Tonight, Michigan became the thirteenth state to legalize the physician supervised possession and use of cannabis. According to early returns, more than 60 percent of Michigan voters decided in favor of Proposal 1, which establishes a state-regulated system regarding the use and cultivation of medical marijuana by qualified patients.

Voters endorsed the measure despite a high profile, deceptive, and despicable ad campaign by Prop. 1 opponents — who falsely claimed that the initiative would allow for the open sale of marijuana “in every neighborhood, just blocks from schools.” (In fact, Proposal 1 does not even allow for the creation of licensed cannabis dispensaries.)

Michigan’s new law goes into effect on December 4th, at which time nearly one-quarter of the US population will live in a state that authorizes the legal use of medical cannabis.

Meanwhile, in Massachusetts, some 65 percent of voters (and virtually every town) decided “yes” on Question 2, which reduces minor marijuana possession to a fine-only offense. Like in Michigan, voters rejected a high-profile, deceptive ad campaign by the measure’s opponents, who argued that it would increase adolescent drug abuse, permit large-scale marijuana trafficking, endanger workplace safety, and sharply increase traffic fatalities.

Question 2 is expected to become law in 30 days — making Massachusetts the thirteenth state to decriminalize the personal possession and use of cannabis. (Note: Under state law, politicians have the option of amending the new law.)

NORML celebrates both victories and recognizes that neither would have been possible without the grassroots efforts of Michigan and Massachusetts state activists — who laid the groundwork for both campaigns by successfully passing a series of similar, municipal initiatives over the past several years.

Tonight, once again, voters have rejected the Bush doctrine on drugs. They’ve rejected the lies put forward by drug warriors and law enforcement, and demonstrated — overwhelmingly — that truth, compassion, and first-hand experience are more persuasive than the deception and scare tactics of those who would take away our freedoms and confine us in cages.

In short, it is the cannabis community, not the Drug Czar, that is shaping America’s marijuana policy, and tonight we go to bed knowing that millions of Americans will wake up tomorrow with a better, brighter, and more tolerant future than they had today.

A little ridiculous to blame the drug laws of the past, oh, 100 years on Bush. As an independent voter, I find great humor in anyone blaming anything on one party or the other when there are so many examples of both sides being "in it up to their noses".

Good point PF, I think both parties are basically full of the same crap they just put different perfume on it when they present it to us. Whether they started in politics with good intentions or not they pretty much all end up in the same self serving, corrupt government cycle of enriching themselves at our expense.

Lovely to be pimped out by our own leaders!

I did not read that article i reprinted to be bashing or blaming any past leader in specific. It just reads that the people are looking to invalidate teh unnecessary jail times for minor weed offenses. One huge step towards from freeing out jail space, and ending the revolving door of non violent crimes. Doesnt mention one president at all. These were just propositions on the bottom of ballots.

ok,fine pass the bong and move along

quote:

Originally posted by Petey Awol:
I did not read that article i reprinted to be bashing or blaming any past leader in specific. It just reads that the people are looking to invalidate teh unnecessary jail times for minor weed offenses. One huge step towards from freeing out jail space, and ending the revolving door of non violent crimes. Doesnt mention one president at all. These were just propositions on the bottom of ballots.

No problem. Your article reference did specifically call out Bush, thus my comment.
While I personally disagree with the legalization of any non-medicinal use, the medical use approval is a common sense thing. It can really help folks taking chemo, and with all the folks dealing with cancer and treatments that poison the body to heal it, this should be an option that you shouldn't go to jail for choosing.

I tell you our government has fed us just lies about Marijuana if it is deadly then Jamaica would be a unhabitant island because everyone would be dead from smoking it. Amsterdam tolerates it and you don't hear in the news about thousands of people dying over there because the use of it.

Alcohol and Pharmaceutical drugs are killing more people more than ever! The problem is that there is money to be made from Pharmaceutical companies and legalizing Marijuana will hurt their profits.

Legalizing it and putting restrictions like a certain age to purchase and the amount to be permitted for consuming. If caught while operating a vehicle or use in public and work enviroment a $25,000 fine no excuses. It could work hey if they did it for Alcohol why not?

Simple solution, move to Jamaica or Holland

No need I'm just fine right here PF.

Lets just keep Pharmaceutical companies pockets deep and allow inocent americans dying from their so call prescription drugs.

