OT: HB447 Texas Legalization

[netty2424]

That argument was used years ago in Colorado. That did not work out. The overdose deaths are skyrocketing. A colleague from Colorado just sent me this graph.
View attachment 8523

Interesting correlation.

What are we supposed to take from that, is MJ causing increased opioid overdoses? Or that we still aren’t doing a good enough job with over prescribing highly addictive opioids, and helping those who become addicted after being prescribed, and/or addicted via black market sources, AKA the plug?

 

[netty2424]

Where does NORMLFROG stand on this issue?

Is he a pot head, or a DEA agent?

 

[BrewingFrog]

Well, Doc, the good news is that all those other drugs seem to be crowding out heroin. So, we've got that going for us...

As to the increase in deaths, I do wonder what the history of the casualties was. As in, were these people who moved to Colorado due to the new goodies and their previous bad habits eventually caught up to them, or native folk who went all "gateway drug" and wound up dead?

I do remember sitting at the bar at the Bouderado Hotel in 2017, beneath the serene face of The Moose*, and looking out the front window for signs of mayhem and terror. "We were told that if the legalization passed, all sorts of hell would descend upon us," our kind and talented bartender explained. I saw nothing of the sort. Boulder looked to be as peaceful and quirky as it had ever been, and even the flood of Deadheads that descended upon the town that weekend were taken in stride.

(*Alas, I cannot post the portrait of The Moose, as the file is too large...)

 

[Wharf Rat]

Well, Doc, the good news is that all those other drugs seem to be crowding out heroin. So, we've got that going for us...

As to the increase in deaths, I do wonder what the history of the casualties was. As in, were these people who moved to Colorado due to the new goodies and their previous bad habits eventually caught up to them, or native folk who went all "gateway drug" and wound up dead?

I do remember sitting at the bar at the Bouderado Hotel in 2017, beneath the serene face of The Moose*, and looking out the front window for signs of mayhem and terror. "We were told that if the legalization passed, all sorts of hell would descend upon us," out kind and talented bartender explained. I saw nothing of the sort. Boulder looked to be as peaceful and quirky as it had ever been, and even the flood of Deadheads that descended upon the town that weekend were taken in stride.

(*Alas, I cannot post the portrait of The Moose, as the file is too large...)

I was one of those Deadheads.

 

[BrewingFrog]

I was one of those Deadheads.

Well met, good sir!

 

[frogtwang]

I was one of those Deadheads.

Name checks out.

 

[ShadowFrog]

Guilty. I denounce myself. I haven't showered today...

But, I did plant tomatoes, an entire raft of strawberries, spread a ton of cedar mulch, made a loaf of luscious banana bread, and a pan of Chicken Enchiladas.

Now go & change your armour!

 

[Froggish]

I live an OK and I don’t partake but know many who do..I can say that the economic boom that was promised has yet to materialize. I manage construction machine salesman and over the last year and a half we’ve had more Russian and Chinese characters roll in to OK buying cheap land and machines to set weed farms and distribution than you can imagine. Just the other day a couple of Russian mafia types come walking into my office with 200K in cash wanting to buy a fleet of skid steers for their grow operation in the middle of nowhere OK..Crazy damn thing I’ve ever seen.

 

[Frognosticator]

That argument was used years ago in Colorado. That did not work out. The overdose deaths are skyrocketing. A colleague from Colorado just sent me this graph.
View attachment 8523

That graph pretty much proves it: It's Trump's fault.

 

[netty2424]

I live an OK and I don’t partake but know many who do..I can say that the economic boom that was promised has yet to materialize. I manage construction machine salesman and over the last year and a half we’ve had more Russian and Chinese characters roll in to OK buying cheap land and machines to set weed farms and distribution than you can imagine. Just the other day a couple of Russian mafia types come walking into my office with 200K in cash wanting to buy a fleet of skid steers for their grow operation in the middle of nowhere OK..Crazy damn thing I’ve ever seen.

Wild West up in Oklahoma. Been a few years now but this was a huge case. One of the heads of arguably the most violent drug cartels ever lived in Lawson using a horse farm to launder money.

Never know who your neighbor might really be.

https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/equine-crime-a-horse-farm-of-a-different-color

 

[CountryFrog]

I don't care at all whether marijuana is legal or illegal. I have no doubt at some point in the not too distant future it will be legal in every state and that's fine with me.

The much more interesting thing to me is what's next? Does it stop at just marijuana or do other currently illegal substances get legalized and which ones?

 

[Eight]

If it's legal it can be taxed. If it's illegal...well...looks like an obvious conclusion to me.

Have you not reason then to be ashamed, and to forbear this filthy novelty, so basely grounded, so foolishly received and so grossly mistaken in the right use thereof? In your abuse thereof sinning against God, harming your selves both in persons and goods, and raking also thereby the marks and notes of vanity upon you: by the custom thereof making your selves to be wondered at by all foreign civil Nations, and by all strangers that come among you, to be scorned and contemned. A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless.

king james1 discussing the evils of tobacco. he is also the answer to the question, "which english monarch was the first to tax tobacco?"

 

[Froggish]

I don't care at all whether marijuana is legal or illegal. I have no doubt at some point in the not too distant future it will be legal in every state and that's fine with me.

The much more interesting thing to me is what's next? Does it stop at just marijuana or do other currently illegal substances get legalized and which ones?

So you’re saying weed could be an economic gateway drug..

 

[Paul in uhh]

Interesting correlation.

What are we supposed to take from that, is MJ causing increased opioid overdoses? Or that we still aren’t doing a good enough job with over prescribing highly addictive opioids, and helping those who become addicted after being prescribed, and/or addicted via black market sources, AKA the plug?

My read is that legalizing mj won’t help in the fight against opioids

 

[The TCU Football Jerk]

Legalize it, regulate it and tax it just like booze. Gambling should be next. However, there also needs to be a movement to show it's not in fact harmless. Seen too many lives destroyed by it, just like booze and other drugs.

 

[Froginbedford]

I don't care at all whether marijuana is legal or illegal. I have no doubt at some point in the not too distant future it will be legal in every state and that's fine with me.

The much more interesting thing to me is what's next? Does it stop at just marijuana or do other currently illegal substances get legalized and which ones?

There should be no law against consumption of any chemical or herb....After all, it only hurts the user/abuser....

 

[Spike]

Is he a pot head, or a DEA agent?

Worse, a lawyer.

 

[Eight]

Worse, a lawyer.

 

[Horny4TCU]

I just want that nice lesbian couple to be able to be married and protect their marijuana farm with AR-15s.

 

[westoverhillbilly]

I live an OK and I don’t partake but know many who do..I can say that the economic boom that was promised has yet to materialize. I.

I sold a large refrigerated factory in rural western OK about 5 years ago and thought we'd have a very difficult time drawing bidders in that the business had shut and relocated to southeast Asia years before. In no time, a consortium consisting of a former Lt. Governor, a retired Astronaut and some former state reps/senators. Soon after, medical marijuana was legalized and I was told my old dinosaur property was made into a grow center. The local folk for the most part were glad to have a good sized employer who paid decent wages. Really, the big losers in this are the black market dealers.