Marijuana
With marijuana on the ballot in four U.S. states this November, most prominently California's Proposition 19, which would fully legalize the substance, the legalization of marijuana has become a hot topic of discussion in North America. If pot were to become legal in California, it is unclear how that would affect the ongoing drug wars in neighboring Mexico - whether it would increase, decrease, or have little effect on the widespread violence. What is clear is that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has declared that the federal Justice Department will continue to prosecute those who use or distribute recreational marijuana, regardless of any change to state law. Collected here are photos from the past year of marijuana in the news, for both medicinal and recreational purposes, and some of the legal entanglements involved. (32 photos total)
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. The dispensary was one 25 plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles that fought to stay open after city prosecutors notified 439 medical marijuana dispensaries that they had to shut down by June 7, 2010. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
To See The Entire Entry, With All Photographs, Click Here.
153 Comments So Far...
Genial
Man, that soldier next to the burning marijuana got the high of his life LMAO!!
Great pictures Big Picture!!
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Aquél (los) soldado(s) junto a la quema de marihuana deben haber estado muy volados jajajaj
Go Big Picture!
I don't see how smoking anything on a daily basis(including pot) could be good for your health in any ways. However, I beleive that if pot is illegal, tobacco should be illegal as well since it's a lot more addictive and kills a lot more. It just shows how the government likes to fight against certain things for no reason.
nice collection u've got there
Legalize it!
my new homepage :D
very nice.
Check out the donor list for Partnership for a Drug-Free America. It includes big oil, big pharma, big chemical, big tobacco and big alcohol as industries who fear that pot will siphon profits off.
Seagrams, DuPont, Dow, Shell, Exxon, the list is endless. Hemp makes better lubricants, better rope, better fabric, better protein, better ethanol, etc. than its phoney harmful substitutes.
hell yeah, GO GREEN
Doesn't America know how many lives have been taken by marijuana?
LEGALIZE!
I'm not sure it should be illegal, but how awesome must your life be if the biggest problem you have, and one you are willing to take to the streets for, is legalizing the opportunity to smoke a particular plant?
@9: "Doesn't America know how many lives have been taken by marijuana?"
I'd bet the number is still fewer than have been taken by excessive drinking, or lung cancer from cigarettes.
I mean, think about it. How many times have you heard a news report about a drunk driver killing someone? Or an alcoholic coming home and beating one of his or her family members in a drunken rage? Now think about the last time you heard of a pot-smoker doing that.
This isn't to say marijuana is without costs. As an asthmatic, the idea of setting /anything/ on fire and inhaling the smoke strikes me as unwise. But I don't think there's any solid ground for arguments that pot hurts more people than alcohol or tobacco does. And if that's the case, then legalizing pot and taxing it -- as is widely done with tobacco and alcohol -- would both add to state income, and decrease the amount of money we waste on enforcing laws against pot.
Without drug consume in the US = no chaos, crime and murderer in Mexico.
Cigarettes are way more toxic, and Alcohol is way more dangerous
Both can kill you, it still boggles my mind why the government would still go out of their way to do things like this. i'm mean for christ sake, its just weed. i wish they spent their money focusing on actual drugs like coke, meth, H, all that. But no, we as US tax payers spend a butt-ton of money keeping all of these weed-crimials in jail.
Sorry i'm gonna stop typing it pisses me off how stupid our government is...
go check out norml.com
I wanna get drafted to these special forces as at #15 pic!
"I don't see how smoking anything on a daily basis(including pot) could be good for your health in any ways. However, I beleive that if pot is illegal, tobacco should be illegal as well since it's a lot more addictive and kills a lot more. It just shows how the government likes to fight against certain things for no reason."
They wont ban cigs because they need people to die. The govt makes money off of it, and in a world where unemployment is high, they do not need anybody else sucking welfare down.
plus there are other ways to digest THC versus smoking it; thats just the fastest way.
legalize it!
Why is it illegal? Because it's addictive? What about gambling, drinking smoking and playing world of warcraft? Those are all addictive and 3 secs of googling will reveal many cases of addiction, with tragic consequences.
Because it's bad for your health? Don't get me started on a list of things I do, on a daily basis, that are bad for my health.
Just legalize it!
Picture 3 is definitely a blunt not a joint.
Don't you have fact checkers or something dude?
God save the world..!
Nobody has overdosed from pot #9 (Orenjs). Nobody, ever. So what do you mean "lives taken". And don't give me that "gateway" drug crap. It's a pretty big leap from smoking something vs. sticking needles in your veins. I gotta feeling if someone was going to OD on heroin, they were probably going to try it regardless if Marijuana was tried first or not. I'm sure before they tried Marijuana, they probably tried alcohol & tobacco to eh?
"If pot were to become legal in California, it is unclear how that would affect the ongoing drug wars in neighboring Mexico - whether it would increase violence, or not make much difference at all."
Didn't even consider that it could REDUCE violence, did you?
Legalize use, but keep misuse illegal. It's already like that with alcohol or pain killers or anything else.
Responsible, recreational use within one's own home should be as legal for marijuana as it is with alcohol.
Picture #15: I want to join the mexican army!
Jeez, is it just me or are some of those saleswomen and activists hot?
Anyhow, getting to the point, great set of pictures, and I sincerely hope we turn a new corner and legalize. I have no qualms about taxation. I think it will create jobs, and stimulate portions of the economy (at least in CA), and it will help people understand and lose the ignorance surrounding cannabis.
Makes me want to blaze up! I usually wait until evening but got my bong loaded now(10:30am). I have been a med MJ patient for many years.
