Rand Paul Wants Senate Collegues on Record with Marijuana in New Bill

[Green Arrow]

Rand Paul won't get my vote. Nope nope.

He won't need your vote.

[Redrose]

My only problem with this is I don't understand this distinction between "medical" marijuana and "recreational" marijuana. Unless I'm mistaken, it's all the same $#@!. If it can be used medically with no issues, why not recreationally?

Once again, the government makes no sense.

You need a prescription from a medical doctor to get "medical marijuana". It's being abused. People are getting pot for anything that ails them, hang nails, sprained pinky toes etc.

Medical marijuana is probably very helpful for many people with painful physical illnesses, but the sleaze bag pot heads will always ruin it for them. It needs to be monitored properly.

[Green Arrow]

You need a prescription from a medical doctor to get "medical marijuana". It's being abused. People are getting pot for anything that ails them, hang nails, sprained pinky toes etc.

Medical marijuana is probably very helpful for many people with painful physical illnesses, but the sleaze bag pot heads will always ruin it for them. It needs to be monitored properly.

Yes, I realize that you need a prescription to get it, but the pot itself is no different.

[Redrose]

Yes, I realize that you need a prescription to get it, but the pot itself is no different.

As I understand it, it's all the same stuff. I'm against straight legalization, but I think a joint should be decriminalized. Just a citation and fine. We can't fill up our jails with folks arrested for one joint.
Larger amounts, sale, sale to minors and trafficking would remain illegal. Also, field sobriety tests need to be improved to test for drivers high on pot.

Making it legal like alcohol, cigarettes would place layers of government red tape and tons of taxes.

[donttread]

You need a prescription from a medical doctor to get "medical marijuana". It's being abused. People are getting pot for anything that ails them, hang nails, sprained pinky toes etc.

Medical marijuana is probably very helpful for many people with painful physical illnesses, but the sleaze bag pot heads will always ruin it for them. It needs to be monitored properly.

You mean like those sleeze bag drinkers who use booze to relax and loosen up enough to tell bad jokes and hit on younger women?

[Mini Me]

As I understand it, it's all the same stuff. I'm against straight legalization, but I think a joint should be decriminalized. Just a citation and fine. We can't fill up our jails with folks arrested for one joint.
Larger amounts, sale, sale to minors and trafficking would remain illegal. Also, field sobriety tests need to be improved to test for drivers high on pot.

Making it legal like alcohol, cigarettes would place layers of government red tape and tons of taxes.

Just DECRIMINALIZE it! Legalization would have BIG PHARMA and BIG AG take over the industry, and shut the small back yard grower out! And they would use dangerous pesticides, which organic MED MJ farms do not! And the Taxocrats, would levy HUGE SIN TAXES on it like they do with booze and tobacco, and you would have to go to the pharmacy to buy it. The Med MJ laws will work just fine if the damn Feds keep their noses out of it!

Big corporations always shut out the competition from the little guys!

[Captain Obvious]

You mean like those sleeze bag drinkers who use booze to relax and loosen up enough to tell bad jokes and hit on younger women?

...sorry

[donttread]

...sorry

Alcohol is a far harser drug than pot

[PolWatch]

High School Confidential - circa 1950 - great movie

[Bob]

Alcohol is a far harser drug than pot

Immediate Effects of Marijuana on the Body

The active ingredient in marijuana is delta-9-tetrohydrocannabinol, commonly referred to as THC. THC binds to and activates specific receptors in the brain, known as cannabinoid receptors (http://www.ctprevention.org/saac/Saa...uana_brain.pdf). When these receptors are activated, THC interferes with the normal functioning of various areas of the brain, including the cerebellum, part of the brain responsible for balance, posture, and coordination of movement, and the hippocampus, which is involved with memory formation. As a result, individuals under the influence of marijuana may experience impairment in motor control and compromised short-term memory. In the intoxicated state, memory is often selectively impaired in a dose-dependent fashion similar to alcohol (Deahl 1991). Marijuana also affects receptors in the cerebral cortex that are responsible for sensory perception, which can cause users to experience altered sensory experiences in areas such as touch, sight, hearing, taste, and smell. It can cause distorted perception, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and short-term memory (http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/marijuana.html).
The immediate effects of marijuana intoxication on an individual are commonly accepted and are generally undisputed. However, the long-term effects have received a great deal of debate, as scientific research has yielded contradictory results.
Physical Effects of Marijuana on the Brain
In response to many negative claims against marijuana use, Morgan and Zimmer (1991) compiled existing literature and data into a single document in order to discredit what they felt were widespread myths about the drug.
One of these myths was that marijuana damages brain cells, and that this damage causes memory loss, cognitive impairment, and learning difficulties. They report that this claim is based on a study by Heath et. al (1980), in which structural changes in several regions of the brain were found in two rhesus monkeys exposed to THC, the active chemical in marijuana. These changes occurred primarily in the hippocampus, the area of the brain known to play an important role in learning and memory, which suggested that exposure to THC in humans would yield similar negative results.
However, according to Morgan and Zimmer, in order to achieve these damaging results, doses of up to 200 times the psychoactive dose in humans would have to be given. Even studies in which subjects were given 100 times the human dose failed to cause any structural impairment of the brain.