I'm going to be honest. I never smoke pot. I joined this forum because the culture involved with marijuana always interested me. I'm not against marijuana in any way. In fact, I think it could benefit society if it were legalized under the right circumstances. Unfortunately, the current legislation in California is not the answer. I will give you two reasons: 1.Capitalism. If any of you have not seen the documentary, Food, INC, you may want to check it out. It essentially explains how government legislation in the 1980's has allowed companies to patent any genetic mutation of a certain seed that their scientists can create. To make a long story short, a single multinational corporation named Monsanto has essentially created a monopoly in the seed industry. 90% of crops grown in America (and most of the world) are now genetically mutated and in some way, Monsanto owns them. This huge corporation has secret service types who they send out to these rural farms and inspect to make sure no farmer is 'reseeding' their seeds. In other words, it's illegal for farmers to gather the seeds they used for last years harvest and then replant them, thus ending a farming process that has been going on for thousands of years. If any farmers do 'reseed', Monsanto will sue them blind. Of course, most farmers don't have the money to fight it, so they typically settle out of court. So what's stopping the same thing from happening in California? Do you really think the corporate world will make an exception for marijuana? Of course not. All that they care about is greed. They will brand and genetically mutate marijuana until it's just some watered down trash. Don't believe me? Read this article: Don The corporate world is already preparing for marijuana's legalization. 2. Government I know there's obviously got to be a lot of liberal minds on this forum, but government intervention is NOT a good thing. Especially for something as beautiful as cannabis. I don't think I even need to explain this. I'm sure it's been brought up before. Why should you sell out your community to the very body that has been holding you down for decades(centuries?). To sum up, let me just make my stance clear. Legalization of marijuana in and of itself is so obvious. But when you get the government involved, and when that government is run by lobbyists from the corporate world, it just isn't worth it. Here's the truth. The American government and the American corporate world have been in bed since the early 20th century. There is no longer a difference between the political world and the corporate world. Corporate America tells them what to do, and political America enacts it. This group at the top has been against pot because they are so afraid of what it does to their constituents(forming countercultures, love of freedom, etc...you know, everything that a human being should be entitled to). Now what? These same imbeciles let their greed get in the way and now there is a world economic meltdown. So who do we turn to? They have no choice but to tax drugs like marijuana. They are forced to take a risk because, quite frankly, they need dough! I don't care how everyone in California votes. It isn't as if stopping this would end the control the top 1% of the world has. But it would be nice to keep one of the few natural beauties of the earth pure. If you are interested, here's some links to some of the things I referenced to: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2sgaO44_1c]YouTube - Food, Inc. trailer[/ame] Official Food, Inc. Movie Site - Hungry For Change? Monsanto ~ Home
Well I get scared that I might get caught by the police, that's why I want it to be legal. Why should I be a criminal for smoking weed
I don't understand, how is the government not interfering right now by creating ridiculous laws to try and put me behind bars for smoking a plant? You don't even smoke it, why do you care? Legalize
thats interesting but i mean, corporates will make there money and ill simply do what i do..(grow) there not gonna stop me ill tell you that. And all in all i care more about saving peoples lives by ending the war on drugs than the rich getting richer.
Soooo you're saying it shouldn't be legalized because then it could be taken advantage of? I'm prettttty sure people take advantage of everything, in every way possible, legal or not. I'd like to see fuckin ANYONE keep me from 'reseeding' or cloning my own marijuana plants. Cops can't find me now, what makes you think that some seed banks' secret service mafia is gonna do it?
I can see some sense in this, but then i can't confirm anything your saying just yet, i wouldn't know about mulitinational seed-police or anything, however i will say if its as legal to grow your own as it is to buy your own then i have no problem with legalization, its quasi legalization (like liquor) that i fear. If your able to buy it, you should be able to cultivate it, maybe not sell it freely, but atleast make your own. Personally i think that in itself would help the economy, aka less money spent on drugs=more money for the rest of your life. I have to disagree with the idea of a "New World Order" or anything like that thought, just because the Top 1% may be governing everything doesn't mean its the same group of people, like minded people, or even one particular party, its just that 1%s (or even top 3%s really) have a real ability to put forth convincing and well made propaganda. Don't matter wether its Al Gore or Sarah Palin, their all just players.
you're right, instead of being able to have our own seeds and grow our own plants for our own personal use, we should go to jail. great arguement. bravo. not.