Full legalization is coming, just a matter of time. Cali will fall first then it will be like dominoes. Not sure I am for more full legalized commercialization, doesn't affect me either way but for many others, it will be a great help in obtaining the meds so many sick and dying people don't have access to.
Way to much money in keeping it illegal, cops, lawyers, judges, jailers etc make way to much money on it. No wonder they are all fighting so hard to keep it illegal.
Marijuana is illegal because of lobbies, I think it began with cotton farmers lobbying against it because hemp is infinitely more useful (and maybe easier on the soil but not 100% sure about that) than cotton. Tobacco, pharma, alcohol industries are all against it because it threatens their profits. It's the same reason why many other things are legal or illegal in this country, or why we have a trade embargo against Cuba, for example (Cuban-American lobby). Powerful special interest groups have lots of money (or votes, or both) and they lobby (legally bribe) congress to vote a certain way on certain issues, democrats and republicants - which are essentially two sides of the same coin (although dems are certainly the lesser of two evils). Thus, in theory, while we are allowed substantial freedoms (most of the time) we do NOT live in a democracy. It is this fundamental problem with the system that prevents true change from occurring, which is why I am not very optimistic about the future.
On a lighter note, the Patriots won a great game against the Ravens yesterday!
People are missing the big point of this. Its a bunch of crap that people are so overly concerned with themlves that if something bothers them they just lobby for a law to stop it. There is way to much of this going on we need to stop making laws and start taking responsibility for themselves and there children and if you don't like it then don't do it if you don't want your dhild doing it tell them the dangers. But this should be a free world and country like we are told in school. If I wanna smoke weed that's my business the only time laws should be concerned is if I violate someone elses rights. And the best you can do is give your child the proper information to make an informed dissision but again its there own life and there own choice to make no one elses. And I'm not saying its ok for a small child to smoke I agree with the same rule as smoking. Bottom line is people need to start taking responsibility for the morals them and their family have insted of intruding on everyone elses life and having laws made just because they don't like something that you do. We only live once people do we really have to live that one time being restrained by the people around us un able to do thing that we enjoy and are completely harmless. I for one don't think so and I just wished more people agreed
It's not just a health quetion, but about the thousands who are locked up strictly for a marijuana offense. This is costing us money and exposing huge segments of the population to prison.
It's not the gateway drug, that honor falls to either alcohol or tobacco of course (know anyone who *started* with marijuana before they drank?)
And wouldn't the price drop many times over if it was legal and reduce the profit of drug gangs?
@ Comments # 9 and # 20.....
YES! THE SKY IS INDEED FALLING! HEAD FOR THE HILLS!!!! MARY JANE WILL KILL THE WORLD, AND ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO SMOKE IT!
*end sarcasm*
Seriously people....you should get out more.
Fumen bueno...
@ Orenjs
I hope your answer to your rhetorical question is 0. Since you can't over dose on the drug it is technically not responsible for any deaths. Unless somebody takes a brick that ways a ton and drops it on somebody squishing them to death. I am sick and tired of people blaming marijuana for deaths. It stays in your system for weeks people. Therefore, all the stats on people getting in accidents while high are bogus. They might have smoked weeks prior to the incident and since it showed up in their system, they blame the substance to make it seem like there is a good reason to ban marijuana still.
LEGALIZE EVERYWHERE!!!
@13: yes, without _illegal_ drug consume, That's why it must be legal.
compassion is key :)
No les importan los cientos de asesinatos en Mexico combatiendo a las drogas, ni les importan los miles de americanos que mueren por el consumo de drogas, estoy con etienne, lo que quiere el gobierno americano es tener otra fuente de donde recuperar ingresos, quiere tener un pueblo drogado al cual pueda seguir manejando como titere, y callar la corrupcion de sus autoridades en frontera que cierran los ojos y extienden la mano para dejar pasar armas a cambio de droga.
En fin un gobierno ciego tambien.
Legalize it.
Regulate it.
Tax it.
Take money out of the hands of drug lords and put it into the economy.
It is inevitable that marijuana will eventually become legal in the USA. Governments need more tax revenues. And after legality, big business (probably the tobacco industry) will start packaging the product for retail sale. The government will impose standards for THC content and so forth, standardizing the product.
Personally, I gave up pot long ago. I got tired of walking around in a fog.
But given the sorry economic state (and future) of the USA, maybe walking around in a fog is what a lot of people need to get through the day...
Don't forget that US Declaration of Independence was originally written in hemp paper.
Think about it or read all these comments. There are less reasons to blame it because is bad for health, addictive (wich by the way it will never be physically addictive, that is what it matters.) or the worst thing I read "cause of death." There are million things more likely to cause these things, but with millions and millions of dollars invested. Democracy ???? I really doubt so. Seriouslly in what point of view woul you like to discuss this
no thanks, vodka is better...
to forbid drugs was the greatest mistake in mankind history!
My husband started using cocaine when the guy he got his pot from was out but had plenty of coke. If marijuana had been legal, he would have been growing his own and would never had need for that contact - thus no "bait and switch". He will also tell you that it was much harder to stop smoking tobacco, especially menthol cigarettes, than it was to quit cocaine.
Decriminalize marijuana already, f'r chrissakes, and be done with it. So utterly stupid to spend billions on drug wars.
@ #12. marijuana is good for chest ailments, has been used for centuries in Africa as a medicine, a family member was cured of acute asthma by making a tea out of it and sipping a daily dose of around 300ml after 2 years was cured and has never had an attack since 1961, (yep that is nearly 50 years now) she was 11 years old at that time, Medical marijuana gives the CEO's and share holders of big pharma companies many a sleepless night.
