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Main Page Smoking pot
(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: AutolockMan

Why is it that so many people do not see the big deal with smoking pot? I mean some do not even think of it as a drug,since its grown and been around forever. Iam not just talking about the scum bags of the my area but people with good jobs. I never tried the stuff so i do not know what it islike but it seems most people do not think of it as a "bad thing" What are your thoughts? Do you think the day will come when smoking pot is no longer a crime?
~Stay safe

Posted by: Wolfman

People are strange. I mean, alcohol is a drug, caffeine is a drug, pot's a drug, plain and simple. People smoke it and they get buzzed. Then they do things that they normally wouldn't do had they their sensibilities about them. If people don't think that it's a drug, that displays their own ignorance and denial. Funny how these are usually the same people who seem to profess boundless knowledge about how inoculous pot 'really" is.

I know the type you're talking about. They seem to get upset when I take enforcement action after smelling burnt weed in the car and finding a dozen roaches in the ashtray. Some of you may also think that's it's pointless to take action based on a bunch of roaches but look at it this way...

...If you stopped a guy and he was chugging away on a bottle of JD, you'd do something about it, yes? If he had a dozen joints in his shirt pocket, you'd do something about it, yes? Then why should it make a difference that instead of drinking liquor he was smoking weed in the car? Why should he be rewarded for managing to consume his dope before you caught up to him?

Is pot bad? Medically, I don't know. I'm not a doctor. Cigarettes are bad, I can't see why pot wouldn't be. As an intoxicating agent, I thinks its effects are evident and in that respect it's bad when doing anything but maybe sitting around your house eating twinkies. I know guys I grew up with that spent a lot of time after we graduated sitting around their apartment smoking pot. You know what they're doing now, 20 years later? Yup, sitting around their apartment smoking pot. So back to the question...is pot bad? Based on what I've seen, yes it is. The same way that alcohol is bad, while I'm sure that some people could handle it just fine there are many, many who cannot.

From an enforcement standpoint, there is no doubt in my mind that pot is bad. It's an illegal drug, and as such those that deal in it are aware of its illegality. They do not conduct transactions in a conventional manner and as a result, deal in large quantities of cash. If this cash is stolen, it's not like they can report it to us, so they take their own measure to protect their trade. This eventually, at a certain level, involves the use of force and firearms. When disputes arise, territorial or otherwise, the firearms are employed as a bargaining tool and people get hurt. Sometimes only those dealing in the trade get hurt, however this is not always the case and frequently innocent civilians, passers-by, and our brothers and sisters get involved.

Will making pot legal solve these problems? I doubt it. One or two may be eliminated but you wind up opening a Pandora's box of new problems when you introduce a new and commercially available inebriant. Take a good look at how many of society's ills can be traced back to the irresponsible use of alcohol. Broken homes, drunk driving, abuse, neglect, long term health problems, disease, underage drinking, wasted lives...now add a whole new drug to the mix and tell me that there won't be more problems.

The pot advocates point to tax revenue. Belive me, this revenue will be gobbled up and gone before it is ever noticed by you or me. Medical use? If it can be shown that pot has a bona fide medical use, then by all means let it be prescribed and administered by medical professionals, just the way that other narcotics are prescribed - in a controlled and regulated system.

Will the day come where pot is no longer a crime? If Kerry winds up living on Pennsylvania Avenue, nothing would surprise me. But just as some say that making something criminal doesn't mean it's wrong, legalizing something doesn't necessarily make it right.

Posted by: mpd61

Smoking Pot is plain stupid. It's illegal and can keep you from obtaining employment in sensitive or critical jobs (It should!) You want to worry about piss tests and home-flushing remedies for such a "cool" and relaxing lifestyle? knock yourself out. I don't care. I really don't.
If you're stupid enough to drive be me while smoking it or having it on you while I do a search, it is your choice. I will have to do what I'm paid for.

I find it ironic in this age that many people who work out and drink filtered water and give me grief about my occasional beef consumption will smoke weed. Ya it's just got to be healthy right?

Posted by: Mortal knight

Masstroopers1, I gotta say thats probably one of the best "short version" arguement I've read or heard. I know LE's boards try to stay away from the whole Pot issue, and I place my money that this thread will be locked in a day or so. But its nice to read a post that politely lays it on the table like that.

