[Matman]

As of right now it looks like Obama is going to increase staffing for the Federal BOP along with a few other law enforcement agencies. He has also stated that he will be addressing the problem of over population in prisons. I wonder how he will adress over population. Will he examine the war on drugs? Or introduce an early release program? I hope not early release but some of the drug laws do need to be reexamined. Whats everyones thoughts on this?

[Shady Grady]

As of right now it looks like Obama is going to increase staffing for the Federal BOP along with a few other law enforcement agencies. He has also stated that he will be addressing the problem of over population in prisons. I wonder how he will adress over population. Will he examine the war on drugs? Or introduce an early release program? I hope not early release but some of the drug laws do need to be reexamined. Whats everyones thoughts on this?

I don't think the drug laws need to be more lax, but maybe for many in minimum security home confinement would be appropriate. I know it costs money for this, but probably not as much as keeping them up in prison, plus it would free up some space.

[Matman]

I don't think the drug laws need to be more lax, but maybe for many in minimum security home confinement would be appropriate. I know it costs money for this, but probably not as much as keeping them up in prison, plus it would free up some space.

House arrest would be a very good option for some minimum security inmates. Especially inmates already staying in a camp. Some of the drug laws amaze me when comparing them to other laws. I have seen several inmates facing harsher time for drug offenses than for sex offenders. I think sex offenders should just get more time myself espeicailly those involving minors.

[15thRegionSlamaBamma]

Personally being a Psychology major I do not see anything wrong in a drug such as Marijuana. It on the norm has NO harsh affects on the body, besides killing brain cells. However, it is proven that you have more brain cells lost by playing football then smoking marijuana. To add to that there is an increase in sperm production while smoking marijuana. Another interesting fact, smoking cigirattes and/or drinking caffine has more bad affects on the body and also for a fetus rather than marijuana. While I fill the laws for use of Marijuana should be more lax, drugs such as cocaine and heroin need to stay the same. But laxer laws on Marijuana WOULD IMO drop the cout in prison by a considerable amount.

[Matman]

Personally being a Psychology major I do not see anything wrong in a drug such as Marijuana. It on the norm has NO harsh affects on the body, besides killing brain cells. However, it is proven that you have more brain cells lost by playing football then smoking marijuana. To add to that there is an increase in sperm production while smoking marijuana. Another interesting fact, smoking cigirattes and/or drinking caffine has more bad affects on the body and also for a fetus rather than marijuana. While I fill the laws for use of Marijuana should be more lax, drugs such as cocaine and heroin need to stay the same. But laxer laws on Marijuana WOULD IMO drop the cout in prison by a considerable amount.

I agree for the most part. While doing my undergrad i knew quite a few people that smoked marijuana. Most of which were my buddies and roomates. While their recreational drug use did not lead to anything more and they manage to graduate(some with a doctorate) I have witnessed others that claim marijuana did lead to their crack and powder cocaine addiction, heroin addiction, and/or prescription pill addiction. They also starting selling drugs to make money and support their habbit. If it were legalized it would probally make it less marketable for these people it still may be the gateway drug it has been claimed to be.

[15thRegionSlamaBamma]

I agree for the most part. While doing my undergrad i knew quite a few people that smoked marijuana. Most of which were my buddies and roomates. While their recreational drug use did not lead to anything more and they manage to graduate(some with a doctorate) I have witnessed others that claim marijuana did lead to their crack and powder cocaine addiction, heroin addiction, and/or prescription pill addiction. They also starting selling drugs to make money and support their habbit. If it were legalized it would probally make it less marketable for these people it still may be the gateway drug it has been claimed to be.

See i view it as more so a gateway drug due to the fact that its not legal. You legalize then more people will just resort to just it to get "high". IMO its the same concept as alchol however less harmful to your body.

[DevilsWin]

There is no sense in putting people in prison for victimless acts.

Mandatory minimums for some drug offenses are longer sentences than those recieved by prisoners convicted of crimes such as Manslaughter, Rape and Armed Robbery.

