Pot vs. alcohol

I guess the good thing about being stoned is that you don't cause any trouble, because your on the couch passed out. DUI's, does that only apply to alcohol, can't stoners get DUI's?

And what research shows alcohol consumption goes down with legalization? If alcohol causes this much of a problem, maybe it should be made illegal again.

18 years of service and this is the best you can come with? Seems like a wasted 18 years.

While I'm starting to piece the logic of this article together, I can't help but be confused by how a police detective never got a single call for marijuana, despite saying that his colleagues spend millions of hours hunting down pot smokers. Maybe I'm missing something and marijuana and pot aren't related.

bjo:

That's a very good point. I think it works something like this:

Many pot heads are discovered organically while 'walking the beat' or whatever. This accounts for the millions of hours dealing with them.

Now, when **** goes wrong such as a violence between family members, a really bad car accident, or any number of other things - it's often times related to alcohol and NEVER related to marijuana.

bjo....I think you're missing what he's saying when he say's called. I think he's referring to the volume of dui's, drunk accidents, public intoxication, mip's, etc...they are trained to track down pot because it's not near as inebriating and noticeable as alcohol. The fact of the matter is, when you ask half of the people that drink and drink often, it's because their job or something else keeps them from partaking in smoking cannabis. I've asked many people at parties, events, or just at a family gathering why they quit, or why they don't or can't and majority of the time it's because of a job. If cannabis were legalized and taxed think of the amount of money you would take from the black market and drug dealers...not only would you save billions with easing the war on drugs for cannabis, but also the new multi billion income from selling, plus taxing! How many times have you seen a stoned person get angry over nothing or something so minimal??? How many times did you hear of 2 stoners beating the **** out of each other???? Rare. If they do, it's usually because they've been drinking and acting a fool...

amen to the author.. Mick

Officer Wooldredge, congrats on stating the logical, sensible truth.Pot smoking is probably the most misunderstood event taking place in our country. I have seen firsthand the effects of both,( pot & alcohol )and alcohol and tobacco are by far the worse. Altering one's conscientiousness has been around since the beginning of time, and will never go away..Legalization will reduce crime, and at the same time put badly needed funds in the public coffers...Not to mention,as you stated, free up our police to pursue more serious offenders.The penalty for marijuana use is totally ludicrous,and the time for legalization has finally come...Too bad it could not have been achieved for reasons other than a fundraising effort. I applaud your honesty and support your effort...

The only reason pot isn't legal is that the indians who roamed the plains used it in a medicinal purpose and for ceremonies. It grows everywhere and the government can't have it cornered on the market like tobbacco is and regulate it. It would be great if it was legalized.

There are worse things out in this world. Alcohol, methanphetamine, illegal drugs, gangs, robbery, rape, etc. Many more things than pot. Alcohol is easily acessed. Think about it.

I agree with you Chunky.

Blame it on booze and cigarettes and let drugs keep going!!!!!!

How many thousand people start smoking pot and go right to other drugs??

Guess they make lots of money selling the stuff!!!!!

The Lord made weed,

Man made alcohol.Who do you trust?

Alcohol metabolizes out of the human body completely within a matter of hours. Marijuana remains for days and can remain for much longer.

Who wants to be the passenger in an airplane whose Captain sparked a 'j' a few hours ago? He may not be 'technically' stoned, however the THC stays in the bloodstream and in the human cells.

Keep pot illegal.

Oblivious, I mean Oblate, have you ever smoked marijuana?? The entire effect of "gettin' high" is gone within 2-3 hours tops, regardless of how long it's still within your body. Keep in mind you can feel completely sober, yet still have a BAC over the legal limit ;). When you get "drunk", the symptoms don't go away until you've rested. I've experienced with both, both at the same time. I can tell you first hand, as well as many other people can attest that alcohol has a much larger and longer effect than cannabis. I would trust a high pilot before I'd trust a drunk pilot. As well as I'd trust a high person before I'd trust a drunk.(high on cannabis, nothing else) How many times have people woken up and been like "how the f*&k did I get here?" You never see that with someone who smoked. Of course it all comes down to amount, responsibility, and experience. With both. I'm just stating what I KNOW, first hand.

I think some of you have killed too many brain cells boozin it up.

What I have figured out in my experience of being a ex-drinker/boozer, watching people we love die as a result of drunk driving, knowing "pot head" and also having deep discussions is this:

1.Most officers will never have to "take down" a pot head as they do with drunks and meth heads on a daily basis.

2. Pot is NOT addictive and it's funny as hell to hear the new drug Czar say that it is. I guess he skipped 8th grade when we learned this in school.

3. Pot DOES NOT impair you in the way that alcohol and other drugs do.

4. Pot is NOT the gateway to illicit drugs, alcohol is.

5. I much rather be sober and hang out with a pot head than a stupid drunk any day!

6. Around the tun of the century, the 20th, it was widely know that alcohol was the drug of the rich and well to do, pot was the drug of the poor and the underbelly of society. Alcohol eventually made the cut as being leagl after prohibition.

7. If alcohol was harmless, why prohibition?

8. Alcohol is addictive and causes far more health problems that pot ever will.

Alcohol is more easily regulated and taxed and therefore pot remains illegal as most Americans can grow pot in their homes with ease and the Feds can't tax you for it so there is no advantage for government to leagaize something they cannot regulate and tax.

I think most Americans, most of the bloggers here are full of miss-guided info on pot. So much of the bad info is just public perception of it. I don't smoke pot and probably wouldn't if it were leagl, however, I see alcohol as a very very dangerous drug after what I have seen happen to families and kids as a result of it.

