Thread: Recreational Marijuana now legal in Washington and Colorado

I think other more liberal states will make a go for it, and the feds will try to restrict or overrule it. And conservative states will get pissy.

I think Massachusetts is accepting it as well, or was this waaay before the election? Anyway, hopefully there will be a calmer community, and everyone will be too lazy and baked to do crime.

People will go, "Oh my god, you're growing that stuff too? You gotta see mine from the backyard"

Everyone becomes happy, make a Marijuana growing contest, peace within the states.

Massachusetts passed medical marijuana at the ballot. The only three states voting on recreational use were Oregon, Washington and Colorado. Oregon didn't pass.

Sweet this is awesome, finally they learn. Does anyone know exactly how the system will work?

I know that in the nederlands growing cannabis is still illegal and that the legal sellers have to get it from an illegal source (While it's still an improvement it makes no sense), I hope that the americans will have a better system including checking the quality of the cannabis being sold.

If the impact of medical cannabis in Colorado is any indicator, the result will be dollah dollah bills, y'all. There's a bigger tax burden on dispensaries, but also fewer hoops for prospective buyers. The home growing provisions will expand hobby hydroponics. Probably the biggest door opened by recreational legalization is narco-tourism, making CO even more of a destination for enthusiasts and a little more attractive for people who want to include just a little puff-puff in their ski trip.

I don't know if medical cannabis had as big an impact in Washington state, so it's hard to say whether full legalization (or "nullification," as the cannabis activists put it) will do much, either.

Originally Posted by Original Poster

Oregon didn't pass.

Ba dum tss

Apparently it will be a bit before it goes into full effect and serious commercial sales will be possible. This is definitely exciting stuff though. I'm just hoping the DEA doesn't try and fuck with them - although it would be difficult for them to go after individuals without local andw state police doing anything. This is just the beginning, but hopefully this will help demonstrate to people that it's really not that big a deal. Two states isn't exactly a disaster for drug cartels and the like, but I would be surprised not to see a localized reduction in related crimes (interestingly, despite scaremongering drivel asserting that medical marijuanna clinics will become hubs for distribution and crime, Colorado (I believe) saw a reduction in teen marijuanna use after approving medical use while the average for the rest of the nation increased).

My biggest concern is that it will be attacked as a way to grow cannabis legally and sell it in other states, and people will be too stupid to understand that this doesn't actually work as an argument against legalizing it elsewhere.

Originally Posted by dutchraptor

Sweet this is awesome, finally they learn. Does anyone know exactly how the system will work?

I know that in the nederlands growing cannabis is still illegal and that the legal sellers have to get it from an illegal source (While it's still an improvement it makes no sense), I hope that the americans will have a better system including checking the quality of the cannabis being sold.

AFAIK the regulatory system will be more or less the same as is used for alchohol.

The entire population will be doing heroin and cocaine very soon. Marijuana is a gateway drug, as we all know. The US is fucked. It's over. Pack it up.

Alternatively, the Mexican cartels go to war with the US.

I think most people will enjoy the new leniency but the Colorado governor said he isn't happy about it.


Federal law may still prevail.

I am ecstatic over this. I had wanted it to happen for a very long time. I am so happy that marijuana was legalized in Washington and Colorado that it makes up for my disppointment over Obama's re-election. I wouldn't have been happy with Romney's election either. It's people like those two circus clowns who have been keeping the war on drugs going.

I think there is about to be an enormous issue of state vs. federal law because marijuana is still not legal on the federal level. Now people can start becoming aware of how much the 10th Amendment is ignored. The federal government had no business within the Constitution in making marijuana illegal. It should be an open and shut case, but it wasn't and it's not going to be. However, I think a huge backlash against federal arrogance and the war on drugs is about to blast off. This is absolutely awesome.

Originally Posted by Marvo

The entire population will be doing heroin and cocaine very soon. Marijuana is a gateway drug, as we all know. The US is fucked. It's over. Pack it up.

Alternatively, the Mexican cartels go to war with the US.

Gateway drug? Get the fuck out of here.

Originally Posted by Marvo

The entire population will be doing heroin and cocaine very soon. Marijuana is a gateway drug, as we all know. The US is fucked. It's over. Pack it up.

Alternatively, the Mexican cartels go to war with the US.

I hope you're not being serious because that would just be ridiculous.

Originally Posted by melanieb

I think most people will enjoy the new leniency but the Colorado governor said he isn't happy about it.

Yeah, because he's had 9 ex-DEA goons breathing down his neck over it since the day the idea first came up.

I knew it had to happen eventually. There are too many reasons to legalize it. Within the next 20 years, it will probably be legal in most states.

But there are still people who don't know what they're talking about and believe everything the government and schools say about it. There's an argument on Facebook about it, one of the two people that think it should be illegal said: "Its because of the LSD (the stuff that actually makes you high). when you smoke marijuana, your brain releases chemicals that make you feel good but also make you not want to do anything other than wallow in bliss. This can make you addicted and not get anything done because you're too focused on getting high than anything else."
WTF????