Not to diss anyone.

Hi everyone-For one,It is a milder drug than alcohol!
There is no reason that a responsible adult can't smoke in their own home as long as it doesn't interfere with anyone else.
That's the word(responsible)-people aren't responsible with alcohol either.
As far as medicinal use that's a good thing.
It's very good for people in Chemo and for people that have Glaucoma.
I really don't know what the answer is on this one.
If we legalize it then it may get out of hand with the younger generation.
This is a touchy subject.
Don't some of the providences in Canada allow personal use within the home.I think they may have figured something out with this subject.
If we have any Canadians maybe they can tell us more.

There really could be a serious drop in our national debt if we legalize it to some extent-that just might be an answer to some problems but maybe bringing up a cpouple of others.
I guess it's a weigh and balance of the pros and cons of such a subject.
I'd like to hear more opinions on this.
Have a great week-Ghettoboom777.

This has nothing to do with "keeping Pharmaceutical companies pockets deep". Medicinal use laws are slowly coming around: in limited scenarios. It isn't a wonder drug: it happens to help folks in certain situations to manage pain and nausea for those willing to take it. I have yet to see any published research indicating financial impact at all on drug companies. Research *has* shown that people who choose to use it for that purpose will do so regardless of whether there is a medical use law in their state or not. Some states are starting to realize that they should offer this as an option for the limited use scenarios where it can be effective treatment, rather than make folks risk arrest to obtain it.

I for one do say that there is to some degree of Pharmaceutical losing their profit on legalization. It's not just Marijuana there are other types of natural herbs that can help and they are down played by these companies. I used to listen to a show on am radio broadcast how medical doctors would tell their patients negative advice on natural herbs and the doctors that approve of them. It's all about them pushing their products to be the right choice for whatever illness.

If I could only remember how many Medical Marijuana card holders I've busted for possessing/selling more than their alloted amount of pot, It would surprise people. As for the privacy of one's home, just like Meth heads, how do you protect the children from being exposed. Police & CPS now get involved cause it's hard to be a responsible parent(patient)when you're high. In all fairness, I agree it helps legitimately ill patients. This is a toughy. Correct me if I'm wrong,but doesn't Weed have more carcinogens than tobacco too?

Fuzz theres alot of products that are not good for human intake. Coffee, Liquor, Starch, Cigarrettes, Fast Food, legal drugs etc....

with Ghettoboom777 it's all about how responsible you are. If you value yourself and your love ones and carry yourself in a responsible and respectful manner you'll be fine.

Our own lord Jesus drank wine he did it in a responsible manner. As you know wine can be intoxicating if consumed in a unresponsible manner.

Basically it's all about how you carry your life on a daily basis. I've seen my own friends die from drinking liquor they drank excessively didn't care for their own being.

I will step off my soap box.

I agree ford. If people wouldn't abuse these things, there wouldn't be an issue.

How does the joke go...

"I've been smoking for 20 years, and my lung feels great!"

In related articles I have read, the Dutch numbers of teens using marijuana is way down across many nations in comparison. Also, the education systems in the Netherlands is successful. Basically whats happening is that the locals dont care to be bothered with marijuana because its not a taboo thing to be curious about. Parental guidance, and alot of common sense is all that needs to be applied.

This post went on way longer then I thought it would....

Both my wife and i ********************* when it's about.
I never thought i would vote to legalize dope in some sort controlled way.
But now i would. Reason?
The dope the kids get is laced with god knows what to get the them (12 -17years) onto something harder.
If we had cafes like in Holland, society would soon sort itself out ie: "Keep away from him/her they hit the very hard stuff and are a pain"
Just like drinking if you got a mate who gets stuck into the Whiskey ever night, big time.
Then you know what i mean. (not that a i don't like Whiskey!)
I do fill for the young kids, not got a chance with that laced dope

"but doesn't Weed have more carcinogens than tobacco too?" Yes i think that's right THAFUZZ

quote:

"but doesn't Weed have more carcinogens than tobacco too?" Yes i think that's right THAFUZZ

