1. Dispensary "culture". Marijuana is currently legal for "medicinal use" in colorado, which means you walk into a dispensary and say "my back hurts doc" and the doctor (they have one on site) writes you a script. You register as a user, and get a card. Then you get to smoke all you want. I thought I supported legalization for medical use. But now I'm not as sure. I mean - if marijuana is a good solution to a medical problem I have, then my doctor ought to be able to prescribe the treatment I guess. But the dispensaries on every corner is getting to be a bit much. You know those sign twirlers out on the corner for Little Ceasars and Liberty Tax Services? Yah, I've got them on my corner with current prices for an oz. of weed. Do you think this helps my property values? I'll give you a clue - it doesn't. 2. Even the general use of marijuana has been moderately decriminalized in Denver. I don't know the specifics, but it boils down to fewer arrests when cops see people smoking weed. And now with the medicinal use, it's just that much more trouble for an officer anyway - I mean - who wants to bust a guy over a joint when he might have a card? not worth the paperwork. There is a new normal - weed is ok in Denver. Call me old fashioned, but I don't like some facets of the drug culture. And I'm not lumping all people who smoke marijuana into the same bucket. My neighbors smoke it in the comfort of their back yard. I don't mind. It's cool. Their friends come over, they share some beers, they smoke some bud, they shoot some pool, they don't hurt a soul. The people that bother me are the ones smoking and driving (I watched a dude roll one in the car next to me last week), smoking weed while on "disability" and welfare, the ones smoking it with little kids in the house. I think it's lazy and irresponsible. That's not about taking the edge off at the end of a day or week - it's about perpetuating poverty. It's about just barely getting by. It's about not giving anything back to society. It's about ruining marijuana for everyone else. I don't care if you smoke it. Just do something with your life. Do something for some one else. Do something for society. I don't like the thugs and morons stoned out of their minds wandering the grocery store aisles collecting a check from me. I'm pretty much over the cannabis t-shirts, bandanas, sunglasses, bumper stickers, hats and tatoos. Nothing says "I'm going some place in this life!" like a big frigging weed on your chest. I don't know. rant over. straight legalization doesn't really work either... at least - not in any way that I can appreciate.
Nobody likes shitty parents or people which is essentially what you're saying. Legalizing marijuana isn't going to create or eliminate bad people. It is going to save us money and it is the right thing to do.
You're right. And I acknowledge that you could just about substitute alcohol or tobacco or prescription pain killers in any of the sentiments in my rant. Weed is just an easy target on my radar at the moment. Maybe I'm just a judgmental prick. I just wish people would use (and not abuse) their drug of choice) in the comfort of their own home.
It's amazing that this isn't a larger issue nationally. This is the power of interests at hand. I've been impressed with the atheist/secular humanists movement in the US. It seems to have some focus of late. I wish the same type of focus would be brought to the legalization of drugs in the US. Someone call Jon Stewart and Colbert and get them on this.