The path to legalization, not pretty but true...

[brownieMan]

--- This is how I believe cannibis will eventually become legal ----

As long as the main way to experience pot is smoking, it won't be widely accepted. There's a negative stigma in most upper-income America with smoking anything. And they are the ones who ultimately interpret/make laws. Yes, we can march, sign petitions, and argue for reducing prison populations, but ultimately pot has an image problem with most Americans. And if there's one thing marketing/advertising companies do well, it's create image campaigns to change the harts and minds of Americans.

MAKING POT ACCEPTABLE
Alchohol and coffee have very social aspects to consuming them. There are bars and coffee shops everywhere. These drinks are best experienced when taken slowly while reading or chatting with a friend. Also, they require tactile accessories like coffee mugs, cups, and bottles. It's more than just a drink, it's an experience.

So let's create a new, non-smoking way to consume THC that involves holding an object that's an accessory to consumption. The THC would probably need to be a weak dosage so you only get a small buzz in one sitting. Obviously, some people will hang out all day and "buzz" just like in coffee shops and bars.

There are plenty of food/drink recepies so it's not my point to suggest more. (FYI: THC is soluable in fat [milkfat, butterfat, oil, etc] and alchohol.) My point is about marketing THC as an acceptable, consumable, and safe "add-on". If this happens, I believe new retail outlets will open where people can sit and enjoy a "shot" of pot.
- Maybe a shot of THC for your morning coffee or tea.
- Let's dip our hemp bread in green (pot) olive oil with salt and pepper.
- Maybe our ice cream has "Mary Jane" drops as a topping.
- How about artichoke dip with hemp seeds and a dash of THC to go with crackers.

Something else to remember, we need a name for the product. THC is too medicinal and will push the FDA to require a prescription (see Marinal or Cesamet). It has to be marketed as a product of nature with connotations of wholesome-ness and use throughout the ages. So, mixing it with another product like chocolate and selling it as a luxary food item might be the way to go. Ganja, marijuana, and pot are all names created in the early century and used in negative terms by the government when they began the ban on pot.

So, let's find a name that connotates ancient, time-tested health, and exotic luxary... and let's come up with ways to serve pot that people will see and say, "Hmmm, maybe I'll try it". THEN, legalization will happen for small doses and production & distribution systems with form. And over time, the general public will accept that pot is no more dangerous than caffeine or alcohol and in fact, less so when taken responsibly. After some time, states will then legalize larger doses to be sold at liqour stores and other places where proof of age is required.

[ForeverHigh]

Great thoughts man, never thought about it that way before. I think the action of smoking weed is what makes people think bad of it also. Maybe we should start selling weed chocolate bars labeled, HIGH STREET FOOD PRODUCTS, and the companies slogan can be "So good you'll think your high" lol so blazed

take it easy,
foreverhigh

[VaporDaddy]

Vaporizers.
Enough said.
:jointsmile:

[Primus]

I agree with you on some specific points, but I mostly disagree.

I think a lot of people who are anti-marijuana, fear marijuana simply due to ignorance (well aint that the overstatement of the century). My point is, it's an ignorance so great, that those people wouldn't know what THC is if you asked them. Their understanding is that if you smoke this plant you get high and stupid and then your life is a failure. So I do agree that taking the "smoking" out of the equation, will significantly raise the chances of it becoming legalized.

But there is an over-the-line point too, which will be hard to travel near without fully crossing. I think THC in bars and coffee shops is a big unlikelihood. If it were to be legalized for consumption in this manner, I think the law would have to be so strict as to only allow it's consumption in an enclosed area, such as a coffee/hash bar situation, where licensing would be very stringent; all this to appease the generally fearful - of which there are a lot.

Furthermore, THC in chocolate bars? candies? spices? toppings? I think these would all be a mistake. Any product containing THC that would be readily available to the public would be abused by some percentage of the population. I don't know if it would be kids, or addicts, or whatever, but I guarantee that there could be a certain segment of the population that will inevitably abuse the product. This is inevitable if it's to be sold as a tangible product. Even if it's supposed to be sold only to adults, it would be inevitable that it would find it's way into the hands of kids, or something. Look at Cigarettes and Alcohol. (Edit: I said inevitable like 4 times just now, but it's inevitable, because I smoke the reefer too.)

Now, I'm not saying that it would be as bad an effect on children as either cigarettes or alcohol, I'm saying that, the anti-marijuana clubs would have a field day with this statistic, and use it to crush or significantly slow down the future of any further marijuana legalization. I think it would be too devastating to the cause.

I think something else will happen.

I think the beginning of it will be vaporizer bars. Places you can go to, to suck on some vaporized THC. You can't leave with it in your pockets, since you're only consuming the vapor. the supply and inventories could be tightly controlled. It would alleviate the general fears of the anti-marijuana croud (though I doubt any of them would dare walk by such an unholy place), and it would be safer than smoking the weed, so it would pass by the anti-smoking crew as well.

That's my 2c.

[cannabis=freedom]

Governments don't care if people are intoxicated as long as they make some tax money. Cigarettes kill thousands every year and yet the government doesn't give a flying fuck as long as they make a percentage off every pack sold.

But suddenly, in British Columbia, Canada at any rate, the government is becoming more anti-cigarettes. And while some of us may think that this is out of concern for citizens' safety....no. It's only because they've finally realized that long-term smoking costs them a lot more in health care costs (in Canada we have public health care that comes out of tax money) than they make off the cigarette sales.

Legalization will only happen if we can negotiate with a government finance dude and convince them it's in their best interests.

[brownieMan]

:stoned: I hadn't thought of vaporizers. Sounds good.

[Birdsfoot]

i think one of the biggest reasons people have a bad view of pot is because it gets you high. the word high is lumped in with other drugs such as cocaine. with alcohol you get drunk which is more accepted and no one ever says "im going to go smoke a cigarette and get high". if they do refer to getting high with a cigarette it is usually a nicotine high which is widely accepted. i believe that a huge step to legalization is to find a different term to label what pot does to you. something that wont scare people.

[twentysac]

i fell you on the part about smoking maybe giving off a bad image. but even with the new vaps and things of that nature out i think that smoking is the most sociable way to endulge. i also think that the process of preparing to smoke (cleaning the pot, packing the bowl, rolling the joint or blunt) is experiance enough.