Word, for all the "good times easy goin" reputation pot gets, a lot of people get killed over it. That and all the hippies who are in jail will get out... less hippies = better

Edited out swear words.. sorry kids

i couldn't actually find evidence of this anyway, but i agree. its the punkass straight edge kid in me.

I'm gonna go X up and listen to some Youth Crew.

Wow. What is wrong with decriminalizing marijuana?

Adult marijuana use is just not that big of a deal. Alcohol is legal and is responsible for far more death and destruction and damaged lives. Cigarettes promote all sorts of diseases and harm.

Do we really need to fill the prisons with adults who smoked an occasional joint?

I agree. Let's make pot legal, and alcohol illegal.

It's 4:20 somewhere, dudes! Whooo!!!

;p

I have no problem withl drugs being legal, I do NONE. Just don't ask me for money when you get yourself hooked.

If you're an adult, it's your choice to destroy your body. That's my opinion on it. The Govt. isn't a baby sitter, or rather it shouldn't be.

How do you feel about seatbelt laws and abolishing smoking in restaurants, then?

It's a pretty gray area.

I don't care. If you're dumb enough NOT to wear a seatbelt it's your own business.

Same with smoking in restaurants. It's a PRIVATE place not PUBLIC. I consider it ridiculous the govt. has a say.

If you own a restaurant, and allow smoking, it's your business choice. If smoking HURTS business, be SMART and say "NO SMOKING." If enough people complain, make a choice. YOUR choice. YOUR freedom as an owner of PRIVATE PROPERTY to allow a LEGAL ACT. I think it's nuts.

To people who say "but I hate cigarette smoke, and want to eat in said restaurant" complain to the owner, let them know. BE A RESPONSIBLE CONSUMER. Maybe they'll change, if not why support them? If it's THAT GOOD of food, just get take out.

I'm ALL for personal responsibility, and I think TOO many people in our country just want to be taken care of, and it's leading to shit I'm not cool with. To me, to tell an owner of private property what can't take place on their property, that is otherwise LEGAL, is a step away from right out fascism.

It's the government telling someone what they can and can't do on their property. And unless it's illegal ALL TOGETHER, that just isn't right to me. Just outlaw smoking than (lol) which I'm against too.

I don't smoke, grew up with it and hate it. But what's next? No bacon cause it's bad for you? No fatty foods cause it's bad for you? I know with smoking it's also what's bad for others around you, and this all may be a bit far off, but it's what it leads to in my mind and I think it's stupid. We got along fine
with out that BS law for a long time.

Sorry, rant over.

Absolutely true, but playing devil's advocate here...

If and when someone gets injured because they didn't wear a seatbelt, their injuries might become your business. They could be uninsured or underinsured, which means that their treatment will be handled by private concerns (like insurance companies) and/or public programs (like Medicare/Medicaid) that you pay for. So indirectly, it could be your problem.I would disagree with you that a restaurant is, in fact, a public place, despite it being privately owned. The doors aren't locked, and people are free to come and go as they please.

And I would say that people are entitled to a reasonable level of safety and comfort in places like that. For example, the floor shouldn't be wet, so someone won't slip on it. I would say keeping the air free of known carcinogens would be in line with this philosophy.

I used to be as libertarian as the stuff you posted. Not so much any more now that I've gotten older and see that these issues are more complex.

I am all for legalizing marijuana, though I realize it will never happen until corporate America can be sold on it.

I mean, I know a lot of people disagree with me but I just don't feel ok with the gov. having that much power.

I'm very ALL about smaller and local gov. If, in a certain DISTRICT or small town this is something that is to be passed, and the people who live there vote it in, FINE. But it's BS to generalize a whole city or state and do that.

Decriminalizing it would basically end that. And I am suspect of this statement to begin with.
I'd like to hear why it's stupid to decrim pot. Just because you're edge doesn't mean everyone has to be. That's akin to what the religious right is trying to do to our country - force their beliefs on everyone.
I don't smoke pot, but I'm all for the legalization of it.

I'm in a darts league, and one of the bars I play in used to be one of the few bars in California that allowed smoking that I'm aware of. Apparently, there's a loophole that states that if the establishment is family run, and has no employees outside of the family, smoking CAN be allowed.