We as a society have a tendancy to overlook the dark side of alcohol because it is so socially acceptable to drink at virtually every occation and meal.

I'd like all of you to think real hard about how many people have been killed as a result of alcohol whether it be self induced or they were an innocent victim, and how many have been killed my a pot smoker. What about the accidents late at night in McCook? What about a lot of domestic violence? Do ya suppose a lot of those people are drunk too?

I agree with Tony, however, as I said before, pot will never see leagalization as long as we can easily grow it in our homes for our own personal use as most pot smokers do. If the feds can't regulate it in order to have more bureaucracy and tax revenue, they have no interest in legalizing it.

Roughly 50,000 people in the U.S. have had an alcohol overdose within a year. At least one of those people die from overdose. No one has ever died from a pot overdose. NO ONE. In fact you would have to consume 40,000 times the amount you need to get high to actually overdose. The Dutch made it legal in the 1970's. They're hard drug use for cocaine and heroine have sugnificantly declined. If it were a gateway drug, wouldn't it be the opposite. Any kid who has gotten ahold of pot had already been busted for sneakin in Ma and Pa's liquor cabinet. Tobacco is 90% more addictive than marijuana and marijuana is less addictive that caffeine. Over 1,000 chemicals in pot? Yes. But they failed to mention that at least 800 of said chemicals can be found in coffee. Only 21 of those chemicals have ever been tested and all of the 21 has caused cancer in rats. Yet coffee is considered relatively safe. I could probably roll down the window in my car and inhale more harmful chemicals during rush hour. Oh Ya...Did anyone mention that peoples with cachexia, cancer, chronic pain, epilepsy and other disorders characterized by seizures, glaucoma, HIV or AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other disorders characterized by muscle spasticity, and nausea have better results using pot than other doctor prescribed drugs. Not to mention the crap that they try to push on TV with all those side-effects they have to worn you about first. It's obvious that some rules would need to be established just as with anything if it were to be legalized, because like with anything, there will always be idiots out there to take it to a whole other level. (You remember that idiot who spilled coffee on themselves and won a lawsuit because there was no warning lable??) Some people need things spelled out for them. There are a lot of myths about pot and the ones that claim to be fact are extremely misleading.

I saw an entry stating that pot was not addictive. It is illegal. And many people choose to take the chance of caught with it, knowing that there are legal consequences. Many people will not even apply for a job that required a pre-employment drug screen or periodic drug screen to protect thier habit. I dont think a non-addicted person would take a chance of getting caught with an illegal substance unless they were making alot of money with it, or were not addicted to it. And I definately dont think that a drug screen should keep somebody from applying for a job that could improve thier lifestyle based on the fact that they can give up the weed long enough to pass. I agree that most stoner are docile and cause little or no trouble. Keep in mind that I have not met very many stoners, and the ones I have met were locked up for it; I the ones I have met were lazy,unmotivated, and I have no reason to believe they will ever improve thier lives. Its hard to say what would happen if weed were legal, Im sure alot of money will be made in taxes, but the illegal trade will still exist because the hardcore stoners and wannabe gangster will try to get over on the taxes. I dont care if it is legal or illegal, it just make me wonder when people are willing to take the chance of getting caught with an illegal substance just how non-addictive that substance is.

Eddy,

Indians were technically here first. You're most likely an immigrant too, why don't you go back to your country?(link it back to your ancestors, etc)

Look at the effects of alcohol and cannabis when it comes to reaction times, choice making and over all thought process. Sure all it takes is control, but all too many people lose it, I'm sure that after 5 beers for you and 5 bong loads for me, you'd be irate and yelling about country this, rush this, country that, mine, mine mine....meanwhile I'd be laughing hysterically at you.

Further more, Rush always makes me laugh until I cry...he's the one who had a "Pharmaceutical" dealer when he was addicted to popping pills. Cannabis, yet again, is less detrimental to ones health than daily pill usage...You seriously should study/learn a little bit.

Also, it's technically legal at state level in many already and many, many more states to come...I think alcohol should be refined and limited...but again, we are allowed to drink ourselves to death...but we can't smoke a plant that grows naturally...Washington would be so ashamed of this.

seen too much,

Psychological addiction is different than physical addiction and they both exist with different drugs. they even taught us that in school.

And you are wrong. Pot is not near as dangerous as alcohol, yet we as a society by large accept alcohol and people literally get away with murder because of that.

Alcohol in one way or another kills thousands of people every year.

Also, neglecting your kids and beating your wife are also illegal, yet some people are habitual offenders and yet it makes no sense that one could become ADDICTED to something like that. Think about that for a minute.

I do not advocate pot smoking as it is illegal and I don't do it either. I just have to question the logic behind this country's wide acceptance of a drug (alcohol) that screws up so many people's lives, kills so many, and is so harmful to your health and life. Must come down to money, what do you think?

Justin, you hit the nail on the head to the max with your last sentence... It is indeed about money...I want everyone look into all the lobbying and money pushed for pharmaceuticals, tobacco, and alcohol....it makes me sick...all 3 of those are so harmful to everyone...

Justin76,

I did not say in my post that I thought for a minute that pot was more dangerous than alcohol. In fact, I agree with you about the dangers of both substances. In my opinion, I think they both bring out unfavorable characteristics in people, and it wouldnt bother me a bit to get rid of both of them. Addiction in any form is not good. Unfortunately, when you take away one addiction, the addictive person usually find something else to lean on. I find a stoner to be more docile and less problematic than a drunk. But personally, I dont have any use for either one.