Pot Legalized

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November 7th, 2012 at 1:57:20 PM permalink
ewjones
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 6
Posts: 32
In high school I was under the impression weed hurts your memory, cognition, general intelligence. And long term, not just while you're high. But once I got to college I met a lot of really smart people that were doing really well in classes and frequently got high. So maybe it doesn't hurt that much.

I've smoked a few times and never liked it. I felt stupid while I was high. So I'm sure I would have no interest in doing it. But it should be legalized, while the tax on alcohol should be higher.. If I went out to the bar and could either smoke a joint for $20 bucks, or have two beers for the same price, I'll choose the joint.
November 7th, 2012 at 2:26:59 PM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
The point is the government shouldn't be the guardian of what people do or don't do with their body and their health.

Not to mention the inconsistency in allowing alcohol and tobacco to be legal, when they produce many of the adverse effects of drugs that are illegal.

At most the government's proper role should be confined to defining how the influence of mind-altering substances, including alcohol, should legally be considered in both day-to-day activities (like driving) and in criminal situations (both by perpetrators and victims). For example, should being drunk or high justify or aggravate the comission of a crime?
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
November 7th, 2012 at 4:02:51 PM permalink
reno
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 58
Posts: 1384
Quote: AZDuffman
I would be more from dropping it from a misdemeanor to summary offense. Like a traffic ticket.


In 2010 Gov Schwarzenegger signed a bill similar to what you're arguing for. It's a step in the right direction, but unless weed is sold legally by licensed retailers, Schwarzenegger's plan still allows a black market to exist. And as long as there is a black market for dope, there will be Mexican drug gangs to profit from it.

The Mexican drug cartels earn about $2 billion from the marijuana trade. By comparison, Mexico's gangs earn about $2.4 billion from cocaine. To my knowledge the Mexican drug lords do not sell alcohol in the U.S. (although perhaps they sell cigarettes in states with outlandishly high tobacco taxes), so if pot was completely legal in all 50 U.S. states, it could deprive $2 billion in revenue from these criminals.
November 7th, 2012 at 8:58:34 PM permalink
MonkeyMonkey
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 0
Posts: 111
Quote: Nareed
The point is the government shouldn't be the guardian of what people do or don't do with their body and their health.


I think that depends of whether they force the rest of us to pay for the healthcare of others with mandated health insurance premiums.
World's most discriminating Kool-Aid connoisseur
November 8th, 2012 at 8:29:14 AM permalink
RonC
Member since: Nov 7, 2012
Threads: 8
Posts: 2452
Quote: MonkeyMonkey
I think that depends of whether they force the rest of us to pay for the healthcare of others with mandated health insurance premiums.


Everyone says that there is no one trying to create a nanny state...but you hit the nail on the head...

You tell me I have to pay for the healthcare of others (no need to mention we already do pay for some), then I have the right to demand they take care of themselves the way I think they should.

Don't fall down on the slope; it is slippery!!
November 8th, 2012 at 8:44:04 AM permalink
FarFromVegas
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 3
Posts: 121
Quote: RonC
Everyone says that there is no one trying to create a nanny state...but you hit the nail on the head...

You tell me I have to pay for the healthcare of others (no need to mention we already do pay for some), then I have the right to demand they take care of themselves the way I think they should.

Don't fall down on the slope; it is slippery!!


The uninsured use the emergency rooms and what they can't pay gets passed on in higher costs to everyone. You are already paying for the health care of the uninsured through higher costs. Making them buy insurance or pay a penalty (just like with car insurance) will help bring the costs down. Making insurance companies actually use the money they collect to pay for health care and not bonuses is also a good thing.
This space for rent
November 8th, 2012 at 10:03:57 AM permalink
Bigfoot66
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1
Posts: 16
Quote: FarFromVegas
The uninsured use the emergency rooms and what they can't pay gets passed on in higher costs to everyone. You are already paying for the health care of the uninsured through higher costs. Making them buy insurance or pay a penalty (just like with car insurance) will help bring the costs down. Making insurance companies actually use the money they collect to pay for health care and not bonuses is also a good thing.


This is what Hayek called The Road to Serfdom. One regulation has unintended consequences, so people demand another regulation to clean up the mess from the first, which results in yet more unintended consequences, and the cycle continues until you live in a world where every area of life is very heavily regulated. The answer is not more government force, but less.
November 8th, 2012 at 10:29:41 AM permalink
rdw4potus
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 10
Posts: 147
Quote: Bigfoot66
This is what Hayek called The Road to Serfdom. One regulation has unintended consequences, so people demand another regulation to clean up the mess from the first, which results in yet more unintended consequences, and the cycle continues until you live in a world where every area of life is very heavily regulated. The answer is not more government force, but less.



So it's like this:
I'm not wearing any pants, film at 11
November 8th, 2012 at 11:34:23 AM permalink
TheCesspit
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 23
Posts: 1929
Regular chiropratic care is needed? That's as much snake oil as the pharma list before hand :)
It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die.... it's called Life
November 8th, 2012 at 2:10:52 PM permalink
MonkeyMonkey
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 0
Posts: 111
Quote: FarFromVegas
The uninsured use the emergency rooms and what they can't pay gets passed on in higher costs to everyone. You are already paying for the health care of the uninsured through higher costs. Making them buy insurance or pay a penalty (just like with car insurance) will help bring the costs down. Making insurance companies actually use the money they collect to pay for health care and not bonuses is also a good thing.


I've bolded the part that I think needs the most addressing, and italicized the "group" you're referring to.

So, who is this "them" that will now be forced to pay for health insurance instead of using the emergency room as their health insurance "plan"? Is it any of them folks listed in the following quote?

Quote: factcheck.org

The law makes a number of exemptions for low-income persons and hardship cases.

“Individuals who cannot afford coverage”: If an employer offers coverage that would cost the employee more than 8 percent of his or her household income (for self-only coverage) that individual is exempt from the tax.

“Taxpayers with income below filing threshold”: Also exempt are those who earn too little to be required to file tax returns. For 2011 — as previously mentioned — those thresholds were $9,500 for a single person under age 65, and $19,000 for a married person filing jointly with a spouse, for example. The thresholds go up each year in line with inflation, so those cut-offs will be higher in 2014, when the tax first takes effect.

“Hardships”: The Secretary of Health and Human Services is empowered to exempt others that she or he determines to “have suffered a hardship with respect to the capability to obtain coverage.”

Other exemptions: Also exempt are members of Indian tribes, persons with only brief gaps in coverage, and members of certain religious groups currently exempt from Social Security taxes (which as we’ve previously reported are chiefly Anabaptist — that is, Mennonite, Amish or Hutterite).


The argument that the many (all?) of the same people that are currently abusing the system will be exempt from the new system and thus not helping out as you've indicated is so obvious I won't insult you or waste your time making it, just read who's exempt, it's all right there.

Source: http://www.factcheck.org/2012/06/how-much-is-the-obamacare-tax/
World's most discriminating Kool-Aid connoisseur
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