What if Marijuana Were Legal in all States?

I’ll begin by saying that I have nothing whatsoever against anyone smoking or otherwise ingesting marijuana. For me personally, I've never liked the experience so I have no real passion for it.

The focus of this post came from the news about Washington State being the second in the union to legalize the stuff. It gave me cause to think about what this means in the long term.

What came to mind was my experience as a cigarette smoker. When I was a kid, smoking was as normal as riding a bike - everyone did it. Doctors, preachers, you name it. Then, in the early 90’s, things started to change. The health conscious among us were pushing really hard to ban smoking everywhere except your own private space. They desperately wanted to impose their idea of health on everyone. In the Clinton days, there was a real war against the tobacco companies. It so happens, I quite shortly before that time.

I firmly believe that the legalization of pot for recreational use will, one day, lead to the same war by those that are concerned about everyone else’s health. This probably won’t happen until the Feds finally decriminalize it or when the majority of states have made it legal.

There are all kinds of negative effects of pot smoking but I’m only going to concentrate on the issue with the lungs because of the similarity with cigarettes. Not matter what you decide to light up and inhale, if it’s burning, it’s not going to be good for you. There are a lot of sources about the health risks. Here are a few:

University of Washington

Marijuana smoke contains a similar range of harmful chemicals to that of tobacco smoke (including bronchial irritants, tumor promoters and carcinogens) (Hoffmann et al, 1975). As inhaled smoke comes into contact with airway and lung before being absorbed into the bloodstream, it is likely to affect the respiratory system (Novotny et al, 1982).

American Lung Association

Marijuana smoke contains a greater amount of carcinogens than tobacco smoke. In addition, marijuana users usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, further increasing the lungs exposure to carcinogenic smoke. Marijuana use is not only associated with adverse physical effects, but also mental, emotional and behavioral changes.

From the same source, I really love this paragraph – reminds me of the anti-cigarette arguments. Imagine when Obamacare is in full swing and a bureaucrat gets to decide if you deserve treatment:

People who smoke marijuana frequently, but do not smoke tobacco, have more health problems and miss more days of work than nonsmokers. Many of these extra sick days are due to respiratory illnesses.

From California Society of Addiction Medicine
there is a long article but here’s the part specifically about smoking:

Cancer
Smoked marijuana is also thought to carry a risk of cancer, particularly lung cancer and cancer of the head and neck (Zhang, Morgenstern et al. 1999; Tashkin, Baldwin et al. 2002). This concern emerges from the observation that heavy marijuana use causes biochemical and gene alterations in the respiratory tract that are known to be markers of precancerous change (Kalant 2004). Further, marijuana smoke has many of the same carcinogenic hydrocarbons that have been shown to cause lung cancer from tobacco (Denissenko, Pao et al. 1996). Unfortunately, marijuana has not been studied as thoroughly as other smokeable products such as tobacco, and most of the existing studies indicate "risk," not "proof," of a relationship to developing cancer.

Equally, I came across some articles that try to debunk the studies. But, no matter how you slice it, putting crap into your lungs is never a good thing.

Flame suit is on 

originally posted by: LogicalGraphitti


There are all kinds of negative effects of pot smoking but I’m only going to concentrate on the issue with the lungs because of the similarity with cigarettes. Not matter what you decide to light up and inhale, if it’s burning, it’s not going to be good for you. There are a lot of sources about the health risks. Here are a few:

Who said you have to smoke it? Why not just vape if combusting was your concern?

originally posted by: freetheuniverse
Who said you have to smoke it? Why not just vape if combusting was your concern?

That was quick. I read about ingesting it using a vaporizer but I suspect the majority of people roll it and smoke it.

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

“I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex, and rich food. He was healthy right up to the time he killed himself.”
-Johnny Carson

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

Vaping is becoming increasingly popular. If health is a high priority on their list, more likely than not, they will seek an alternative to lighting it up. There are no additives in MJ like cigarettes, that is assuming they're not going to ban us from growing it ourselves and making us buy from privately owned corporations who decides to drench it in additives. More and more studies are being released revealing the medicinal benefits of THC.

What if Marijuana Were Legal in all States?

Maybe Canada might get a clue and follow suit...

originally posted by: LogicalGraphitti
American Lung Association

Marijuana smoke contains a greater amount of carcinogens than tobacco smoke.

I don't believe that is a fact. There's plenty of scientific research proving otherwise. Here's one example.

Cannabis and tobacco smoke are not equally carcinogenic

originally posted by: freetheuniverse
a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

More and more studies are being released revealing the medicinal benefits of THC.

