Fuck yeah amendment 64

Christian Mason wrote:The first commercial dispensaries are supposed to open in January 2014.

Where did you see that?

Having worked with addicts and alcoholics for over 7 years I can only give you my experiences. A majority of my clients, most of whom are under 25, started with pot and many of those also using alcohol.

In my work experience, hearing the clients stories, for them pot was a "gateway" to other substances.

My intent is not to preach, I'm just sharing my experience working with people that are struggling with addiction and pot has been a launching point for them. I feel like now in Colorado we have made this even more accessible.

I also don't think that the cartel/violent crime reduction rate will prove valid. The cartels are not going anywhere and there are just bad people out there who will continue to do bad stuff.

Enough of this, I'm going to Rifle, one last sunny fall day!

chufftard wrote: Rehab is for quitters

It is and we have guys with years of sobriety to prove it!

Scott McMahon wrote:Whether you smoke or not, weeds prohibition continues to be one of the most ridiulous and hypocritical laws in existance. I'm glad to see that finally people are getting that idea.

Indeed.

Lynn S wrote:A majority of the people I work with started their using "career" with pot, just saying... Most moved on to other stuff but many are still trying to overcome their addiction to the hippie lettuce.

Holy crap Lynn! What are you from like 1950 or something? Wake up!

First of all, don't call it 'hippie lettuce'. Second of all, arguing that marijuana is a gateway drug is ridiculous. The people you treat at rehab had personality disorders or psychological conditions way before they used marijuana. Someone that gets balls-deep into drugs has self discipline issues. If you want to blame something that "gateway'd" their problems, you could blame a million things. There are plenty of (I would venture to say the majority) of marijuana users who are perfectly functioning and contributing members to society, that never go on to use hard drugs (I would like to stand as an example of this).

Ahhh... you got me on this stupid rant that everyone has heard before.
But seriously, get with the times...

@john- yeah I only work with with addicts so your probably right that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Ok so not hippy lettuce but marijuana, now I'm "with the times".

Great rant though thanks.

Lynn S wrote:I work in the rehab business, if any of you stoners want a bed saved at the facility I work at just let me know.

http://youtu.be/rHg7hfLN77Y

Lynn S wrote:@john- yeah I only work with with addicts so your probably right that I don't know what I'm talking about. Ok so not hippy lettuce but marijuana, now I'm "with the times". Great rant though thanks.

Lynn how about showing us some studies then that show that using marijuana makes you more likely to get hooked using harder drugs like meth or heroin? The "gateway theory" has been around for years, surely there must be some accredited studies by now....

The whole "gateway drug theory" is outdated bullshit. Nicotine is also a drug and I bet that most people tried cigarettes way before they tried pot or started using meth or heroin. So why is nicotine not considered a gateway drug? Hell most used tylenol as a kid, lets say tylenol is a gateway drug too!

Its just a bullshit theory and common sense. Of course marijuana is going to be the first drug people try, its relatively harmless and easy to get. But that doesnt mean it predisposes people to go on to heroin or meth. Like others said it seems like its more a personality disorder with that addict and if marijuana didnt exist they would most likely go from cigarettes to alcohol then the harder drugs.

Like I said of course meth addicts have probably tried pot first, that does not at all prove that marijuana is a gateway drug and leads users to try other harder drugs. Get your head out of your ass! Just cause you work in a rehab facility doesnt mean you know what youre talking about.

I have at least 30 close friends who all partake occasionally in smoking pot, guess how many have gone on to use heroin or meth? ZERO! The thought has NEVER crossed my mind that "hey I like this marijuana stuff maybe I should try crack next!"

tobin sanson wrote: Yeah! Compromise your integrity! That's what we need more of!

How am I asking her to compromise her integrity?! I'm sure Lynn has plenty of integrity... she's standing up for what she believes in, I'm not asking her to compromise that. I'm asking her to re-evaluate her beliefs!

Lynn S wrote:@john- yeah I only work with with addicts so your probably right that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Isn't this, by definition, sampling bias? Of course your view would be skewed if you're only dealing with people for which drugs have ruined their life. Why would you ever see someone for which that wasn't the case?

I don't believe I ever said all pot smokers end up in rehab. You all are getting pretty worked up, that's not good for your health.

