

58 percent of Americans favor legalizing marijuana - ambler0
http://www.gallup.com/poll/165539/first-time-americans-favor-legalizing-marijuana.aspx

======
sharkweek
Even though I don't touch drugs (besides caffeine, duh) I tend to fall into
the "legalize everything" category --

[http://www.economist.com/node/13237193](http://www.economist.com/node/13237193)

My general stance is pretty much aligned with the above article; that drugs
should have never fallen under a crime and punishment policy, but rather all
focus should have been placed on public health policy. While I'm not
pretending for a second that drugs don't ruin lives and families, it's only
doubling the damage to criminalize these people's choices with little chance
for rehabilitation.

This isn't even touching the political issues covered in the wonderful
documentary _The House I Live In_

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125653/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125653/)

~~~
ancarda
That link (economist.com) is behind a paywall. Is there another link I can
read?

~~~
sharkweek
Google: "How to stop the drug wars - The Economist"

~~~
ancarda
Interesting... I googled that, opened the _exact same link_ and it worked? I
suppose The Economist checks the referrer header or something?

~~~
brazzy
That seems to be becoming the standard model of how to operate a paywall -
AFAIK the New York Times pioneered it and now everyone does it.

------
rickdale
I couldn't believe the other day when I was playing GTA 5 and it said "You can
now buy properties" and flashed a medical marijuana dispensary on the screen.
I was stoked! Makes the world even more realistic.

In my home state, Michigan, if you drive around there are billboards for "The
Best OG Kush" and "Grow The Best OG Kush" also signs for pot doctors
everywhere! 2 certs for $100! Anyways, what I always tell people is stop
reading the news and just go about your business. In my world, and the world
of the people I am around marijuana is more than legal, it is accepted. I have
made a lot of pro pot comments on HN as I sit here smoking a joint (totally
legal btw, the doctor said I should keep using for the next 75 years!), this
is the first time where I just feel like the pot people have won. It's
harmless and people are actually accepting that. Now I just hope the police
do.

Its going to be important for the US to figure out the marijuana. More states
are legalizing for medical every year and it has caused havoc on local
governments trying to figure out exactly what rules and laws are determined to
mean. Better for states to step up and legalize it, but it is time.

~~~
thrownaway2424
Pot, like gay marriage, has simply been a demographic matter of waiting for
enough stuck up old people to finally die that the preponderance of opinion is
in favor of it. When you're old, statistically speaking, people younger than
you will be waiting for you to shuffle off, too.

~~~
veidr
Sure, whole classes of problems will disappear as old people die.

But we may not need to wait for grannie and her bridge club to die for this
one; TFA notes that support for full-blown legal weed is up 14% _in people
over 65_ since 2011.

~~~
WiseWeasel
Note that the average life expectancy in the US is 78.6 years old. 79 minus 65
is 14 years. So in two years, we can expect that 2/14ths of the population
over 65 will have died, or ~14% of that population. A 14% increase in the
population over 65 in favor of legalization in two years does not conflict
with the notion that this is a demographic issue.

~~~
whyenot
Life expectancy for someone who is 65 years old is actually 82.5 or 85.2 years
(depends on gender) [1]. You are making a very common mistake by using life
expectancy for someone born today -- that's a very different thing.

[1]
[http://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html](http://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html)

~~~
WiseWeasel
I was hoping someone would correct me on that. So 84-65 = 19 years, and 2/19 =
10.5% predicted population churn in two years. 14% is 3.5%/10.5%, or 33%
higher than the demographic factor alone would predict.

~~~
whyenot
Your calculations assume nobody lives past the age of 84. You may want to
rethink that.

~~~
WiseWeasel
It assumes that the average person aged 65 will live to 84, meaning as many
will die before as after.

~~~
whyenot
No. It is a prediction that someone who is 65 will live _on average_ another
19 years to age 84. It does not assume "as many will die before as after." The
wikipedia article on life expectancy is actually quite good, if you are
interested in learning more.

~~~
nitrogen
If the definition of _average_ used by life expectancy is the median, then
yes, _by definition_ as many will die before as die after.

