cannabis prohibition may be part of the solution

[cannawarrior]

have you ever thought how life would be different if cannabis was legal?

I think cannabis prohibition has done a lot of good in that it has helped open a lot of people's eyes and cause them to question their government and society in a new way.

And when cannabis prohibition laws have forced you into a world of alternative thinkers you start to wonder what other cultural lies are being blindly accepted as truth.

This is a good path to be on, and many are on it largely due to cannabis prohibition IMO. I know its the only reason I'm here.

Like many others I had a fear of drugs drummed into from a very early age. My parents are very straight and the only reason I didn't mind smoking cannabis is because I knew it was safe and not addictive. Then once I tried it and it became part of my life, I got involved in an alternative culture that I otherwise would have had no interest in, and now am on my way to my first psychedelic experience. All this may have never happened if cannabis was legal and I could buy a pack of joints at the local newsagent.

I reckon cannabis prohibition laws help to highlight the evil nature of governments, and send many people on a path that they otherwise would never have discovered. In effect, the authorities have made cannabis a gateway to enlightenment, by making it illegal.

I'd love to think that the controlling culture of governments will eventually be destroyed by the increasing number of enlightened people in our society, which were indirectly created by drug prohibition itself. Just nature's way of balancing itself on a higher level.

[Podders]

It's an interesting point of view there Cannawarrior, it's certainly a fear for me that legalization would take away some of the magic associated with this plant. When baked I like think that this goddess has somehow picked us out.


My parents are very straight and the only reason I didn't mind smoking cannabis is because I knew it was safe and not addictive.

I really like getting blasted with the knowledge it's really only mind games.

[bigstu]

u are so true and the price is the main thing that gose up when the risk is high u no what i meen lol jah bless u all stay stoned brappppppppp:eek:

[Blazing Glory]

I keep dreaming of a day when a state is based on free thought and reason, but if that day ever comes we can't forget the history of cannabis prohibition. It must be documented in as much detail as possible as an example of how not to do things. I honestly think the war on drugs can answer for alot of the problems we see around us. In particular the vast drain on many powerful countries in terms of upholding and enforcing preposterous laws, detaining and incarcerating innocent drug offenders (particularly abusers who should be helped not locked up), and foreign policies based on the idea that it is possible to eradicate drugs on a global scale. Oh, and when I say drugs, only mean the ones that a powerful few choose are bad. Not the ones that make millions of pounds for huge pharmaceutical companies. At the very least Lemsip, which is just Paracetamol and powdered Ribena. So it's not possible to die from ignorant paracetamol overdose? Fair enough boss.

[S.S.Muldoon]

Thanks for a different angle. I am always thinking about how prohibition negatively effects me and has forced me to make unpleasant choices, never bothering to realize that I've then also been forced to THINK, and THINK for myself.
Your point makes it easier for me to dissapate a lot of anger I've been carrying... Seriously, thanks!

[iToke]

Thats a cool way to think about it dude. I never really questioned drugs and the attitude until I was twelve when I first smoked the herb, and from then on I've never really questioned the views of the counter-culture. But in a way you're right, if cannabis was legal I never would have tried mind-expanding substances like peyote and LSD. I probably would never have never met some of my best friends.

But I guess with that said there are a lot of sick people out there who could benefit from legal herb but either don't qualify for an mmj card or don't live in a place where they could get one. And for once it would be nice to walk into the newsagents and say I'll have a packet of wrigley's, a relentless and 5 grams of white widow.

[Ostritt]

Interesting perspective, but it might be sort of circuitous as well

All this may have never happened if cannabis was legal and I could buy a pack of joints at the local newsagent.


If cannibis were legal, and if governments weren't afraid of the kind of awareness it brings, then maybe there would be no evil government to be aware of. Prohibition is a symptom of a sick society, if the illness weren't there maybe the symptom wouldn't be either.

Then again, maybe it would and legalisation would just be a way to appease the masses. Now if other psychedelics were illegal, or diplomatic talks were conducted under MDMA, that would be a whole different story.

[pete21]

I saw a funny blog once called "Legalize pot so we can destroy pot culture." I am willing to take that chance.

[max_freakout]

I think cannabis prohibition has done a lot of good in that it has helped open a lot of people's eyes and cause them to question their government and society in a new way.


i think this is circular reasoning, if there was no drug prohibition there would be no reason to fundamentally question government or society

[Jesse Lou]

Well now...

At least you look at the shit-storm of prohibition that we are in from a positive angle.

The truest point to me in this thread so far is that, yes, we have been able to see how the government makes it decisions for the people it means to govern.

