Cannabis Legal

[Broz]

Cannabis is legal, in all the western world, and beyond, regardless of THC content
use as recreational drug is sanctioned to some extent, but not drastically

in many places it is grown industrially, and all kinds of things are made from it, tea, bags, teabags, shoes, cloth, string, not particularly good quality string, but still string, paper, biomass, alcohol, oil, clothes, furniture, PC elements, car chassis, etc...etc...

how does this affect various world industries, and the world in general?

 

[Sachyriel]

The worlds hydroponics businesses quickly becomes the largest companies in the world [Since growers are mostly a home-operation for tokers anyways], well traded and are constantly running out of stock.

4-20 becomes just another day.

Kids try to do it to be cool, end up doing something foolish and embarrassing and never do it again lest they be further embarrassed.. Those of us who like it anyways end up like the masters of Dune, cause we have the largest fields.

Also, bad movies get better reviews.

[More to come later].

 

[Broz]

i was thinking more on the lines of alternative car prices and effect on steel industry, industrial production of paper, that kind of thing, but hydroponics is good

 

[JPantaleo]

Car accidents, unemployment, college dropouts and anything else drugs effect negatively rise. Scientists find more and more unflattering effects of marijuana and millions of dollars are spent on anti-drug campaigms. Every else is pretty much the same.

 

[ColeMercury]

The US prison population is much much lower.

Paper is cheaper & less environmentally impacting to produce when it's made from hemp.

You'd see anti-smoking commercials directed against cannabis as well as tobacco, because smoking cannabis as a joint or blunt has just as much cancer risk as tobacco cigarettes & cigars. If you add to that the fact that smoking cannabis in that form isn't very efficient anyway, the end result could be that cannabis would be most commonly vaporised or eaten in brownies or biscuits or whatever rather than smoking.

In fact, if you have a government that decides to make a health crusade about this, it's entirely possible that there could be a selling cannabis in cigarette form - it'd have to be sold just in cartons by itself (like how you can buy just tobacco for hand-rolling cigarettes - this would be the mandatory form for it to be sold). Not to say that joints themselves would be outlawed, but you'd have to hand-roll them yourself rather than buying them ready-made.

Police would routinely test for cannabis level in addition to alcohol level of drivers.

 

[Fenrir_Angerboda]

the way you seem to word this is that Cannabis the drug is legal.
thus, a decrease in sales and production of Hemp, the industrial version, due to the fact all hemp growers are now turning their product into drugs.

I'n not sure if anyone realized this, but drug grade hemp is just good for that, drugs. Industrial Hemp has little use as drugs due to it's lower THC content.

the world gets f***ed over, because everyone's either too stoned or just doens't care anymore.
and we get a Pope or High Preist (pardon the pun) of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church as a worldwide religious figure up there with the Pope and the Dalai Lama.

what a messed up world that would be.

 

[NomadicSky]

Not much would really change aside from the fact that alchol wouldn't be as popular and obesity rates might be higher because cookies and cakes would be the choice method.

 

[NKVD]

what a messed up world that would be.

What a fun world that would be.

 

[Fenrir_Angerboda]

What a fun world that would be.

each to his own desires.

 

[ColeMercury]

the way you seem to word this is that Cannabis the drug is legal.
thus, a decrease in sales and production of Hemp, the industrial version, due to the fact all hemp growers are now turning their product into drugs.
I'n not sure if anyone realized this, but drug grade hemp is just good for that, drugs. Industrial Hemp has little use as drugs due to it's lower THC content.

Why would hemp growers turn over all their product into drugs when industrial hemp has so many uses and is so profitable? That doesn't make sense at all. That's the equivalent of someone during Prohibition arguing "If we legalise alcohol, then all the farmers will grow their wheat for the sole purpose of making beer and we won't have bread any more!" In any case, cultivation of industrial hemp is illegal in the US. Anything made from hemp that gets traded there is imported - there is no domestic hemp industry there.

It's true that in other countries where hemp cultivation is legal you would see a decrease in hemp production from established growers, but legalising marijuana would also increase demand for cannabis and thus expand the cannabis-growing industry: more people will start growing both types, so the supply of hemp balances out (and you create more jobs & promote economic growth - it's win-win).

the world gets f***ed over, because everyone's either too stoned or just doens't care anymore.

Oh yes, because of course marijuana's illegal status is the only thing keeping everyone everywhere from getting stoned all the time.

and we get a Pope or High Preist (pardon the pun) of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church as a worldwide religious figure up there with the Pope and the Dalai Lama.

Sure. I mean, everyone knows the only reason the Pope is such a famous religious figure is because of communion wine.

what a messed up world that would be.

And aren't I glad it's all in your mind.

 

[aktarian]

Marijuana is seen as another somewhat harmful product which use has to be controlled and restrictions enforced. same way as there are restrictions to use of legal alcohol (driving while intoxicated, prohibition of drinking any ammount in certain jobs....). Though this could be somewhat problematic as THC presence remains in your body long after effects of smoking are gone. I guess instead of breathalysers equivalent you'd get various tests to determine whether you are capable of performing certain job.

