Frank Hovis Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Wow, I'd heard that a couple of US states were legalising it but I thought it would be in the limited format that Uruguay has brought in (sales to registered users, purchase limits) but this is full blown retail. Colorado gets ready for Green Wednesday as legal marijuana goes on sale WE'VE already had Black Friday and Cyber Monday but now the people of Colorado are getting ready to experience Green Wednesday. By Cyrus Engineer/Published 1st January 2014 The state is the first in the US to allow the sale of marijuana for recreational use. Marijuana retailers are planning celebrations and hiring additional security in preparation for large crowds of people keen to buy a legal bag of weed. Some customers have camped out overnight in order to get their hands on a legal ounce (28.3g) of the drug, classified as a Class C substance in the UK. Possession, cultivation and private personal consumption of marijuana by adults has been legal in Colorado for over a year but Green Wednesday is seen as an historic moment in the battle for full legalisation of cannabis. Robin Hackett, a manager of licensed vendor Botana Care, told Sky News: "No one's ever done this before. "We expect to have 2,000 joints ready to go by the time we open on January 1. Workers for Botana Care have spent hours carefully rolling hundreds of marijuana cigarettes in preparation for the highly anticipated launch. State authorities estimate the wholesale and retail sales of weed in Colorado will total £350m a year, which in turn will generate nearly £40m in taxes for the state. http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/358330/Colorado-gets-ready-for-Green-Wednesday-as-legal-marijuana-goes-on-sale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I imagine the crime rate could come down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blobloblob Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I imagine the crime rate could come down. Shhhh - don't tell the Puritans. We're all meant to be outraged by this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHERWICK Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 It's an outrage! :angry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverwhere Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Sounds like a handy new tax revenue to help with the deficit I wonder if that will push it on to the UK liberal agenda... ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okaycuckoo Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Sounds like a handy new tax revenue to help with the deficit I wonder if that will push it on to the UK liberal agenda... ? It's inevitable, but we'll have to wait for the Express to advertise the idea in its front page headline. Maybe people will have to take online psychological tests before they're licensed by the state as consumers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverwhere Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 It's inevitable, but we'll have to wait for the Express to advertise the idea in its front page headline. Maybe people will have to take online psychological tests before they're licensed by the state as consumers. Assuming no net ill effects in Colorado over the next few years (i.e. any attributed harm outweighed by benefits and taxation) I would put money on the introduction of medical marajuana to the UK followed a few years later by general licensing similar to other legal recreational drugs such as alcohol and nicotine. Continued prohibition in an increasingly secular society given that there doesn't appear to be any greater intrinsic harm than with already legal substances is fairly illogical, but made immensely so by the rise in "research chemicals" that can be legally purchased with unknown health implications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okaycuckoo Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Assuming no net ill effects in Colorado over the next few years (i.e. any attributed harm outweighed by benefits and taxation) I would put money on the introduction of medical marajuana to the UK followed a few years later by general licensing similar to other legal recreational drugs such as alcohol and nicotine. I was thinking of licensing of consumers, like a ration card or drivers licence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
long time lurking Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Good to see there`s some common sense still in use Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverwhere Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I was thinking of licensing of consumers, like a ration card or drivers licence. Yeh, I would also expect individual-specific licensing initially, especially if the first bout of legislation defines cannabis as legal for medical use only, with a later expansion to more generalised licensing (e.g. anyone over 18 years old) if it's further legalised for recreational use. I think any attempt at individual registration for recreational use wouldn't be able to stand up for long given the precedents already set with alcohol and nicotine licensing. Although not a bad idea for the more detrimental recreational drugs out there i.e. individual licensing of heroine or similarly highly chemically addictive drugs might have an overall beneficial effect versus criminalisation for people who are already addicted - for one thing it could put drug dealers out of business and thus reduce the number of new addicts (assuming pre-existing addiction would have to proven in order to acquire a license). