NY recently legalized its usage in public and NJ did it a little bit earlier. New Yorkers can now legally possess and use up to three ounces of marijuana for recreational use and up to 24 grams of concentrated cannabis. It's legal to smoke marijuana anywhere in public wherever tobacco smoking is allowed, but not inside cars, schools or workplaces.

With more States either legalizing/decriminalizing its use, do you think we will see more people start smoking it now? I heard different opinions from different people (both pro- and anti-marijuana), but my personal view is I don't think that it will.

I think the people who were doing it "behind closed doors" or more discreetly will be more open about it, but I don't see people who haven't used it before just starting now. I have to say that since NY legalized it that I have been smelling it around my neighborhood way more since then. What do you think?

I think the people who were doing it "behind closed doors" or more discreetly will be more open about it, but I don't see people who haven't used it before just starting now. I have to say that since NY legalized it that I have been smelling it around my neighborhood way more since then. What do you think?

I think there is a type of person that historically has shunned it due to it's illegality, that will now experiment with it. I've known several people who claimed "law of the land" reluctance who otherwise had no moral objection.

Just think of all the people during the past 60 years who's life has been shattered,.. not by the effect of the drug, but from the legal ramifications of convictions for possession. (employability, etc)

NY recently legalized its usage in public and NJ did it a little bit earlier. New Yorkers can now legally possess and use up to three ounces of marijuana for recreational use and up to 24 grams of concentrated cannabis. It's legal to smoke marijuana anywhere in public wherever tobacco smoking is allowed, but not inside cars, schools or workplaces.

With more States either legalizing/decriminalizing its use, do you think we will see more people start smoking it now? I heard different opinions from different people (both pro- and anti-marijuana), but my personal view is I don't think that it will.

I think the people who were doing it "behind closed doors" or more discreetly will be more open about it, but I don't see people who haven't used it before just starting now. I have to say that since NY legalized it that I have been smelling it around my neighborhood way more since then. What do you think?

I think the decriminalization may lead to a few more people using who didn't before due to fear of incarceration. Most of the people who would use it responsibly have jobs and homes and wouldn't want to put those things at risk due to a drug conviction. I think the whole "Reefer Madness" hell scape that the naysayers are predicting ridiculous, though.

I have started smelling it in more places I can tell ya that!!

I suspect that in the big picture, marijuana prohibition serves about as much a deterrent as might more stringent gun control laws. It's not so much about allowing the people to make better informed decisions, as it is defining a set of protocols to be used to address non-compliance.

And we've all seen how well marijuana prohibition has worked out.

I have started smelling it in more places I can tell ya that!!
That's sad.

If you could flip a magic switch, and suddenly all recreational use of alcohol was replaced with recreational use of canabis, I think society as a whole would be for the better.

But that's not what's gonna happen. People previously having only one demon, will likely have two now. And the lower economic ranks will be spending an even greater share of their income on non essential thrills.

Years ago I saw legalization as progress. Now days I see it as just offering more opportunities to fail.

I do think more people will take up smoking it. But if the police smell it, I believe you'll still be stopped and searched to see if you have the legal limit on you. They'll still want their cut of the fines, court cost, etc.

There is another aspect. Back when I was a regular, half of the appeal was in it's "forbidden fruit" status. You could light up, and immediately you belonged to the counter culture.

Absent that taboo, I believe that some of the appeal will be gone. YMMV

There is another aspect. Back when I was a regular, half of the appeal was in it's "forbidden fruit" status. You could light up, and immediately you belonged to the counter culture.

Absent that taboo, I believe that some of the appeal will be gone. YMMV

My father's side of the family is Italian so I grew up around alcohol (wine). He would have wine with every meal, still does, so him letting me have some was ordinary.

So when I got around to high school and my friends wanted to go "out drinking" I was like "I was drinking since I was 10" :lol: He barely poured a few drops in a paper cup, but still...

Personally, I believe that I have a hybrid philosophy.
It never bothered me that it was illegal. And I feel even today that if a person cannot use it and at the same time manage to stay out of trouble, then they probably belong in jail.

I grew up knowing a guy who was "special Ed" from the first grade on. Wasn't a bad guy, he just wasn't blessed with smarts. He grew into a drinker/stoner. And when he was about 22, some guy killed him for fooling around with his wife.
Thereafter, all the people who I knew in common with the special Ed guy, always lamented about "how the dope messed him up, such a shame" etc etc.
And I'd tell then they were way off base. That guy was a basket case from at least 7 years old, likely earlier.

The point being, many people make convenient assumptions, which has fostered a lot of uninformed opinion about the consequences of substance abuse.