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colemanSILVER Member
big and good and broken
7,330 posts
Location: lunn dunn, yoo kay, United Kingdom


Posted:
from: https://www.cannabisculture.ca/articles/4570.html

Written by: www.cannabisculture.ca


DENVER LEGALIZES MARIJUANA 53% - 46%!
by CC Magazine update (01 Nov, 2005)

Denver voters make adult possession of one ounce or less of marijuana legal.

Denver became the first city in the nation to make the private use of marijuana legal for adults 21 and older as an alternative to alcohol, a far more harmful drug. By 10.45 p.m. Tuesday night, with 100% of the votes tallied, the Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative had passed 53.49% YES to 46.51% NO.

The Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative is the first local measure in the nation to draw a comparison between the harms of alcohol and marijuana.

The successful I-100 campaign focused on the vast number of health, safety and social problems associated with alcohol use, promoting marijuana use to avoid the prevalence of such problems. The campaign pointed to government reports and scholarly studies that show alcohol is a contributing factor in domestic violence, sexual assaults, and other violent crimes, as well as overdose deaths, whereas the use of marijuana has never been linked to such violent behavior and there has never been a marijuana overdose death in history.

Colorado Medical Marijuana certificate
Colorado Medical Marijuana certificate
"It is time our laws reflect the facts, and it is an indisputable fact that marijuana is safer than alcohol, both to the user and to society," said Mason Tvert, executive director of SAFER and coordinator of the I-100 campaign. "Current laws accept and even encourage the use of alcohol over marijuana, thus pushing people toward using a more harmful substance. Why on earth would we prohibit an adult from making the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol in their own home?"

By approving the I-100, the use of marijuana in public, the use of marijuana by people under 21, driving under the influence of marijuana, and the cultivation and distribution of marijuana would all remain illegal, much like with alcohol.

Cannabis Culture will update this story as more details become available.

Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) is a Colorado-based non-profit organization whose mission is to educate the public about the harmful consequences associated with alcohol, as compared to the safer — yet illegal — substance: marijuana.

Here is the language of the Initiative-100

Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization Initiative

WHEREAS, according to the National Institutes of Health, an average of 317 Americans die annually as the result of alcohol overdoses; and

WHEREAS, there has never been even a single fatal marijuana overdose recorded in the medical literature, as noted by the British Medical Journal in September 2003; and

WHEREAS, according to U.S. Department of Justice, “About 3 million crimes occur each year in which victims perceive the offender to have been drinking at the time of the offense. Among those victims who provided information about the offender’s use of alcohol, about 35% of the victimizations involved an offender who had been drinking”; and

WHEREAS, extensive research, documented in official reports by the British government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and the Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs, among others, shows that -- unlike alcohol -- marijuana use is not generally a cause of violence or aggressive behavior and in fact tends to reduce violence and aggression;

WHEREAS, it is the intent of this ordinance to have the private adult use and possession of marijuana treated in the same manner as the private adult use and possession of alcohol;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF DENVER

________________________________________________________________________

TEXT OF PROPOSED INITIATIVE
(proposed addition in all caps, underlined)

Amend Art. 5, Div. 3, Sec. 38-175 (Revised Municipal Code)

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person UNDER THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE (21) to possess one (1) ounce or less of marihuana. If such person is under the age of eighteen (18) years of age at the time of the offense, no jail sentence shall be imposed and any fine imposed may be supplanted by treatment as required by the court.





mind you, if you're 19 or 20 and a smoker, watch your back!


cole. x

"i see you at 'dis cafe.
i come to 'dis cafe quite a lot myself.
they do porridge."
- tim westwood


i8beefy2GOLD Member
addict
674 posts
Location: Ohio, USA


Posted:
I don't have too many reservations about your working definition Dave, but the problem of where to draw the line IS a bit of a sticking point for me.

I will propose this, being a psychology major and having gone through abnormal psych... and it appears your leaning toward a semi-similar defintion. The delusion involved seems to not be the consumption, but the results of the consumption, ie relationship troubles, negetive thoughts, depression, health effects, etc. That is, a true addict uses to the point of diminishing returns, and then is deluded about the negetive consequences that are occuring because of the happiness the habit brings them. So basically, it is an addiction, when it is causing distress or other malfunctions in your life. Many psychological "problems" that are not expressly physiological (personality issues) require this specific caveat: that it is causing problems. If not, its all personal differences and all that.

As a simple suggestion, to Stone and others since I want to feel out exactly how you guys are viewing this, can we agree that there is a level of usage that is sustainable without lapsing into a deluded addict? By sustainable I mean that the physical damage is minimal and the body gets enough time to repair itself in between uses perhaps. Or is any user an addict? And thus where do we draw the line, and what mitigating factors exactly define one as such?

StoneGOLD Member
Stream Entrant
2,829 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia


Posted:
Agreed smile

If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh


i8beefy2GOLD Member
addict
674 posts
Location: Ohio, USA


Posted:
Agreed to what? All of it? Ok so the question then is where do we draw the line? Where is the line of diminishing returns, and further more, how can one know that they themself, or someone else, has crossed it?

onewheeldaveGOLD Member
Carpal \'Tunnel
3,252 posts
Location: sheffield, United Kingdom


Posted:
Firstly, I agree that it is possible to use alcohol and weed in a non-damaging fashion; however, I would also want to qualify that statement with the facts that-



1. some cannot- for whatever reason, some people will overuse (weed) to the extent that it becomes a source of considerable damage, and, with drinkers, some will either over-use and/or become alcoholics.



2. Just because one is currently using in a controlled fashion, this does not mean that, in the future, use will stay within those limits.





Obviously though, both these statements are perfectly compatible with the fact that many people can, and do, use weed/alcohol in a responsible and non-damaging way.



Less so with nicotine, IMO. From experience of many smokers over many years, the percentage who can genuinely use tobacco at levels where it isn't damaging, is exceptionally low- and, if you get back to them years later their use has often increased to undoubtably damaging levels (in my experience).



Written by:





Ok so the question then is where do we draw the line? Where is the line of diminishing returns, and further more, how can one know that they themself, or someone else, has crossed it?








IMO, the best way is to ask several people who know you well, who you consider to be objective, and who you trust to tell you the truth, even if they feel the truth could hurt (smoking/drinking buddies, for obvious reasons, may well not be the best choice here).



This is because, if you have crossed the line into having a substance abuse problem (and presumably anyone sincerely asking the question above, is in a position where that is a possibility), there is a very good chance that your ability to make an objective and realistic assessment of your use/abuse, is gone.

"You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it."

--MAJOR KORGO KORGAR,
"Last of The Lancers"
AFC 32


Educate your self in the Hazards of Fire Breathing STAY SAFE!


StoneGOLD Member
Stream Entrant
2,829 posts
Location: Melbourne, Australia


Posted:
beefy, it’s really up to you to draw your own line. What doesn’t work for you, what makes you feel like crap? Change it, if it’s not working. Listen to what Dave says, he he sums it up well. Ask other people, do a swat if you like.



smile

If we as members of the human race practice meditation, we can transcend our fear, despair, and forgetfulness. Meditation is not an escape. It is the courage to look at reality with mindfulness and concentration. Thich Nhat Hanh


MidkiffBRONZE Member
shadow stranger
462 posts
Location: Carmi, Illinois, USA


Posted:
bump for all law abiding citizens of the us wink wink

"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able, and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" - Epicurus


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