Massachusetts town considers banning ALL tobacco products and e-cigarettes

[Star_Cards]

so do you think there will be more or less pot when it becomes legal?
a drug dealer has many loops to jump through and are far less common than a gas station or other stores that will sell pot.
more weed makes it easier to get, easier for me and you and easier for youths.

so are you ok with the crimes, health issues, and social issues alcohol or tobacco brings? if not, why add more to them?

pot is illegal, keep it that way, no money needs to be spent passing a law to get it to be legal. this is a waste of our money, do we not have better things to spend tax payer money on?

to be honest, i would rather someone be a pothead than an alcoholic, but I don't think we have the money or time to worry about pot being legal.

I will agree that weed would be more prevalent, I just don't think the fact that an item would be still illegal for non adults is a reason to to make something illegal. Underage substance abuse is and will be an issue not matter if pot is illegal or not. I just don't see that as a reason to get a substance illegal. Obviously there are some other cons out there to keep marijuana illegal, but the fact that underaged people will have more access isn't a valid one in my opinion. If it were then there should be a ton of other things that should be illegal... alcohol, cigarettes, pornography, gambling, etc.

To me it's about freedom of choice. I think marijuana can and is used in the same manner as cigarettes or alcohol. Obviously there are abusers, but I just see marijuana on a lower level than other illegal drugs. Obviously there are issues like health and social implications, but I don't think those are reasons to keep something illegal. 3000 calorie meals have health implications but that's not a reason to keep people from eating that much. It will be interesting to see if marijuana crimes drop or increase in states where it's now legal. I'd think that most of the criminal activity dealing with marijuana in colorado might be more in the ranges of public intoxication or smoking in public or driving under the influence... all things that apply to alcohol. What sort of crimes would come with a substance that is legal? Maybe people trying to knock off weed shops? underage usage and other similar laws that apply to alcohol. I'm curious if there are others that I'm not seeing.

I don't think the "we don't have tax money to worry about this" is a valid argument against either. Sure it's not a top priority or a huge issue if it remains illegal but legalizing should reduce expenses within the legal system and increase tax revenue. They will tax it like cigarettes and the people making money from it will be paying income taxes on it... both of which don't happen know with it being done illegally.

[Star_Cards]

What about pot being a gateway drug....almost all hard core drug users say they started with pot. Was this brought up and I missed it??

I get the gateway drug issue being a concern. I really don't have much personal experience with this. Obviously marijuana and alcohol are what people typically use first, but not everyone graduates on. I have one friend that smokes weed everyday and quite a few who smoked it when they were in college and I don't think they ever graduated to harder stuff. I know they don't currently use anything now.

[Star_Cards]

I think you missed the point. Nowhere does anyone say that marijuana users automatically become hardcore drug users. However, every hardcore drug user claims to have started with marijuana. That makes it a gateway drug. Very rarely does someone go from having never used drugs to being a meth addict or a crackhead. Marijuana is the transition drug that introduces them to the drug culture which provides access to new more hardcore drugs.

I guess the question is are there more people that move on and become users or addicts of the harder drugs? My guess and it's a guess is that most do not.

It would be interesting to see how many marijuana users or even just people who tried marijuana started out smoking cigarettes before trying marijuana.

[deansayso]

I get the gateway drug issue being a concern. I really don't have much personal experience with this. Obviously marijuana and alcohol are what people typically use first, but not everyone graduates on. I have one friend that smokes weed everyday and quite a few who smoked it when they were in college and I don't think they ever graduated to harder stuff. I know they don't currently use anything now.

Smoked in college. Drank a lot more than I ever smoked. My upstairs neighbors were dealers but they only smoked too.

[beachbum]

I guess the question is are there more people that move on and become users or addicts of the harder drugs? My guess and it's a guess is that most do not.

It would be interesting to see how many marijuana users or even just people who tried marijuana started out smoking cigarettes before trying marijuana.

Another missed point......the question isn't whether the majority of pot smokers move on to harder drugs...the point is that those that do use harder drugs probably start with marijuana. By the way, dragging alcohol into this argument is apples to oranges. You're talking about two totally different things, the medium, the cultural stigma, legalities ,etc.

[duane1969]

I guess the question is are there more people that move on and become users or addicts of the harder drugs? My guess and it's a guess is that most do not.

It would be interesting to see how many marijuana users or even just people who tried marijuana started out smoking cigarettes before trying marijuana.

I smoked cigs before marijuana, but smoking cigarettes did not play a role in bringing me into contact with marijuana users. However, my marijuana usage brought me into contact with people who had cocaine, crack, LSD, laced marijuana and briefly heroin. Luckily I had no desire to pursue harder drugs, but there is no doubt that I would never have come into contact with those other drugs had I not become a part of the marijuana culture first.

[sanfran22]

This chart might be accurate except there have been deaths related to marijuana use. It might be low on the chart but 0 is ridiculous

Are you going to tell me that smoking marijuana doesn't have any issues like a cig would? You are still smoking it and putting that in your lungs. This is the biggest piece of garbage I've seen in awhile. Well, at least since yesterday lol.

[Star_Cards]

Another missed point......the question isn't whether the majority of pot smokers move on to harder drugs...the point is that those that do use harder drugs probably start with marijuana. By the way, dragging alcohol into this argument is apples to oranges. You're talking about two totally different things, the medium, the cultural stigma, legalities ,etc.

I didn't miss the point at. I understand completely that marijuana is usually a persons first illegal drug they use. I actually see this as the most logical side against legalizing marijuana over all of the others being brought up, but I still don't see it as a reason to not legalize it. I bring alcohol up only in comparing it that it also has health issues and how they still restrict it just as they would marijuana if it were legal.

[deansayso]

Are you going to tell me that smoking marijuana doesn't have any issues like a cig would? You are still smoking it and putting that in your lungs. This is the biggest piece of garbage I've seen in awhile. Well, at least since yesterday lol.

Well of course the smoke is bad. Cig smoke is worse than marijuana smoke but both are still bad. You don't have to smoke weed to use weed.

[sanfran22]

depends on the person, but most often, no.



no

put it this way,

would you want a cigarette smoker, a drinker, a dope smoker, a coke user, or a crackhead watching your kids? If you don't have kids, how about watching your house while you are out of town?

I wouldn't want any of them, but the crack head and coke addict would be the last on the list.

Exactly. That was my point. They are not the same.