For all of those who argue that pot smoking is totally benign, it may not be so:
==========
Calif regulators find pot smoke causes cancer
June 20, 2009
http://www.physorg.com/news164687602.html
----------------
Cannabis alters human DNA
June 16, 2009
New cannabis-like drugs could block pain without affecting brain, says study
A new study published by University of Leicester researchers has found "convincing evidence" that cannabis smoke damages DNA in ways that could potentially increase the risk of cancer development in humans.
http://www.physorg.com/news164348909.html
------------------
December 17, 2007
Marijuana smoke contains higher levels of certain toxins than tobacco smoke
http://www.physorg.com/news117116317.html
Ecologically speaking
1 Acre of hemp paper = 4 Acress paper of trees
LEGALIZENLA!!!!!!!!! y se dejan de wear con tanto narcotrafico y weas, mejor fumemos y seamos felices y al que no le gusta que no fume simplemente
I think it should be pretty obvious that if they don't want to legalize it, it's because somebody(-ies) in power is(are) getting a big buck out of this. Either directly or indirectly.
Honestly, drugs cost what they cost and give the earnings they give because it's illegal. Otherwise it would be pretty cheap, but also it would be harder to keep the monopoly of drug selling in towns if it were legal --not even mentioning that they would have to give some of the money to the goverment.
They really should legalize it and just apply controls as strict as with alcohol or tobacco, and start taxing the huge companies which will form out of it. (I know that would screw home brewers unless they manage to go big, though)
i'm smoking as i type - no other thing in my life has given me so much back. I don't think the quantity of Alcohol anymore, my personal love life is much better than before, I also find myself with less urged to go out and spend money on stupid bullsh*t. :D Medical Marijuana brings you down to a level of knowledge and purity. Makes you think a lot more about what's really going on out there. seems that government has been misguiding people since their existence.
One thing for sure! Make sure you buy NON-MEXICAN products, since most of these images of death come from Mexico. lovely land, sad admnistration. I also don't believe that weapons will make a difference, but since weapon trafficking has been taken through out the years, they have to eradicate the problem with the same problem.
DON"TBUYMEXICANWEED ---
" If pot were to become legal in California, it is unclear how that would affect the ongoing drug wars in neighboring Mexico - whether it would increase violence, or not make much difference at all."
Wait, wait. The only two options are to increase violence or make no difference at all? That's laughable. Ending prohibition of marijuana will no doubt lower violence. Think of Al Capone and gang violence under alcohol prohibition. By outlawing marijuana, we're creating a crime-laden black market that doesn't necessarily have to be there.
Marijuana is scheduled as an illegal substance to justify the DEA's $2+ billion budget. It's a useless department and an enormous waste of taxpayer money. The thought of doing actual, productive work scares them more than anything - enough to justify the imprisonment of non-violent marijuana users. Wake up, everyone.
The government will NEVER be able to control the flow of a plant that anyone with half a brain can grow. In a closet, greenhouse, public land, basements and attics. Overgrow the government.
missing pictures from the so-called ' CoffeeShops' in the Netherlands.
LEGALIZE POT IN EVERYWERE!!!
As a chronic pain sufferer I have to "illegally" get pain relief, its the only thing that works because I do not like the effects of pain pills. As soon as it is legal for medical use in the state of Louisiana, sign me up.
great pictures & captions! if you can smoke and still be responsible then more power to you...BUT i really don't like the pitch that Colorado is throwing around. saying that pot is safer than booze...ehh..it might be but then again do we want a whole bunch of soccer mom's super blowed while driving their kids to practice?! accidents can happen sober or on something..so why drive under the influence of anything?!
btw, incase i get bashed..i'm a smoker myself. ;]
Looks like the Feds lost the war already. It's time to end it.
is this real life?
It is inevitable that marijuana will eventually become legal in the USA. Governments need more tax revenues. And after legality, big business (probably the tobacco industry) will start packaging the product for retail sale. The government will impose standards for THC content and so forth, standardizing the product.
Personally, I gave up pot long ago. I got tired of walking around in a fog.
But given the sorry economic state (and future) of the USA, maybe walking around in a fog is what a lot of people need to get through the day...
speaking about netherlands, it has been legalized for years, while in france it has been prohibited stronger and stronger for years. the result ? almost 40% of french teenagers have tried once, and around 20% smoke every week.
In the meantime, in netherlands, same figures are a half less.
The only pot_overdrugged dudes you'll find in amsterdam streets, come from france or great britain.
In france criminality about marijuana (or hashish) are very high and feed guns traffic and dangerous crime networks in north africa, where the marijuana comes from.
In portugal, the gvt finally legalized the owning but not selling nor growing. the portuguese police argues than now they can focus on more important crimes than smoking pot.
less ideology and more pragmatism would be great (in europe, like in USA)
I think its right to legalize. But its not in the entire world because pepole who use it can't start to argue about serious subjects like it's own country goverment... and social aspects and stuff.
Vice isn't good. But it should be allowed to use it with full responsabillity, cause alcohol kills even more people and cause more disturbs... but it is a more sociable and romantic drug for the world media...
Cheers,
BraveNewWorld
I'm so glad that I live in The Netherlands where everybody has free access of marijuana/hashish.
If one compares the relative drug crimes in both Holland and the USA, it is very clear that most drug crimes occur in the States. That is why I do not understand that the USA does not allow the use of recreational marijuana.
