mary-jane (split off from Jerome Simpson thread)

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bigskyeric
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mary-jane (split off from Jerome Simpson thread)

Post by bigskyeric »

Demi wrote:Another felon. Hopefully they make him read the Culture of Accountability manual. And he plays better than the last felon we signed. Boy Zygi sure is cleaning this team up! :lol:
Ya, He was busted with weed. Fer Chrissakes. When will this country just make it legal. Some of the most successful people I know smoke it. Not like he was selling Meth or Purple Drink. 0 people have died from weed. How many people die from Cigs? Booze? Cars? Food Allergies? The guy is now a convicted Felon because he possessed a plant that grows out of the ground. So Stupid.......
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by Demi »

bigskyeric wrote: Ya, He was busted with weed. Fer Chrissakes. When will this country just make it legal. Some of the most successful people I know smoke it. Not like he was selling Meth or Purple Drink. 0 people have died from weed. How many people die from Cigs? Booze? Cars? Food Allergies? The guy is now a convicted Felon because he possessed a plant that grows out of the ground. So Stupid.......
No, he's a felon because he ordered three pounds of it from FedEx. So not only is he a felon, he's an idiot.

Wait, that's not his character, there must be some other explanation for it. :roll:

Who knows what else he was doing. It wasn't like he was down on the corner getting a dime bag. This is a little beyond smoking it now and then. How many people do you know that buy 3 pounds and have it shipped to them? (And have six pounds laying around there house?)

There are plenty of things that could be legalized, but they're still criminal. And when you are found guilty of a felony, you're a felon. How many of those people you know are convicted felons because of it?
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by bigskyeric »

Demi wrote: No, he's a felon because he ordered three pounds of it from FedEx. So not only is he a felon, he's an idiot.

Wait, that's not his character, there must be some other explanation for it. :roll:

Who knows what else he was doing. It wasn't like he was down on the corner getting a dime bag. This is a little beyond smoking it now and then. How many people do you know that buy 3 pounds and have it shipped to them? (And have six pounds laying around there house?)

There are plenty of things that could be legalized, but they're still criminal. And when you are found guilty of a felony, you're a felon. How many of those people you know are convicted felons because of it?
one ounce...3 pounds......600 pounds. It's just weed. Of those people I know, the law would consider them felons. Is he an idiot for having it shipped Fed-Ex...ya. But again, the fact that weed is illegal is stupid. It's a law that was enacted with the help of DuPont because marijuana's cousin 'hemp' was a superior resource, and the textile industry had more money for special interest then hemp growers. Did you know the first pair of Levi's were made of Hemp? or that our gov't had a war campaign 'Hemp For Victory'? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp_for_Victory or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne9UF-pFhJY 'The 'drug' marijuana is now legal in 15 states and Washington DC (OUR CAPITAL) for medical use. http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view ... eID=000881 It's a subject that is based upon your beliefs. My belief is Jarome Simpson is no more a felon then a guy who buys cigarettes, or a lady who buys a bottle of Vodka, or a person who gets a prescription for pain medication to help with arthritis. I'm guessing Simpson uses it to cope with the stresses of celebrity or for just plain fun. Either way, He isn't felon. He's a guy who enjoys something that uniformed people find dangerous. And for the record, I do not smoke it, but I believe I should have the choice to smoke it if I want to in this (cough) free country we live in.
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by Eli »

bigskyeric wrote:Either way, He isn't felon. He's a guy who enjoys something that uniformed people find dangerous. And for the record, I do not smoke it, but I believe I should have the choice to smoke it if I want to in this (cough) free country we live in.
I'm with you. He's not a bad guy for what he's done.

