Wow, so you have no arguments whatsoever to counter Tanngrisnir?

Can you prove two things?

(1) That marijuana is harmful and "screws up their brains"?

(2) That, if true, that would be any reason to keep it illegal. I for one don't need any government to act as my full time babysitter in order to "protect me from myself". No government owns the bodies of its citizens.

I am no fan of the actions of those who claim to freely choose to consume a substance that makes them dull, lethargic, apathetic, and basically stupid with piss-poor judgement.

However, this is one area where I have changed my views due to listening to others at USPOL. No matter how much I find marijuana consumption distasteful, the illegality of marijuana should be given due reconsideration by our government - call it a legislative mulligan and move on.

I don't care one way or the other, really.

But, if it's illegal, the laws which prohibit its' possession and use shouldn't be ignored just because someone thinks that pot is okay. I wonder if dope smokers just sit back and enjoy a bowl and bitch about it, or if they're doing anything to actually change the law...

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For those who have fought to defend it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know...



If it wasn't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all...

That's the thing, there really isn't a whole lot to bitch about. All the billions and billions of dollars we've thrown at the problem and pot is almost just as easy to get as driving to the store and buying some beer. Actually, since a decent amount of dealers will come to you, it may even be more convenient...

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Marijuana Law Reform - NORML

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"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." --Thomas Paine

January 4, 1987 – Chase, Maryland rail wreck, Chase, Maryland, United States: The Amtrak Colonial express train, highballing at 125 miles per hour (200 kilometers per hour), slammed into a consist of Conrail freight locomotives whose engineer had ignored a stop signal and had fouled the Northeast Corridor mainline at Gunpow Interlocking. The force of the impact completely destroyed the lead Amtrak locomotive and derailed the rest of the train, killing the Amtrak engineer, a lounge car attendant and 14 passengers. The subsequent investigation revealed that the in-cab signaling system of the Conrail lead locomotive was inoperative and that the Conrail crew had been smoking marijuana. This notorious accident, Amtrak’s most deadly at the time, caused the US railroad industry to tighten up drug use detection among operational personnel and subsequently led to the federal certification of locomotive engineers. Just food for thought.

NEWSFLASH: maybe if you're operating a fucking train you shouldn't be smoking drugs....i don't think that's in any way pertinent to a discussion about whether or not pot should be legal.

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"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." --Thomas Paine

I have long maintained that it will be made legal as soon as the govt determines an effective means of taxing it. Once formalised sale and distribution is developed so that it can be monitored (ie taxed) I believe they'll legalise it ... and not before. If there's nothing in it for the govt, it's not worth the effort and electoral heartache.

The use of alcohol is legal, the irresponsible use of alcohol is illegal (use by minors, DUIs etc.) The legalization of cannabis would not effect DUID laws, so what is your point? Do you even have one?

Well, 16 people dying because someone was operating a train while stoned means it should be banned! And, of course, the 13,470 people who died from alcohol related car crashes in 2006 means we should keep alcohol legal!

Nevermind the fact that if marijuana were made legal, operating any sort of vehicle under the influence would still be illegal. In other words, marijuana being illegal or not wouldn't change the fact that these guys broke the law.

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I don't recognize the laws, I do not think the federal government has the legal authority to criminalize a plant, a plant that existed before even the government ever existed. If I ever get caught, I will use this as my defense and hopefully then jury nullification will occur. I also could use a religious use affirmative defense as well that will get my case thrown out. (Feds do not want to set a precedent.)

It's definitely a good argument for not getting intoxicated when you're supposed to be operating heavy, dangerous machinery. However, I think we could file this one under 'common sense' and not see the need to make a federal brouhaha about it.

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"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

-Thomas Jefferson

Unfortunately, if you ever get caught, both of these defenses will do nothing but make the judge laugh as he reads your sentencing. With the ridiculous amounts of marijuana possession arrests, I'd imagine just about every approach in the courtroom has been tried to death with unimpressive results.

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Fascinating; Let me know how that works out for you.

I hate to piss in your Wheaties, but not liking a law, or not "recognizing" a law, does not allow you to break that law...

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For those who have fought to defend it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know...



If it wasn't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all...

Point is that somebody screwed up, and maybe pot was the reason. I understand the point about alcohol and I agree with it. Having spent 15 years as a Firefighter?paramedic, I've seen probably a hundred fatalities, and in all but 2 of them, drugs or alcohol were involved. Pretty sad. My post was for those who actually believe that mj doesn't slow your reaction time when you drive, in this case, a train.