If it's grown, distributed, and sold peacefully, I don't have a problem with it being legal. But there's a lot of violence in Mexico (and the U.S.) directly related to the marijuana trade, and people die every day as a result of this violence.
oh yeah baby legalize it we should all smoke a little refer and be happy
... but we're so close to winning the war on drugs! Another 10 billion dollars, 20 years, and 30,000 lives, and I promise the war on drugs will have been won
: )
@61 a correction I mean..."it CAN start to argue about serious subjects like it's own country goverment... and social aspects and stuff.
@ 63
But when legalized ... that kind of incident may stop...cause many people will have a job... but the presidents should use it too, to do not think in war, but in peace
Peter Tosh used to sing:
It's good for the flu
It's good for asthma
Good for tuberculosis
Even umara composis
Legalize it - don't criticize it
Legalize it and i will advertise it
rascarlo
Hell Yea, Total Legalization. What does our Federal Fuckin Government know anyway. If alcohol and cigarettes are legal, then, how does it make any sense at all that marijuana hasn't been legal for years?
some of the best photos ever. esp 5 look at the smoke, number 7 yes, i'd by anything from her, and 15 - stoned soldier. also the dark side...
LEGALIZE (here in the UK too please...)
Picture #5 is awesome!
Janelle: "If it's grown, distributed, and sold peacefully, I don't have a problem with it being legal. But there's a lot of violence in Mexico (and the U.S.) directly related to the marijuana trade, and people die every day as a result of this violence." - so maybe Mexico should legalize it as well?
I like how alcohol that leads to drunk driving, spousal abuse, date rape, child abuse, violence, bar fights, alcohol poisoning, homelessness is legal but marijuana that leads to music sounding better, better tasting food, alternative thinking, slower driving and lack of motivation is illegal.
How many homeless drunks do you see, how many homeless weed smokers?
How many times has weed led to a domestic violence arrest?
How many times have you been raped after smoking weed?
When did your dad beat you, when he was drunk or mellow from smoking some bud?
isnt the reason why tobacco and alcohol legal and marijuana isnt because its difficult to tax and control marijuana? unlike tobacco, its easy to grow in a backyard, and doesn't need to be processed..
i dont think its fair to compare the dutch drug crime levels with american, because they are basically 2 different societies with different histories and tendencies. i will say though, having been to both, most the people smoking marijuana are not locals in the netherlands, but tourists.
Less crime, more tax revenue ($$$$$$$ for schools, etc.) , peaceful citizens, more loving spouses, less child abuse, law enforcement chasing ACTUAL criminals, only sold to those 21 or over, less booze heads, no drug wars with Mexico, integrated into all neighborhoods via liquor stores or other chosen means of sale, LOWER prices than buying it illegally. Hey guys, you want peace, money and happy citizens then VOTE TO LEGALIZE POT!!
We'll see it legalized in the next few years. Money hungry governments cannot ignore the revenue stream of this magnitude. Go Cal Prop 19 and start the tide across America!
It's time to end prohibition of marijuana, put violent, organized criminals out of business and bring marijuana under the control of the law by allowing people to legally and properly grow it, buy it, and sell it. The laws surrounding marijuana should be very similar to those regulating alcohol and tobacco.
Sadzić, palić, zalegalizować
glad i quit after 15 years of heavy marijuana smoking.
1 smoke now and i get skidzofrenic of it.
so America enjoy your green stuff.
BAN IT EVERYWHERE IT IS NO BETTER THAN OPIUM. SO MUCH PEOPLE WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE AND WHOLE FAMILIES WERE RUINED BY THIS GHOST.
SI EL PRETEXTO ES USARLA CON FINES MEDICINALES, MEJOR SINTETIZEN EL THC Y VENDANLA EN PASTILLAS, UNA CADA DOCE HORAS COMO RECETA,
The Dude would be proud. Nice work, as usual, Alan.
It's pretty stupid that so much suffering over such a minor drug. No good can come from keeping it illegal. As for it possibly increasing your risk of..so what? Things rarely get banned because they contain possible cancer causing agents, including some common products people use everyday.
@ etienne (post #3)
Inhaling smoke from anything is harmful to your body but you must understand the benefits that marijuana gives. No marijuana smoker can seriously say it is harmless, it's just that the positives vastly outweigh the negatives.
LEGALIZACIÓN!!! YA NO QUEREMOS MÁS MUERTES EN MÉXICO
Comentarios sobre la foto 18:
1. Ahora entiendo por qué los soldados se pelean por decomisar y quemar mota jajajaja, quedan en la pachequez total
2. Ya me los imagino tocando el himno nacional mientras queman mota, buen viaje!!!
Crazy pics!
My question: Why waste your money on marijuana? I can understand medical marijuana, that's fine, I have no problem with it. But seriously, think of all the money spent on marijuana and how it could go to better things like better quality food, better education, etc. Why waste your money on a habit. I'm against drinking and smoking because both devastate homes financially. Personally, I say, legalize medical marijuana,make sure that only people who need it get it, otherwise, I say don't waste your money. Same goes for alcohol.
Vaporise it if you are worried about the smoke effects.
Should it be legal? Look at the criteria of addiction, harm to others and the self. Then go read all the info, think for yourself, and come to your OWN decision. Don't just repeat what you hear people!
:)
Jesus. All the frigin' dopers come out...
Looks like the Federales put that pistol in that dead guy's hands in #16. Why isn't his finger in the trigger loop?
If nothing else marijuana makes an attractive house plant.
So what I am saying is, If Marijuana is such a good medicine, why are they locking up ones for it. Only some people can sell it legally, and then the next set gets locked up, UNFAIR. If they would legalize Marijuana, then the time and energy they took in trying to eradicate it , they could use it to do something else.