Originally Posted by Linkzelda

Anyway, hopefully there will be a calmer community, and everyone will be too lazy and baked to do crime.

People will go, "Oh my god, you're growing that stuff too? You gotta see mine from the backyard"

Everyone becomes happy, make a Marijuana growing contest, peace within the states.

That sounds awesome! Too bad it probably won't be like that, it will be more like "Oh my god, you're growing that stuff? Drugs are bad" and then a dumb quote comparing it to meth.

Originally Posted by Woodstock

one of the two people that think it should be illegal said: "Its because of the LSD (the stuff that actually makes you high)...

HAHAHA, wow man. Something tells me they don't really know enough to be engaging in that argument.

Originally Posted by Supernova

HAHAHA, wow man. Something tells me they don't really know enough to be engaging in that argument.

No one that I know that wants it to be illegal has a good argument against it. They don't know anything about it. They call it an addictive gateway drug that will give you cancer.

I hate when people say it causes cancer... even though numerous studies have shown that cannabinoids can trigger apoptosis in cancer cells (sort of like reminding rampant cancerous cells how to die or "cell suicide"). British Columbia, Canada has some major talks going on right now too, and this turn of events might just help the movement pick up the pace. This is one of the best things to happen in our lifetimes, even for those who choose to stay away from cannabis (although I truly don't understand why you would, aside from sheer misinformation/ignorance/fear).

Does anyone know if industrial hemp has been made legal as well? I still can't believe we're not making use of such a versatile resource in this day and age...

Originally Posted by Woodstock

No one that I know that wants it to be illegal has a good argument against it. They don't know anything about it. They call it an addictive gateway drug that will give you cancer.

It's more or less the same in my opinion. It seems like the main reason it isn't legal already is the many-year barrage of drug war-age propaganda, still lodged ever so firmly in a fair proportion on minds.

I'm really curious how this whole Legalization thing will work out!

It's a good step in the right direction. Wish it would happen here.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

I am ecstatic over this. I had wanted it to happen for a very long time. I am so happy that marijuana was legalized in Washington and Colorado that it makes up for my disppointment over Obama's re-election. I wouldn't have been happy with Romney's election either. It's people like those two circus clowns who have been keeping the war on drugs going.

I think there is about to be an enormous issue of state vs. federal law because marijuana is still not legal on the federal level. Now people can start becoming aware of how much the 10th Amendment is ignored. The federal government had no business within the Constitution in making marijuana illegal. It should be an open and shut case, but it wasn't and it's not going to be. However, I think a huge backlash against federal arrogance and the war on drugs is about to blast off. This is absolutely awesome.

Obama has the worst record regarding marijuana prohibition in the history of US presidency. He has persecuted medical growers in California and elsewhere for the entirety of his first term.

But we might start to see real change now that two states have clearly defined the DEA would be violating the 10th amendment by intervening. Like states that are decriminalized or have medical marijuana, the local and state police have not been a major problem and marijuana will definitely cease being an issue at all for them in WA and CO. The only real question is how the growers will be affected, as growers have remained the target of the federal government even in states with medical marijuana where they follow all their state laws.

But I think the tide is irreversible at this point. If the federal government continues to persecute growers in WA and CO, they'll have hell to pay.

The gateway hypothesis is pretty idiotic, obviously if you give people the choice of doing two drugs, one having a much stronger and exotic effect than the other, people will pick the stronger one because they know that they would be prosecuted no matter what drug they would have. If you take away that risk fewer people will wan't to use or become addicted to herione and potentially ruin their life while they could be safely smoking weed. Drug users will undoubtedly want to explore the different states of consciousness induced by all kinds of drugs so it will happen, but there will be less reason to stick with harder drugs when marijuana is legal.
There is actually alot of money to be made here, firstly weed bought in a shop will be taxed, secondly instead of being prisoners and costing a fortune they will be in a rehabilitation center where they can potentially be re-introduced to society and get a job, less use of hard drugs will mean less gangs which means less money on police force and increase in quality of neighbourhoods. Only advantages.

dutchraptor would I be wrong to assume you don't have a whole lot of experience with drugs and you're sort of just shooting in the dark?

Most people will not opt for something more intense simply because the punitive risk is the same. The opposite is true, people tend to be pretty cautious at first. Most people do not venture a whole lot deeper than weed and alcohol. Those that do cannot blame the pot for doing harder drugs, they were headed in that direction no matter what. That's just the way some people are, some people just have such emptiness inside them pot would have never been enough.

Marijuana's illegal status does it make kind of a gateway drug though in that it's the most commonly used illegal substance so it's typically the scene everyone starts in, whether they stay there or go heavier. Furthermore, because it's illegal it forces you to deal with criminals to get it, and you find yourself inevitably around scenes where pot isn't the only item available.

I think making pot legal will probably decrease harder drug use by a little, though not a whole lot. People are going to get high if they want to. No one is going to stop them.