But I was shocked that it wasn't legalized under Billary Clinton's reign. Oh I'm sorry he smoked, but never inhaled

Posted by: dcs2244

I really don't care about a citizen's drug-of-choice, as long as it does not effect others (this includes ETOH and nicotine). If a citizen is willing to drive around with roaches in the ash receiver, pot stench in the cab of the vehicle and/or a roach clip hanging from the mirror, then I will be happy to lock him up...not for his drug-of-choice...but for being STUPID!!!

Apparently being discreet is "un-cool."

Posted by: dekk

My father smoked pot. Was he "plain stupid" as someone put it? The blanket accusations and idictments of someone just because they smoked pot are a little excessive. Unless we are all robots with badges the totality of circumstances must always be taken into account.
My father was former Anglico, retired NYPD ESU Sgt. He ran marathons, didnt smoke, didnt drink and never took an apsirin let alone any other drug. When he was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation due to the cancer of his liver his weight dropped from 185 to 130 lbs at its lowest. He tried everything from acupuncture to traditional medicinal remedies. He couldnt eat and couldnt stop throwing up. The accupuncturist told him that there was good research showing medicinal marijuana could help him get an appetite and curb his naseau.
It was and is illegal in NY. He "acquired" it nonetheless through less than legal channels and smoked it in his home. He died before I knew any of this. But what I did know is that before he died he was able to sit down to eat his last Thanksgiving meal with his Grandson on his lap.
So, was he a criminal? Absolutely. Someone should have locked him up I guess to teach him a lesson.

The world is not black and white.

Posted by: Harley387

DEKK, I am sorry to hear about your Father. However, IMO his circumstances were beyond the norm, and I'm sure that most any judge would have tossed out a case against someone in his position. In retrospect, I feel that Marijuana legalization (legitimate medical use aside) is just another step in the seemingly never-ending degradation of society. We now live in a world where pretty much anything you do in the name of self-gratification is accepted, if not encouraged. It bothers me to know that all of the work I invest in raising my children may all be in vain, for some day, they will have to attend public school, play with the neighbors kids, etc, etc. From my perspective, it is human nature to seek acceptance. Because of this, it seems that many people with deviant tendencies/habits are always seeking to make their "vices" legal. The general consensus seems to be "If it's not illegal, it's OK". Well, maybe I'm a person of exceedingly high moral fiber, or maybe I'm just a right-wing conservative, whichever the case, I feel that without laws, which include some restrictions regarding what you can have/use/do/posess, our country would become a very "dirty" place. One in which I personally do not wish to raise a family. I think discretion is a wonderful tool, which should always be utilized, but as for legalization? In my opinion, Legalization=Chaos. Just my opinion.

Posted by: dcs2244

Yeah, well I am a right wing conservative. Period. Legalize all "drugs" or NOT! This includes booze, cigs and coffee/tea. Either outlaw them all, or legalize them all...anything else is hypocritical!

DEKK, my condolences inre: DAD; If pot helps, prescribe it!

This having been said, I now challenge members to provide evidence for/against drug use, and to explain why the legal drugs (ETOH, Nicotene, Caffiene) are excepted from our laws.

Turn to.

Dave.

Posted by: Harley387

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcs2244

Yeah, well I am a right wing conservative. Period. Legalize all "drugs" or NOT! This includes booze, cigs and coffee/tea. Either outlaw them all, or legalize them all...anything else is hypocritical!

Posted by: Southside

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcs2244

Yeah, well I am a right wing conservative. Period. Legalize all "drugs" or NOT! This includes booze, cigs and coffee/tea. Either outlaw them all, or legalize them all...anything else is hypocritical!

Dave,
You can't legalize all drugs. Cigs, booze, coffee...yes they all are drugs, but there is a very big diference between drinking a beer, smoking a cig and having some coffee as opposed to.....Smoking crack, shooting heroin, snorting blow, trippin on acid, cooking some meth and giving it to all the kids so they can feel GOOD. Bottom line Drugs= Crime....more drugs=more crime.....I will finish later, Sopranos are coming on soon....

Posted by: NACop

Dekk,

Sorry about your Dad. But in his situation (medical) it isn't anything like choosing to use/abuse an illegal drug for recreation.
People in pain are prescribed medications which would be illegal for general public to use for recreation. It's also stupid.

Your Dad was an extreme exception. I think most would agree.

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