' Wrote:Well, if it's SYNTHETIC marijuana, doesn't that nullify the harmful parts? Natural Marijuana actually DOES have side effects, if you use it in excess. You're killin brain cells, boy! But taken in small quantities is quite useful for cancer patients. Or any other hospitalised people.

Quote:Myth: Marijuana Kills Brain Cells. Used over time, marijuana permanently alters brain structure and function, causing memory loss, cognitive impairment, personality deterioration, and reduced productivity.

Fact: None of the medical tests currently used to detect brain damage in humans have found harm from marijuana, even from long term high-dose use. An early study reported brain damage in rhesus monkeys after six months exposure to high concentrations of marijuana smoke. In a recent, more carefully conducted study, researchers found no evidence of brain abnormality in monkeys that were forced to inhale the equivalent of four to five marijuana cigarettes every day for a year. The claim that marijuana kills brain cells is based on a speculative report dating back a quarter of a century that has never been supported by any scientific study.

*
Heath, R.G., et al. “Cannabis Sativa: Effects on Brain Function and Ultrastructure in Rhesus Monkeys.” Biological Psychiatry 15 (1980): 657-690.

*
Ali, S.F., et al. “Chronic Marijuana Smoke Exposure in the Rhesus Monkey IV: Neurochemical Effects and Comparison to Acute and Chronic Exposure to Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in Rats.” Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 40 (1991): 677-82.

Quote:because marijuana will soon be legalised because everyone realises its quite harmless and quite medicinal.

Quote:The only reason alcohol is still legal is because of the alcohol lobby keeping out marijuana as a competitot product.

' Wrote:Personally, I think the synth pot should at least be decriminalized in Sirius. I always just figured it's illegal across the sector simply to mirror its illegality IRL.

We have the equivelent of synth pot now: it's called Marinol...the problem is, it's far too strong.

When a person smokes pot legally under a doctor's order, they have the ability to control the dosage, & simply stop smoking when they've had enough. When the Dr. prescribes Marinol instead, one dose will knock a person on their a** for the rest of the day...so, people that smoke for medical reasons tend to avoid Marinol like the plague.

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings Lupsy, but Marijuana has (off & on) been on the cusp of legalization since the 70's

Pres. Carter got pretty close to getting it done, but one of his cabinet members got busted for coke, so the white house killed the bill under pressure from the opposition party & accusations of 'being soft on drugs' ...later Regan's asinine 'just say no' campaign ended up setting back the marijuana legalization effort for well over a decade.

In the mid to late 90's 'medical marijuana' started to became a political buzzword, & the number of states that allow for its use continue to grow. (no pun intended)

If only it were that simple:mellow:
America did illegalize booze in 1919 with the 'Volstead act' & ended up being one of the biggest mistakes America ever made...all it really did was make a gigantic class of criminals out of normally law-abiding people literally overnight. (not to mention creating the type of black market that made Al Capone famous.) After about 13 years, the gov't was finally forced by intense opposition by most Americans to pass the 'Blaine act' that finally rendered the 'Volstead act' unconstitutional.

The thing about Marijuana being illegal today, ultimately has its roots in racisim.

In the early 1900's Marijuana's use as a party drug was unknown to the vast majority of Americans...it was just another weed that grew on the side of the road.

No one cared less about pot smokers until the 'El Paso Ordinance' of 1914, which was passed in response to a political propaganda campaign successfully villifying Mexican immigrants who where known to smoke the mota.

People were led to believe that when a Mexican smoked pot, it made them violent, & it completely scared the willies out of the whites.

During the time of alcohol prohibition, the US created the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (the forerunner of the DEA)

It didn't really do much of anything of note & was on the verge of collapse, until a guy named Harry J. Anslinger took over the Bureau, & in an effort to pick a fight he thought he could win & maintain Bureau funding, decided to make marijuana the new household evil. It was Anslinger that created the parody gems like 'Reefer Madness' & 'The Devil's Harvest'

Time marched on, & pot was latched onto by the hippie culture... & they were hated by the gov't not for their flagrant drug use, but for their collective outspoken dissent against 'the man'

I could go on & on, but the botton line is: pot illegality today is not simply because of the alcohol lobby...It's a cascade of events & attitudes that brought us to where we are today.