Legalise it man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok don't legalize MJ, but make cigarettes illegal! I don't smoke mj because i don't like it's effect and don't want to be stupid with short memory. But i cant stop smoking cigarettes... Cigarettes are way more dangerous then marijuanna
[Spicoli, talking on the phone, hits his head with a shoe]
That was my skull! I'm so wasted!
@schweine (nr.74) :
See, the common problem when tourists visit Holland is that they only see Amsterdam most of the time. Besides, the funny thing is that most Americans do not know The Netherlands, no, they only know Amsterdam and this is often the only city they see when they visit us. I have been in A'dam myself for several times and indeed most of the pot smoked here is by tourists.
However, I live at the other side of the country and the people I see in the coffeeshops are just normal Dutch citizens. So it is not true that marijuana is only used here by visitors. The only problem the police faces here is the cultivation of the weed. There are too many illegal producers of the pot.
About the crime rates, how are the drug problems in California at the moment (related to marijuana)? They are one step ahead to other states within this issue. As far as I know, the drug (pot) problems in Cali are less bigger than in other states.
For all those who say that Marijuana causes violence and crime (here) in Mexico. It starts to be a crime when there is no other way to produce it, other than against the law. It's all about the lack of culture, and tolerance to satisfy the willingness of the citizens. And honestlly when it comes to crime is all about COCAINE because that is what involves lots and lots of money, therefore crime is started when big things are involved or compromised, or to quench a HUGE demand (specially ***outsourcing*** demands). Marijuana can be grown ANYWHERE... Some people blame Mexico as the source of it (or at least one of them). Can anybody tell me where the WEAPONS and AMMO comes to Mexico???????? Specially when is sold in every Wal-Mart round the corner. That my friends is what kills people and not the consume of a plant.
I'm Mexican, and I have this to say.
If pot gets legalized, Please do Consume American pot.
Go out of your way to get non-mexican-weed.
The Violence would go down.
Durg lords amass incredible money. And with that money comes power.
Power to Cripple the Legal Goverment.
As long as we are next to the greatest consumer of an illegal substance, Mexico won't see a day without a gun fired. Without a Governor Corrupt or killed.
I fully believe that if you Legalized the substance(or we did, but that's impossible since our lobbiers are a lot more convincing than yours), The Drug lords would lose by attrition.
Esta hablando del faso!!!
反对吸烟,支持吸大麻
if it was legal in Cali, wouldn't it actually contribute less to crime in mexico? if its legal there, then people could easily grow more than enough in the state. thereby reducing the amount of money currently flowing into the hands of the cartels and in reality the herb flowing in from mexico is doodoo and the herb grown in state is WAY better anyway. most of the people that i know who live there and smoke herb have their medical cards anyway and buy it legally at dispensaries which doesn't contribute to crime at all. i think legalization would help suffocate the criminal organizations buy cutting off the cash supply they rely on.
@87, let's also make laws against fancy clothes and cars, the entire entertainment industry, and while we're at it we might as well sign off our entire paychecks to the government for rationing stamps redeemable for 'sensible' goods only. Because legislating morality has always been a great and problem-free idea, right??
@90, because you never put your finger in the loop unless you're shooting. It's called trigger discipline. Not that trigger discipline rules out a planted weapon.
Although marijuana has a relatively low fatality rate. It freaks me out how people still think it is OK! I have friends who used to be quick-witted, clever and going somewhere in life but after a couple of years smoking reefer they are just general fuck-ups!!
So, although they aren't dead... their lives are lost.
Good grief, people, society doesn't need more potheads (not that they are contributing much to it anyways).
People seem to think that smoking pot is harmless which is complete crap. 9% of adults that smoke become dependent on it and that number is much higher if somebody starts when they are younger. Pot leads to memory and learning deterioration. Sure some of the brainiacs smoke, but it's pretty common knowledge that pot is not good for your mind. So don't be stupid and legalize it. I personally think that we should impose capital punishment since people who smoke seem not to value their lives so we should just end it for them. Drastic sure, but that's what they seem to want anyway.
Big pharma, big chemical, big.. never liked legalised marijuana idea fear of their exploitation lost. States themselves run drug trade to cover their darker expenses. Alcohol and tobacco are not less harmful.
I WOULD SAY LEGALIZE IT AND THAT WAY WE CAN USE ALL THAT MONEY THAT WE USE TO WAR AGAINTS IT FOR SOMETHING ELSE. I MEAN IS JUST COMMON SENSE; IMAGINE ALL THAT MONEY THAT WE CAN SAVE AND COLLECT IN TAXES AT THE SAME TIME AND ALSO WE CAN EMPTY SOME OF THE JAILS AND PRISONS AND USE THEM FOR REAL AND DANGEROUS CRIMINALS ....GO GREEN...!!!
Pot can be a good thing for ones health. its because of the idiots who overused it and abused it that caused Pot to be outlawed. now the good citizens who do use it are a t risk of being arrested. if the government made marijuana legal, then they would stop hunting down the pot heads and hunt down the meth and other more dangerous drugs. maybe that's why there is so much crime going on.
Legalizing marijuana has several advantages, but that's only one part of
Prop 19. Most people don't even notice that some ingenious soul is trying
to sneak in through the back door ban on drug testing by employers.
Well to me this could be a deal breaker. Think of truckers,bus drivers,
auto mechanics,train operators etc. that keep sober while working because of this little detail. Pot does not kill, stoned people do. I wonder
whose interest is represented by banning drug testing ? Waclaw.
people are going to get addicted to the nicotine and thats not good
Wow.... anyone that says that weed as killed someone or is harmful or thinks that weed will cause you to drive terribly has never bothered to look any information up besides the propaganda the government has sold you on. Obviously this means you have not tried marijuana either because you would know that it has very little effect on your driving besides making you MORE CAREFUL.
