A friend of mine told me her thoughts on why weed is illegal, and it got me thinking. She thinks the only reason the government hasnt made it legal was because they couldnt figure out a reliable and efficient way to tax it. So I started to think that they should make it only illegal to sell marijuana, but not to grow your own for personal use, as long as you werent making any money off your plants, and you only had a few. I realized that this would just make it easier for people to grow more and continue to sell illegally, but it also does seem like more people would just be able to grow their own and not have to risk buying it on the streets, which makes it seem like selling would slow down a bit. What do you think?
i dont think so man because there would be so many more growers than there are right now and those new growers would prob want to make a profit of there herb.
Yeah.. I'm not sure about that theory man. At first glance it seems like it would be about as easy as taxing any other consumable plant. Albeit an awesome one However, while you ponder your theory you could always go here http://www.change.org/ideas/116/view_action/legalize_marijuana and sign a petition that will be used for attempts to legalize!
I don't get this whole "the government can't tax weed" argument. The government could tax weed. period.
When people buy tomatoes, which are easy to grow, do they buy them from the grocery store or grow them in their backyard? The vast majority opt for the store. What about the people that use it infrequently or just on weekends? Why grow and hassle with the plant when you can just pick some up on the way over to a friends house for cheap? What about the people that have no yard, live in apartment or have property without a garden space? What about the quality? When manufactures make a product they spend tons of effort in perfecting the product so the demand is high. The high quality yields will be harder to grow than just buying them at a store. Prices will be so cheap compared to what they are when they are illegal people will be excited about paying taxes for their marijuana.
Agreed. But nobody is going to be excited to buy their extremely cheap and taxed marijuana if all we do is sit and talk about how it would be. We ALL need to act! I'm sure many have said it before me, and I know there is nothing special about me saying it. But I hope that maybe I will be contagious to some, if only a few, who can then attract even more and we can get ALL of Grasscity involved!
You know the more I think about the benefits of making marijuana legal the more I wish it would stay illegal. I mean the government is going to profit off of it! That's messed up. Taking the money from the weed profits to fund wars and such doesn't seem right.
There is a little snowball effect you're not acknowledging that will result (that the big wigs are scared shitless about): Summer of Love 2: Bigger, Better, and Uncut
And you would rather have innocent American citizens trapped in prison over the use of a relatively safe drug? Plus, who says all of the profits will fund wars? I mean, how great would it be if they used funding from legalizing marijuana to fund the reformation and repair of our education system? I would have to say I very strongly disagree with your point. It's not like even 100% of the revenue from legalization would come anywhere close to how much money the government already wastes funding war.
Yeah, but that doesn't go against anything I said. Just like you wouldn't think it would be right to fund child molesters, I don't think it would be right to fund the government... no matter what they claimed the tax money went to. It would just ruin the image of pot for me knowing the government was controlling it... It's at a good place now. It is easy to get, grow, and not terribly risky to possess, huge varieties to choose from, and not to mention the countless people I probably would have never known had pot not been illegal. Now if it were legalized it would just be another product you can go pick up during a 5 minute break... Not to mention that larger companies would take the place of small caring growers. Shit, I dunno. I just have a feeling the romance will disappear with legalization. Some of its meaning will be lost, and just like with everything that is mass produced by stinky capitalists it will lose its soul... at least eventually.
As soon as you can go into a gas station and by a pack of 20 pre-rolled joints the growers would start having a hard time selling.
I definitely see where you're coming from, mass produced marijuana will be a sad sight. My my problem with what you're saying is that you're valuing the romance of marijuana over the hundreds of thousands of people who are imprisoned over this. The repercussions of getting caught can destroy lives and families. Is the "romance" worth that? Not to me it's not, and I wish that it wasn't to you either. My advice would be to push for legalization, then say fuck the man and show you appreciation of MJ and grow your own
I think weed is a very romantic substance for alot of users like myself though. And it wouldn't be nearly as romantic if you took away all the risk away from it, so in a sense the romance comes from the portrayal of those martyrs rotting away in prison. I think I'm just scared of change.
