Can pot save the California budget?

reefforbrains

reefforbrains

Active Member
I always open my yap and seem to get nothing more accomplished, except a new ignore add. The entire thread is just reaching. Fact vs fiction is so vague with all of the historical data on testing pot it is moot for both sides.
The smokers like it and praise it for all of its miracle uses. The non-smokers jump on a soapbox and just make judgmental attacks at lifestyle or intellect. No one else seems to find it so amusing that BOTH sides preach health concerns. BOTH sides preach about crime rates. BOTH sides preach for/against the medicinal properties.
Just my thoughts, (as if anyone actually asked)
Smokers smoke it because they like it. The medicinal uses are sub-par. Much better drug choices to treat MOST of the conditions people try to hide behind as thier personal crutch. They just like smoking it.
Non-smokers are stuck with a stigma in thier head about a lifestyle. It IS frustrating to speak or deal with a pothead. Not someone who smokes from time to time, but a dyed in the wool 'pothead". Wake-and-bakers ARE LOSERS. Yeah? SO are drunks in my book.
Problems with stereotypes people is they are most times true. Generalizations WORK, stereotypes FIT. Rebel at the system, or fight against it if you like but it is a waste of time. I did not write this to be liked. Just to point out how silly that no one will come clean and be honest.
Alterior motives for/against this issue are what is killing it legally from any real movement. The smokers ARE inching towards a win at least here in California under the medicinal loophole.
-RFB
 
green machine

green machine

Member
Originally Posted by ReefForBrains
http:///forum/post/3081489
It IS frustrating to speak or deal with a pothead. Not someone who smokes from time to time, but a dyed in the wool 'pothead". Wake-and-bakers ARE LOSERS.
-RFB
WOW what a bold statement. lol This is getting sad.
 
reefforbrains

reefforbrains

Active Member
See now before this spins too far off and that really is not my intention.
Micheal Phelps is a perfect example of harmless pot smoking. He is ambitious, driven and hard working. He endulges in some recreational use. Still illegal, but not damning him to chronic medical issues or life threatening side effects from his occassional usage.
*edit- He already speaks like he is metally challenged so maybe not the best example....but you get my point.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Originally Posted by bionicarm
http:///forum/post/3081438
I never used pot just to 'get high'. When I smoked, I could get the same feeling and sensations from smoking one joint as I would by drinking 2 or 3 beers. It actually depended on the 'brand' of weed and its strength. I 'toked' on occasion during my high school and college years. In high school, I did the typical cruising, and we'd always end up at the local KMart parking lot. There were just nights where I didn't feel like drinking alcohol, so I'd just 'take a hit' when the joint came around. Same thing in college when I went to parties. The benefit was I didn't wake up with a wicked hangover or ever have to go hug the 'porcelain God' after smoking. The effects also wore off ALOT faster than from drinking. I've heard the stories of people getting addicted to the 'drug' and having worse side effects than drinking alcohol. However, those were the exceptions instead of the norm. It's been over 25 years since I've 'taken a hit' (I have had the opportunity to obtain second-hand smoke at a few rock concerts), and I've never had the desire to try and obtain it.
Why did you smoke, if then it wasn't to get high? The basic understand is that it alters your state of mind/perception of reality. Did you do it just cuz the other kids were? Or? %% And if there's not really any good reason, how can you conceivably expect people to vote for a change?
Like I said, I don't drink beer to get a 'sensation.' I drink it because it matches a steak or hot pizza great. We've already had the 'no one enjoys the 'taste' of pot' argument, but regardless, one spark is enough to start impairing you. And no one never takes 'just one hit.' Like I said, I'm not really cool with getting trashed and waking up to the porcelian god everyday either. Just one or two beers at dinner doesn't effect someone like a couple hits does.
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
Originally Posted by DragonZim
http:///forum/post/3081177
And I know many pot smokers that are intelligent, well spoken, successful members of society
I am all for legalizing it but I gotta say I have met very few long term users who don't act like complete morons. I am talking about the people who are regular users, not the guy who will smoke a bowl once in a while. Maybe it's just that most people who use it regularly are idiots to begin with, dunno
 
bionicarm

bionicarm

Active Member
Originally Posted by AquaKnight
http:///forum/post/3081524
Why did you smoke, if then it wasn't to get high? The basic understand is that it alters your state of mind/perception of reality. Did you do it just cuz the other kids were? Or?
And if there's not really any good reason, how can you conceivably expect people to vote for a change?
Like I said, I don't drink beer to get a 'sensation.' I drink it because it matches a steak or hot pizza great. We've already had the 'no one enjoys the 'taste' of pot' argument, but regardless, one spark is enough to start impairing you. And no one never takes 'just one hit.' Like I said, I'm not really cool with getting trashed and waking up to the porcelian god everyday either. Just one or two beers at dinner doesn't effect someone like a couple hits does.
Like I said, I used it as an alternative to alcohol. I got the same sensations smoking a joint as I did drinking a couple of beers. A couple of hits on a joint had less of an affect on me than drinking a couple of beers. Like alcohol, marijuana affects people differently. Marijuana never 'altered my state of mind'. That's what the hard drugs do to you. I tried LSD once (licked the stamp), and after that horrid experience (the sky turned purple and I saw some really SCARY things), I swore I'd never get near that stuff again. But I could hang with my friends who were drinking the beer, Paegan Pink, and Strawberry Hill and take a couple of hits off a joint to get the same feeling they were getting with the alcohol. You seem to have these visions of Cheech and Chong sitting around inside a Good Time Van filing it up with smoke toking off a giant bong. I never experienced any setting like that. When I smoked, I never got nearly as impaired as I did sitting around drinking beer. And yes, there were many times I took 'just one hit' and decided I didn't want anymore. Those times I chose to drink a beer instead.