I really hate when people think that 'drugs' all do the same thing and have all the same consequences as each other. Just because weed is illegal does not mean anything other than the government decided you didn't need that particular freedom. By the way, heroin, and all opiates, are WAY safer than alcohol or cigarettes or amphetamines, or tylenol, or ibuprofen. The only reason so many people OD on H (or any opiate) is that it is illegal and thus the quality is not controlled. If you got the same stuff every single time no heroin user would ever OD, they just want to get high, not kill themselves.
If people would think with LOGIC and REASON instead of blindly accepting every piece of government propaganda that is thrown at their naive minds then this world would be a better place. I have studied and used pretty much every substance there is 'illegal' and understand the differences thereof. I can tell you right now that if drugs were just regulated and controlled there would not be a 'huge drug use explosion ending mankind' as all those kooks out there want you to believe, drug use would go down. Look at The Netherlands, they have basically decriminalized all drug use (not legalized) and drug use when WAY down.
If Americans were not so god damned stupid they would understand that, but we are way way way too busy buying shit we don't need, taking our vaccines like good sheep and drinking the fluoridated water, cause it makes your teeth just so great. (never mind that 98% of Europe turned down fluoride in their water and their teeth are just as good as ours).
PLEASE read a book for once, god.....
@108
"its because of the idiots who overused it and abused it that caused Pot to be outlawed"
You just made that up, like right now, out of thin air. That is not the case at all, marijuana is illegal because in the 1930s the timber industry ran a smear campaign against it so that they could keep their monopoly on the paper/fiber industry. That is a fact, look it up, sir.
As well as the demonization of mexican immigrants that brought it with them from mexico, just like africans and cocaine. If you actually STUDY these things you will find a lot of truth. If you just 'go with what could maybe possibly be right' off the top of your head, you are just, well, lying.
@109
Drug testing to get a job is a HUGE violation of your privacy. You -really- think that that law is the only thing from keeping people from just gettin completely smashed and going to work? Obviously to you humans have no morals and need laws to tell them how to act, all the time, in every situation. We just wouldn't know what to do otherwise.
Thank god the government is there to dictate everything you do, you would be lost with out them.
"Doesn't America know how many lives have been taken by marijuana?"
The answer to that would be NONE. There are no documented cases of marijuana ever killing anyone. The only deaths resulting from pot are because of organized crime, which would lose a powerful motivation to kill if pot were legalized.
One of my best friends died because a drunk man was driving the car she was in. The story would have been different if that guy had been smoking weed. Think about it.
I don't drink. I'm addicted to cigarrettes and I would love to quit. If marijuana was legal, I could use it to stop smoking that harmful tobacco. Think about that too.
LEGALIZE MARIJUANA NOW!
Marijuana, when not used in excess is practically harmless. It does not contain the same harmful chemicals as tobacco, and as for tar, a marijuana smoker inhales significantly less smoke than a cigarette smoker. In fact, recent research has shown that cannabinoids found in marijuana increase the number of brain cells, produced at the hippocampus in the brain, which is key in long term memory.
"People seem to think that smoking pot is harmless which is complete crap. 9% of adults that smoke become dependent on it and that number is much higher if somebody starts when they are younger. Pot leads to memory and learning deterioration. Sure some of the brainiacs smoke, but it's pretty common knowledge that pot is not good for your mind."
You are woefully misinformed. Not one thing you've said here is true. I sincerely urge you to do some real research on marijuana and not rely on the standard decades old propaganda.
all that burning of drugs has to pollute the air, damn!
I'm Mexican and I totally support legalization. I don't see it as a matter of Public Health nor taxation... is a matter of individual rights. Why should government should forbid me what to smoke? Where is its legimitation to forbid its trade.
LEGALIZATION NOW!!!!
Inevitably when anyone speaks out against any law, no matter how bad that law is, someone always says “but it’s illegal” to break the law. The fact is, the drug war and drug prohibition are ILLEGAL. When alcohol was prohibited, that required an amendment to the Constitution to be legal. There has been NO AMENDMENT AUTHORIZING FEDERAL DRUG PROHIBITION. I’m pretty sure it was illegal to throw tea in the Boston harbor too but once the founders of this Country got enough of being oppressed that’s exactly what they did.
The Constitutional right to freedom of religion, free speech, a free press, to keep and bear arms, to be secure in your person, house, papers and effects against unreasonable search and seizure, to life, liberty and property, to be protected from having your property taken by the government without due process of law and without just compensation, to confront the witnesses against you, to be protected from excessive bail, excessive fines, cruel and unusual punishment, to vote and others have been unjustly denied to millions of Americans in the name of the drug war.
Regardless if whether or not weed has any negative effects on human beings (AND IT DOESN'T. Idiots.), the government has no right telling me what I can and can't put in my own body. I don't need your help with my health government. Stop impeding natural selection so some of the idiots that would vote for these stupid laws will finally die.
Lo mejor de estas fotos es la morocha de la # 7 es mejor q cualquier porro.
Si fuera por mi q la legalicen, me da lo mismo.
There are way more problem in this world than weed. It is a joke that governments are still trying to decide if it should be legalized. If cigarettes and alcohol are legal than why not weed. It is sheer stupidity.