The Drug War has been the biggest joke and the biggest rip off in the history of America.

[DevilsWin]

See i view it as more so a gateway drug due to the fact that its not legal. You legalize then more people will just resort to just it to get "high". IMO its the same concept as alchol however less harmful to your body.

Alchohol is not less harmful to your body.

Don't belive everything you see in the Budweiser commercials.

[15thRegionSlamaBamma]

Alchohol is not less harmful to your body.

Don't belive everything you see in the Budweiser commercials.

Sorry that I made the post misleading.

It was meant to read that in my eyes it is the same concept of drinking beer. However, Marijuana is less harmful to your body not vise versa.

[Beetle01]

I'm all for Marijuana being legal, except here's your problem. It does affect your ability to drive. How do you test for it? I could smoke every day for a week and never drive anywhere. Then the next day get up and drive somewhere, if I get pulled over and accused of being high while driving, how do they determine if I'm high at that moment? There is no way to tell, therefore you will never see marijuana made legal until they figure out a way to do so.

[thecavemaster]

I'm all for Marijuana being legal, except here's your problem. It does affect your ability to drive. How do you test for it? I could smoke every day for a week and never drive anywhere. Then the next day get up and drive somewhere, if I get pulled over and accused of being high while driving, how do they determine if I'm high at that moment? There is no way to tell, therefore you will never see marijuana made legal until they figure out a way to do so.

Marijuana Stamp Act (I think) (1927)...origins of law criminalizing marijuana was to deport immigrants who smoked it as part of their culture (I think I remember this right).

[DevilsWin]

Mexicans! They smoked it after a hard days work much like we drink a beer.

[thecavemaster]

Politicians of that day, the same few rabble rousing ranters that show up in every generation, stirred up fear and furor, using it to stoke their own ambitions and further their own careers, at the expense of reason and fairness and justice. "Same old story: that's a fact; one step up and two steps back."

[Matman]

Do you think the legalization of marijuana would be a decay of our society? Would it be a blow against morals and ethics. It can be compared to alcohol. In my opinion alcohol is a horrible drug too. I myself don't drink, smoke or even eat deep fried foods. But i also believe in freedom of choice. It is your choice to destroy oneself. However if they legalized the drug who would be selling it? The same ones selling it now? What would keep them from selling other drugs? Not that anything is stopping them now but the legalization of marijuana would give them an easy front for their business.

[DevilsWin]

Do you think the legalization of marijuana would be a decay of our society? Would it be a blow against morals and ethics. It can be compared to alcohol. In my opinion alcohol is a horrible drug too. I myself don't drink, smoke or even eat deep fried foods. But i also believe in freedom of choice. It is your choice to destroy oneself. However if they legalized the drug who would be selling it? The same ones selling it now? What would keep them from selling other drugs? Not that anything is stopping them now but the legalization of marijuana would give them an easy front for their business.

No.
No.
Who knows.
Probably not

If Marijuana was legal, illegal drug dealers would become a thing of the past almost overnight IMO.

It can be taxed as well as farmed right here in Ky. Great for the local ecomony given all the uses of industrial hemp.

As it stands now you can't even grow industrial hemp.

The Gov't makes no distinction between industrial hemp and cannabis that is smoked.

Marijuanna should be legal it's less harmful than Tobacco and Beer.

But more importantly Industrial hemp should be legal.

[Beetle01]

Like Ive stated, there is no way to make it legal, as anyone that smokes would thus be ineligible to drive. Because if you smoked on a regular basis, then it would always show up in your system, and there is no way to tell if you've smoked 1 week ago, or 2 hours ago.

[Matman]

No.
No.
Who knows.
Probably not

If Marijuana was legal, illegal drug dealers would become a thing of the past almost overnight IMO.

It can be taxed as well as farmed right here in Ky. Great for the local ecomony given all the uses of industrial hemp.

