More Smutty Than You: TSR's Hall of Shame

[Koraliene]

Not to mention that in most States here in the good old US, anything that can be used to administer illegal drugs--hookahs included--are illegal. 

Uh... where would this be? Don't get me wrong, I think our drug laws are nuts, but I've never lived anywhere hookahs are illegal. I doubt New York, Michigan and Florida are all particularly enlightened about this. There was one shop I remember in Michigan with "for tobacco use only" plastered everywhere, that also sold incense, New Age music, pro-pot bumper stickers, etc.

I know in Illinois it isn't illegal, there are hookah bars all over the place (though I never partake, my sister does); honestly, I'm not pro-hookah for the simple reason that studies show it's even worse than smoking cigarettes. But just as I don't go around preaching to smokers, I don't preach to hookah-users xD; That would be silly: their life, their decisions; and all those 100+-year-olds who cite a cigar everyday as their health tip could disagree with my decision to not smoke.

Because the economy is so bad, California (gov. Arnold) is considering legalizing and taxing marijuana. hmmm
In Washington state, police are no longer persecuting simple pot offences, because they can't afford it.
But in Tennessee, where I live, the pot laws are very strict. They will ruin your life over a roach in the ashtray, and head shops are few and far between. Here, smoking is a 'sin'. You have to go to Georgia or Kentucky to find anything close to a hookah. I hate the close-minded attitudes about pot in this state.

"The laws against it are completely arbitrary. It's a plant that grows out of the ground, naturally, and if it should happen to catch on fire......there may be some side effects." - Katt Williams

That sucks that you can get in that much trouble in Ten.; everyone I knows who's gotten caught gets a slap on the hand. Just two days ago a girl I know got two weeks Loss Of Privileges (basically, she gets detention for half of her lunch for two week) for being caught high during first period. And I know a girl's boyfriend who got charged with posession and his mom just sent him to boarding school; I think he was in jail for, er, 12 hours?

And please forgive me if I'm wrong (I won't even pretend like I've studied California law), but isn't marijuana already legalized for medical purposes? I remember a government teacher telling us that it didn't matter, though, because federal law prohibited it, and that's above state law. Honestly, though, I feel like the government isn't going to send in the military to close down a group of college teens chilling out with some pot. Kinda silly that if they're not going to crack down on Arnold's plan (should it go through), they still have the nerve to call smoking pot illegal.
(And the Katt Williams quote was golden.)

[Paden]

Legalizing the stuff would go a long way towards helping people with cancer to deal with pain and nausea, that's for sure. It could also help deal with other issues, as well, such as the tics and such that people with Tourettes have.

[paperbeth]

Not to mention, it's a renewable resource that can be used for many other things like textiles and even lumber. It could possibly save our economy, and our environment. But, of course, that would make too much sense, so I don't see it happening anytime soon. 

[ooglafina]

It's been legalized for medicinal reasons in Michigan.

[Darqstar]

It's legalized for pain purposes in a lot of places.  Although, I've heard that smoking it works better than the pill form they give most patients for pain purposes. 

While I don't indulge in smoking pot anymore, I don't fault those who do.  And to be honest?  I find alcohol to be just as dangerous and in some ways moreso.  When I was a teenager, my brother told me, "If you ever have to pick between getting in a car with a stoned person, or a drunk, pick the stoned person.   It'll take you five times longer to get anywhere, but you're more likely to make it home alive."

We've already proven that the USA is not going to give up smoking pot.  And right now, all that benifit from it, are drug lords.  And yes, I've seen the commercials where they blather about how drugs only fund criminals, blah blah blah, but the same  thing could be said during prohibition.  Common sense tells you that if someone is illegal, only criminals are going to sell it. 

Make it legal, tax it, make money, be done with it.  You won't stop people from smoking it, and I don't think it's going to make everyone a crazed junkie, any more than someone trying a beer is going to become a raving alcoholic.  At least if it's legal, there will be some control over the quality. 

[ChaosInAMinor]

It's legal for medicinal reasons out here in California. When my mom lived out here last year, she used it. She's got a lot of advanced immune disorders and osteonecrosis, so she's already become resistant to even morphine. She's a fighter, though. There have been times when her blood sugar is so low or high (she's diabetic) that she should realistically be dead, but she's still up and walking around.

She now lives in Iowa and getting it there makes her feel like she's sneaking around when she shouldn't have to be. And if she's had it prior to a Doctor's appointment and it comes up in a blood screen, she gets chastised. Chastised for doing the only thing that manages her pain.

[Darqstar]

She now lives in Iowa and getting it there makes her feel like she's sneaking around when she shouldn't have to be. And if she's had it prior to a Doctor's appointment and it comes up in a blood screen, she gets chastised. Chastised for doing the only thing that manages her pain.

See, I hate that so much.  Your mother is hurting, if she finds that toking up some reefer alieveates the pain, then by gump, give her some Thai stick and a pack of papers.  Pain sucks.  My mother is in pain almost all the time, because of all of her issues, and if I thought heroin would take away all the pain, I'd be half tempted to see if I could score some.  My mother is 82 years old and dying, she deserves to live the last months of her life as pain free as possible.

[ChaosInAMinor]

I'm so sorry to hear that. It's never easy to watch someone you love in pain.

