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  1. #1
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    Obama: Pot 'not very different' to cigs

    Last updated 14:28 20/01/2014


    US President Barack Obama says smoking marijuana is a "bad habit" but no worse than alcohol and that states legalising weed should go ahead with their plans.

    "As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don't think it is more dangerous than alcohol," the president said an interview with The New Yorker magazine.

    Smoking marijuana is "not something I encourage, and I've told my daughters I think it's a bad idea, a waste of time, not very healthy", Obama said.

    Obama's administration has given states permission to experiment with marijuana regulation, and laws recently passed in Colorado and Washington state legalising marijuana recently went into effect. The president said it was important for the legalisation of marijuana to go forward in those states to avoid a situation in which only a few are punished while a large portion of people have broken the law at one time or another.

    The president said he is troubled at the disproportionate number of arrests and imprisonments of minorities for marijuana use. "Middle-class kids don't get locked up for smoking pot and poor kids do," he said. "And African-American kids and Latino kids are more likely to be poor and less likely to have the resources and the support to avoid unduly harsh penalties."

    He said in the interview that users shouldn't be locked up for long stretches of time when people writing drug laws "have probably done the same thing".

    Asked whether he thought marijuana was less dangerous than alcohol, the president said yes "in terms of its impact on the individual consumer".

    But Obama urged a cautious approach to changing marijuana laws, saying that people who think legalising pot will solve social problems are "probably overstating the case".

    "And the experiment that's going to be taking place in Colorado and Washington is going to be, I think, a challenge", the president said.

    Ethan Nadelmann, the executive director of the New York City-based Drug Policy Alliance, praised Obama's words, saying his use of the word "important" about the new Colorado and Washington laws "really puts the wind in the sails" of the movement to end marijuana prohibition.

    Critics of the new laws raise concerns about public health and law enforcement, asking whether wide availability of the drug will lead to more underage drug use, more cases of driving while high and more crime.

    Obama: Pot 'not very different' to cigs | Stuff.co.nz

  2. #2
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    Bollocks, it's heaps better than cigs.

  3. #3
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    cigs are stronger than pot,

  4. #4
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    How does the Prez get away with encouraging the breaking of a federal narcotics law?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Butterfly View Post
    cigs are stronger than pot,
    at least pot generally only has pot in it compared to cigs which have all kinds of crazy shit in them other than tobacco.

    Should make cigs illegal and pot available everywhere IMO. That would fuck the greedy careless tobacco industry!

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    Quote Originally Posted by beazalbob69 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Butterfly View Post
    cigs are stronger than pot,
    at least pot generally only has pot in it compared to cigs which have all kinds of crazy shit in them other than tobacco.

    Should make cigs illegal and pot available everywhere IMO. That would fuck the greedy careless tobacco industry!
    I think you will find that the moment it is made legal the greedy, careless tobacco industry will take over and dominate the market in a second. I will guarantee the plans for it are already well in place now.
    Treat everyone as a complete and utter idiot and you can only ever be pleasantly surprised !

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Necron99 View Post
    How does the Prez get away with encouraging the breaking of a federal narcotics law?
    Where did he do that then?

  8. #8
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    Who cares.

    But now we have re-baptized him Orasta, we should probably have a lecture by Jorge.


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    Quote Originally Posted by Necron99 View Post
    How does the Prez get away with encouraging the breaking of a federal narcotics law?
    Because he is the Prez.

    I presume he does not agree with the federal law and classification of pot as a class "A" drug. Nixon did that.

    There are people sitting in federal prison for selling medical marijuana in California. Legal under CA law, but against fed law, so the feds prosecuted and the jury was not allowed to be told that this pot in CA was legal under CA state law.

    That was under GWB. Prick.
    ............

  10. #10
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    Good to see an honest approach right from the top...Unprecedented...

  11. #11
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    Quite, it's about time the establishment stopped trying to block the use of soft drugs when they are peddling and profiting from from more dangerous ones in tobacco and alcohol.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BaitongBoy View Post
    Good to see an honest approach right from the top...Unprecedented...
    WTF..........??? The Man is plain dumb, it's right up there with the "he could be my son" remark about a violent waanabe nigga Gangsta scumbag.