But he is obviously something of a moron. And that's what the Vikings should be concerned about. Will he be bright enough to learn the playbook by the opener? Probably. Will he be able to stay out of trouble by NOT doing something massively stupid? That remains to be seen, and is a big reason why he was signed to just a one year contract.
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by J. Kapp 11 »

bigskyeric wrote: Ya, He was busted with weed. Fer Chrissakes. When will this country just make it legal. Some of the most successful people I know smoke it. Not like he was selling Meth or Purple Drink. 0 people have died from weed. How many people die from Cigs? Booze? Cars? Food Allergies? The guy is now a convicted Felon because he possessed a plant that grows out of the ground. So Stupid.......
Zero people have died from weed?

In a study of fatally injured drivers in Washington State, 12.7 percent tested positive for marijuana. Another study of seriously injured drivers showed that 26.9 percent tested positive for marijuana. That's one out of every four.

In a recent national roadside study of weekend nighttime drivers, 8.6 percent tested positive for marijuana, nearly four times the 2.2 percent of drivers who blew a .08 for alcohol. Impaired driving is a pretty big public safety concern.

Since you opened the door to cigarettes and booze ... the costs of legal alcohol and tobacco -- health, legal (for impaired driving, etc.) and other costs -- are a combined $385 billion per year. But hey, they're regulated and taxed, so that makes up for it, right? Not even close. Tax revenue for those two LEGAL substances stands at $39.5 billion. You can do the math ... it costs roughly 10 times more to have legal alcohol and tobacco than the tax revenue collected. Put another way, almost 90 percent of the cost of alcohol and tobacco is paid for by people who DON'T use them. Basically, my health care is sky high, in part, because somebody else smokes. Sorry, but I have no desire to take marijuana down that same economically disastrous path.

I've also heard the argument that legalizing marijuana would reduce its use. That's certainly far from the case when it comes to gambling, which is legal in many precincts. Legalized gambling is taxed and regulated ... crime occurs when people try to avoid those taxes, and it's a big problem in this country. My wife is an executive in the casino industry and knows this well. Illegal sports betting is one of her biggest competitors. The gambling precedent suggests that marijuana dealers would thrive by selling more potent marijuana products outside of legal channels to avoid being taxed and otherwise restricted.

Bottom line: Just because a nation enacts laws to protect its citizens doesn't mean it's not a free country. Marijuana is an economic issue, a health issue, and a public safety issue. You're free to believe what you want, but the facts aren't in dispute.

Jerome Simpson broke the law, and he's paying for it. Props to him for recognizing it and accepting the league's punishment. The fact that he's not challenging his suspension gives me hope that he actually wants to straighten things out and be a productive player.

Just the opinion of an uninformed person.
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by vikeinmontana »

one thing that i find funny in all the weed talk. people are so quick to say that weed is nothing. it's less harmful than alcohol. no one dies from it. it's just a plant. and all the other things they say to justify people smoking weed. but what is interesting....is weed HAS to be more powerful and destructive than people are giving it credit for because people simply can't stop using it! we have millionaires that are willing to jeopradize their careers and livlihood for this harmless little plant. i just don't see how it's possible anymore.

i used to follow the line of thinking here that it's not a big deal. granted, i don't smoke myself...i looked at it like a non-issue like many here are doing. but then i saw teammates getting kicked off the team because of it. i saw friends get kicked out of school because of it. we see athletes losing jobs over it. we see people going to prison because of it. we see accidents occur because of it. we see all these negative impacts of this "harmless" drug....yet people are so quick to give it a pass. it is clearly an addictive and dangerous drug because we see how much harm it can cause people.

weed is no different than any other illegal substance and as of today it is still illegal. if guys are willing to cost themselves millions of dollars because they can't kick their habit of getting high...that's their choice. still makes them addicts, and it makes this drug obviously more dangerous than many want to give it credit for. if it didn't, and if it was truly so harmless.....guys would be able to kick the habit with ease and we wouldn't have multi-millionaires risking their careers to smoke a little joint. :idea:
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by Eli »

vikeinmontana wrote:but what is interesting....is weed HAS to be more powerful and destructive than people are giving it credit for because people simply can't stop using it! we have millionaires that are willing to jeopradize their careers and livlihood for this harmless little plant.
If the NFL outlawed Cheerios there would be guys who would eat them and face fines and suspensions. Maybe you haven't noticed, but a significant percentage of the players in the NFL just aren't very intelligent.
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by mansquatch »

Just for fun:

Technically Cocaine/Crack/it's other derivatives come from somethign that is "just a plant"

Cyanide comes from a plant too. So does Mustard Gas.

