420
Founder
If you are counting down the days until your 21st birthday, dying to burn your fake ID, someone who enjoys smoking marijuana and you just happen to live in Denver, Colo., Tuesday was a pretty good day for you.
For the rest of us who don't quite meet that criterion, whose phones are counting down the days for us and whose state is far too Republican to do anything relatively radical, it's simply a day to learn something new.
A little east of us is a city in which 54 percent of voters approved a ballot to legalize marijuana use for adults over the age of 21.
According to The Associated Press, the ballot would allow residents to carry with them up to an ounce of marijuana legally.
Mason Tvert, organizer of the Safer Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation campaign, claims that the legalization of marijuana would decrease the number of alcohol-related accidents, and street and domestic crime. This is, in part, because marijuana ( whose effects include mellower attitudes ) is an alternative to alcohol consumption.
But people opposing the ordinance worry that this statement is just a myth. Their main argument against the legalization of marijuana is that its use leads to other substance abuse.
How cliche, I know. However, it is true that people who smoke pot are 85 times more likely to try other drugs, according to the American Council for Drug Education.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association claims that marijuana is a "gateway" drug, and they also claim that alcohol is the gateway drug that leads to marijuana. So why not ban alcohol, too? If anyone ever tried to ban alcohol again ( ode to the days of Prohibition ) they would probably be hung in public.
Although many people are outraged at the voters' decision, the new law may not make much of a difference. State laws that make the possession of marijuana ( even one ounce ) illegal are most likely going to be strictly enforced, overruling the new city ordinance, also known as Initiative 100. And even if the state laws will not be enforced with Initiative 100, it would still be illegal to smoke marijuana in public.
Also, this new controversial privilege is only for those who are 21 and over. If this is truly the correct age to make an educated decision about consuming alcohol, it should also be the correct age to decide whether or not to smoke marijuana.
And let's face it, people will smoke it regardless of whether it's legal or not. That's their choice.
Still, I can't help but question Tvert's statement - how will legal marijuana use reduce alcohol use? The 23-year-old believes that, by legalizing it, more people will make the smart choice of putting the bottle down and picking the pipe ( or joint ) up.
That's an erroneous argument. If you truly believe that the legalization of marijuana will benefit the public, there are many arguments you could use to make a strong point. Claiming that it reduces alcohol consumption isn't one of them.
Source: State Press, The (AZ Edu)
Copyright: 2005 ASU Web Devil
Contact: state.press@asu.edu
Website: ASU Web Devil - Phoenix, Arizona Bail Bonds Service
For the rest of us who don't quite meet that criterion, whose phones are counting down the days for us and whose state is far too Republican to do anything relatively radical, it's simply a day to learn something new.
A little east of us is a city in which 54 percent of voters approved a ballot to legalize marijuana use for adults over the age of 21.
According to The Associated Press, the ballot would allow residents to carry with them up to an ounce of marijuana legally.
Mason Tvert, organizer of the Safer Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation campaign, claims that the legalization of marijuana would decrease the number of alcohol-related accidents, and street and domestic crime. This is, in part, because marijuana ( whose effects include mellower attitudes ) is an alternative to alcohol consumption.
But people opposing the ordinance worry that this statement is just a myth. Their main argument against the legalization of marijuana is that its use leads to other substance abuse.
How cliche, I know. However, it is true that people who smoke pot are 85 times more likely to try other drugs, according to the American Council for Drug Education.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association claims that marijuana is a "gateway" drug, and they also claim that alcohol is the gateway drug that leads to marijuana. So why not ban alcohol, too? If anyone ever tried to ban alcohol again ( ode to the days of Prohibition ) they would probably be hung in public.
Although many people are outraged at the voters' decision, the new law may not make much of a difference. State laws that make the possession of marijuana ( even one ounce ) illegal are most likely going to be strictly enforced, overruling the new city ordinance, also known as Initiative 100. And even if the state laws will not be enforced with Initiative 100, it would still be illegal to smoke marijuana in public.
Also, this new controversial privilege is only for those who are 21 and over. If this is truly the correct age to make an educated decision about consuming alcohol, it should also be the correct age to decide whether or not to smoke marijuana.
And let's face it, people will smoke it regardless of whether it's legal or not. That's their choice.
Still, I can't help but question Tvert's statement - how will legal marijuana use reduce alcohol use? The 23-year-old believes that, by legalizing it, more people will make the smart choice of putting the bottle down and picking the pipe ( or joint ) up.
That's an erroneous argument. If you truly believe that the legalization of marijuana will benefit the public, there are many arguments you could use to make a strong point. Claiming that it reduces alcohol consumption isn't one of them.
Source: State Press, The (AZ Edu)
Copyright: 2005 ASU Web Devil
Contact: state.press@asu.edu
Website: ASU Web Devil - Phoenix, Arizona Bail Bonds Service
i agree with this article..marijuana cannot be compared with what kind of effects alchohol can have on a person. Weed is seriously overrated, and misunderstood in my opinion as a budsmoker for quite some time. To me weed is really nothing more than like ciggarettes. I smoke it with my friends to pass some time, and to just relax n chill. 