    Apart from all the known dangers in tobacco, the main difference is that you get high (impaired at some level) from pot, just like you can get dumb and drunk from drinking to much booze.

    That difference is hugely significant.

    But the minstrel in the White House is so engulfed in the race issue of many Nigga drug dealers in Jail, that his solution to the Black crime scourge in the US, is to legalise the Black crimes.

    What will be next....... Black pimps? an African American polygamy cultural tradition, no different from any normal hetero marriage .

  13. #13
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    Whenever I read stories about the effects of smoking marijuana I am reminded of the time I visited a stationery shop here. Most of the fast selling items were out of stock; shelves were bare. I thought there had been a burglary.

    Upon approaching a sales assistant I was greeted with a smile that any Mormon would be proud of. I took my book to the counter and the cashier had the same glazed expression. The staff were all stoned.

    Just as some people cannot keep away from alcohol and lose jobs as a result, I expect we will see a few more more dopeheads on the dole, but at least they won't mind.
    I see fish. They are everywhere. They don't know they are fish.

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    Thailand Expat Boon Mee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Necron99 View Post
    How does the Prez get away with encouraging the breaking of a federal narcotics law?
    Heh...the better question is how he is getting away with breaking all kinds of laws and the Lap Dog Media covers for him.

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    “They lie about marijuana. Tell you pot-smoking makes you unmotivated. Lie! When you're high, you can do everything you normally do just as well — you just realize that it's not worth the fucking effort. There is a difference.”

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by larvidchr View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by BaitongBoy View Post
    Good to see an honest approach right from the top...Unprecedented...
    WTF..........??? The Man is plain dumb, it's right up there with the "he could be my son" remark about a violent waanabe nigga Gangsta scumbag.

    Apart from all the known dangers in tobacco, the main difference is that you get high (impaired at some level) from pot, just like you can get dumb and drunk from drinking to much booze.

    That difference is hugely significant.

    But the minstrel in the White House is so engulfed in the race issue of many Nigga drug dealers in Jail, that his solution to the Black crime scourge in the US, is to legalise the Black crimes.

    What will be next....... Black pimps? an African American polygamy cultural tradition, no different from any normal hetero marriage .
    The difference in the societal effects compared to Alcohol is huge. The difference in Health care costs compared to alcohol and tobacco is also huge.

    Decriminalising it and regulating it is a far better option.

    The US already has far too many people in prison for soft drug offences.

    Obama is absolutely right to promote the discussion and the serious examination of the effects of decriminalisation in both Washington State and Colorado.

    Anyone who thinks otherwise is a retarded fucking idiot.

  17. #17
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    ^^ and ^
    Amazon will probably do a roaring trade as shop staff figure ordering that stock just isn't worth the effort.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Necron99 View Post
    How does the Prez get away with encouraging the breaking of a federal narcotics law?
    Tax dollars.
    If the country wasn't in such a financial jam it wouldn't be on the agenda.

  19. #19
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    And why not? What a titanic waste of money enforcing laws against this stuff and paying fortunes to keep people inside.

    Compare it with the costs of alcohol abuse.

    The CDC estimates it at over $220 BILLION a year in health care and lost productivity costs.

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    I need a strong drink....

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by larvidchr View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by BaitongBoy View Post
    Good to see an honest approach right from the top...Unprecedented...
    WTF..........??? The Man is plain dumb, it's right up there with the "he could be my son" remark about a violent waanabe nigga Gangsta scumbag.

    Apart from all the known dangers in tobacco, the main difference is that you get high (impaired at some level) from pot, just like you can get dumb and drunk from drinking to much booze.

    That difference is hugely significant.

    But the minstrel in the White House is so engulfed in the race issue of many Nigga drug dealers in Jail, that his solution to the Black crime scourge in the US, is to legalise the Black crimes.

