New York Today: A Cultural History of Marijuana

I hope marijuana is never legalized- dangerous drug that destroys minds and is the new tobacco. http://grassisnotgreener.com

There is no doubt that cannabis is dangerous. It can get you into contact with the police and court systems, both of which are very bad for one's well being.

I'd like to see Anne Russell's sources, because everything I've read says otherwise. And clearly Howard Zhang thinks pot is as bad as heroin.

There is a verse in the folk song "Passing Through" as sung by Pete Seeger, that commemorates the Four Chaplains. I have been unable to find it on line although four other verses are listed in several versions. As I recall, it goes: I was standing on the deck of the Dorchester that night When four chaplains gave their life vests to the crew. Arm-in-arm on bended knee They embraced eternity And their prayers were for their brothers passing through.

What is really at issue here is how far behind the curve NY is on pot legalization. It has already happened and there is no need to fuss about it. Even in the "legal" states you have two very divergent pot cultures. One path goes through laughably grim regulations and needless tedious debates, another rigidly structured revenue source for government, and through a harshly controlled retail environment selling grams of bud and bits of candy for confiscatory sums deemed necessary to enrich the new pot entrepreneurs and various tax men. The other path winds through the happier consequences of legal home grows, where a minimum of basic gardening skills produce bountiful personal crops that can be discreetly used for smoking or home cooking of edibles. NY just needs to structure its laws so it allows for the fun side as well as the tax-and-regulate side.

In college I smoked pot (a lot), as did most of my friends, and some of our professors, rather openly. Ahhh the '60's and early '70's. Later, on my teams doing scientific research at least half smoked occasionally or more. I had already stopped when I had kids, and have not since. I drink occasionally, and did before I ever smoked pot. I have taken opioids after medical procedures. I have never been addicted to any. Gateway-schmateway. I have lost friends to alcohol, nicotine, one to cocaine, and one to blood-pressure-drug-related suicide. I have known people who died of opioid O.D. None, not one, died because of their pot use. The laws against pot are the crime. They are hurting millions of people and costing millions in lost tax revenues. Stop the politicians from ruining more American lives over pot.

Like André Salerno, I believe that marijuana should be legalized. I don't however, believe that it is entirely harmless, especially the very potent strains being developed. I, too, would like to see unbiased research. Unlike Mariane Harmon, I actually like the smell, although I've never been a marijuana smoker. I would love to try marijuana once it's legal, just for the heck of it. But I probably would consume it in food as presumably smoking it is rough on the throat, as is the case with tobacco.

I've always blamed Nelson Rockefeller's divorce on NY's tougher marijuana laws. He wanted to run for President as a Republican and with that on in his background, he needed something else for the conservative wing of the party. So get tough on drugs.

Combine a lack of political courage from our ambitious governor and a corrupt state assembly with deep ties to the corrections unions and upstate prison-industrial complex and you have our current mess. Can someone explain to me how law enforcement plans to keep cannibis off the streets when it can be bought legally in Massachusetts and Vermont?

Weed is legal in Oregon. Just across the Columbia river, Washington State beat us to it by a couple of years, but they dropped the ball by failing to initially make it legal for folks to grow their own pot at home. (They have since amended their laws to allow homegrown.) When New York State finally gets serious about discussing cannabis legalization, residents would be wise to refuse to accept a bill that does not include the right to grow ones own weed at home.

This is long over due. When states have different laws regarding marijuana use it is absurd that we live in times like these. Everyone knows alcohol and tobacco kill, let alone the racial disparities in marijuana related arrests. This is long over due again! There are more pros than cons to this issue. NY is the best place to live. Do the right thing Cuomo. #commonsense

I'm shocked that this 'cultural history' of marijuana in New York left out the Rockefeller Drug laws of 1973, under which a 'pusher' (as the NY Daily News shouted on the front page) could receive 15-25 years for selling two ounces. For NY'ers of a certain age, Nelson Rockefeller equated murderers with people selling pot.

Given the level of availability of cannibus in the City, and the general thinking that it is not as harmful as once thought, and has been shown to have positive effects in many cases, perhaps our blue state mayor and blue state governor can prove it to us and legalize. From a purely monetary standpoint, the state and city will lose out on lots of money from taxes on the legal sale.

I have no problems with pot becoming legal. I used to be a pot smoker, for about ten years of time. Now I am free of it and I have never felt better. It is not that « bening », folks. It can destroy your life, slowly but surely —like alcohol, for instance. Legalize it, let people who want to smoke be free of smoking it, but I insist, it is not a « good » substance at all. Being totally sober it’s the best feeling in my opinion.

