Posted on 09/26/2014 6:15:59 PM PDT by Mariner
WASHINGTON -- Conservatives are losing ground on the fight to keep marijuana illegal, a Republican congressman warned in dire terms at the Values Voter Summit.
During a conference mostly focused on religious liberty, abolishing the IRS and promoting small government, Rep. John Fleming (R-La.) delivered a full speech on the ills of decriminalizing and legalizing marijuana.
Fleming, a medical doctor, warned of a "growing acceptance" of marijuana -- a fact hard to deny, considering public opinion and state laws. Colorado and Washington state have legalized recreational marijuana, and 23 states and the District of Columbia have allowed the substance for medical use.
(Excerpt) Read more at huffingtonpost.com ...
libertarians don’t believe that either. we just don’t believe in a collective responsibility to fix it when compared with the social costs.
unfortunately the govt has been Socialized so we get collective responsibility anyway.
It would have been better for Libertarians to change govt first then once govt reflects Libertarian principles financially then impliment decriminalization of marijuana.
The teen age Obama brain was shaped by heavy use of marijuana; the congressman is dead on.
Young people report that they can get pot (which is illegal for all, except in a few states) more easily than beer or cigarettes (which are legal for adults). It appears that the most effective way to reduce access to marijuana by young people is harnessing the power of the market by legalizing for adults, so sellers have the potential loss of their legal adult market to discourage them from selling to minors.
Personally, I care far less for marijuana legalization than hemp legalization. For the simple reason that we can grow hemp in marginal farmland, so it doesn’t take good crop land, it uses minimal irrigation, fertilizer and pesticide, and most of all, in a short period of time, it will create a multi-billion dollar industry in the US.
Most hemp will be used by the paper industry to make superior quality paper, and doing so instead of using wood pulp, will drive down the cost of lumber. A big time boost to the economy.
Probably its second most useful product is a fine, linen or silk-like fabric. Not just for clothing.
Growing hemp also reduces the potency of nearby marijuana as well, so no problem there.
Not what’s happening in Colorado by a long shot. The black market is expanding because it’s cheaper if for no other reason than you don’t have to pay those taxes coveted by the statists.
Sure, but that is just like any other posturing. They really aren't rabidly anti-MJ, they are rabidly pro-state looking to expand federal power. Or if they are a local politician, then they are rabidly pro-state looking to expand local police power.
I would however commend any politician who says decriminalize pot for adults but not for kids. Where I live in rural Virginia pot is de facto decriminalized for kids. Stoner kids is not a good situation and that needs to be fixed.
That's how it appears, but that's not how it is. The power of the market doesn't stop alcoholics from crashing their cars into other cars. The power of the market won't stop stoner kids from f'ing up their lives. Unlike cigs and alcohol, MJ is mind altering on a permanent basis, not just addictive. It is a problem when kids smoke tobacco (or chew) but that is a health problem. MJ is a societal problem. It is a medicine (as so many like to claim), not just a unhealthy pastime.
Not what’s happening in Colorado by a long shot. The black market is expanding because it’s cheaper if for no other reason than you don’t have to pay those taxes coveted by the statists.
Are legal seller selling to kids? If not, the answer in Colorado is to loosen excessive restrictions on legal outlets and lower the taxes.
All the potheads I went to school with in the 70s who didn’t stop smoking are either crazy or dead.
That’s not the argument legalizers like Soros made to get the referendum passed. How hard do you think it’s going to be for young Barry and his choom gang to get some adult chump to buy him the marijuana? Especially since loosening the regulations will likely be the shops not having to keep track of amounts sold. I’ll bet it will be just as easy as keeping beer out of teen age parties. This is is goig to workout as well for Colorado as casino gambling has in New Jersey, but a lot sooner.
That's just about my only gripe with the SoCons.
I believe most of what they believe, except I don't believe we should use government to enforce all of it.
That's how it appears, but that's not how it is. The power of the market doesn't stop alcoholics from crashing their cars into other cars. The power of the market won't stop stoner kids from f'ing up their lives.
All irrelevant to the subject: access by young people.
Unlike cigs and alcohol, MJ is mind altering on a permanent basis, not just addictive.
‘A recent publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences from the Scripps Research Institute in California investigated the effects of binge alcohol consumption upon the adolescent brain. Many recent studies have already demonstrated that adolescence is a time of increased vulnerability of the brain to chemical insults. Furthermore, to make this issue even more timely, binge alcohol consumption by teenagers is increasing. The neuroscientists at Scripps discovered that binge alcohol consumption is particularly injurious to a region of the brain called the hippocampus. The hippocampus plays a critical role in learning and memory. Within the hippocampus are a group of cells that continually produce new brain cells, called neurons, throughout our life. This process of cell renewal is called “neurogenesis;” whenever this process is impaired we have trouble forming new memories and we develop the symptoms of depression, to mention just two consequences.
‘The Scripps scientists discovered that eleven months of binge alcohol consumption that produced a blood alcohol level sufficient to be considered intoxicated decreased neurogenesis by more than fifty percent! Furthermore, the decrease in neurogenesis lasted for many weeks of abstinence. You might think that alcohol binging also caused more cells to die; actually, this did not happen. That old urban myth is simply not true. The only change observed was a decrease in the production of new neurons. The authors suggested that these changes might produce a long lasting vulnerability within the hippocampus that may well predispose these young adults to neurodegeneration later in life.
‘In contrast to the effects of alcohol, a series of publications during the past few years suggest that stimulating the brain’s marijuana neurotransmitter system appears to have the exact opposite effects upon neurogenesis in the hippocampus of both young and old laboratory animals and humans, i.e. neurogenesis is increased by stimulation of our brain’s marijuana receptors.’
- http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/your-brain-food/201012/alcohol-vs-marijuana-in-the-brain
Harder than getting it from a black-market dealer: young people report that they can get pot (which is illegal for all, except in a few states) more easily than beer or cigarettes (which are legal for adults).
This is the most civil pot discussion ever on FR.
That's a healthy thing.
Remember, you're allies in the onservative spectrum are needed to keep from dying.
The war of ideas is manifest real and we have a common, existential enemy in the Progressive Left.
Stoner-Losers bump for later...
Curious to know what did the death certificates and certificates of involuntary commitment specify as the cause? I'm going to guess you aren't going to tell us.
“CHICAGO -— Young adults who used marijuana only recreationally showed significant abnormalities in two key brain regions that are important in emotion and motivation, scientists report. The study was a collaboration between Northwestern Medicine® and Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.
This is the first study to show casual use of marijuana is related to major brain changes. It showed the degree of brain abnormalities in these regions is directly related to the number of joints a person smoked per week. The more joints a person smoked, the more abnormal the shape, volume and density of the brain regions.”
“It may be that we’re seeing a type of drug learning in the brain,” Gilman said. “We think when people are in the process of becoming addicted, their brains form these new connections.”
In animals, these new connections indicate the brain is adapting to the unnatural level of reward and stimulation from marijuana. These connections make other natural rewards less satisfying.”http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2014/04/casual-marijuana-use-linked-to-brain-abnormalities-in-students.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.