Hemlock? Just a plant too.

Apparently if it requires any kind of refnining it is bad, but if you just smoke the plant it is A-OK. More logic please?
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by Grashopa »

J. Kapp 11 wrote:In a study of fatally injured drivers in Washington State, 12.7 percent tested positive for marijuana. Another study of seriously injured drivers showed that 26.9 percent tested positive for marijuana. That's one out of every four.
So does this mean that 87.3% of fatally injured drivers were not smokeing pot, and 73.1% of seriously injured drivers were also not smokeing pot? 12.7% percent isnt sounding too bad.

I think that his point was that smokeing ciggarettes can cause many detremental health issues, includeing cancer, and alcohol poisoning has killed many many people aswell. Where as pot, as far as i know, doesnt have the same fatal health effects, but i am not positive on this.

I am completely against pot being legalized because i have seen the effects it has on people over a long period of time, though these effects are not fatal, they are social and psychological and can have a huge effect on people life and lifestyle. On the flip side of that i know people that have smoked pot regularly for over 30 years that are living normal lives. I would trade legalized pot for illegalized ciggarettes any day though.

I also agree that the amount of pot that Simpson was caught with, along with what he intended to do with it, makes this completely different from other players that choose to get high once in awhile. We dont need pro atheletes distributing drugs to our kids (and dont kid yourself, you know thats where some of it wouldve eventually ended up).

He seems like a good player though and hopefully he has matured and will take advantage of this chance that we are extending him.
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mary-jane

Post by Cliff »

I certainly agree with the people who say that it shouldn't be illegal in the first place. Especially when drugs like liquor and cigarettes are legal. And yes, they are both drugs as well and are both much worse for you.

As far as the "costs" that have been brought up ... specifically about healthcare ... that's true. However, how about throwing the cost for the "war on drugs" into that equasion? I'm guessing the healthcare costs that you bring up are pretty much negated when we talk about having cops searching for it, paying for people to be jailed because of it, etc. Not only that, it creates an illegal black market and makes it more easily accessable to children since, you know ... drug dealers don't really ask for ID like a clerk at a store would have to.

All that aside, regardless of your opinions ... it is illegal and it's simply not smart for someone like Simpson who has so much to lose to have it. Hopefully he learned from his mistake.
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by J. Kapp 11 »

AADPFan wrote: So does this mean that 87.3% of fatally injured drivers were not smokeing pot, and 73.1% of seriously injured drivers were also not smokeing pot? 12.7% percent isnt sounding too bad.
You're not serious, right?

12.7 percent is a very significant percentage. And let's not forget ... this only accounts the actual drivers who tested positive for marijuana. It doesn't count the other people injured or killed in those accidents.
AADPFan wrote:I think that his point was that smokeing ciggarettes can cause many detremental health issues, includeing cancer, and alcohol poisoning has killed many many people aswell. Where as pot, as far as i know, doesnt have the same fatal health effects, but i am not positive on this.
Doesn't have the same fatal health effects? I just showed you where it does.
AADPFan wrote:I am completely against pot being legalized because i have seen the effects it has on people over a long period of time, though these effects are not fatal, they are social and psychological and can have a huge effect on people life and lifestyle. On the flip side of that i know people that have smoked pot regularly for over 30 years that are living normal lives. I would trade legalized pot for illegalized ciggarettes any day though.
And I know of people who have drunk alcohol their entire lives with no adverse effects. I'm one of them. That doesn't mean alcohol has no adverse effects. Just because some people use marijuana with no obvious ill effects doesn't make marijuana harmless. Users drive while impaired, they get stoned on the job, and they use it as a stepping stone to other more dangerous drugs. Those are all facts that can be proved.
AADPFan wrote:I also agree that the amount of pot that Simpson was caught with, along with what he intended to do with it, makes this completely different from other players that choose to get high once in awhile. We dont need pro atheletes distributing drugs to our kids (and dont kid yourself, you know thats where some of it wouldve eventually ended up).