The parameters for acceptable drugs for the citizen are simple. Substances that numb, nauseate, intoxicate, slightly stimulate with NO shift in mental consciousness or things that cause an aberration from the 9am to 5pm, tax paying, serenely and productively stupid life, are completely acceptable AND recommended.

What a crock of shit.



However, upon retrospect of this idea that "prohibition has enlightened some and that is good", is slightly agreeable, but does not go over well with me too well. We could be in a much better place right now if we actually had this "Freedom of Mind" which we most certainly deserve, but are far from.


If these sacred sacraments like Cannabis were never prohibited from the get go then there would be even more people using it, but in a much different way than it goes around and is taken today.

We wouldn't have to go sneak over to home-boy or girls house secretly to get a bag, go hide at home, and feel like a outlaw when we felt the call or need to intake the spirit of lady cannabis.

During a long gondola ride last winter, I met someone who came from a place where weed wasn't so oppressed as it is in the US. It was a very cool Jamaican fellow. It started off with me asking if he would like to join me in smoking this nice joint that I had rolled earlier. He respectfully declined, but stated that he loves cannabis and has a very strong relationship to it. Then he continued to enlighten me with some stories from his canna-culture. The thing that really stuck my bell was when he told me that, "We don't use cannabis where I am from like you americans do here. We use it in our homes mostly for meditation, prayer, self-reflection, and things like that."

He continued on after that expressing his inability to understand how and why cannabis is used the way it is in the USA.

For the rest of that day I thought a lot about what he said and was slightly bothered, but then came to realize that someone who had not grown up with such oppression would most likely not understand what it is like for us. 99.9% of us have had ZERO guidance and teaching on why, when, and how to use cannabis and that really really sucks. That's why it is still used out of rebellion, in the hallways during high school lunch break, hidden from those that deplore it, and with out much thought or intention.


To sum things up, I feel that if there was no prohibition, we would have established guidelines, practices, and much more spiritual involvement when toking up. I can not say that there would be more people using it than there are now, but what I can say is that I think that there would be less people using it who don't need it, for example, clueless 12 year olds, and more people using it who do need it like those specifically seeking an altered state of consciousness, people with chronic pain, and those just looking to connect with their friends and loved ones on another level.

Ohh and cannawarrior, if you're the kind of person that can has a symbiotic relationship with cannabis now, then there is no doubt in my mind that if it were completely legal and free to grow on and roam the land, it would certainly find its way to you or vise-versa.

For now, we shall continue to fight for our right to live with and love the spiritual gatekeeper plants that are so disturbingly demonized.

Overgrow, educate to clear up the ridiculous lies, and continue searching.

Screw prohibition. We're better off without it.

[Defenderalex1]

I think it's really good to take the good and leave the bad behind... but i am ANGRY! People are making a profit by stealing time from your life with tobacco. I cannot express my outrage, but they tempt me to try! :mad:

[sancho23]

I saw a funny blog once called "Legalize pot so we can destroy pot culture." I am willing to take that chance.

Yeah man, I agree. I think it would do wonders for the pot culture, although perhaps not the people making money from it!

It would be REALLY weird though if suddenly I found myself able to consume as much cannabis as I want and never get in trouble for it! I mean, think about it, so many aspects of the experience would be different, from buying to selling it to smoking it. . .I think some guys would go out and smoke themselves stupid but that's to be expected when you let floodgates like that open. I wonder if that would be a good thing or a bad thing for business? Not even just pot, but all the cultural artifacts that come with the whole culture of drugs use, how would things be different?

The first thing I could think of that would be different is that I'd have the stankenest fucking garden for 30miles!!! They'd call me Sancho GreenThumb! OH if only. . .

[Podders]

It would be REALLY weird though if suddenly I found myself able to consume as much cannabis as I want and never get in trouble for it!

Maybe the authorities would flood the market with adulderated Zombie Weed, which turn the partakers in mindless Zombies staggering about devouring anything and everything. Attacking fast food outlets and consuming huge quantities and leaving without paying, bursting into people kitchens and emptying fridges.

NEWSFLASH: the federal government has decided to declare open season on "Pot Zombies". Shotguns are being given out at all major shopping outlets and the population is encouraged to rid society of this menace.

Struth, anyone fancy making a film, "Pot Zombies"?

Podders

[Ostritt]

I think things might be different for about a month and a half, then you wouldn't really notice it. People who are going to smoke will find weed somehow regardless of legal status, and others won't. Some people who haven't tried it before might do so, but chances are they will anyway.

I think it will be far more normal than especially our governments predict. Holland is the perfect example.