Wait... what?

[Ari Rahikkala]

So I was watching http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=leg3_gcE3p8 and...

California grows government weed but does it *in secret* because *federal law prohibits it*? Well, OK, I'm not sure it's really government weed, but whatever it is, it's allowed under California law, and they are growing it. I mean... what? Is that true? How the PRH does that work?

[Oroigawa Koreyasu]

It's legal for medical use only.

[Erik Mortis]

Though that privilege is greatly abused. I'm currently watching several people spiral downward...

[Gryphon Avocatio]

To say it is legal for medicinal use only is greatly oversimplifying the problem.

Federal law prohibits the use of marijuana for any reason. California state law specifies that it is legal for specific medicinal purposes. The laws, obviously, conflict. This is a point of contention between the government of California and the US, which are, to some extent, separate entities. The Federal government, deriving it's powers from the President and Congress, police against any use of marijuana. California, however, because it is a separate political entity and has its own laws, allows for it's growth and use for particular purposes. This means that the federal government has been known to conduct raids on (California) government-approved operations.

"What?" precisely.

[Harald of Froyalan]

La guerre des gouvernements.

[Ari Rahikkala]

So... uh... I don't want to repeat things, but... is everybody except us high?

[Kaiser Loki III]

"High" is a vague term....

[Gman Russell]

I'm not high, i'm just strange naturally...

[Erik Mortis]

We aren't High.. just some people in pain/not eating, and then some dip shits who like to smoke their lives away.

[Kaiser Loki III]

Don't forget bad eyesight...

[Erik Mortis]

To late.

[Ari Rahikkala]

Look, it's not about what people use it for, it's about the fact that, in case you didn't notice, you are in the nutty situation where one government considers something legal that another government it's subservient to considers illegal. If I tried to run a political party or legalise smoking in Straylight, I should expect to be slapped with a forced law rewrite or change of leadership or something, not some passive-aggressive "we're not going to actually stop you from doing it but we'll inconvenience you with some raids" pussyfooting.

(my theory on how you got into a crazy situation like that is that it was some combination of apathy, congress being unwilling to stomp on specific states, and congress being aware that the whole idea of cannabis being illegal while alcohol and tobacco are a-ok is brain-damaged )

[Erik Mortis]

Tobacco I've come to realize, while gross, is inherently not so bad. It's level of nicotine aren't much worse then the caffeine in Coffee proly. But it's the fact that the industry ADDS nicotine, and other horrible things that makes it so terrible.

And we tried to outlaw alcohol, that didn't go down so well.

[Kaiser Loki III]

If I tried to run a political party or legalise smoking in Straylight, I should expect to be slapped with a forced law rewrite or change of leadership or something,

(Drums fingers, thoughtful look on face.) Such are the advantages of feudalism.

Of course you would form a political party, just a benevolent association or the like.

[Gryphon Avocatio]

For some reason I have a lot to say about this. Maybe it's because I live in Santa Cruz...

...some dip shits who like to smoke their lives away.

I know some pretty genius linguists (not naming any names, of course) who must be dip-shits, then, seeing as they have neither cancer nor glaucoma. In fact, I know a lot of bright, intelligent, articulate, fully functional individuals who smoke marijuana regularly. It's a shame they are throwing their lives away

It's just like any other substance: if you let it control you then you are a dip-shit. Alcoholics fall into this category people who drink regularly do not (necessarily). I presume, unless there is some valid evidence to the contrary, that marijuana must be the same way. I can't think of any real way that use of marijuana is inherently worse than drinking alcohol.

Tobacco is bad because nicotine's physically addictive and makes you smell bad. Marijuana is bad because it impairs judgement (though it's effects are no worse than alcohol) and it makes you smell bad. Alcohol is bad because it impair your judgement and can cause you to vomit and possibly even die (ever heard of somebody overdosing on marijuana? It's a lot easier to binge drink to death). Both tobacco and marijuana are unhealthy because they involve inhaling smoke, which contributes to a shortened lifespan for various reasons and makes it hard to breath generally.

I think people really ought to take time to think about why the three above--tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol--are legal, illegal, or restricted. My thought process brought me to the conclusion that if tobacco and alcohol are legal (in some contexts for some individuals), then marijuana ought to be as well (in some contexts for some individuals). What I'm saying is that I don't think they should be distributing it to school children, and people shouldn't be doing it in ways that inconvenience other individuals; I just think that if you can justify the health and social risks of the former two, who have to allow the latter one as well.

it's about the fact that [...], you are in the nutty situation where one government considers something legal that another government it's subservient to considers illegal.

I think a lot of the reason there is this weird government nonsense surrounding it is simply because of the "Puritan hangover" that America suffers from. It extends from some moral idea that smoking and drinking and "getting high" are somehow inherently morally wrong, and, as I'm sure we all know, the American right likes to politicize morality in unfortunate ways. People also like to claim that marijuana is a gateway drug which coaxes people into using harder drugs. I don't know if that's valid or not, but most pot users I know wouldn't try anything harder.

For the record, I do not smoke either substance. I do drink very frequently, but with control and restraint We have a semi-dedicated beer fridge in my house ...

[Kaiser Loki III]

There is a theory that most "substance abuse" starts as an attempt to self-medicate. People handle various sorts of pain however thay can.