I would agree with you on that. But come on, think about the people whose lives are ruined because of this. Do you really think any sort of romantic yearnings should compromise freedom? Change is inevitable. Acceptance is the only solution. I really don't want this to turn into a flame thread because of me being stupid though, I just want to get as many supporters as possible. I'm sorry I sort of attacked your beliefs man.
Then once everyone takes a few hits and realize that their headaches and muscle aches are gone, how will poor huge Tylenol, Advil, and Icy Hot make their money................
No I know what you are saying and I don't know if romance is worth all those people being locked in prison or not, but it might be. Sounds crazy I know, but some questions that sound cut and dry turn out to be too complicated for me to even try to guess at... OK I'm done smoking for the night. Way too much pondering for one night.
I see where you're coming from with that one. Weed has been a huge part of my life becuase of the whole new lifestyle it created. And i know people who have been arrested and had a lot of bad things happen because of it, but i also have to add in that i have met some amazing people and made life-long friends that i never would have even talked to if it hadnt been for weed. I've met people who became my best friends because the first time i saw them, we were all smoking. It brings people together and forms bonds that are hard to break, kind of forming a sense of group rebellion and a tight-knit underground community. On the other hand it also tears people apart when you run into those who disagree with it, although it has helped me filter out those people who judged me unfairly and were close-minded to my way of life, which i guess in the end is a good thing. I dont know about for you guys, but its hard for me to be strong on the argument one way or another. On one hand, i want it to be legal for obvious reasons. On the other hand, I dont want to lose that sense of community that i have with all the other pot smokers i meet, i guess its just fun to find others who participate in the fight against government control, and those to like to get high and have a good time
It's easy for you to say that the romance is worth it when you're not the person locked up in jail. If it were legalized, you could just get your own license to grow your own marijuana. You wouldn't have to sell it, and could provide it to who you pleased, assuming you aren't providing to minors etc. Whether or not you think so, people's lives aren't worth the romantic aspect of it. I love all of the friends I have made through smoking. Now imagine that one of your best smoking friends is locked up because of a simple joint. It's not that romantic anymore, is it? I'd also like to point out that while tax money made from cannabis would obviously go towards some efforts you don't approve of, I can't imagine you approving of the drug lords and gangs that have come to power over cannabis prohibition.
I have had close friends that have been locked up over pot. But you also have to realize that a simple joint is a misdemeanor. The only people who really have to worry about actually ruining their lives over marijuana is the dealers. Those who are caught with more than a certain amount on them at the time. I have had plenty of close friends who were caught regarding weed. My best friend was caught at her school one time with her pipe and a tiny tiny bit of weed (a few leaves) and was put into CS for about three weekends, though it was barely even because of the weed, it was more because she was also caught with an unlabeled prescription bottle (which apparently is a felony here), white powder in a bag, empty pill capsules (she had decided to take apart the capsules of her old Anti-depressants and pour out the powder because she was bored, she also peeled off the label for the bottle), eyedrops with no label (which ended up being classified as unidentified clear liquid), razors, and lighters. All of these things were simply random things she happened to have on her at the time, which the police saw as very suspicious, of course. Turns out the pill situation was a felony and if she hadn't been a minor she would have been charged much more severely than she was. Had another close friend around the same time period who was caught by a cop with his weed pipe on him, but wasnt even charged for it, instead he was arrested for lying to police (said he was 18 when the cop asked him, because he was smoking a cig) and an MIP for cigarettes. Another friend was put in jail for 8 days because of dirty UA's when he was on probation. I agree that its not fun when you or someone you know is caught for pot, but unless you are dealing, or growing in larger quantities, you dont have all that much to worry about from being caught, and if being charged with only minor charges and having to do community service will mess up your entire life, you should not be smoking while its illegal.
