Anyone attend the Marijuana Expo in the D this weekend?

**Django** · August-10-09, 03:21 AM

http://www.freep.com/article/2009080...r-for-Michigan

Did anyone here attend? If Michigan would truly get behind this it could really turn this economy around here in the glove. Its already a billion dollar industry in California. I read recently that they may be looking into full legalization in Ca. I always knew it was only a matter of time before ppl wised up and legalized the dumbass.

Ive been saying for years on Dyes that Detroit could be viable again with a red light district opened up. Hell we could surpass Vegas. Capitol Park would be the perfect little start up venue with its hip Grenwich Village feel.

**Big Dog** · August-10-09, 04:26 AM

Saw this on the news. It raises some questions and thoughts.

**gnome** · August-10-09, 05:23 AM

Django what are doing awake at 4:21 in the morning? You ok?

Not a pot fan, don't think it should be legalized, but between you and Gannon, I beginning to change my point of view. The expo was held out on 22nd or 23rd street near Michigan Ave.; since that's in Gannon's new hood, I'll bet ya he was there.

**iddude313** · August-10-09, 07:07 AM

I attended.
It was very weird.
Lots of legal info was being given out.
Lots of business advertising products for sale.
There were lawyers, doctors, etc.
And there was a "medication tent" where you had to have your certification to enter.
Next year should be a lot more interesting.

**Gannon** · August-10-09, 07:33 AM

Saturday was a fucking disaster...with the rain.

Half or more of the displays were outdoors, which would've been manageable, except the ground was dirt with 'some' grass...which turned into a huge mudpit by the time we got there. It was a mess, but everyone coped.

That said, it was exciting to be in the midst of change. Everyone could feel it in the air, it was not unlike my first time consuming in Amsterdam with the freedom of general acceptance or acquiescence.

There were people from ALL walks of life, well any who could pony up the $10 cover [[except for a few friends who didn't know any better and simply strolled in an open back door), and most seemed totally serious about this new initiative...not some wink-nod to a doped-up future.

This was about medicine, and showing how the California and Vermont initiatives have PROVEN that we've been living an 80-year fucking LIE.

I have NO gentler way of saying that.

There NEVER was a valid reason to make HEMP illegal, in either it's male or female forms...and the derogatory term Marijuana was merely introduced then to get the lily-white population to fear those pesky brown people from Mexico and Africa and their weird indigenous ways with herbs.

Time to bring it ALL back...HEMP for farming, textiles, and industrial use [[including paper again!)...and female HEMP for medicinal applications, and the occasional overuse for life enhancement.

Cheers to all who braved the rain to attend this, and thank you for those words Gnome...that really hit me good.

Now, where's my espresso machine?!

**Gannon** · August-10-09, 07:38 AM

[[and PLEASE, nobody task me over my language on the worldview of the 20's race relations, I was MOCKING their attempt at using language to inflame the populace to do something stupid, like outlawing the use of a weed that grows ubiquitously and has more benefits than any other single plant in our existence! One that had been used for thousands of years establishing CIVILIZATION, now that I have that revelation I must say it is time to return to being civil about using all herbs in context and moderation!

**detroitrbychoice** · August-10-09, 09:04 AM

How in the hell did I miss this? I dont even smoke pot [[maybe at the dally), but I am all about it, mostly because it is sticking it to the man. How hard is it to actually become a cargeiver?

**tahleel** · August-10-09, 10:41 AM

I do not smoke pot, but I do believe that it should be legalized. Tens of thousands of Americans are sent to jail every year because of minor possession. The majority of these people are non-violent and many have no records.

Marijuana has been proven to be less addictive than alcohol or nicotine. In fact, there is NO PHYSICAL addiction, period. One might throw around the statistic that most people entering rehab is because of marijuana. What they do not say is that its either rehab or jail for simple possession, what would you do? I know I would do what I need to do, or say what I need to say to stay out.

Research has shown that marijuana has several health benefits. I believe that marijuana legalization should be left to the health professionals, and not the politicians. Makes me wonder, what gives politicians the authority to make health policies. What medical school did they graduate from? We already have MANY pharmaceuticals that are synthesized, extremely addictive and cause major side effects, and they are still legal.

