'My lungs are damaged beyond repair'

Now why would they mess up a good joint with chemically treated tobacco?

Well, when I lived there (21 yrs ago, admittedly), grass was very hard to come by, hash was not. You either smoked hash in a pipe, or in a joint - you need tobacco if you are making a joint with hash.

Don't know if grass is easier to get now that the attitudes are more relaxed, but back then it was very rare indeed.

I lived in Spain 11 years ago, and it was the same way. Hash from Morocco was to be found anywhere, and making a "porro" (hash joint) was the norm. You could smoke it all day and not get wasted like you would with a bong. Memories.

Wow . . . just wow. I didn't realize. Is that . . .I hesitate to say this . . .normal? I know I'm weird and I'm not really an intoxicants sort of person, but it seems like a LOT to me. That would be too expensive for me. I try to keep my vices under $5/week. LOL

It was pretty much normal among the people with whom I hung around.

I must hang with losers. LOL Not surprising.

Or should I say it was NORML?

::snerk:: Funny. I support them, just fyi and MPP I think we have far to many laws and need to pare out the consensual "crimes" and personal choices like taking drugs.

EXACTLY! It's not like they are going to really stop people from medicating their own pain. Why not find better ways to deal with the issue. It just irritates the daylights out of me that so much of our law enforcement budget goes to setting up undercover police in penthouses and flop houses, with nice cars and expensive clothes . . . I can't understand why we do this.

One of the main factors here is that if the gov't suddenly legalizes weed, they admit that the war on drugs is not only wrong, but has failed. How often do you see the gov't admit that they are wrong about anything, especially a hot button topic such as this? Besides, the war on drugs employs a lot of people, in law enforcement, prison work, the judiciary.

Yes, I know there are many reasons the govt is resisting doing the sensible and constitutional thing. And I think they are piss poor reasons!

they admit that the war on drugs is not only wrong, but has failed.

They need to just suck it up and admit they are wrong. It's not the first time and it won't be the last. What they need to look at is "Is the war on drugs doing ANYTHING positive for the US?" The answer is no!

Besides, the war on drugs employs a lot of people, in law enforcement, prison work, the judiciary.

Repurpose them. Legalizing pot and giving amnesty to all the folks convicted of possession would create a whole new client base of folks who need to be rehabilitated back into society . . . they will need therapy and support . . start turning some prisons into halfway houses where former inmates can be healed of their prison traumas and then into rehab facilities where the tax dollars generated by taxing drugs can be used to address the underlying causes of substance abuse: mental illness, PTSD and genetic addictive weaknesses.

If the folks who run prisons thought it through, they would see there would be as many tax dollars in creating housing and support for the damaged and impoverished of our society with the added benefit of helping folks learn to be well and contribute in positive ways.

I used to work for a drug court, and I was able to see first-hand the benefits of rehabilitation instead of jail. Many of these people desperately needed help, and the drug court was able to provide said help.

I agree completely that the war on drugs is a farce. The people involved in it should be doing something helpful to society, instead of fighting a hopeless uphill battle.

Unfortunately, rehabilitation and housing for the impoverished and drug-addicted do not get votes - prisons and arrests do.

Go Dennis my kinda guy!!

...smoking herb

Goodness CL I have not heard it called that since the '60's!!