Elfenwolf- you first.
What do I consider a "personal" amount? An ounce- well that's actually quite a good amount of marijuana. Now, if you mean personal use for a day or for a week- an ounce is way too much. Over the period of a month- that's about right. If you buy it in bulk (cheaper in more quantity for a reduction in price), then you could have a "personal" amount that will last you for up to 6 months.. if you are so inclined. It can keep, just buy that lil' food sealer that they have on those informercials at 3 in the morning. I forget what it's called, but it sucks all the air out and seals a bag. Throw that in the freezer and that stuff will last you a long time.
So you get into a big problem of how much is personal use when it could vary. If someone has 3 ounces, and they smoke that in 3 days- yeah that's pretty damn extreme.
But then you look at people who drink. I'm not using this to justify marijuana use or anything, but to give a comparison.
There's varying strengths of alcohol- from the toejamtiest of beers (~2.x% alcohol) to the strongest of liqours (everclear- 190 something). Most liqours come in large bottles (well the STRONG ones.. you can get vodka and other less strong drinks in the range of 60-80 proof in single serving sizes up to a gallon), while beers come in anywhere from a 6 pack to a 32 case. Then there's also the 22s, 32s(I think), and 40s. Would you consider 3 40s "personal" use? That would be about equivelant to a little less than a half ounce in weed. You are drinking 3 40s with the intent of getting beligerently f'ed up. You will smoke that lil' less than a half ounce in a day with the intent of getting extremely stoned. This is just for comparison purposes. So personal use is really subjective and depends in how much you want to save in weight- just the same as it is with alcohol. If I just want to go home and drink to get myself a nice buzz, I'll buy myself a 6pack. If I want to get completely toejamfaced, I'll buy a case of 24... won't finish it all, but I'll be completely belligerent. Just the same as if I bought a half ounce of weed with the intent of getting extremely stoned. At some point, however, smoking it is doing nothing more than just filling your lungs with garbage. You can only get so high, so then you just start wasting weed at that point.
I also agree that driving under the influence of anything is irresponsible and shouldn't be done. You'll get no argument from me there. Doing anything that could have repercussions on yourself or another person(s) while you are under the influence is simply wrong and should not be done. People still do it, hence drunk driving accidents. But they get super f'ed in fines and jail time for being stupid.
But, how would you like it if you could only drink in your own home. I don't mean to say, open up weed bars, but why should I have to worry about possibly getting jail time because I'm getting high in my own home while someone who is getting drunk can happily do it without no worries. The latter can (and does) result in domestic/spousal abuse and other problems which can be viewed every saturday night on Cops. Does the former have crime associated with it? Sure, but mostly because smoking weed is currently a criminal activity which skews the stats.
It's like going back 80 years to prohibition of alcohol. A lot more people drank, and were being picked up for doing it, and then there was a huge uproar because of it. Now people can freely drink, and that is a cause of many of societies problems. Not all, but alcohol can definitely be linked to a LOT of arrests, deaths (car accidents, arguments turning into gun fights, etc).. but someone who smokes weed has to constantly watch his back.
I just want it to be legal so that if I'm sitting on my back porch, I can light up a joint and not have to worry about a cop rolling up and putting me in hand cuffs.
Sp00k- whatever those organizations do is their own thing. I neither support nor subscribe to them. I do my own thing.
The problem with someone like me trying to get marijuana legalized is that there are people like you who will associate me with some nutball organization or a bunch of hippies. I am no different than you in terms of a functioning person in society. I don't cause trouble, I don't buy my weed from drug houses or somewhere shady, I know where it's coming from.
But the thing is, you expect me to stop smoking weed because I may or may not be supporting terrorists... while at the same time you ignore the fact that by keeping marijuana illicit and thus banned, the government is actually allowing terrorists and other crime syndicates to use marijuana as an avenue to gain profits or other benefits. You can't stop people from smoking weed, despite the scare tactics employed and the asinine attempt of associating it with terrorists. Yeah, I buy weed... but face it, it's no more detrimental to society if it were legalized than what is currently out there. Whether it be alcohol, pain killers, prescription drugs (mood enhancers), or any of the other legalized drugs that are currently the source of addiction for MILLIONS of people. The fact that you take what could be a very lucrative form of revenue for the government and place it into sheisty criminal's hands and then try to play the blame game (you support terrorists, you kill babies, you'll beat up your parents for a dub sack) just shows the blatant ignorance and utter hypocrisy of people who simply don't understand the benefits of making it legal.
And to say it could open up doors to harder drugs is just another example of utter hypocrisy. If anything, what opened up the door for people trying to get marijuana legalized (despite the fact that it was made criminal based on lies and misconceptions in the 30s, go watch the movie reefer madness- THAT's so full of BS, yet it's why it's illegal right now) was that we have equally as damaging and detrimental drugs that are currently legal. Alcohol and cigarettes. Then, you look around today.
What's the biggest money making market today? Not alcohol, not tobacco, not even tennis shoes... pharmacueticals. They can push out drugs faster than you can take a dump after drinking 2 gallons of ex-lax, and the side effects... WHEW! Chronic diarhea, nausia, headaches, bowel aches, indigestion, clamy skin, dry mouth, dry eyes, hell you name it, and you can have it as a side effect.
A society where people can freely acquire these drugs, whether they need them or not, and people love 'em... but marijuana? That's just immoral and evil!
It's perfectly acceptable to dope your kid up on ritalin, prozac, whatever the synthetic drug of the day is- which may be gone tommorrow because of new found horribly detrimental side effects- but a naturally occuring plant that will get you high for 2-4 hours on your own time and may or may not give you the same lung cancer as cigarettes is shunned and the people who do it are looked upon as criminals.
So in conclusion, if I got this straight... I can take as much prozac, xanax, ritalin, pain killers, alcohol and/or smoke as many cigarettes as I want... but marijuana is the evil one?
Drug addiction? toejam man, it exists around cubicle in every office building in the US... and that's without the illicit drugs.
-SW