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheBlueCat Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 I imagine the crime rate could come down. I hope you're right. It's going to be really interesting to see some actual statistics in a year or so. Is there anywhere else in the developed world that has a genuinely free legal market in cannabis? Everywhere else I can think of where it isn't fully illegal regulates it so closely as to still provide a market for the illegal variety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJPJP Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Colorado has a population of 5.2m, 15% of them (780k) are weed users and it is expecting £350m sales (£450 a year per user in sales) and £40m tax from the sale of weed http://www.policymic.com/articles/66809/which-states-smoke-the-most-marijuana-check-this-map Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkman Posted January 1, 2014 Share Posted January 1, 2014 Great news. And this is perhaps the only positive to come out of the Great Recession™ Hopefully this common sense will spread throughout the western world, despite the odds against. I'm not a drug user btw. My interest is purely in Government making the right logical decisions that affect us all in one way or another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichM Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Will be some very busy psychiatric epidemiologists in Colorado for the next decade or two... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronyx Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Will be some very busy psychiatric epidemiologists in Colorado for the next decade or two... If they breed 'traditional' varieties rather than the stuff bred solely for for THC levels, hopefully that will not be the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Sutton Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 If they breed 'traditional' varieties rather than the stuff bred solely for for THC levels, hopefully that will not be the case. Indeed. Who says usage will increase anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R K Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 The consumers on the telly all looked like degenerate potheads. I'm sure the suppliers/retailers will make a fortune as they did with tobacco, booze, gambling, prostitution etc etc....... Next big thing clearly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendy Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Incredible greens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gardener Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Will be some very busy psychiatric epidemiologists in Colorado for the next decade or two... Yes. I'm not against legalisation and can in fact see many positives in extending it to all drugs. The problem for me is that it will massively increase the easy availability of the drug to young teenagers (and pre-teens) and this will cause great harm. Cannabis and the developing brain don't mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichM Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Yes. I'm not against legalisation and can in fact see many positives in extending it to all drugs. The problem for me is that it will massively increase the easy availability of the drug to young teenagers (and pre-teens) and this will cause great harm. Cannabis and the developing brain don't mix. I'm pro legalisation as it puts clear blue water between thick naive people's children and my own, who will be carefully primed to value their brain cells and long term memory. Whatever the results there's a JAMA Psychiatry paper in it for someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissy_fit Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I'm pro legalisation as it puts clear blue water between thick naive people's children and my own, who will be carefully primed to value their brain cells and long term memory. Whatever the results there's a JAMA Psychiatry paper in it for someone. And they'll definitely listen? Most parents tell their kids that getting repeatedly drunk isn't great for your future as well, but a stroll on the average high street on a weekend night would suggest that the message isn't being received one way or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okaycuckoo Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 And they'll definitely listen? Most parents tell their kids that getting repeatedly drunk isn't great for your future as well, but a stroll on the average high street on a weekend night would suggest that the message isn't being received one way or the other. I thought drinking was in serious decline among youngs persons. Underage drinking is falling in the UK, down from 26% of 11 - 15 year olds in 2001 to 13% in 2010 in England – so 87% don’t drink regularly or to excess and the numbers of 11 - 15 year olds who have never drunk alcohol has increased from 40% in 2000 to 55% in 2010. http://www.alcoholeducationtrust.org/Pages/factfig.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissy_fit Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I thought drinking was in serious decline among youngs persons. http://www.alcoholeducationtrust.org/Pages/factfig.html I was thinking of slightly older kids than that, but still, that's news to me - thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPin Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I hope you're right. It's going to be really interesting to see some actual statistics in a year or so. Is there anywhere else in the developed world that has a genuinely free legal market in cannabis? Everywhere else I can think of where it isn't fully illegal regulates it so closely as to still provide a market for the illegal variety. I can't imagine serious cannabis users commit much crime anyway. They are too "bonged"! It's serious heroin users that would burgle your microwave for a fix! Still I think t foolish to criminalise something that is in common use, probably mostly by casual users, wanting a "party effect"! Can't remember the last time I had a "toke"! Probably has less of a social bad effect than alcohol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okaycuckoo Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I was thinking of slightly older kids than that, but still, that's news to me - thanks. Older kids = adults. I think the objection to high strength weed is the effect on adolescent brains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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