Oklahoma just said NO to recreational marijuana.

[RoadKingLarry]

They don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee, at least not legally for recreation.

https://www.newson6.com/story/64071d860e74a80736459c89/breaking:-oklahoma-says-no-to-recreational-marijuana

The “no” side was outspent more than 20-to-1, with supporters of the initiative spending more than $4.9 million, compared to about $219,000 against, last-minute campaign finance reports show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68cbjlLFl4U

[Pb]

I have pretty much changed my mind about legalizing weed.

Americans don't seem to be handling weed very well.

[ConstitutionCowboy]

Yes, I voted no.

What with all the problems and trouble with the legal "medicinal" growing operations here in Oklahoma, I don't think the measure stood a chance of passing anyway.

Woody

[Nick1911]

I have pretty much changed my mind about legalizing weed.

Americans don't seem to be handling weed very well.

It's an intoxicating drug.  I think it's pretty foreseeable that it will carry similar issues as the other legal intoxicant, alcohol.  Some folks are going to overindulge, some folks are crawl into that hole to escape their other issues, some folks are going to drive intoxicated.

The pragmatic question is if that's better or worse than the problems that arise from keeping it illegal.  The more philosophical question asks where we draw the line with regards to personal freedoms - even if something is worse for society, it may be acceptable because we value the right to make our own choices even if it means bearing the negative consequences of other people making their own choices... poorly.

[RoadKingLarry]

I was also a NO!!! vote.
On the libertarian hand I really don't care what an adult ingests so long as it doesn't impact me.
On the crusty old curmudgeon hand I don't want a bunch of stoned off their ass driving on the same streets as I do. We've already got plenty of that as it is.
And as an aside, the whole 420, pothead, weed culture crap is pretty disgusting to me.

As CC pointed out we have some major issues with the legalized "medical" marijuana growing operations here in Oklahoma. A very significant amount of the legal grow operations are Chinese owned/controlled and we are seeing problems with violence, human trafficking and prostitution associate with them.

[Ben]

I have pretty much changed my mind about legalizing weed.

Americans don't seem to be handling weed very well.

I have done the same, and it's all because of one data point I have mentioned here before: Ontario, OR. What a shithole that town has become since the pot shops showed up. A place where you used to be able to leave your car unlocked with the keys in it is now a place where I always lock my car, and in many parts, do a scan before I get in or out of my vehicle in the parking lot. It all happened in four short years.

Admittedly, one reason is likely the fact that it's an Idaho border town, and the majority of plates in the pot shop lots are Idaho plates. Also partially because Eastern OR is super conservative and no one there (except the people who moved there after legal pot) is smoking pot. The pot shops brought undesirables in. They also brought in booming business from a bordering state, which brought in more pot shops, which brought in more undesirables.

Maybe national pot legalization would keep that from happening, or at least diffuse the bad element, but what I've seen at that one location has really soured me on legal pot. Seems like it was a much nicer town when the drug dealers were breaking the law.

[WLJ]

On the crusty old curmudgeon hand I don't want a bunch of stoned off their ass driving on the same streets as I do. We've already got plenty of that as it is.

It's illegal here but it's quite common for me to get a strong smell of it coming from the car ahead of me and other cars at lights, in many cases strong enough to make me gag. Absolutely hate the smell of weed.

[Brad Johnson]

Probably failed because the meth dealers don't want competition.

Brad

[Northwoods]

One problem with state legal but federal illegal pot is that the big banks won’t touch pot shops.  And because credit cards either aren’t taken, or people don’t want their card narcing them out, it’s an almost entirely cash business.  Which is a huge security problem.  So, at least in CO, and I’d imagine in the other pot legal states, the fed started send armored cars to the pot shops to collect their cash and then they’d issue electronic funds that could be deposited in a normal bank.  In effect the fed was (openly) laundering the money for the pot shops.  This attracted attention of the Mexican cartels and they started using the “legal” pot shops to launder their money via the fed.

[Brad Johnson]

This attracted attention of the Mexican cartels and they started using the “legal” pot shops to launder their money via the fed.

It's the carwash of the modern age.

Brad

[RoadKingLarry]

California seizes armored cars with pot shop money for asset forfeiture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GKg1UucxNc&t=141s
 

[Declaration Day]

Recreational marijuana has been legal here in Michigan for a few years.  I haven't noticed much difference in the proliferation of its use, but that might be because I live very close to Detroit. One noticeable trend is that, among businesses that drug screen applicants / employees, many no longer screen for marijuana use, including the shop where I work.  About 1/4 of the employees where I work smoke it in their cars during breaks and lunch.  Doing so at work IS against the rules, but the rule isn't enforced.

For the record, I use it in very small amounts just before bed, only to help me sleep.

[Ben]

About 1/4 of the employees where I work smoke it in their cars during breaks and lunch.  Doing so at work IS against the rules, but the rule isn't enforced.

