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Recently the laws in Bulgaria have become very harsh regarding the use of weed. I mean even if you get caught by the police with very small ammount (1-2 grams or less) you`ll have big prolems. You may even go to jail for some time.
Personaly, I`m all for legalization, but a lot of people think that use of cannabis leads to harder drugs, so I can see their point.
So, I wonder what are the laws in your country? Is there a minimum ammount with which if you get caught, no one will make problems, or you cannot poses cannabis at all?
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In the US, marijuana is a Class 1 Scheduled Drug (meaning that it is illegal to sell, possess, consume, any amounts of MJ.) However, some state laws (and this varies from state to state) are becoming more lenient towards medicinal marijuana use if not outright legalization (i.e California voting on legalization in November of this year.)
I'm in Seattle, WA and in this city, cops really don't care if you get caught with "personal" amounts of weed (2-4 grams.) Funny thing is, getting caught with weed here is less of an offense than a parking ticket.
Edit: Ah, forgive me, California is voting in November.
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California is voting in NOVEMBER of this year. Depending on the county you live in the cops mostly just fine and release you. Not to pick at your post, just a fact correction
also in a neighboring county, if you get caught with an ounce or less in a single bag, the cops will just fine you 100 bucks and send you on your way.
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I got caught once in France with 5 grams and had to bargain with the cops for 1hr and a half, saying 'oh please I'll never do it again', 'I understand how wrong it is to smoke weed' and bla bla bla. Let finally let me go but kept my weed ofc.
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In certain areas of BC Canada, cops grow their own weed all the time
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On May 27 2010 16:34 blue_arrow wrote: In certain areas of BC Canada, cops grow their own weed all the time
<3 BC, love everything about it.
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In Australia it's a warning or a small fine at worst for possession. ^^
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Gaizzzzzz weed is bad! They're like cigarettes in that smoking them puts tar in your lungs! Then 10/20 years later you're like 'aww damn, now my lungs suck.' Imagine all the olympic athletes we lose every year to this scourge!
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On May 27 2010 16:41 love1another wrote: Gaizzzzzz weed is bad! They're like cigarettes in that smoking them puts tar in your lungs! Then 10/20 years later you're like 'aww damn, now my lungs suck.' Imagine all the olympic athletes we lose every year to this scourge!
Smoking anything is not good for your lungs. Marijuana does no harm to your lungs.
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If it's just for personal use generally it's overlooked here. They have a problem with more provocative amounts or smoking/selling it in public of course but you're unlikely to get in much trouble if you just smoke it yourself in the privacy of your own home.
EDIT: I think the correct word is 'decriminalised'?
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On May 27 2010 16:43 Roxen000 wrote:Show nested quote +On May 27 2010 16:41 love1another wrote: Gaizzzzzz weed is bad! They're like cigarettes in that smoking them puts tar in your lungs! Then 10/20 years later you're like 'aww damn, now my lungs suck.' Imagine all the olympic athletes we lose every year to this scourge! Smoking anything is not good for your lungs. Marijuana does no harm to your lungs.
He was being sarcastic referencing Michael Phelps I believe.
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On May 27 2010 16:13 mdb wrote: Recently the laws in Bulgaria have become very harsh regarding the use of weed. I mean even if you get caught by the police with very small ammount (1-2 grams or less) you`ll have big prolems. You may even go to jail for some time.
Personaly, I`m all for legalization, but a lot of people think that use of cannabis leads to harder drugs, so I can see their point.
So, I wonder what are the laws in your country? Is there a minimum ammount with which if you get caught, no one will make problems, or you cannot poses cannabis at all?
The argument that marijuana leads to harder drugs is a complete joke. This is the fault of the middle school health class curriculum which confuses kids by grouping marijuana with other illegal drugs. "Look at this list: meth, cocaine, heroine, and marijuana, all illegal substances that will destroy your life"
Kids quickly learn that marijuana is no big deal and immediately begin questioning 1) the law and 2) everything they were taught which may lead them to try harder drugs
If marijuana was in the same category as alcohol, no body would associate marijuana with hard drugs. The vast majority of my stoner friends would never get into harder drugs and strongly advise against it.
Also, if anybody tries to use that "Marijuana is a gateway drug" argument, just cite the Amsterdam case when once marijuana became semi-legal, harder drug usage actually went down.
And yeah, laws here in California are quite chill on marijuana possession (selling is different though) Most local cops who may catch you smokin outside usually just take your pot, stomp on it, then give you a warning. They usually just say "keep it indoors next time." I'd say a great majority of minor pot offenses are just warnings, unless you get caught getting high in a car. You may still get a warning but most likely you'll have to see a judge and he'll force you to either 1) pay a fine or 2) go to "MA" meetings (marijuana users anonymous) and get your card signed and then you're off free
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http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html
^ In Portugal marijuana was decriminalised a while back. The results? Drug use went down significantly.
