal with drugs, they deal with criminals. The inability to separate the two presents an obvious bias. A cop's never going to be at a party where people smoke marijuana and drink and nothing bad happens.

And, once again, for the record, I don't smoke. But there's so much misinformation being thrown around here that it's ridiculous. I just think it's funny and hypocritical that anyone who drinks or owns a gun is against the decriminalization of marijuana.

Amen...logic is a crazy concept.

[HoustonEagle]

Instead of railing on the legalization of pot why not push for the the crimalization of alcohol? Let's save some serious lives here.

If we shall be tilting at windmills lets charge in head first

For every mother that lost a child to a drunk or stoned driver another lost one to gang violence and all the accompanied devastation from the illegal drug trade.

I am in the camp that education and rehabilitation would cost half as much as the war on drugs and save many lives.

[Green2012]

I gotta go with Monkeypox in that crime primarily is linked to marijuana as a side effect of it being illegal. Look at the prohibition days and the crime that surrounded alcohol. Its no different today, just a different drug. If you're against marijuana being legal, then I don't see how you can support alcohol being legal. Everything comes down to personal responsibility imo. When people abuse alcohol and drink and drive, bad things happen. Just like if someone were to smoke marijuana and drive the taco bell. The chance of something bad happening is there in both cases. Alot of your articles said the person used other drugs too. Is alcohol not a gateway drug then also? What if someone beat or murdered someone at the gas station while not being on drugs. What's his excuse? I don't think we can always link crime to drugs in every situation. What's to say they weren't just a messed up individual?

Edited February 22, 2012 by Green2012

[SilverEagle]

Like all things historical, we as a society tend to forget, ignore, or just be ignorant of, some of our past learning experiences. Organized crime wasn't near as "organized" and powerful until prohibition came along. Then their power (fueled by the profits of illegal alcohol sales) and ability to corrupt grew almost out of control. Now, I don't think you'll find organized crime in the alcohol business so much anymore, but where do you find them? Ask anyone in Mexico or central/south America.

When you legalize the use of marijuana and start taxing the hell out of it, THEN the people who grow and sell it will have to pay more of the cost of re-hab programs rather than the general public via taxes. Well, actually the people who buy it from an authorized supplier will pay for the cost of rehab because the taxes will be passed on to the customer by the supplier. Yes, I do understand basic business practices.

This means more money for rehab and education and less money for weapons and turf wars between the current "suppliers".

In this scenario, the biggest loser will be the automatic weapons manufacturing industry.

[TIgreen01]

Wine and beer, for centuries, developed into a necessity b/c it provided a safe alternative to often dirty drinking water in larger cities/civilizations. Today, it may be considered mostly recreational, but the acceptance of it has been ingrained into society--worldwide. Marijuana is not likely to be considered as anything other than a recreational drug....and therefore, will likely not gain the same acceptance as alcohol.

[forevereagle]

Reading these threads makes me feel like a cutter.

[rcade]

Marijuana is not likely to be considered as anything other than a recreational drug....and therefore, will likely not gain the same acceptance as alcohol.

Marijuana is being prescribed by doctors to treat glaucoma, nausea and lack of hunger in chemotherapy for cancer, and other illnesses.

[cwb]

Must be getting close to 4:20 around here.

[Coffee and TV]

Since drug legalization has taken affect in Portugal, their abuse rates have actually lowered.

[TIgreen01]

Marijuana is being prescribed by doctors to treat glaucoma, nausea and lack of hunger in chemotherapy for cancer, and other illnesses.

Not everyone has a medical condition that requires treatment with prescription marijuana. EVERYONE has a need for clean drinking water. Alcoholic beverages (specifically beer and wine) were simply used as a safe alternative in the past. Hence the reason its use is so entrenched in society. I'm not arguing for, or against you...just trying to add some historical perspective.

[Rudy]

Like all things historical, we as a society tend to forget, ignore, or just be ignorant of, some of our past learning experiences. Organized crime wasn't near as "organized" and powerful until prohibition came along. Then their power (fueled by the profits of illegal alcohol sales) and ability to corrupt grew almost out of control. Now, I don't think you'll find organized crime in the alcohol business so much anymore, but where do you find them? Ask anyone in Mexico or central/south America.

The cartels will still thrive if marijuana is legalized. They are already in the meth industry. There is only one way to defeat the cartels, but this country won't do it.

[Coffee and TV]

The cartels will still thrive if marijuana is legalized. They are already in the meth industry. There is only one way to defeat the cartels, but this country won't do it.

Best estimates calculate that 65% of their money comes from marijuana. Will making it legal in the US end the cartels? No, but it might do some damage.

[Rudy]

Best estimates calculate that 65% of their money comes from marijuana. Will making it legal in the US end the cartels? No, but it might do some damage.

I can assure you that they will adapt. Any financial hit would be short lived.

[Monkeypox]

I can assure you that they will adapt. Any financial hit would be short lived.

Not entirely accurate. They WILL adapt, but you'll be looking at a number of enterprises that simply won't be able to survive the hit. Consolidation will likely happen, as happened in the US in the post-Prohibition era. Only the cartels that are heavy and diversified enough will last. LESS cartels will lead to less violence, for the same reasons. The small fries will be gone. Most of the medium fries will be, too. With a 65% stake in marijuana, they won't be able to just fill that gap with other drugs, because of demand. Marijuana drives the drug business, and you don't blow up your trailer making it.

Also, because it's farmed (not made in a lab), it's illegality relies much more on it being outsourced. You'll have that with cocaine and heroin still, but, again, those aren't the market. The market is marijuana.

A good article:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Mexico-s-cartels-rely-on-their-cash-crop-2078623.php

[UNT90]

Best estimates calculate that 65% of their money comes from marijuana. Will making it legal in the US end the cartels? No, but it might do some damage.

Gonna need a source for this, cause I think that you are completely BS ing the good folks of GMG.com.

Coke and Meth bring much higher profit margins for the Cartel (particularly Meth). So...

Prove it.