Smoked marijuana contains about the same amount of carcinogens as does an equivalent amount of tobacco. It should be remembered, however, that a heavy tobacco smoker consumes much more tobacco than a heavy marijuana smoker consumes marijuana. This is because smoked tobacco, with a 90% addiction rate, is the most addictive of all drugs while marijuana is less addictive than caffeine. Two other factors are important. The first is that paraphernalia laws directed against marijuana users make it difficult to smoke safely. These laws make water pipes and bongs, which filter some of the carcinogens out of the smoke, illegal and, hence, unavailable. The second is that, if marijuana were legal, it would be more economical to have cannabis drinks like bhang (a traditional drink in the Middle East) or tea which are totally non-carcinogenic. This is in stark contrast with "smokeless" tobacco products like snuff which can cause cancer of the mouth and throat. When all of these facts are taken together, it can be clearly seen that the reverse is true: marijuana is much SAFER than tobacco.

Aren't there over a thosand chemicals in marijuana smoke?
True but misleading. The 31 August 1990 issue of the magazine Science notes that of the over 800 volatile chemicals present in roasted COFFEE, only 21 have actually been tested on animals and 16 of these cause cancer in rodents. Yet, coffee remains legal and is generally considered fairly safe.

No one has ever died of a marijuana overdose
This is true. It was put in to see if you are paying attention. Animal tests have revealed that extremely high doses of cannabinoids are needed to have lethal effect. This has led scientists to conclude that the ratio of the amount of cannabinoids necessary to get a person intoxicated (i.e., stoned) relative to the amount necessary to kill them is 1 to 40,000. In other words, to overdose, you would have to consume 40,000 times as much marijuana as you needed to get stoned. In contrast, the ratio for alcohol varies between 1 to 4 and 1 to 10. It is easy to see how upwards of 5000 people die from alcohol overdoses every year and no one EVER dies of marijuana overdoses.

NIDA InfoFacts: Marijuana



Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States. It is a dry, shredded green and brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves derived from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. The main active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol; THC for short.


How is Marijuana Abused?

Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (joint) or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana. Since the blunt retains the tobacco leaf used to wrap the cigar, this mode of delivery combines marijuana's active ingredients with nicotine and other harmful chemicals. Marijuana can also be mixed in food or brewed as a tea. As a more concentrated, resinous form it is called hashish, and as a sticky black liquid, hash oil.* Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor.


How Does Marijuana Affect the Brain?

Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body.

THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabinoid receptors, kicking off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the “high” that users experience when they smoke marijuana. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors are found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thoughts, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.1

Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.2 As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.

Research on the long-term effects of marijuana abuse indicates some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term abuse of other major drugs. For example, cannabinoid withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system3 and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine.4 Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.

Addictive Potential


Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction; that is, compulsive drug seeking and abuse despite its known harmful effects upon social functioning in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities. Long-term marijuana abusers trying to quit report irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving, all of which make it difficult to quit. These withdrawal symptoms begin within about 1 day following abstinence, peak at 2–3 days, and subside within 1 or 2 weeks following drug cessation.5

Marijuana and Mental Health


A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia. Some of these studies have shown age at first use to be a factor, where early use is a marker of vulnerability to later problems. However, at this time, it not clear whether marijuana use causes mental problems, exacerbates them, or is used in attempt to self-medicate symptoms already in existence. Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses, including addiction, stemming from genetic or environmental vulnerabilities, such as early exposure to stress or violence. At the present time, the strongest evidence links marijuana use and schizophrenia and/or related disorders6. High doses of marijuana can produce an acute psychotic reaction, and research suggests that in vulnerable individuals, marijuana use may be a factor that increases risk for the disease.


What Other Adverse Effect Does Marijuana Have on Health?

Effects on the Heart

One study found that an abuser’s risk of heart attack more than quadruples in the first hour after smoking marijuana.7 The researchers suggest that such an outcome might occur from marijuana’s effects on blood pressure and heart rate (it increases both) and reduced oxygen-carrying capacity of blood.

Effects on the Lungs

Numerous studies have shown marijuana smoke to contain carcinogens and to be an irritant to the lungs. In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke. Marijuana users usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, which further increases the lungs’ exposure to carcinogenic smoke. Marijuana smokers show dysregulated growth of epithelial cells in their lung tissue, which could lead to cancer;8 however, a recent case-controlled study found no positive associations between marijuana use and lung, upper respiratory, or upper digestive tract cancers.9 Thus, the link between marijuana smoking and these cancers remains unsubstantiated at this time.

