Some interesting points Seb.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure studies have shown that folk in Holland as a % of the population consume less weed on average compared to many other countries in the EU (certainly in Britain anyway)

And of the issues you surmise (people giving up on college, memory loss, doing daft stuff like forgetting where they're staying) is this a big issue over there already? If not then why would it be an issue anywhere else where it was decriminalised? Plenty of folk flunk out of college and uni for a whole host of reasons.

Aloha !

Yeah, this is true. Back when I still had friends who smoked the occasional joint they'd mix it with tabacco or would share one with friends. When tourists come over they obviously want to get as much as possible so both will buy several joints or grams and will get as high as fast as possible. I don't really know what the situation is like in other countries is when it comes to sharing or mixing etc. Research however shows that Dutch people aren't that drug obsessed as many people seem to believe. I myself have never smoked a joint in my life and this was hard to believe for some Americans I met.

I'm not really sure on this either. Ever since I left school and got different friends I no longer really hang out with people that smoke as heavily as my friends at graphic school did. Some of my friends used to do so in the past, but have given up on it as they all got jobs and other responsibilities. They still smoke the occasional joint every few months after a party, but that's about it. Then again, I also know of some who, once their life went off track, resorted to weed again and started smoking a little bit too much.

The reason why I think it'd be a bigger problem in other countries is because many foreigners can't seem to be dealing with the free stuff here in Holland. Now I'm not saying the problems with foreigners are huge here, drug problems are relatively small compared to what some parties might like you to believe, but I think that's because we've all grown up with it. If you suddenly expose a person to a freedom, chances are he's going to abuse that freedom.

A pro I forgot to mention though, is that once the stuff becomes legal a lot of the bad stuff will no longer be bought on the street. You get "safe" drugs. A year or something ago they introduced the weed pass over here. What it means is that only Dutch people can get one, have to show it when buying weed and thus foreigners can't buy weed anymore. The logic behind this is that it'll stop drug tourism. It's been a stupid decision, because it gives drug dealers on the street a bigger chance to sell their bad drugs.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

For legitimate medical uses such as this, absolutely. The weed involved in Charlotte's case was not of the "street" variety, but a modified hybrid. It could be dispensed just like any other prescription drug (bad news, of course, for the corporate pharmaceutical industry). And if more medical research with weed can lead to more cures, ABSOLUTELY!

As for recreational use, I'm still on the fence. I can only base it on my own experiences, which for the most part have been negative -- haven't touched the stuff in years. But maybe that's unfair, because while I've had mostly bad weed, I've also had GREAT weed -- the kind that doesn't require a lot and doesn't leave you lethargic.

If weed were legal and regulated and didn't have to be grown in secret, perhaps growers could concentrate on developing the best quality product. THAT would be the kind of recreational weed I could support!

UPDATE: Here's a video about Charlotte's Web:
https://youtu.be/jg2_TXi0YbM

U.S. Federal Government Ends Ban on Medical Marijuana:

Tucked deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending measure is a provision that effectively ends the federal government's prohibition on medical marijuana and signals a major shift in drug policy.

The bill's passage over the weekend...brings almost to a close two decades of tension between the states and Washington over medical use of marijuana...States where medical pot is legal would no longer need to worry about federal drug agents raiding retail operations...

The medical marijuana movement has picked up considerable momentum in recent years. The Drug Enforcement Administration, however, continues to place marijuana in the most dangerous category of narcotics, with no accepted medical use...

Legalize it.... tax the hell out of it like they do cigarettes... give the money to education.

I have to agree with you Becky - use the damn tax money for something good. Unfortunately, it never seems to work out. When they legalized gambling in Calif. in the form of "The Lottery" all the proceeds were to benefit education. I can attest to the fact that since the late 80s there has been less and less money for education in Calif. I have no idea where the money is actually going - but it sure isn't benefiting education.

It's the same in MS. They legalized casinos along the Gulf and the MS River and on Indian Reservations probably 20 or so years ago and the money was supposed to go to education. MS still has the 2nd lowest paid teachers in the nation (only South Dakota is lower). We don't even come close to the Southeastern average in salary, much less the national average. They're trying to get marijuana legalized in MS and I'm for it because A: I won't have to worry about losing my job because I get caught at my best friend's house/car where SHE smokes weed and B: the tax revenue.

U.S. Government Takes Huge Step Forward In Medical Marijuana Research
 

Huffington Post:

The White House took a major step forward...to support research into the medical properties of marijuana...

Currently, marijuana research that is not funded by the government must go through a Public Health Service review -- a process established in 1999 ...It's a process that no other substance classified by the government as Schedule I is subject to and one that researchers and lawmakers alike have criticized...

By eliminating the Public Health Service review requirement, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), also known as the drug czar's office, will help facilitate research into the drug...