I never smoked pot just to smoke it. I'd also wouldn't use it as an alternative to alcohol when I'm drinking while eating. People who drink alcohol in a social setting don't normally drink just because they like the taste of it over a non-alcoholic drink. Do you ever drink beer in a setting besides eating? Do you do it because 'everyone else is doing it', not because you simply like the taste?
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
As far as helping Cali balance the budget I don't really know how much it will really help. Local governments do very little about enforcing MJ laws. There would be some tax revenues but the art of all this is figuring out the rate. You really want to keep it cheap enough to kill the black market trade. With no factory production the taxing authority would be a nightmare. How is the state going to find every back yard grower? I just don't see it doing a lot for the budget.
One thing they seem to be forgetting is the federal government still has a law against it. They try to legalize it and collect taxes I got a feeling they won't like what happens.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Originally Posted by bionicarm
http:///forum/post/3081588
Like I said, I used it as an alternative to alcohol. I got the same sensations smoking a joint as I did drinking a couple of beers. A couple of hits on a joint had less of an affect on me than drinking a couple of beers. Like alcohol, marijuana affects people differently. Marijuana never 'altered my state of mind'. That's what the hard drugs do to you. I tried LSD once (licked the stamp), and after that horrid experience (the sky turned purple and I saw some really SCARY things), I swore I'd never get near that stuff again. But I could hang with my friends who were drinking the beer, Paegan Pink, and Strawberry Hill and take a couple of hits off a joint to get the same feeling they were getting with the alcohol. You seem to have these visions of Cheech and Chong sitting around inside a Good Time Van filing it up with smoke toking off a giant bong. I never experienced any setting like that. When I smoked, I never got nearly as impaired as I did sitting around drinking beer. And yes, there were many times I took 'just one hit' and decided I didn't want anymore. Those times I chose to drink a beer instead.

I never smoked pot just to smoke it. I'd also wouldn't use it as an alternative to alcohol when I'm drinking while eating. People who drink alcohol in a social setting don't normally drink just because they like the taste of it over a non-alcoholic drink. Do you ever drink beer in a setting besides eating? Do you do it because 'everyone else is doing it', not because you simply like the taste?
Well, that's what I meant by 'altered state of mind.' Perhaps not as great, but I meant that light 'buzz' you get.
I guess to reiterate/clarify my stance, to me, when someone smokes mariguana, be it just a hit off a blunt or sparking up a monster bong, the intent is clear, at best, to get that 'buzz,' and at worst, to be like Cheech and Chong.
This is why I'm stating that there is likely to be little support for the cause. Unlike alcohol which has a number of social settings/places where it's clear the intent is not to become wasted, or even get that 'buzz.'
Originally Posted by bionicarm
http:///forum/post/3081588
Do you ever drink beer in a setting besides eating?
Sure, every baseball, football, NASCAR event I've been to since I've been 21. I did it because an ice cold beer in a hot 90° stadium is very refreshing. Also the best local pub has beer tasting about once a month, there are a number of different beers he brings in just for the event and we get to sample some really good stuff. The pub normally has over 130 beers and there has been many of nights my friends and I go out just strictly to try some different beers. Not get trashed or anything...
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Originally Posted by bionicarm
http:///forum/post/3081588
Do you do it because 'everyone else is doing it', not because you simply like the taste?
Sure, I've also played beer pong many of times, well into the morning, and sacrificed plenty to the porcelain god.
If I put myself up on a pedestal, my apologies that wasn't my intent. The point of beer pong, for me at least, was the social aspect. Beating my friends/roommates. Not to be able to just barely stumble into the house and find somewhere on the floor...
 
deejeff442

deejeff442

Active Member
i have an example.
a good friend of mine smokes that stuff like crazy .
on his time,i have not smelled it on him while he is working.
he is a wood craftsman talking to him he always sounds drunk.
this guy can take a pile of wood and make custom cabinets,arbors ,home additions ect.
some of the best work around .
his wife smokes as much as him,she has 8 yrs of collage and makes 100.000 in the nursing field.
it just affects people different.
funny my sister in law visited a few weeks ago and on the drive from the airport she was asking if i could get some.took my a couple days to remember my friend smokes so i called and he said $135 for 7 oz. of hydro.
i had no idea how moch 7 oz. is and what hydro was.
after telling her i guess hydo is some good stuff cause her eyes lit up.
well i never did get it before she left.
 