~~~
emiliobumachar
I hope nobody is actually redefining the word "average" to mean median,
because that would confuse all I thought I knew about statistics.

Is there a less allegedly ambiguous term for the "traditional" definition of
average, that is, the sum of many measurements of the same characteristic,
divided by the number of elements measured?

~~~
robmil
Mean, surely?

~~~
emiliobumachar
Very true. Thank you.

------
wsc981
It's kinda sad that while the US seems to be more and more open to the idea of
legalised marihuana, here in the Netherlands we are slowly moving in the
opposite direction. This might also have something to do with the EU: for
example Franch citizens sometimes travel to the Netherlands to buy hash or
weed. France doesn't like this, so recently our so-called coffee-shops[0] have
been required to ask for identification and it's not allowed to sell hash &
weed to foreigners. So what happens now is the weed is being sold on the
streets buy Dutch citizens to foreigners - the new laws actually caused an
increase in criminal activity.

Actually our laws are rather weird: a coffee-shop may sell hash or weed, but
may not buy it - we still allow them to buy it, but I guess it has to be from
some illegal sources since in the Netherlands we are allowed to grow a few
plants for private consumption only.

Also, several years ago a French girl committed suicide in Amsterdam while
under the influence of magic mushrooms[1]. Because of these kinds of incidents
with foreigners magic mushrooms became illegal. There is still a legal
alternative of course, "magic truffles", but it's saddening to see these kinds
of changes in my country.

[0]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_coffee_shop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_coffee_shop)

[1]:
[http://www.simplyamsterdam.nl/news/French_tourist_in_Amsterd...](http://www.simplyamsterdam.nl/news/French_tourist_in_Amsterdam_commits_suicide_after_using_magic_mushrooms.htm)

~~~
danmaz74
From Italy, I always looked at the Netherland's position on drugs as the way
forward. Really hope the change opinion that is happening in the US will also
happen all over Europe soon (as it did in Portugal, and with great results,
IIRC)

~~~
davidw
I always looked at the .nl laws as sort of Italian in that it's illegal, but
an eye is closed:-) I think it's best to have things legal and out in the
open, and regulated.

~~~
danmaz74
It looks like it is actually legal for coffee shops to sell, but not to buy
and produce...

But I agree, much better to make a clear choice. At least if possible.

------
elleferrer
So....while doing some research for a friend going through chemo for her
recurring cervical cancer, I found myself watching this documentary on YouTube
about GW Pharmaceuticals Cannabis Labs UK BBC Tour (
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIzFiC4UZqE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIzFiC4UZqE)
). They develop cannabinoid-based therapeutics (SATIVEX) and work with the
world's leading Cannabinoid scientists in 7 Universities: Aberdeen, Hebrew,
Buckingham, Reading, Complutense, Naples Frederico II & Insubria and The
Institute of Biomolecular﻿ of the National Research Council, Italy.

I did more research on the company (this was around May 2013) and found out
that their IPO just launched (ticker symbol: GWPH). I bought shares at around
$8 a share. Today, 6 months later, their shares are trading at $29 a share.

------
simbolit
I advise everyone to stop smoking and research the options on vaporising out
there. There are good portable products from $50 upward. It is much better for
your lungs than inhaling (potentially carcinogenic) combustion products such
as tar, plus you use less plant material to achieve the same effect.

This is true for both tobacco and cannabis, though I can't help but tell you
that nicotine is a really nasty toxin[0], that you should avoid at all cost.

[0]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine#Toxicology](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotine#Toxicology)

------
leke
I wonder what the percentage will have to be before it's legalised? 70%, 80%,
90%?

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PhasmaFelis
This is about so much more than folks getting high. This is about finally
winding down the disastrous War on Drugs. For the first time, I feel like the
end might finally be in sight.

------
tuananh
Wait until their kids got their hands on it.

~~~
glibgil
The kids might eat all their dinner and take a nap. That would be awful.

