Though I don't use pot anymore (too many side effects for me) it DID help me quit drinking to excess. When I used it I used it with a goal in mind....not to get "high" but to put whatever situation I was wrestling with in perspective, some might say, "to cool out". I also used it to pursue some spiritual understandings and to this end it worked well. My drinking has tailed off to perhaps one or two drinks a week..maybe. Just lost my taste for it after a bladder cancer scare. I have to agree with the driving under the influence concerns, though pot users as drivers are nowhere near as dangerous as drivers who are drunk. "Adding another drug to the mix?" Well, MJ has been around for hundreds of years (thousands?) the reasons for legalization are simple, it's about decriminalization of course so I don't see why there's a complaint about N.J. doing it. The feds should get out of the picture altogether. Putting people in jail for MJ use is pointless (as is putting any addict in jail). These people need treatment not incarceration. I've lost one kid to heroin and it didn't start with MJ, it started with booze, then pills, then meth, then the needle. She might have survived had she gone to pot. (literally). And, finally, "distracted driving" IS the real problem....oh, and by the way, they can't get stats on increased accidents in Colorado being connected to pot use since there's no way to measure influence. Try driving in Denver, it's worse than Chicago and it's not because everyone is stoned....just too many people.

.....and, many homeless are also depressed. If you were, depressed and feeling hopeless, wouldn't you resort to any "comfort" you could find? (booze, pot, meth, the needle.....) then we have the issue of mental problems. My kid became an addict because of OCD (and refused treatment that might have helped). She went from booze to pills to meth to heroin, there was no stopping her (still isn't at this point). Mental problems lead to addiction lead to...........? So shall we blame homelessness on drugs? What is the causal factor? We tend to prefer easy answers to all of this i.e. take drugs out of the picture and we'll solve it all. No we won't. Put them all in jail (get them off the streets and out of my awareness) and that will solve the problem. No it won't. Putting a patient with cancer in a closet will NOT treat cancer. It will only "treat" our lack of compassion and subsequent guilt.

The legal & jail system is a business. Where I now live in Florida for a year and a half
prosperous people many of them smoke weed. I have not seen any change for the worse.
Around the country like Texas people have been locked up for a small bag of pot for
20 years. And guess what it is not the people where I live.
My daughter is very involved in medical marijuana because of my grandson who
is autistic. She has been helping parents with these afflicted children for years
get treatments and help. I have seen the success of the MM oil. It calms the kids
for long periods of time during the day with 2 drops. I did a video as a favor
for a lawyer who fights for people who are arrested for using MM for sickness.
I got interviews with a protest at a major protest at a big grocery chain that
was opposing MM in FL (which passed). (This chain is biggest seller in FL.)
I was impressed with their treatments.
The lawyer was defending an 75 year old woman who was arrested for have
pot plants treating her medical issues with pot. He won the case for the lady.
This doesn't make any sense. PS I don't use of smoke weed never have.

OK, the bottom line here is that it is still a federal crime. In those states that have decriminalized MJ or have had a law related to medical or recreational use of MJ. those people are now guilty of a federal law and can no longer legally own or possess any firearms, Basically they lose their 2nd amendment rights. In California the AG office has already begun to send letters to those folks who have a medical MJ prescription advising them to turn in their firearms. Other states are now looking at this. There are consequences, be very careful! 1984 is here...big brother is watching. The goal of the left is to disarm America leaving us defenseless.

I'm amazed at the negative comments about the legalization of marijuana in California. Abuse of alcohol causes violence and traffic deaths, yet it has no benefits. People who drive while high can also cause traffic deaths, but pot has proven medical benefits. Consider the millions of dollars wasted by law enforcement pursuing pot users. Among of the supporters of pot laws is the for-profit prison industry and the politicians who support it. It's to the benefit of both of them to get as many people as possible into prison, so decliminalizing pot is going to hurt them financially.

Apparently, reality is a such difficult thing to deal with for these last three generations (since the '60's)...realities such as education, work, responsibility, family and 'life' in general.....all those 'things' that make life challenging, hence the rise, acceptance and approval of Marijuana and other drugs to escape that reality.....besides, isn't reality way over rated and besides, who really needs it anyway!!!
Wow! Are you off base on this one. Everyone of my patients, who is not disabled, is a productive member of society. The cannabis relieves their pain, anxiety, PTSD, or whatever they are suffering from, and enables them to live normal, functioning lives. These people are businessmen, healthcare professionals, attorneys, therapists, steelworkers, and construction workers. Virtually every profession or trade is represented. To say these people avoid reality is absolute bullshit. They use cannabis so they can function.
Oh well, and thanks Jerry, 💣☺....enough of this drug talk, time to go take some photos of.......reality