Nonetheless, marijuana smokers can have many of the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illness, a heightened risk of lung infections, and a greater tendency toward obstructed airways. A study of 450 individuals found that people who smoke marijuana frequently but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems and miss more days of work than nonsmokers.10 Many of the extra sick days among the marijuana smokers in the study were for respiratory illnesses.

Effects on Daily Life

Research clearly demonstrates that marijuana has the potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person’s existing problems worse. In one study, heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important measures of life achievement including physical and mental health, cognitive abilities, social life, and career status.11 Several studies associate workers’ marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers’ compensation claims, and job turnover.


What Treatment Options Exist?

Behavioral interventions, including cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational incentives (i.e., providing vouchers for goods or services to patients who remain abstinent) have shown efficacy in treating marijuana dependence. Although no medications are currently available, recent discoveries about the workings of the cannabinoid system offer promise for the development of medications to ease withdrawal, block the intoxicating effects of marijuana, and prevent relapse.

The latest treatment data indicate that in 2006 marijuana was the most common illicit drug of abuse and was responsible for about 16 percent (289,988) of all admissions to treatment facilities in the United States. Marijuana admissions were primarily male (73.8 percent), White (51.5 percent), and young (36.1 percent were in the 15–19 age range). Those in treatment for primary marijuana abuse had begun use at an early age: 56.2 percent had abused it by age 14 and 92.5 percent had abused it by age 18.**


How Widespread is Marijuana Abuse?

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2006, 14.8 million Americans age 12 or older used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed, which is similar to the 2005 rate. About 6,000 people a day in 2006 used marijuana for the first time—2.2 million Americans. Of these, 63.3 percent were under age 18.***

Monitoring the Future Survey

According to the 2007 Monitoring the Future survey—a national survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, marijuana use has been declining since the late 1990s. Between 2000 and 2007, past-year use decreased more than 20 percent in all three grades combined. Nevertheless, marijuana use remains at unacceptably high levels, with more than 40 percent of high school seniors reporting use at least once in their lifetimes. ****

it is true no one has ever died from a marijuana overdose.
however many people have been killed that are directly involved with the production trade and distribution of it.
i mean for a harmless drug it seems like it attracts way to many people with guns and bad tempers for my liking.
i do think it should be legal to grow your own pot and it should be legal for medical use.
i dont believe it should be grown for commercial reasons.
it you want to use it for recreation purposes as long as you grew it then i dont see much of a problem with it.
i do believe tho that pot does this.
makes bad food taste great
makes bad sex seem like it wonderful
makes terrible music sound fantastic
i mean for me quitting weed when i was twenty was one of the all time best decisions of my life.
it may not be that way for everyone,but i can honestly say smoking pot added nothing to my life other than a artificial sense of quality.
there is nothing i cannot think or do better without it than with it.
as for relaxing or getting to a higher spiritual place.
when i play music not even the best bud on the face of the earth and yes i am from bc so i have experienced it can hold a candle to a joint.

i like knowing the food i am eating tastes like crap.
or that my neighbor smells bad.
i mean its all just a personal choice really,but its not for me.
i do think tho that growing small ammounts of pot and using it should not be a crime.
i also believe that if it is being used for medical reasons that a person should not have face being put in jail to do so.

I hope Panfan, that it is easy to find an source demonizing pot, but suggesting it causes schizophrenia? Come on now! Do you really believe they would be prescribing it as a cancer relief drug, only to make people crazy and sick? This kind of scientific seeming but heavily biased paper is teh kind that scares me. the UK is the only country to do full scale gov't fundd tests when they were deciding if they should allow medicinal mary jane.

If you want to look a bit further, the fact this article says that marijuana has more carcinogens than tobacco, is not very valid as mentioned earlier here by someone, as "chronic" cig smokers consume MUCH more daily. What is chronic anyway? Doctors say now that a drink a day can thin your blood and stave off heart disease, is that chronic drinking?

The additives in cigs are the real issue as far as cancer causing agents, its not just the tobacco, its the prep and storage and other drugs sued to make it more addictive, etc.

I am surprised there was no mention of it as a gateway drug, its interesting to me that beer and wine are not considered and advertised as gateway drugs to hardcore alcohol abuse, but marijuana is for drugs entirely unrelated to itself. marketing is amazing isn't it?