Well i think if legalized there would be cheap mari.j to buy that has been mass produced with chemicals just like tobacco but maybe they will be a market for organic weed if not then very simply just grow your own.
people already grow illegally and in HUGE quantities, so even if the government tries to "ruin" it there will always be people growing in forests and in basements and what not...so don't worry we'll always have the dank
The government can do whatever the hell they want with marijuana; they can add tobacco in it if they want. The main point you're missing is simple consumer demand. There are going to be people who want to buy pre-packaged joints with nothing but some quality bud in it, and I think those are the marijuana companies that are going to thrive. That's not even debatable, it's just an option that's going to exist.. And if it doesn't, come legalization, I just won't buy that watered down trash as it'll be perfectly legal to grow cannabis. Call me suspicious, but I think your troll face is showing. Either that or you can go back to prescribing your pharmaceuticals.
1.Capitalism yeah i say it a while ago.....and yes its bullshit that monsanto does....should we change fuck yeah. should be ban food because monsanto does this shit.....of course not. you can say dont allow something on suspision that something is giong to happen in the future. wtf are you pyshcic .....uhh no.. 2. Government so why dont you move to somalia if you dont like government......of course a responsible gov´t is a good thing. you need to go to school a little more boy....take econ 101 or something. you mean like they do with everything else right.......lets ban everything that theres lobbyists for .....are you fucking kidding me? of course its worth it. of course bro....they need to tax so they can pay for all the things they do...programs and ect. this isnt bad its just a fucking reality.....just like paying your rent. look bro i dont care if you smoked pot before or not ....thats has nothing to do with it.....its way you think of economic...like they dont exist. what you need to is pick up a book about economics 101 and fucking read......dont listen to idiots who feed you this shit like rush limbaugh....just pick up a book and educate yourself......because you are extremely ignorant. you cannot illegalize things on the suspision of something bad is going to happen. just like you cant vote for john mccain on suspision that obama´s gonna turn into a terrorist like back in the election. republicans like you make me sick. your the reason why the US is shit. for gods sake....just educate yourself.
I appreciate the intelligent debate from most of you. Reading a lot of the replies tells me that I didn't fully understand how things work. If you guys feel that you can keep the current breeds alive by home growing, then more power to you. Seriously. Fight the good fight and keep it the way it was meant. If anything, hopefully this will just be more motivation for you to keep growing the good shit in your basement. And platinum_angel, don't be so quick to judge. That last comment was really naive of you. You have no idea how I vote. And I'm not here to argue about taxes. One more thing, platinum. The SHIFT key, homie. Try it once in a while. Especially before you tell others they should read any books. Good Lord.
If im not mistaken...like 100% of seed banks are outside of the US anyways...so how would us legalizing it effect "genetically modified" seeds? Food and weed are totally different, one is a necessity, the other a commodity...you can still go into tobacco shops and buy natural tobacco. Seed selling has been a legitimate business opportunity for years, and I havent seen those "Big Business scoundrels" destroying it. Sure Phillip Morris will use radioactive pesticides and chemical additives, the same way beer companies can, and you can grow your own tobacco if you choose to, and you can brew your own beer as well. It sounds as if you are either Anti-cannabis completely and fear the "social homicide" California is about to vote on...or you're a big producer of cannabis and dont want your shit taxed.
Cannabis is also different because unlike cigarettes, people aren't going to buy the shitty quality stuff the big corporations puts out there because there will be even more growers than there already are and they will simply out price and have better quality than the commercial shit, thus I think there will be huge green houses full of hundreds, maybe thousands of plants and stores will buy directly from these guys.
This whole business about genentically modified seeds and what not. Whether it's bagseed or something you payed hundereds of dollars for just ten seeds, the quality, potency, and health of the plant depends upon the grower. You can plant ten bagseeds and come out with ten different looking plants some of which can be grown with amazing results if you put your love into it. Same thing can happened with those named strains that are supposed to be stable. Variations occur, due largely to the fact that cannabis has male and female plants. This enable more genetic variations. Why this guy is tripping on monsanto or whatever that company was doesn't matter. There are so many breeders with so many variations, I just don't see one big company taking cannabis over if legalization occurs. Bottom line. We legalize. We take over the world.
My renter grows "roundup ready" soybeans, and everyone saves seeds, illegally. I know one guy who has been investigated for it and he walked. Monsanto is not going to be able to stop cannabis growing. Talk to real farmers.
I don't mean to troll in on this thread but I agree entirely with everyone's posts except the OP's. No disrespect to you man, but no matter how much text you put into your first post, most have it has been proven utterly invalid. End of. Legalise.