Are you too young to smoke out? by: Craig K

So, as many of you know I am an advocate for the reform of marijuana laws. I believe that marijuana should be legalized both for medicinal purpose and for recreational purpose. I believe it should be regulated, taxed and have age limits applied to it. I also believe that any American should have the ability to grow their own for personal consumption without penalty or fee's. Also, as many of you know, I am not a smoker. I maybe smoke around 3-5 times a year and have followed this pattern for almost 14 years or since I was around twenty years old.
I did however smoke VERY regularly from the time I was around 14 until I was around 20 years old. IF I COULD CHANGE THAT, I WOULD! Do you know how many people say, "I wouldn't change it for the world."???? We I would have. Unfortunately for me and for many other youths marijuana was a FULL TIME get away for me. I disregarded all of my responsibilities just to smoke marijuana. School, Family, Work, Chores, etc... All I wanted to do was smoke out. And that exactly what I did.
Unfortunately for me, it affected many aspects and areas of my life that I still struggle with today at 34 years old. Never mind the fact that the brain continues to develop until the age of around 20-22 years old. Any other foreign substance being introduced into the body during this time period can have a negative impact on the health of one’s permanent mental status. Am I saying I am a bit CRAZY? Well of course. Aren’t we all? And of course we breathe and consume toxins every day in our life without even touching a drug. That’s another subject all together.
My point is simply that I do not advocate the use of marijuana by younger people. I believe an age limit should be applied to any reform in marijuana laws and would hope that with some of the revenue the taxes would produce that we educate our kids to know the importance of responsible marijuana use.
Of course many of you out there in web space are like WTF man? "I'm 17 years old and a true stoner!" I understand where you are coming from. It’s cool and fun. But it can also have a very negative impact on your future if you are not responsible with its use.
Be careful.
Craig K
Please visit www.420Reform.com to read the FULL BLOG

I thought about the same thing the other night and I figured 18. Teens would get introduced to marijuana earlier than alcohol and hopefully realize which one is less harmful thus reducing the number of alcoholics. Also, at 18 you can vote which means society see's you as able to make educated choices. Fact is, teens are going to blaze doobies for as long as someone can grow a weed.

I also advocate the legalization of marijuana. I don't really wave a flag for it's use, medicinally or recreationally. I do believe in marijuana for all of it's uses, especially it's industrial use. I believe that the prohibition of marijuana is a crime against humanity. As for whether or not marijuana should be used by children, I do not think that you can advocate the medicinal use of marijuana on one hand and then second guess the doctor who prescribes it on the other based on age. If you are for medical marijuana, then shouldn't you also be for dispensing it to your children as their doctor sees appropriate? Can we, in good conscience refuse to allow our child's marijuana prescription when we, as a society are all too willing to dispense Ritalin, Abilify, Strattera, atypical antidepressants, and other "child safe" drugs as prescribed by their doctors? I don't see how we could have it both ways. Incidentally, I do not believe that children should have access to ANY drugs for recreational use. Nor do I believe in the need for government regulation as a means to supersede parental responsibility if a child decides to use recreational drugs on their own. That is a discipline issue between parent and child and should fall squarely outside of the government's scope of authority.

Look at this way. I'm 15. When I smoke, I lie down in my room and listen to music. Yet I commonly see fully grown men, the last one being about 30 or so, smoking while driving.

Age isn't a good factor to determine whether or not someone is responsible enough to smoke marijuana.

willworkforweed said:

Look at this way. I'm 15. When I smoke, I lie down in my room and listen to music. Yet I commonly see fully grown men, the last one being about 30 or so, smoking while driving.

Age isn't a good factor to determine whether or not someone is responsible enough to smoke marijuana.

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I think that every ADULT on this forum could drone on ad nauseum about how irresponsible adults can be. People are douchebags, doing stupid stuff all the time. At 15 years old, you'd be hard pressed to have seen the same volume of dumb shit that I have seen "adults" do over the years.

The thread isn't really all about responsibility. It is more about the health impact that pot can have on a developing brain. But I would like to let you know. The thing you said about age and responsibility: You are wrong. Age is the perfect factor to determine whether or not a person is responsible. I say this not to be a jerk, but at the end of the day it is your parents who are responsible for your actions, not you. It is your parents who will suffer the real consequences if you are caught breaking any major laws. I get what you are saying. You are responsible. Great. But no matter how responsible you may be you are not accountable. Your parents are. And because you are not accountable, you cannot be held responsible. Because you have never been accountable , you cannot know what it is to be truly responsible.

I do not, nor do I think anyone should, advocate the use of MJ except by RESPONSIBLE adults. Even then it should be limited only to their designated leisure time or for medical reasons. Using MJ in any other way, can and will rob you of your ambition. Furthermore, I do not think MJ should be openly promoted because doing so will cause more people to use and abuse it - this is a known fact. Therefore, I think all MJ marketing should be generally hidden from public view which is what they do now with porn, alcohol and other vice related stuff.

That being said, I am 100% against giving the jack booted criminals we call police an excuse to indiscriminately harass and persecute law abiding citizens for something as trivial as smoking weed. No person with even a shred of integrity would act the way our police do with regard to this issue. I know if I was ordered to smash in the door of some young couples home, endangering their children in the process, and then take them away from their parents just because they had a few plants in a walk in closet, I would tell my boss to go to hell - as would any person with a shred of human decency.

Because police officers by definition lack this common decency, I therefore want to see decriminalization. But, not because I condone MJ use.