Regardless of legality, the one thing that bugs me about - it seems like a majority of - pot smokers, is that they somehow think it doesn't affect them like alcohol affects people who have a drink. While they might not drink on the job, they see nothing wrong with smoking pot on the job. Or before or during driving, or any activity that requires you to have your wits about you. And of course it's not just their lives that are potentially at risk.

[Declaration Day]

And of course it's not just their lives that are potentially at risk.

Yep.  As for me, I am one of only two machinists where I work.  While we don't have our own separate building, our section is somewhat cordoned off from the rest of the plant's operations. Any mayhem the pot heads may inadvertently cause is far enough away that we don't worry about our personal safety.

[charby]

Regardless of legality, the one thing that bugs me about - it seems like a majority of - pot smokers, is that they somehow think it doesn't affect them like alcohol affects people who have a drink. While they might not drink on the job, they see nothing wrong with smoking pot on the job. Or before or during driving, or any activity that requires you to have your wits about you. And of course it's not just their lives that are potentially at risk.

You've never been to northern Wisconsin where go cups and road beers are a thing when bar hopping, and I'm not talking about youngsters either. Edibles, vapes, and old fashioned joints are also being used too.

[Pb]

It is my understanding that a lot weed users seem to think that it is not only harmless, but healthy.

It may have uses for a few things like many drugs, but healthy sounds highly unlikely.

I am particularly concerned about possible links between weed and schizophrenia.

[Brad Johnson]

It is my understanding that a lot weed users seem to think that it is not only harmless, but healthy.

Have a friend in that boat. He has all kinds of "studies" that show how healthy MJ use is. They're all crap, mostly from the same group on a pay-to-publish trash science site. He'll shove them in the face of anyone who claims weed is anything other than pure as the wind-driven snow.

Brad

[RoadKingLarry]

My wife's oldest brother is that way. He's got his "Medical Marijuana" card.
Marijuana is good for what ails you. Because of weed he no longer needs his BP or diabetic meds. Well, that and "Jesus healed him". (I'm kind of surprised we haven't buried him yet)
He's also on the paranoid side.
The government is putting nanobots in our food and drink to control us.
9/11 was an inside job.
We never landed on the moon.
The earth is flat.
There is no such thing as outer space.
Dinosaurs fossils were put there by Satan to confound us and never really existed.

He also thought he was capable of driving the demons out of our oldest grandson by smacking him in the head a couple of times ala shyster televangelist style.
My wife drove 120 miles round trip to forcibly disabuse him of that notion.

[MechAg94]

I came across a couple of youtube videos of a guy talking about giants and there is no outer space.  His giants were as much as a 1.5 kilometers tall.  I going down a rabbit hole on alternative archeology stuff and I had to stop after that.  You need to have a little more than just fanciful ideas if you are going to get into that sort of thing. 


I have heard a few people talk about flat earth and stuff, but they usually talk real fast jumping from point to point.  And the other people on the show are never knowledgeable enough to counter anything. 

[Northwoods]

Some of the commentary of possible ancient civilizations wiped out and replaced by us isn’t totally implausible.  Mostly, but not totally.

The stuff RKL’s BIL believes requires the use of mind altering substances to find anything but laughable.

[RoadKingLarry]

Some of the commentary of possible ancient civilizations wiped out and replaced by us isn’t totally implausible.  Mostly, but not totally.

The stuff RKL’s BIL believes requires the use of mind altering substances to find anything but laughable.

Now that is something I could be willing to explore on an intellectual level.
This old mud ball has been around for a long time, something like 4.5 Billion years old. We really only have a vague idea on what was going on for what is a very short time in the grand scheme of this planet.
The earliest identified fossils of Homo Sapiens are about 300,000 years old. We have zip point spit idea of what those people were doing and how long they were doing it.

[Ben]

Now that is something I could be willing to explore on an intellectual level.
This old mud ball has been around for a long time, something like 4.5 Billion years old. We really only have a vague idea on what was going on for what is a very short time in the grand scheme of this planet.
The earliest identified fossils of Homo Sapiens are about 300,000 years old. We have zip point spit idea of what those people were doing and how long they were doing it.

I think the Silurian hypothesis, while not probable, is closer to plausibility than implausibility. A billion years will wipe out traces of most things we're familiar with as "technology", and there's nothing in the hypothesis that says a prior species had to have reached "x" level of technology. I think the hypothesis calls for a minimum of "industrial" level.

[Pb]

Possible evidence I have seen cited against the Silurian hypothesis is the existence in modern times of large unexploited ore deposits.

[Ben]

Possible evidence I have seen cited against the Silurian hypothesis is the existence in modern times of large unexploited ore deposits.

Well, #1, plate tectonics; and #2, how much ore did we exploit with late 19th and early 20th century technology that would be traceable a billion years later?

And I reckon #3: It stands to reason that a completely different lifeform would have a completely different technology. There may be unexploited ores because they never needed them. They could have mined seawater for all we know.

[Tuco]

>they just said no
Sometimes it's enough to just say "Whoa!"