Lynn S wrote:Having worked with addicts and alcoholics for over 7 years I can only give you my experiences. A majority of my clients, most of whom are under 25, started with pot and many of those also using alcohol. In my work experience, hearing the clients stories, for them pot was a "gateway" to other substances. My intent is not to preach, I'm just sharing my experience working with people that are struggling with addiction and pot has been a launching point for them. I feel like now in Colorado we have made this even more accessible. I also don't think that the cartel/violent crime reduction rate will prove valid. The cartels are not going anywhere and there are just bad people out there who will continue to do bad stuff. Enough of this, I'm going to Rifle, one last sunny fall day!

Studies also show that some people that do drugs happen to do all of them. :oP

I think it's considered a "gateway" drug, because like RMT said, it's the safest drug out there. I think alot of folks with addictions would still find something to be addicted to even if marijuana didn't exist. People have and will continue to find ways to abuse pretty much everything. And besides we are already quite aware that alcohol and nicotine are FAR more addictive and dangerous than weed.

However this of course can be argued till the cows come home. I don't think it helps it's been burned in our brains that weed is "evil".

Lynn S wrote: In my work experience, hearing the clients stories, for them pot was a "gateway" to other substances.

That's such BS. If Pot wasn't around or no such thing, then Aspirin or Robotusin, maybe Cocaine would be there gateway drug.

I am sure if you took all the people that smoke pot and compared it to all the people that smoked pot and went on to being Junkies on something bad, It can't be too many statistically speaking. Of course I don't have the statistics and am only specualating. Junkies are gonna be junkies. Alcoholics will be alchoholics. It doesn't matter how they discovered it, but to blame Pot for harder addictions is pure BullShit.

I don't smoke much now in fact very rarely and if at all it's a small nip and I am done, but I was a chimney all through College, and for most of my yosemite and climbing bum days and I never moved on to another drug, In fact I have never even tried coke and have been around it pretty much since College. I still see it in my face now and then, and still don't try it.

I am around pot probablly every single day of my life and I don't smoke it regularly, or even possess it. It doesn't prompt me or the people I am around to get all lit up on harder drugs.

Pot is not a gateway drug, I call BS.

tobin sanson wrote: He* Just because someone has the long, flowing mullet of a young Joan Jett doesn't make them a woman.

Ahahahahah

Lynn S wrote:I don't believe I ever said all pot smokers end up in rehab.

No you just implied it by saying:

Lynn S wrote:A majority of the people I work with started their using "career" with pot, just saying...

Get yer head out of yer ass Lynn!

And honestly most people start their "addictions" the same way, through experimentation.

Stealing a little booze from the parents, then finding a way to get some cigs and maybe a couple beers, then weed. If you keep partying and running with that crowd, well then of course you get exposed to heavier drugs and from there you make the choice of what you want to do with your life.

It's about the choices you make. Saying pot is a gateway drug is like saying ding dongs and candy bars are a gateway drug to obesity.

Lynn S wrote:I don't believe I ever said all pot smokers end up in rehab.

Not exactly, but you said

Lynn S wrote:I work in the rehab business, if any of you stoners want a bed saved at the facility I work at just let me know.

which is implying just as much.

I'm glad to see that the Colorado and Washington voters have finally decided to abolish the hypocrisy and embrace the legalization and taxation of something that is 100% natural and causes less deaths per year than over-the-counter pain relievers.

Lynn S wrote:Having worked with addicts and alcoholics for over 7 years My intent is not to preach, I'm just sharing my experience working with people that are struggling with addiction and pot has been a launching point for them.

Your intent was to preach. That's why you knowingly made a derogatory comment towards people who smoke pot when you said you'd save us all a bed. You work with addicts, and many of them started off smoking pot. But smoking pot doesn't make someone want to do harder drugs. If you want to try harder drugs you're going to try harder drugs, regardless of whether or not you smoke(d) pot. If you don't want to do anything harder, you're going to stick with weed. I understand you're "concerned" for all of those people who are now going to end up mindless druggies, but we'll be okay, I assure you of that.

In this economy you'd think Lynn S would be happy with the job security!

Pot is not physically addictive from my understandings of recent research regarding MJ so lynn you're whole post really just doesn't make sense. Sure these people may be addicts but it sure isn't a physical addiction to pot that got them started. I def call BS.

In fact, there are simply no deaths – zero – from marijuana alone, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is in stark contrast to deaths from alcohol (80,000 a year), tobacco (443,000 a year), even NSAIDS, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which kill an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 American adults every year.

Marijuana used alone is actually remarkably safe, in part because, unlike other drugs, including opioids, it does not cause respiratory depression.

Nor does marijuana seem to be the “gateway” drug that opponents claim it to be. A 1999 report from the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, found that marijuana is not the substance that gets teenagers on the road to substance abuse – underage tobacco and alcohol use are.