Equally, there are studies (and a lot of theories too) about the mental effects but that's another topic we could debate.

a reply to: corvuscorrax

LOL! That made my day.

It means it would be returned to the people as it should be. Its one of the seeds of the earth given to all people. We don't need middle men for our medicines, and there are other ones that kill pain that is criminal and fascism and crimes against all souls, that it is illegal. God put those there for our medicine and to be free of tyranny.

By the way, juicing cannabis, takes quite alot, and it very good for you, if you had cancer, or you child, or liver problems you name it, that should be right up there the arsinal for it.

All of that being said even though it doesn't agree with me either, but that doesn't mean I give my power away to tyrants, or my children, or in the copious amounts needed. Its not a crime. The crime is the tryanny. We are not their slaves either. The crime of thinking they can steal our land, and expect us to work as their slaves instead of for ourselves is beyond belief criminal and they're going to be arrested for this cosmic tyranny.

I have never understood how anyone could ever support what they've done. Legally, it violates common law, sovereign rights and freedoms/constitution. Even if you could war against human minds to imprison say 70% in your mind trap, even that majority does not take away the free will of those who understand, in fact it makes anyone who uses force to take away rights from another, a co-criminal and equally responsible in the end, in other words, THEY WILL OWE. The IOU's are being formed in this life. You don't have rights to dominate others or steal resources from them.

I've known this system was criminal since I was a preschool watching vietnam and napalm on the news.

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

No matter what the adverse side effect, no one has the right to tell you what you can or cannot put in your body. If that substance causes you to commit a crime against another person, then you should pay the penalty all the same. But if I decide one day to drink a gallon of depleted uranium, then by God, its my right.

That is what this country was founded on...FREEDOM. Why is that such a difficult concept???????????????????????????????

a reply to: freetheuniverse

Oh, no...see with legalization in the US comes the lockdown...like alcohol. You cannot grow it or sell it outside of taxable means. Now that they've got the lockdown, they can fill it with additives so it's not so strong nor so medicinally good = better take those pills. Did you ever research prohibition? And the poisonous additives they put in alcohol that actually killed people?? Yeah TPTB aren't above that...beware.

Well... if you do some reading on this mans website, and listen to what he has to say... it would be a major step forward for us.

phoenixtears.ca...

Most of the adverse effects are pure propaganda! and that includes the psychological ones.

OP, how many pot smokers do you know that have died of lung cancer? Be honest.

Tobacco causes restriction of the airways, but pot opens them up, thats why many asthma sufferers use it.
Anything can be deemed to be bad for us, but we have to way up the harm against the benefits. The unproven supposed harm of pot is very tiny when compared with the benefits.

a reply to: Unity_99

Agree 100%


a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

Also agree… if you can’t act responsibly under the influence then there are already laws for that.

a reply to: EveStreet

Growing for personal use not to sell. You can grow your own hops and brew your own beer at home.


EDIT: And if they decide to put additives in our precious plant then they better believe that people are going to revert back to buying it from the streets, so TPTB can say bye bye to their tax money.

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

No matter what the adverse side effect, no one has the right to tell you what you can or cannot put in your body. If that substance causes you to commit a crime against another person, then you should pay the penalty all the same. But if I decide one day to drink a gallon of depleted uranium, then by God, its my right.

That is what this country was founded on...FREEDOM. Why is that such a difficult concept???????????????????????????????

Not a problem for me. That's one point of my post. It's the do-gooders that think they should tell everyone else how to live that will ultimately do to pot what they did to cigarettes. Look at the idiots in San Francisco that want to tax sodas because they say it's bad for you. How does a city government get away with extorting money from, I mean taxing, people who like to drink a Coke?

originally posted by: LogicalGraphitti
I’ll begin by saying that I have nothing whatsoever against anyone smoking or otherwise ingesting marijuana. For me personally, I've never liked the experience so I have no real passion for it.

The focus of this post came from the news about Washington State being the second in the union to legalize the stuff. It gave me cause to think about what this means in the long term.

What came to mind was my experience as a cigarette smoker. When I was a kid, smoking was as normal as riding a bike - everyone did it. Doctors, preachers, you name it. Then, in the early 90’s, things started to change. The health conscious among us were pushing really hard to ban smoking everywhere except your own private space. They desperately wanted to impose their idea of health on everyone. In the Clinton days, there was a real war against the tobacco companies. It so happens, I quite shortly before that time.

I firmly believe that the legalization of pot for recreational use will, one day, lead to the same war by those that are concerned about everyone else’s health. This probably won’t happen until the Feds finally decriminalize it or when the majority of states have made it legal.