It's frustrating. Her brothers are convinced that she's addicted to pain killers. They don't believe that her pain is real because her illnesses aren't concrete and don't show up in clean nifty little tests. Growing up, I had to watch her struggle through the day in massive amounts of pain, trying to support and raise three kids by herself, and her own family just tells her "Oh, you're such a hypochondriac". I've inherited one of her immune disorders and her fibro myalgia...and because I'm younger, it's not nearly as bad, but I've always gotten the "You're such a hypochondriac" crap because I'm sick all the time. It's hurtful when nobody takes you seriously.

As for my mom, she's 48 and she was told she wouldn't live past 30, and she doesn't look like she's going anywhere soon...to spend your entire life in that much pain and be told that the only thing that works is illegal (not even because it's dangerous)...I can't imagine how that tears her up every day. I love my mom...when I was a teen, it was less sketchy for me to get weed, even though I don't smoke it, so I would buy it for her. She never asked, but because she didn't feel comfortable buying it herself at first, I would get it for her. My high school had to be good for something, right?

[Pescado]

You ARE a hypochondriac. Walk it off, you pussy. If it bothers you so much, you just need to recalibrate your pain sensor.

[neriana]

Alcohol is more dangerous than pot, especially when one looks at societal cost. You shouldn't drive after smoking pot, either, but WAY more accidents are due to alcohol than to pot. Alcohol abuse messes up one's body and life something fierce, too. So does abuse of pot; I've known people whose lives have been completely ruined because they decided since pot was "natural", they'd do it every single day to help them "unwind". Pot doesn't have nearly the tendency to make people violent that alcohol does, though.

Marijuana should be legal, and taxed. It's a potentially dangerous drug, but so's alcohol. The stupid "war on drugs" is working about as well as Prohibition did. It might be making people do drugs a little less, just like Prohibition made people drink a little less, but it also makes the country far more dangerous, just as Prohibition did. Since it was hard and illegal to get alcohol during Prohibition, people who did drink just went crazy with it, and since it was illegal, dangerous criminals ended up controlling the trade and reaping large rewards. 

[Pescado]

It also makes it harder for people to get treatment for their problems. Before everything was made illegal, if you developed a heroin addiction, you simply went to your doctor and got treatment for it. Now if you say a word about it, you'll be arrested.

[Darqstar]

It also makes it harder for people to get treatment for their problems. Before everything was made illegal, if you developed a heroin addiction, you simply went to your doctor and got treatment for it. Now if you say a word about it, you'll be arrested.

And, it makes it harder to get rid of someone in the workplace who's addicted to drugs, because you can't accuse them of doing something illegal unless you actually catch them smoking/swallowing/snorting or shooting.  When I worked for the window making factory, we had guys fried out of their minds, working dangerous equipment.  If they were really bad, we'd try to put them on something less dangerous, but most of the time, they were endangering themselves and others.  If we fired them, we'd have to find another reason.  Fortunately, a lot of real frequent users of hard drugs have poor work habits, so they'd disappear enough to let go of them, but some would manage to hang on. 

Yes, you could fire them, but if you gave any indication it was because they had a drug problem?  They would and often did get the labor board involved.  I dislike the idea of mandatory drug testing, but I do understand why it happens now.  Because if someone gets in the door who has a drug problem?  It's tough to get rid of.  Sometimes, not only does unemployment/labor board claim it was unfair to fire someone, they'll even make the employer pay for rehab. 

[Skoria_Bay]

Everyone forgets this small thing called "Prohibition" in the 1920's here in the US. It didn't work then and it's not working now. The government (both Federal and State) spend millions in dollars to try and prevent drug trafficking. That money could be better spent else where. I think they ought to legalized drugs, advise rehab for those are harder substances and tax the heck out of it like they do cigarettes and alcohol. It would cut out all the middle men, the pushers and the drug lords. And yes, hemp can be used for many things and it is a renewable resource.

[CatOfWar]

On a related note, how many folks know about wet houses?  They're hostels for homeless alcoholics and drug addicts.  They permit drinking and drug use in the facility.  They offer treatment for addiction, medical care, food, a safe place to sleep, and not least importantly, toilets, so the residents don't piss in the street.  I've lived in the States over 20 years, never even heard of wet houses until recently, and that was only because they were mentioned in a webcomic.  Not mentioned in school, not in the press, not by the healthcare industry, as far as I can tell.  I'm not sure if we even have them in this country.  For anyone else who may not know what a wet house is, here's a BBC documentary.  Seems like a humane and reasonable idea to me but one that would make some people scream "you're condoning drunkenness and drug abuse".  There's no way people would allow a wet house where I live. 

My town has a law forbidding the sale of alcohol in stores and restaurants on Sunday.  Because a glass of wine with dinner is bad, and so is more local restaurant business.  College kids driving to some other town for their beer and then driving back drunk, that's good, apparently.  We had a petition here to put this to a vote, but didn't get enough signatures to hold a referendum.  We have local government elections soon, I hope the issue comes up again.  I hope the police weigh in.

[rum nate]

Around here, most stores wont do Sunday sales, but the ones that do can only do them after 1pm.

College kids driving to some other town for their beer and then driving back drunk, that's good, apparently.

Thats just as bad as a PETA campaign a few years back. It was encouraging college students to stop drinking milk and rather just drink beer.