    What will be next....... Black pimps? an African American polygamy cultural tradition, no different from any normal hetero marriage .
    The difference in the societal effects compared to Alcohol is huge. The difference in Health care costs compared to alcohol and tobacco is also huge.

    Decriminalising it and regulating it is a far better option.

    The US already has far too many people in prison for soft drug offences.

    Obama is absolutely right to promote the discussion and the serious examination of the effects of decriminalisation in both Washington State and Colorado.

    Anyone who thinks otherwise is a retarded fucking idiot.
    Pot is a gateway drug, and the damages and social effects is huge, not in the way Alcohol stands out, but then Pot was also illegal so less openly abused.

    Now I entirely agree with decriminalising pot, no one should go to jail for having a joint or two in the pocket for personal use, and the money saved should be used to educate our young not to abuse any mind numbing drugs excessively alcohol included.

    But that is not what this is about, it is not decriminalising in Colorado!!..... it has been legalised!!..... and that before the necessary regulating systems have been put in place, which is a whole different kettle of fish Harry.

    And it is quite retarded not knowing the difference.

    With legalisation will come a host of problems they haven't prepared for, like a lot more DUI cases, that is if they do what they are supposed to, namely start looking for it on the same level as DUI alcohol since it now is legal and thus needs regulating in the exact same way.

    They will have to either say driving high as a kite is OK and no culpability or responsibility for that reason can be put on "high" drivers causing an accident, which is quite unthinkable, or nail anyone who register drug positive in a test, and since there is no levels of min./max. drugged up invented or agreed on, this is going to be a harsh wakeup call for drivers that has been used to getting away with pot smoking, even days after the fact since pot/THC lingers in the blood for days.

    Again same for work places, company's will need to up the drug testing, not that they want to, but because they risk huge lawsuits from injured employees if it turns out the offender was high, and the company policy/control lax, in the crazy US lawsuit system, you can bet this will become an issue.

    We do not need more legalised drugs, alcohol is plenty bad enough as most of the pro free pot crowd constantly drone, so why would adding one more legal mindfvuck-drug be any better if not twice as bad.

    The number of Blacks in Jail, or the economic benefits from States taking over the street corner drug dealing, is just not good enough reasons from a moral point of view IMHO.
    Last edited by larvidchr; 20-01-2014 at 08:41 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Neo View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Necron99 View Post
    How does the Prez get away with encouraging the breaking of a federal narcotics law?
    Tax dollars.
    If the country wasn't in such a financial jam it wouldn't be on the agenda.
    You got that right and that is why it stinks

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Necron99 View Post
    How does the Prez get away with encouraging the breaking of a federal narcotics law?
    Where did he do that then?
    Pot is still illegal under federal law. http://norml.org/laws/item/federal-penalties-2 The Feds always have the option to prosecute even when state prosecutors demure. The Feds have used this to come down hard on medical marijuana growers and distributors in California.

    Rank hypocrisy by Obama here. He might argue that he has more important problems, bigger fish to fry, but people in or on their way to jail and permanent criminal records for something as innocuous as pot would disagree.

    Calling "pot" a "habit" in any way similar to nicotine use is incorrect and idiotic on its face, btw. It's like comparing coffee and whiskey- yes, caffeine and alcohol have physical effects and both are consumed as liquids, otherwise, no comparison. Coffee or tea-drinking are themselves more likely to result in physical dependency than marijuana, although like smoking marijuana, drinking coffee and tea has upsides that can outweigh the bad effects.
    “You can lead a horticulture but you can’t make her think.” Dorothy Parker

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    I personally don't agree with Mary Jane "gateway" theory. First time I was offered acid was in a pub same as ecstasy. Why do people have a problem with what herbs/plants I want to injest into my body.

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    Quote Originally Posted by rebbu View Post
    I personally don't agree with Mary Jane "gateway" theory. First time I was offered acid was in a pub same as ecstasy. Why do people have a problem with what herbs/plants I want to injest into my body.
    Because it [like numerous things] has been strongly suggested to them.

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