If Marijuana were allowed to be produced legally in the local area . Users wouldn't have to go
to Mexican drug lords to do it.In stead you have a new and very profitable legal new product to market. I know you conservatives can't overlook the billions of dollars spent every year that would be saved if marijuana was legal for those over 18. or the billions of tax dollars that could be made if Marijuana were legal. Or the fact that Legal marijuana in the U.S. would almost kill the black market and heavily regulate ,just like hard alcohol and tobacco it keep it from getting into the hands of minors.
Look im an Adult who can say i see good things coming out of Legalization,regulation and Taxation of Cannabis and at the same time i dont think it should be available to everyone(children and Mentaly challenged).
Yes I am a Liberal and voted for Obama and believe me I thought at the time the guy had some Balls but turns out he is just another Politician and is scared to take the chance of Nationalizing Marijuana.
I am all for the legalization of marijuana but the side of effect of passing such a law cuts federal funds to California schools which receive federal funds.
What will happen to those school without federal funds... California is already in debt and passing such law will make California's economy worse than it already is.
#7 She is really beautyful. In the way she look and what she does.
Do not legalize it.
I have repeatedly witnessed the damage first hand for my entire lifetime. Neighbors who can't leave their house and live with Mom at 45 due to laced weed as teenagers. Several once-smart people who now live permanently in outer space and can't make a living, their entire thought patterns permanently altered. Friends who transitioned to heroin, and have since committed suicide.
It's easy to point to tax and hemp products as a panacea, but those meager benefits are tired talking points designed to screen the actual steep social costs. The true costs of legalization are to the health care system to support the damaged individuals created by drug use, and the welfare systems to support the disabled people created by drug use. Those costs carry not only a direct price tag, but an indirect price tag of lost productivity.
Drug use is a burden on society. The legalization crowd may be vocal, but they are a minority. I will cast my vote to keep them a minority and keep these drugs illegal.
Is marijuana new religion now?
Wow, there's an incredible amount of tosh on this board, mostly the negative comments or from those who have read virtually nothing on the subject.
1. If a husband's source of weed is out of weed and only has cocaine, and decides to grab some cocaine, even in some bait-and-switch maneuver... that has nothing to do with pot. I'd have refused the cocaine. Most pot smokers would too.
2. Smoking weed doesn't make you stupid. Abusing weed does. I'm a relatively smart chap, haven't smoked weed for about 15 years, but smoked it every day for 5 years, and recall that period as being one full of enlightenment and great unhindered thought. I'm also a chronic insomniac, and it helped immensely.
3. Smoking anything causes cancer. I bet if I crushed up drugs meant to help fight cancer, put them in a rizla and smoked them, it would be carcinogenic. Lungs don't like smoke, period. Is it as bad as cigarettes... nowhere near. Science that says otherwise is from those with vested interests. I'm currently smoking arsenic and glass fibers in my cigarettes.
4. Legalizing weed in California won't have a great effect since we can still be prosecuted federally. However, it may start a wave of realization across the country... that is really its only purpose.
5. In the short term, legalization may help stem the violence in Mexico. Drug Cartel's profits will be hampered considerably, at least from weed. They may focus on other drugs. Still it would ultimately have a positive effect on Mexico's trouble environment, unquestionably..
6. If it were legalized and taxed as many have called for, and cultivated for hemp products, California's economy would experience an almost unprecidented boom. We would truly be the golden State.
7. Don't look to Amsterdam as an example... look to Portugal. 10 years ago they decriminalized all drugs... even cocaine and heroin. The money they saved in chasing and prosecuting, went into social programs to help drug abusers. 10 years of experience has shown the decision was a resounding success. Seach for articles on the subject for more evidence. I need not point to once since they are all positive.
8. When I quit weed, I just stopped. 0 withdrawal symptoms. When I've tried to quit cigarettes... I'm staring at discarded cigarette butts in the streets after a few days.
9. .Those slating pot-smokers as a waste of space, or wasting their life... try not to judge others by your own yardstick of success. I bet those pot-smokers are happier and feel more enlightened than those taking a jab at them in some of the comments I read. Not everyone wants to climb the corporate ladder, or live in a mansion. Material items are worth a fraction of knowledge and peace.
10. I don't expect Prop 19 to pass. If it does, I'll be celebrating with the rest of California... come visit us. :)
"Male without name, (surname) Solis"
Male without name?!!?
what is writed on it is "Male: Yes Surname: Solis" wth? ppl!
a few points...
1, to clarify my position, i'm now clean for over 10 years. I've tried every drug I could get my hands on, not proud or ashamed of it, but I think I know a bit about intoxication. I gave up because I was using just to feel normal, and I thought if this is normal, why not get drug free and feel normal for free.
2, EVERYONE takes drugs, be it an armload of heroin for peaceful bliss, or an aspirin for those annoying headaches. I'd say less than 1% of the population is absolutely drug free.
3, Not every drug is for every person. Personally, I hate dope. I love shrooms. I'm not a fan of alchohol, one glass and i'm pissed, can't remember the last time I drank more than one glass of wine. My point here being just because you don't like a drug, does not mean it should be banned outright. Each to their own.
4, Prohibition has been proven not to work. Honestly, go to any pub, bar, tavern, schoolyard(yes, kids do it too), streetcorner, home or wherever human beings live, and the only thing stopping you getting whatever drug you want is how much money you have in your hand.
5, Moderation is the key, a lil' of this or that, wont hurt. Excessive alchohol is bad for you, same with dope, coke, H....whatever.
6, My last point is a conversation I had with my doctor many years ago that was along the same lines. We were talking about the detrimental effects of all drugs, and he said the leading cause of liver damage/failure in Australia was not heroin or alchohol, it was over the counter paracetamol based medication. You know, those rapid relief headache, toothache backache pills that people eat like popcorn. Those legal, prescription free, available to all pills are a serious concern in puplic health matters.