One would think banning tobacco would be the number one health danger. Lung Cancer "statistically lung cancer caused by tobacco smoking is responsible for nearly 135,000 U.S. deaths per year." Heart Disease-"Cigarette smoking is the most important preventable cause of premature death in the United States. It accounts for more than 440,000 of the more than 2.4 million annual deaths

Cannabis prohibition has always been and will always be unconstitutional and unjust no matter what state you live in. This article says absolutely nothing about the great tribulation of injustices continually perpetuated on millions of US citizens and citizens of the world the last 50 years. "Cultural History of Marijuana"? Where is the real truth about this benign plant? Where is the truth about how it came to be illegal in the first place? Where are those who so fondly participate in partaking of this plant with its new found freedom in some states that should be standing for others in other states that are still being arrested, harassed and incarcerated? Where is the justice in this new cannabis economic bOOm sweeping the nation? I see states around the nation simply looking to cash in on a corner of the market instead of fighting for true justice concerning cannabis prohibition. While persons of mostly privilege have the economic advantage to start a new cannabis business, others mostly poor and of color are still being subjected to unabashed injustices. It'a time to stop the madness and swiftly and completely end cannabis prohibition. Unscheduling cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)= No more arrests and open business for banks to work with the new thriving cannabis market. This is not rocket science. Stop the madness, end cannabis prohibition now.

I had the same pleasant experience buying pot in Seattle. Legalization seems to be a no-brainer. The state saves money on enforcement, incarceration & eradication and, at the same time, generates new tax revenue & creates jobs.

Try to remember that marijuana is illegal because the tobacco and alcohol lobbyists did not want to share their profits. It is safer and less addictive than alcohol or tobacco. Maintaining its illegality undermines the credibility of millions of otherwise law abiding citizens, creates an untaxed underground economy that can use its profits for other illicit activities, and follows most of the same failed ideologies of Temperance.

There are cannabis addicts (no quotes needed!) just as there are with alcohol representing about 17% (depending on the study) of regular users of each. Plenty of data on that. So, if MJ is legalized, the public should be regularly informed of that potential just as it is for cigarette smoking (and would be for alcohol were the alcohol lobbies not so rich and powerful).Why not?

The lack of legalization efforts in NY can be traced solely to Governor Cuomo and his Presidential aspirations. The "study" language in his budget bill is all smoke and no fire, so to speak. Cuomo has a distinct habit of trying to appear progressive to NY voters while wearing a national cloak of conservatism. NY does not have permissive referendum so don't expect any movement on recreational marijuana legalization, at least for the next year or two.

Weed is not legal in my state. It wasn't legal in CA or CO when I lived there. I could care less what the law is, I have smoked weed for 50years for PTSD. Any doctor I've ever gone to always asked what drugs I wanted and with my history they would write ANYTHING. And luckily I never fell into that opioid trap. In the old days I did some Quaaludes for fun, but that's a different story. I can't stand the taste of booze or what it does to me. Give me my weed!

Texas needs to watch and learn as other states are changing their anti-pot stance and reaping the benefits. It is a billion dollar industry that will help so many people and really eliminate the need for weed to have to cross the Mexican border or be trucked in from Colorado or California. As Texas turns blue, we will get pot. It is too big of an industry to not open it up to those who want to partake. Think of all of the energy wasted just moving heavy bottles of liquid, from all over the world, to fill just one liquor store. Booze is flown in, trucked in, shipped in and trained in. The market demands it. And if cannabis nurseries were scattered all over Texas (which they are now!), the amount of energy it would take to bring pot to dispensaries would be much less. Just this week - CBC oil was mentioned in four separate casual conversations, I was handed a CBC oil sample in a berry flavor and it was legally sold in Texas for the first time. This is the medicinal form of cannabis that is touted as the next medical miracle. We are taking baby steps. Bring it on! We need pot legalized across the US to help the opioid crisis, too. Pot should be taxed and regulated. I can't wait for it to happen.

I think it is outrageous that alcohol(and cigarettes are legal,and promoted, whilst marijuana has (legally/illegally) ruined many peoples lives (especially in the "Bible Belt" south. All that for victim less crimes. It makes me furious, as this happened to me when I was 21 years old.

“Pot is Fun”. Indeed it is, and it’s “high” time that NY joined the more civilized states of the nation in legalizing it. Prohibition has failed and failed policies ought to be ended. “The amount of money and of legal energy being given to prosecute hundreds of thousands of Americans who are caught with a few ounces of marijuana in their jeans simply makes no sense - the kindest way to put it. A sterner way to put it is that it is an outrage, an imposition on basic civil liberties and on the reasonable expenditure of social energy.” William F. Buckley ― William F. Buckley Jr.

I'm personally against smoking week, but definitely for legalizing it. Why should my personal opinion forcibly apply to everyone?

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While there are certainly people who oppose legalization because of health reasons, we shouldn't dismiss the fact that a lot of opposition is based on a cultural opposition to it.

Pot is legal in California now. I was just in San Francisco and it was a very pleasant shopping experience to be able to walk into a clean, well lit store, show proof of age and then be able to pick and choose between strains of weed, edibles, oils, etc. The sales staff was friendly and well informed and best of all, $33 for an eighth of an ounce of high quality weed as opposed to $100 from the street. Safer to buy, safer to smoke (it's all certified organic), cheaper, and the state gets a cut via taxation.