There are all kinds of negative effects of pot smoking but I’m only going to concentrate on the issue with the lungs because of the similarity with cigarettes. Not matter what you decide to light up and inhale, if it’s burning, it’s not going to be good for you. There are a lot of sources about the health risks. Here are a few:

University of Washington

Marijuana smoke contains a similar range of harmful chemicals to that of tobacco smoke (including bronchial irritants, tumor promoters and carcinogens) (Hoffmann et al, 1975). As inhaled smoke comes into contact with airway and lung before being absorbed into the bloodstream, it is likely to affect the respiratory system (Novotny et al, 1982).

American Lung Association

Marijuana smoke contains a greater amount of carcinogens than tobacco smoke. In addition, marijuana users usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, further increasing the lungs exposure to carcinogenic smoke. Marijuana use is not only associated with adverse physical effects, but also mental, emotional and behavioral changes.

From the same source, I really love this paragraph – reminds me of the anti-cigarette arguments. Imagine when Obamacare is in full swing and a bureaucrat gets to decide if you deserve treatment:

People who smoke marijuana frequently, but do not smoke tobacco, have more health problems and miss more days of work than nonsmokers. Many of these extra sick days are due to respiratory illnesses.

From California Society of Addiction Medicine
there is a long article but here’s the part specifically about smoking:

Cancer
Smoked marijuana is also thought to carry a risk of cancer, particularly lung cancer and cancer of the head and neck (Zhang, Morgenstern et al. 1999; Tashkin, Baldwin et al. 2002). This concern emerges from the observation that heavy marijuana use causes biochemical and gene alterations in the respiratory tract that are known to be markers of precancerous change (Kalant 2004). Further, marijuana smoke has many of the same carcinogenic hydrocarbons that have been shown to cause lung cancer from tobacco (Denissenko, Pao et al. 1996). Unfortunately, marijuana has not been studied as thoroughly as other smokeable products such as tobacco, and most of the existing studies indicate "risk," not "proof," of a relationship to developing cancer.

Equally, I came across some articles that try to debunk the studies. But, no matter how you slice it, putting crap into your lungs is never a good thing.

Flame suit is on 

Listen man, I've smoked enough to kill a grizzly and I have never been sick, not that everyone is similar. I want to say good job, but all you have done is edited out the whole story from your sources. Allow me to elaborate...

Indeed marijuana makes you cough and when smoked in excess of moderation can lead to low levels of motivation. However, notice how a Washington university 2012 study states if smoked in moderation, there are no adverse effects on the lungs. This is literally at the end of the paragraph you quoted.

university of washington study

However, no consistent association has been found between marijuana smoking and measures of airway dysfunction. Occasional and low cumulative marijuana use has not been associated with adverse effects on pulmonary function (Pletcher et al., 2012); the effects of heavier use are less clear. - See more at: adai.uw.edu...

Next, we have the American Lung Association . It does indeed say that ppl have more coughs and miss work(i would say it is a possibility a few of these cases were because of excess smoking and lack of motivation rather than being "sick"). However, this is where it gets interesting folks. Click that little button at the bottom DrugFacts: Marijuana(the source of their info) and it says something very different. IT IS NOT YET KNOWN WHETHER MARIJUANA SMOKING CONTRIBUTES TO RISK FOR LUNG CANCER. The gd american lung association wrote something completely different in their article. The american lung association said it had more carcinogens than cigarettes????Im going to take a hit from my vape and try to calm down. Im not saying it is your fault, but the fault of the gov't propaganda machine.

One study found that people who smoke marijuana frequently but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems and miss more days of work than those who don’t smoke marijuana, mainly because of respiratory illnesses. It is not yet known whether marijuana smoking contributes to risk for lung cancer.

a reply to: EveStreet

Oh, no...see with legalization in the US comes the lockdown...like alcohol.

You do know you can make your own alcohol in the US don't you? The taxes and restrictions come in to play when you sell it. I am drinking a pale ale that I made as I type.

a reply to: freetheuniverse

Agreed hops and beer are legal but those are "low octane"...I'll bet ya fiddy dollars that growing & selling your own will be illegal in any and all states where selling by the TPTB IS legal...
"And if they decide to put additives in our precious plant then they better believe that people are going to revert back to buying it from the streets, so TPTB can say bye bye to their tax money". Oh no,
see they'll still get money and fines the same damn way they are right now...If you want change you better assemble - like ants

a reply to: Grimpachi

just made my 2nd all grain batch today...white ipa...got my hands on some whole cone cascade hops and 2/3 Belgian pilsner barley and 1/3 white wheat...should be ready in a month