As it stands now you can't even grow industrial hemp.

The Gov't makes no distinction between industrial hemp and cannabis that is smoked.

Marijuanna should be legal it's less harmful than Tobacco and Beer.

But more importantly Industrial hemp should be legal.

Hemp could bring in tax dollars. Marijuanna would be almost impossible to tax. Not when most people could just grow it themselves. Its not like cigerettes. Illegal drug dealers would still be here. I believe the same people selling it now would continue to sell it. I don't think they would stop selling the other drugs they are pushing just because they can sell one legal. Prescription medication, cocaine, meth, and the number one growing drug in eastern ky, heroin would still be there.

[DevilsWin]

Hemp could bring in tax dollars. Marijuanna would be almost impossible to tax. Not when most people could just grow it themselves. Its not like cigerettes. Illegal drug dealers would still be here. I believe the same people selling it now would continue to sell it. I don't think they would stop selling the other drugs they are pushing just because they can sell one legal. Prescription medication, cocaine, meth, and the number one growing drug in eastern ky, heroin would still be there.

If one could grow it in ones house or on ones property don't you think that would cut down on illegal drug dealing.

Sure you're gonna have pill dealers(IE Doctors in some cases) and HARD DRUG Dealers no matter what.

Think of it this way.

Take away the market for illegal pot and the guy who deals pot along with pills, Coke Meth and Heroin has lost part of his business.

The people who were visiting him for pot no longer have to see or deal with him.

There's where the gateway is. The Dealer. Not the plant.

Here's and Example of what I'm talking about.

18 year old kid says, "Hey man Can I get a bag of weed?"

Drug Dealer says, "No I'm outta pot but I got some Xanax's if you want some of them." "Or maybe some Coke, Meth or Heroin".

Next thing you know you got a junkie on your hands.

[Matman]

If one could grow it in ones house or on ones property don't you think that would cut down on illegal drug dealing.

Sure you're gonna have pill dealers(IE Doctors in some cases) and HARD DRUG Dealers no matter what.

Think of it this way.

Take away the market for illegal pot and the guy who deals pot along with pills, Coke Meth and Heroin has lost part of his business.

The people who were visiting him for pot no longer have to see or deal with him.

There's where the gateway is. The Dealer. Not the plant.

Here's and Example of what I'm talking about.

18 year old kid says, "Hey man Can I get a bag of weed?"

Drug Dealer says, "No I'm outta pot but I got some Xanax's if you want some of them." "Or maybe some Coke, Meth or Heroin".

Next thing you know you got a junkie on your hands.

The dealer is on part of the gateway. Another is the lifestyle in general. To some point the gateway is the underground market for pot. This would help cut back on this. However another aspect is getting high in general. Some one who likes to get high is more likely to experiment with other drugs. But the dealers are still going to be there. Not everyone is going to turn into a farmer. Some will still buy it. However there will be enough growing it on their own to prevent a commercial sale of it.

[DevilsWin]

Do you think Legalization would free up our police to take care of more serious matters?

[Matman]

Do you think Legalization would free up our police to take care of more serious matters?

No. Marijuana is a very small part of daily calls. When ever theres marijuana theres ussually other illegal drugs and often guns involved. While it wouldn't free up very much feild time it would clear up alot of court time. The police time would come from the yearly marijuana details that are paid for by grants. However on the other hand if legal pot shops started popping up i wonder how they would secure them. In this area its hard enough to keep the pharmacies from getting robbed.

[DevilsWin]

No. Marijuana is a very small part of daily calls. When ever theres marijuana theres ussually other illegal drugs and often guns involved. While it wouldn't free up very much feild time it would clear up alot of court time. The police time would come from the yearly marijuana details that are paid for by grants. However on the other hand if legal pot shops started popping up i wonder how they would secure them. In this area its hard enough to keep the pharmacies from getting robbed.

Court time- $$
It would also help the problem with overcrowding in the County Jails and Federal and State Prisons. Which = $$