You'd see campaigns "don't get high and drive" and such.

 

[mtg999]

This is actually quite an interesting thread. I think it ridiculous the notion that cannabis would dramatically increase if legalised. Rates of drug use are relatively unrelated to the legal status of drugs.

I personally am in favour of a Swedish-style zero tolerance policy towards cannabis (where it is treated as severely as all other drugs), but I don't believe this would be feasible in most Anglo-Saxon societies, where reactional cannabis use is socially tolerated and experimentation with cannabis is, rightly or wrongly, semi-accepted as a rite of passage for many young people.

For this reason I am quite astounded at US policy towards cannabis. Is it true that in most states it is still common for people to be imprisoned for cannabis use (as opposed to dealing)? In Australia all states have a defacto policy of decriminalisation (as opposed to legalisation) of drug use (all drugs not just cannabis). South Australia also has a policy of decriminalisation of cannabis production for personal use. There is no specific limit on personal use, but at times in the past it has been judged as growing no more than 3-10 plants. This is dealt with by confiscation by police and fines. If you grow over the limit and are judged to be growing for dealing purposes then you can face imprisonment.

There does not seem to be any higher use of cannabis in South Australia than in other states (other than at most 1-2% percentage points higher), although it does have a large number of hydroponic cannabis set-ups. mainly to supply other states cannabis markets.

 

[Anaxagoras]

Cannabis legal? . . . Dude . . . Hmm . . . Don't know, dude.

 

[Arafeel]

IMHO it would be interesting to see the economical side of the largest cash crop in the us being taxed.
If we consider the use, cannabis has very mild side effcets, unnless one off course is a daily user, but the one has a problem with intoxciants in genneral.
BTW in scandinavia, small amounts of cannabis will not get you annything more than maby a fine, if even that. As for the negative side effect legalization would have on society i highly doubt we would see anny, might see several improvments as law.emforcment money can be used better, and the crime rate goes down

 

[Earling]

This is actually quite an interesting thread. I think it ridiculous the notion that cannabis would dramatically increase if legalised. Rates of drug use are relatively unrelated to the legal status of drugs.

Have to agree. I don't know if everyone in this thread is secretly desperate to get hold of cannabis but is being held back by those pesky laws, but atleast from my experience it is prevalent enough to get hold of with almost no difficulty if you are so inclined. Consumption might increase a bit, in part because prices would almost certainly be lower even after considerable taxation was placed upon it, but I doubt it would revolutionise society.

People seem to be buying into quasi-prohibition rhetoric. I see no reason to believe everyone would be sat at home staring vacantly at the TV and eating day old pizza anymore than to believe the freedom to drink alcohol would cause vast numbers of the population to sit at home slowly drinking themselves to death. Sure some would but then some already do. I doubt the number would change.

 

[Broz]

yes great some people would smoke more, most people probably wouldnt

but what about the car industry? furniture too
hemp can be processed into something that comes fairly close to fiberglass, can have any number of applications, but is completely recyclable
apparently car chassis made from this material could withstand sledgehammer strikes that would reduce a metal chassis to scrap, but were lighter, and obviously cheaper
that technology was used during the 20/30is
so by today the technology itself would surely develop much further, just look at the development in the lumber and furniture industry in the same timespan, and this is a material with considerably more possible uses

once the technology is developed to process raw cannabis into a mass that can be stamped into any desired form, imagine the possibilities

 

[Tyr]

Car accidents, unemployment, college dropouts and anything else drugs effect negatively rise. .

The Dutch experience says different.

 

[Constantinople]

Car accidents, unemployment, college dropouts and anything else drugs effect negatively rise. Scientists find more and more unflattering effects of marijuana and millions of dollars are spent on anti-drug campaigms. Every else is pretty much the same.

Horse shit. Nothing much changes, except that the 50% of people who smoke anyways wont be breaking laws any more.

There would be fewer innocent people getting raped in prison.

 

[NomadicSky]

The Dutch experience says different.

If they weren't the ONLY country in the world with those "coffee shops" they wouldn't have the "drug tourism" to their country.

If people could buy it anywhere the only people going to the Netherlands would be going to see the country and visit the musems. And if they outlaw it, then they'll see a return to that.

 

[Tomac]

Cannabis is legal, in all the western world, and beyond, regardless of THC content
use as recreational drug is sanctioned to some extent, but not drastically

in many places it is grown industrially, and all kinds of things are made from it, tea, bags, teabags, shoes, cloth, string, not particularly good quality string, but still string, paper, biomass, alcohol, oil, clothes, furniture, PC elements, car chassis, etc...etc...

how does this affect various world industries, and the world in general?

Cannabis was made illegal in this country after the country re-legalized alcohol. The Revenuers needed a reason to stay in business. Marijuana was the drug of minorities and the poor and as such, it was felt that no one would complain about the government cracking down on them. Basically before 1933, there weren't many laws against hemp; indeed, it was an important crop in the United States during the days of the sailing ships.