So basically, every drinking smoker in the Sunnyvale area went there... when you opened the door, a visible miasma of smoke would escape. If you brought a caged canary into that place, it would die. Whenever I played there, I had to enter my house through the garage, take off all my clothes, put them into the washing machine, and go take a shower and wash my hair before my wife would let me go to sleep...

The bar has since become a non-smoking bar and it's only 1/3 as busy as it used to be.

I'm pretty sure that seatbelt and restaurant no-smoking laws are determined at the state and local levels now.

They are, but even State, and as far as larger cities go, is too big. How can a guy who lives in Chicago judge what's ok for some guy in southern IL? Different worlds.

I dunno, I think some issues like head trauma and emphysema are pretty much universal.

Who says? Al says... capiche?

Well I'm not gonna argue it, but if someone is going to walk into a situation where those are probabilities, it's their choice to be stupid.

I guess the ONLY people I totally sympathize with are the wait staff. You can't so easily tell them "go work somewhere else if you don't like smoke.You can tell a customer "go eat somewhere else or take it to go" and they're free to tell you "go to hell" but when it's an occupational hazzard I get it.

In the end though it's not totally about all that, it's about the government getting to big for me. I like to keep stuff local and small is all.

I actually have no problem w/seat belt laws btw. I can honestly say though I don't care either way, nothing for or against. It's better than pulling someone over for no damned reason, and I wear mine cause I want to live to see my children grow up.

I'm not sure what you mean by getting hooked and then asking for money.

I think it would be beneficial if the government stepped in and regulated foods with trans fats and hydrogenated oils. Some people aren't intelligent enough to make proper purchasing decisions and need a baby sitter. Without that, the country becomes fatter and less healthy.

Not saying that it would be a cure-all solution, but it would be a move in the right direction.

You know that's already happening, right?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/200 ... -ban_x.htm

I recall something happening in that area. Cool. But this is an example where I think its best for the government to set an example. Obesity is becoming a national healthcare issue. Probably more so than some occasional weekend stoners (who cut across all age/race/class segments).

Hey now dont lump me in with the Straight Edge kids! I just happen to agree with them on this one thing tho. I'm just saying that I am a Nor. Cal native and had lots of stoner friends as a lad (a good 20 or so years ago) who went up to Humboldt to "sit" on plantations. They were all armed with a lot of heavy fire power and none of it reeked of Rainbow Family goodness. It was all learning how to shoot people and set fucked up booby traps. The deal with the pot down in Mexico is even more cutthroat. People get killded dead over the pot same as any other drug. I don't think that'd change much if you made it legal, and then all the hippies would have to take THC pills from Pfizer grown with Genetically Modified pot.

yeah trans fats are banned in Philly restaurants (except mom & pop bakeries), and smoking is banned in bars here too.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17066429/ Its been this way for a year now. (2/9/07)

Smoking ban longer-
I'm into it.

Abe - didn't mean to lump you in with the "edge kids". I was just responding to your comment on people being killed over it, and then someone else mentioning being straight edge.

But back to the killing. Legalizing it would pretty much end the "gun toting hippy" that you wrote of. Pot does not kill people, and if it was legal people wouldn't kill over pot. People killed over alcohol during prohibition, but since then I don't think it's been a problem. We can't stop the killing in Mexico, but we can stop it in our own country.

Thinking that the pharmaceuticals will be dispensing non-smokeable pot for the recreational market is a bit paranoid. Most in the medical profession recognize that pills are the least effective delivery system for THC - for medical or recreational purposes. Suppositories are more effective than pills, but I don't think anyone is going to successfully market suppositories! And smoking is more effective than suppositories.

I see the pros far outweighing the cons on this issue.

I think the point is people are killing people over pot when it comes to drug cartels, dealers, money etc., but people are not killing other people becuase they smoked some weed, drove home and killed an innocent family because they were to inebriated to drive.

Yeah, I get that. I'm saying that legalizing it would pretty much end this killing because pot would be on the open market instead of being controlled by cartels/dealers. Phillip Morris isn't putting hits on Marlboro. Jack Daniels isn't gunning down Jim Beam.

Not that we know of anyway. I dont' think it would ever be completly legalized until companies and the gov. figure out a way to make money off of it. Decriminalizing it however would be a good idea because it would still be illegal after a certain point. For example 1 to 2 ounces could be considered personal use and not illegal but anything more than that would be intent to distribute.