bionicarm

bionicarm

Active Member
Originally Posted by reefraff
http:///forum/post/3081606
As far as helping Cali balance the budget I don't really know how much it will really help. Local governments do very little about enforcing MJ laws. There would be some tax revenues but the art of all this is figuring out the rate. You really want to keep it cheap enough to kill the black market trade. With no factory production the taxing authority would be a nightmare. How is the state going to find every back yard grower? I just don't see it doing a lot for the budget.
One thing they seem to be forgetting is the federal government still has a law against it. They try to legalize it and collect taxes I got a feeling they won't like what happens.
If they legailized it, they would have to allow some form of 'manufacturing process' like the tobacco industry uses. I don't think you could allow the backyard growers the ability to sell it. You'd couldn't have street sales. The only legal place to sell it would be next to the cigarettes in the stores. So you charge a tax around the same rate you tax the cigarettes. The bonus would be the first year or so of the implementation. So many people would jump at the opportunity to legally buy MJ, they wouldn't care if they charged $2.00/pack in taxes.
The question is, how do you maintain the sales to the California borders? Do you have Cali State Troopers with border checkpoints making sure someone doesn't try to take a pack back home to Arizona, Texas, or Florida? What happens if you accidentally take your pack of MJ's to the airport and go on a trip? Do you get busted for taking what would be an illegal drug through a Federal Security Check, or do you get the opportunity to just toss it in the trash like you do with the cosmetics and liquids larger than 1 oz.?
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by green machine
http:///forum/post/3081497
WOW what a bold statement. lol This is getting sad.
No what is sad is girls whoring themselves out for "free" pot from their pot boyfriend. For roommates stealing money so they can go buy that day's oz of hydro. That on Saturday morning they smoked through an ounce by ten and spend the rest of the day talking about absolutely nothing and thinking they are friggen geniuses. What is sad is watching freshman and sophomores in college who had very realistic Major League talent drop out, so they could work and score more weed. That is sad. Pointing out that pot heads are mentally challenged because of the effects from weed is not sad.
 
D

dragonzim

Active Member
Originally Posted by deejeff442
http:///forum/post/3081648
so i called and he said $135 for 7 oz. of hydro.
i had no idea how moch 7 oz. is and what hydro was.
after telling her i guess hydo is some good stuff cause her eyes lit up.
well i never did get it before she left.
That can't possibly be correct. Sure it wasnt grams and not ounces? An ounce of good hydro usually goes in the 300-400 dollar range
Originally Posted by stdreb27
http:///forum/post/3081714
That on Saturday morning they smoked through an ounce by ten and spend the rest of the day talking about absolutely nothing and thinking they are friggen geniuses.
Its pretty much physically impossible to smoke an ounce in a few hours unless there are a LOT of people involved.
 
stdreb27

stdreb27

Active Member
Originally Posted by DragonZim
http:///forum/post/3081838
That can't possibly be correct. Sure it wasnt grams and not ounces? An ounce of good hydro usually goes in the 300-400 dollar range
Its pretty much physically impossible to smoke an ounce in a few hours unless there are a LOT of people involved.
Not really, that is 3 or 4 well packed blunts. And 3 or 4 people. Assuming they weren't lying to me about it being an oz...
 
kingsmith

kingsmith

Member
Originally Posted by stdreb27
http:///forum/post/3081893
Not really, that is 3 or 4 well packed blunts. And 3 or 4 people. Assuming they weren't lying to me about it being an oz...
I think you got scammed you better be able to roll alot more blunts than 4 with an O
 
T

tizzo

Guest
Originally Posted by AquaKnight
http:///forum/post/3081398
W This is about changing an illegal good, to a legal one. There needs to be solid reasons why people should vote to legalize pot, other then saying it's none of my business what you do and it doesn't effect me.

Actually, We are looking at the topic all wrong... They don't care what voters think about legalizing or not. This topic, according to the link, has been boiled down to... We have a deficit. Should legalizing pot help curb that or not. The focus is not the pot, it's the debt. It's a win, win for pro legalizing. As I mentioned earlier, if they wanna make it legal, then fine, but don't use the guise of, "It will make our economy all better" in doing so...
Cause if it works, and if they do get the deficit back down (which won't happen, but IF it did) then would it go back to illegal since it served it's purpose??
As far as a good solid argument for legalizing it... There are none.
Medicinal purposes? We already have a prescription drug for everything.
Cheaper? It won't be if it gets legaliized?
You can grow your own? Not with agriculture breathing down your neck for permits.
Because alcohol is legal? Something about 2 wrongs...
Less people die?? Really?? Less people die on pot than with tobacco is a reason to legalize it??
There are no solid arguments to make it legal.
Some people like it. Big deal.
I know professionals who use it, and you would never pick them out of a poll of non users. The difference is that the professionals do a better job of not letting everyone know they use it, so the "unaffected" smokers, don't have a rep like the burn out bums have.
 
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