Several states have thrown around the idea of legalizing, taxing and regulating marijuana sales. A state such as California could potentially bring in over a much needed $1 BILLION dollars a year in tax revenue alone. They could save millions by not sending Americans to jail. They could focus law enforcement on other much needed areas. In fact, many LEOs are for legalization/decriminalization [[www.leap.cc). We already know that prohibition does not work [[see Al Capone).

For those that say, "I don't do it, I don't think it should be legalized." I say, stop being selfish! I personally don't smoke cigarettes, does that give me the right to ban tobacco, a substance far more addictive and hazardous than marijuana? To each is own.

I would've went to this expo, but I'm out of town. I look forward to the next one.

-Tahleel

Sludgedaddy · August-10-09, 06:05 PM

Tahleel....maybe next year you can hook up with my buddies, Harold and Kumar.....

Blarf · August-10-09, 10:07 PM

Didn't make it, but it was a good idea. More people need to be educated on the subject.

There are still people out there who are against the use of medical marijuana. With a bit of luck, those same people will get cancer and find out what it's like to go through chemo. Denying sick people medicine that makes them feel better must be honorable in their eyes. Whatever.

**Gannon** · August-10-09, 10:56 PM

Cut them SOME slack, they've been bombarded with pretty effective propaganda for a few generations!

Some people actually BELIEVE what the government tells them!

48302 · August-10-09, 11:28 PM

Originally Posted by Blarf

Didn't make it, but it was a good idea. More people need to be educated on the subject.

There are still people out there who are against the use of medical marijuana. With a bit of luck, those same people will get cancer and find out what it's like to go through chemo. Denying sick people medicine that makes them feel better must be honorable in their eyes. Whatever.

i shared office space with the michigan medical marijuana people, and honestly, all their clients were stoners looking to get stoned.

sure Med pot is a good cause, but those stoners ruin it all...

and they completely messed up my kitchen every friggin day with their cheesey poofs and candy bar wrappers all over the place...the only thing they didnt do was bring their hackey sacks.

**Ghetto_butterfly** · August-11-09, 02:52 AM

I went on a day trip to Amsterdam this past weekend [[it's a 2-hour train ride from where I live) and showed a visiting friend from Detroit the coffee shops and how it works. She was totally amazed to see that buying pot is as easy as going into a party store and buy a bottle of pop. the concept of the coffee shops in Holland works really well, there is no dealing-related crime and people who chose to smoke do it, those who are not into it don't. Also, the image of a stoner that pot smoking people in the US have, does not exist.

**Gannon** · August-11-09, 07:02 AM

Heya G_b! Wow, great to see you here again.

Thanks for that story...yeah, it IS amazing how much of people's expectations are framed by how and what they've been taught, and if she never heard of the even the merest possibility of societal acceptance and positive usage of the herb...

...why would she not be surprised?!

Same thing about the misbehavior with the substance here [[which IS admittedly easy to accomplish, even for those who are aiming mostly for medicinal effects, if one doesn't know the potency or source) being exacerbated by simple human nature...if something is held and kept from you, it is intriguing and exotic and desirable. Same damn issue with the way they DON'T teach kids how to drink in this backwards-ass country.

[[and driving, we'd agree they really don't teach THAT well, either, right?! Perhaps they simply don't check if the students really learned.)

Cheers and more, hope things're going well for you there.

**Ghetto_butterfly** · August-11-09, 07:59 AM

Hey Gannon, I don't post that often anymore since a lot of the going-ons here don't really affect me anymore but I still read it on a daily basis. You've exactly expressed what I meant with my story about Amsterdam. And every time I experience something like this, I am so glad that I now live in a country again that is so much more liberal than the US. On a side note: pot is not legalized in Germany [[yet) but it's tolerated, meaning you don't get prosecuted for possession, and oftentimes I encounter people in parks or so who freely smoke it without getting in trouble. You just can't buy it here yet.