Do we all agree pot should be legal?
- Thread starter Jarod
- Start date
Billy the Great Khan
Uwaa OmO
The answer by and large is "not very". I was 15 not long ago (certainly not as long as anyone else posting here). Kids are stupid 99.999% of the time. I certainly was.
That's great and I'm glad it worked well for you. I don't think it works that way for most who are introduced to it as early. I have nothing to back that up as it is just an opinion formed from observance of those around me in my community.
A quick Dogpile search rendered these:
When Alcohol Abuse Starts Early, Course Often More Severe http://http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/41/19/25.2.full
An early age of drinking onset is also associated with alcohol-related violence not only among persons under age 21 but among adults as well. http://www.focusas.com/Alcohol.html
Thorn
Member
That's true. There just has to be an established cutoff, that's all. Just like what level is a passing grade on an exam. Individual differences are just too complex to expect those on the front line to deal with them accurately and effectively, hence that rule has to be standardized.
Haha....I work with them all day every day..and completely agree. Even the smart ones are stupid.
And they remain so, specifically towards drugs and alcohol, if nobody makes the effort to teach them.
Topspin
Verified User
I dissagree, kids handle drugs and booze according to their general intelligence. I was always around kids who practice moderation. I was a boxer when I started herb, so basically I didn't touch beer and cigs they kill your wind.
Billy the Great Khan
Uwaa OmO
Not just that, but yes those are included. Kids need experience, but it's my belief that those certain experiences should not be legal when they're kids. Part of that is because it makes you determine whether such activities are worth the consequences. If you don't have something immediate to lose, most kids will assume that there is nothing to lose period, and that isn't true with drugs or alcohol.
Yeah, I doubt 21-year-olds are significantly more responsible drinkers. I would guess that 21-year-olds are significantly better drivers. But even that has little if anything to do with age, but rather, more experience is the primary factor.
It's not age that makes young people seem so much more irresponsible. They simply have not had the opportunity to make as many mistakes and learn from those experiences. Pushing age limits back won't be likely to help much, but if it makes legalization easier to swallow, fine.
Thorn
Member
Well said. What you described is precisely why I never wanted to work with juveniles in the criminal justice system either. They really don't have a good sense of self, and feel that they have nothing to lose. They also recognize the limitations of the system in dealing with juvenile offenders post-conviction. If that does turn around with a juvenile, it generally takes place around age 26 or so when other things enter their lives to make continuous lawbreaking less rewarding.
I worked with adult psych patients in the CJ system for four years and I'll take that over juvies any day!
cawacko
Well-known member
Dumbass.
This is actually the strongest argument I have heard to keep the age level where it is. I do believe that if you are old enough to be drafted and die you are old enough to drink though.
Billy the Great Khan
Uwaa OmO
And said argument is why I think if you can fight, vote, drink, marry, and smoke tobacco, you can have a joint too at 18.
Kids here 15 and younger are snortin' oxycontin and smoking heroine. Pot is the least of the worries.
We all have a sense of immortality when we're young despite when that is/was or not. The kids now a days believe to a big degree they're bullet proof in ways I could never imagine at that age.
Works for me. I think we should decriminalize all of it and make it actually difficult for kids to get hold of. It was significantly easier for me to get cocaine when I was 14 than it was for me to get beer, and this was BECAUSE it was illegal as it is. The people who were selling it were 14 too, they had no urge to check my ID.
Decriminalize it, make it so you have to be above a strict age limit (make it the same as those you are willing to draft or to die for the nation professionally) and then set hard time for those who break the age limitations. Put it all behind a wall, like a pharmacy, and only allow licensed "dealers"...
But then I'm very libertarian and actually like EFFECTIVE laws when it comes to things like this. The laws as they are ensure that it is easier to get pot and cocaine than it is to get beer for the people who are stupid enough to use them.
One must allow parents responsibility towards their child as well. If I think teaching my child moderation is a good thing I should be allowed to do it without fear of prison.
And the very illegality of those substances ensure it is easier for them to obtain than decriminalized alcohol.
Billy the Great Khan
Uwaa OmO
Us and our damned brains eh?
I was blown away by how easy it is to score this stuff and how rampant it actually is.
I don't do drugs, outside of an ibuprofen, vitamins, and a perscription here and there. That is not to say I haven't in the past.
Pot was never my thing. I hate dopey highs where you kind of nod off. Heroine is a particularily ugly looking high, but a tweeker on meth is ugly too.
I was a speed kind of gal and got my kick from diet pills and coke. I felt more control on those drugs even though they are high energy.
Basically I am as pure as the driven snow now and have been for a long time. I have discovered that getting a natural high from being in good shape through exercise and entertainment beats any high drugs or alcohol every produced.
Added bonus: No hangovers!