"Judging by every metric, decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success," says Glenn Greenwald, an attorney, author and fluent Portuguese speaker, who conducted the research. "It has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the drug problem far better than virtually every other Western country does."
Compared to the European Union and the U.S., Portugal's drug use numbers are impressive. Following decriminalization, Portugal had the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 in the E.U.: 10%. The most comparable figure in America is in people over 12: 39.8%. Proportionally, more Americans have used cocaine than Portuguese have used marijuana.
The Cato paper reports that between 2001 and 2006 in Portugal, rates of lifetime use of any illegal drug among seventh through ninth graders fell from 14.1% to 10.6%; drug use in older teens also declined. Lifetime heroin use among 16-to-18-year-olds fell from 2.5% to 1.8% (although there was a slight increase in marijuana use in that age group). New HIV infections in drug users fell by 17% between 1999 and 2003, and deaths related to heroin and similar drugs were cut by more than half. In addition, the number of people on methadone and buprenorphine treatment for drug addiction rose to 14,877 from 6,040, after decriminalization, and money saved on enforcement allowed for increased funding of drug-free treatment as well.
Where I live (Sydney) cops just want to bust big (wholesale) dealers. They don't really care if people smoke weed or not, and judges will throw cases out of court if it's below a "traffickable amount".
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I don't really know what the laws here are regarding marijuana but unless you have much over you, cops close their eyes. Unless they're feeling overzealous right then.
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"but a lot of people think that use of cannabis leads to harder drugs, so I can see their point"
There no evidence for this at all in the slightlest. It's just propaganda.
Also alcohol is stastically the most damaging drug there is. It's obviously class war motivated.
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+ Show Spoiler +On May 27 2010 17:21 snotboogie wrote:http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html^ In Portugal marijuana was decriminalised a while back. The results? Drug use went down significantly. "Judging by every metric, decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success," says Glenn Greenwald, an attorney, author and fluent Portuguese speaker, who conducted the research. "It has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the drug problem far better than virtually every other Western country does."
Compared to the European Union and the U.S., Portugal's drug use numbers are impressive. Following decriminalization, Portugal had the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 in the E.U.: 10%. The most comparable figure in America is in people over 12: 39.8%. Proportionally, more Americans have used cocaine than Portuguese have used marijuana.
The Cato paper reports that between 2001 and 2006 in Portugal, rates of lifetime use of any illegal drug among seventh through ninth graders fell from 14.1% to 10.6%; drug use in older teens also declined. Lifetime heroin use among 16-to-18-year-olds fell from 2.5% to 1.8% (although there was a slight increase in marijuana use in that age group). New HIV infections in drug users fell by 17% between 1999 and 2003, and deaths related to heroin and similar drugs were cut by more than half. In addition, the number of people on methadone and buprenorphine treatment for drug addiction rose to 14,877 from 6,040, after decriminalization, and money saved on enforcement allowed for increased funding of drug-free treatment as well.Where I live (Sydney) cops just want to bust big (wholesale) dealers. They don't really care if people smoke weed or not, and judges will throw cases out of court if it's below a "traffickable amount".
Never heard about this. Cool beans.
Around Ontario, marijuana is technically illegal, but this law is laxly enforced. Most times, people are looking for big time dealers, and even then some kid running around with a half-pound was never as much of a problem as someone dealing chemicals or something. For weed, police are mostly concerned with grow-ops.
Re: marijuana as gateway drug, I was a huge pothead in high school and the connections I made through weed provided access to other drugs, but I was psyched to do anything psychoactive at that time in my life; pot didn't change my attitude toward other drugs at all. A lot of my friends, who initially swore off anything besides weed or alcohol, basically relaxed that position whenever they saw someone else - usually me - on something higher in intensity.
Since then, I haven't even smoked pot in about two years, getting drunk sporadically, whereas a lot of my other friends range from being cokeheads, ecstasy fiends, or full-time alcoholics, in addition to being potheads.
i.e., although "marijuana as gateway drug" has an atom of truth to it, it's more of a person-to-person thing.
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I recently got my medical marijuana card in California after my VA doctor suggested I try it out for treatment of PTSD and anxiety disorder. Technically, VA doctors can't prescribe it, but he did make the recommendation and told me how to go about getting it.
I've been a patient for about two weeks now and it really seems to be helping. I have different strains for day-time and night-time and for anxiety and insomnia. In general, I feel much happier and relaxed and, the more I do research into marijuana's use medically, the harder I find it to believe why so many people demonize it.
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On May 27 2010 17:17 Ixas wrote: Death Sentence. lol
This ^^
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