If you want dope and all other so called illegal drugs banned, ban those as well please. But wait, what's that....you have a headache? What will you do?
To those who think Democrats are somehow "better of the two evils" on this, you're as stupid as the day you're born.
I have no problem legalizing marijuana. It has been used for hundreds of years and will be for hundreds more years. I read these comments and check out the big picture every day and think it is funny how there are more miss-spelled words this time than I have ever saw before…………….hmmm.
if ther state makes it legal keep your noise out !!
LEGALIZE EVERYWHERE!!! [3]
ЛЕГАЛАЙЗ!
And stop wasting money and efforts on futile struggle against such an innocent substance.
"Legalizenla"
Viejas Locas
Honestly marijuana has never killed anyone, anyone that doubts this can look it up. Posts above me are claiming studys that say marijuana causes cancer and lethal toxins... well wouldn't we have seen a cause of cancer cause BY marijuana by now? If it REALLY is dangerous and killing why arent people dying. It only makes sense to give americans the choice to consume canabis is they want to. The same choice alcohal drinkers and tobbacco users have. ITS ONLY FAIR!
I don't want to get into the pros and cons of the arguments, I just think those are brilliant pictures and tell their own story.
Man this anti-cannabis nonsense has to stop.
The media would be a great place to start. Stop calling cannabis "marijuana". That term is a slight to Mexicans and was only used in the later part of the 19th and early 20th centuries to link cannabis to that population for anti-immigration purposes.
I'm a 4.0 student at an established and respected college.
I have smoked every day for the past seven years.
And you (the wonderful American taxpayer) pay for me to go to college.
Funny story ::
If I get into my car drunk, drive to the point of incurring reckless driving charges, and hit an oncoming car killing those inside -- when I get out of prison (let's assume I'm charged and convicted of DUI, reckless driving, and two counts of manslaughter), I can still get my federal funding back. You can continue to pay for my college education.
But.
If I am driving to the mountains one sunny summer day to have a nice hike while walking a trail and smoking a joint -- and I am pulled over for a broken tail light, improper left turn, a rolling-right -- maybe asked to step out of the car because I am 18 - 29 years old (although I do not have bumper stickers on my car and I am much more likely to blast Nick Drake than whatever is popular with the kids these days ), and caught with a joint --
When I am processed, jail or not, if I am convicted of any form of drug use or possession -- I will be henceforth unable to get federal funding for college.
That makes a lot of sense, I think.
To the previous poster that listed the three 2009 studies on pot altering DNA, causing cancer, and containing more of certain toxins than tobacco -- it helps if you dig a little bit and see who is preforming and funding these studies. It was a thinktank funded by alcohol. And the science is pretty flimsy. I appreciate that you like things in print that look full of science -- but in this particular circumstance, it is not.
Dumbest war ever.
En colombia esta la mejor mariguana,,,crippin,,,y en cali,,se consigue en cuallquier esquina,,y de buena calidad,,muchisima gente en cali, fuma bareta,, ya es hora de q la legalizen,,,saludos desde cali,,colombia!!
The sign reads
Male yes
Surname Solis
This talk `bout legalize it or not is getting too old and boring now.
If it`s ok with the way as hard as possible, fine. I smoke. I`m part of the reasons to poor cops and rich lawer friends. How it works? Just fine - I`m not a cop.
There are lots of stupid things we can change in simple ways in this world.
Hugs
It's so sad that so many people have been incarcerated over this for so many years. I wish our government would concern itself more with fighting fraudulent drugs in mainstream medicine; the damage and profiteering there is simply astonishing.
Nº 7, omg She's hot,
You have to understand that that unless that is a Constitutional Amendment, the States have the authority to do what they want. Read the 10th Amendment. If California, or any other state, want to legalize marijuana, so be it. That power is inherent in their statehood. There's nothing that the federal government can do about it.
turn pretend into real.
Marijuana should just be legal.. it calms people, and is medically a god send for most people smoke, eat get happy.
I am 36 years old. I am married with three kids, heavily involved in my community and feel I am a very productive person. I received my MBA from Wharton in 1997 and am currently an energy trader at a private commodity firm in Houston. My wife and I smoke weed a couple of times a week, usually during the weekends. We keep it from our kids just as if we were smoking a cigarette (which we don't). We really only drink socially. I'd rather be stoned than drunk. We aren't in a "fog", we aren't lazy, we aren't druggies. We enjoy lighting up every now and then to relieve stress, enjoy life, watch a movie, eat some pizza, or have great sex. Think about it. It is a wonderful drug in moderation. We don't live our life or raise our family irresponsibly except for the fact that we are smoking a plant that was made illegal in the 30s due to racism and false facts.
These pictures give me anger as well as hope. It is frustrating that alcohol, which causes aggressive behavior, violence, blackouts, health problems, and car wrecks is a widely accepted drug. Alcohol is advertised everywhere you look and is considered the "good" drug while this drug, a plant, is not. Open your eyes.
After the kids have done their homework, cleaned their room and gone to bed, should my wife and I have my house raided with guns drawn on a school night because we decided to hang out on the couch, light up a joint, and watch a Netflix movie?
I really hope America grows up and becomes educated about the facts and not consumed by smear campaigns and fear. If you are for protecting your rights and your freedoms you should be for the legalization of marijuana.
#19 rocks big time!
Very nice images and very great job of BIGPICTURE`S Editor. You really know how to make interesting photo story