He seems like a good player though and hopefully he has matured and will take advantage of this chance that we are extending him.
These are good points that I didn't make. He made a big mistake. I hope he turns his life around. If not, I guess we'll jettison him.
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by Cliff »

J. Kapp 11 wrote: 12.7 percent is a very significant percentage. And let's not forget ... this only accounts the actual drivers who tested positive for marijuana. It doesn't count the other people injured or killed in those accidents.
Are those percentages for people who had nothing but marijuana in their system or do they include something and marijuana? That is an important distinction, in my opinion.
And I know of people who have drunk alcohol their entire lives with no adverse effects. I'm one of them. That doesn't mean alcohol has no adverse effects. Just because some people use marijuana with no obvious ill effects doesn't make marijuana harmless. Users drive while impaired, they get stoned on the job, and they use it as a stepping stone to other more dangerous drugs. Those are all facts that can be proved.
The bit about it being a stepping stone to other more dangerous drugs is one I think you'd have trouble proving. I will grant you that people that buy it have more access to more dangerous drugs, but that's a result of it being sold via the black market. If it were sold at the neighborhood liquor store it wouldn't be as big of a problem. Well ... other than it might be a stepping stone to drinking liquor, which is a harder and more dangerous drug.

All of those things you just pointed out are the same for liquor, I would have to say. Liquor is much worse about imparing your judgement and cigarettes are much more dangerous health wise.

It's difficult to see the crimialization of the drug being for "health and safety" reasons when more harmful and imparing drugs are openly avaliable.
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by Grashopa »

J. Kapp 11 wrote:You're not serious, right?

Doesn't have the same fatal health effects? I just showed you where it does.
No, i was not being seriouse.

The healthiest person in the world could get into a car accident and die, that doesnt mean that his lifestlye prior to that point was affecting his bodily health (im not sure "bodily health" is even a proper phrase???). Im still pretty sure what he was saying was that pot by itself doesnt harm your body to the same extent that cigarrettes or alcohol can.
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by Grashopa »

J. Kapp 11 wrote:And I know of people who have drunk alcohol their entire lives with no adverse effects. I'm one of them. That doesn't mean alcohol has no adverse effects. Just because some people use marijuana with no obvious ill effects doesn't make marijuana harmless. Users drive while impaired, they get stoned on the job, and they use it as a stepping stone to other more dangerous drugs. Those are all facts that can be proved.
I didnt see this before, but i agree with this, people can drink thier entire lives with out any major negative effects, but alcohol does have acute health effects suchs as alcohol poisoning.

I am sure that the major adverse health effects of alcohol are more out in the open and have been studied more than the major adverse health effects of smokeing pot. I personnaly have not heard of anyone ever dieing from smokeing too much pot nor have i heard anything on the long term effects of smokeing pot (besides seeing some pot smokers becomeing complete low-lifes and not accomplishing anything in life, but that seems to happen to a lot of people i know regardless of what drug they do or even if they dont do drugs at all). That does not mean that those effects dont exist or havent been studied, but i havent heard about it.
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Re: Vikings Sign WR Jerome Simpson

Post by mondry »

J. Kapp 11 wrote:

12.7 percent is a very significant percentage. And let's not forget ... this only accounts the actual drivers who tested positive for marijuana. It doesn't count the other people injured or killed in those accidents.
12.7 is not very significant at all, at least not for your war on pot, considering alcohol is usually well into the 30+% range for fatal driving accidents. As for your next point of course it doesn't, just like it doesn't count a car full of drunks ramming into a family's mini van. If we're using it to slam pot then we have to use the same stats to slam alcohol.
AADPFan wrote:I think that his point was that smokeing ciggarettes can cause many detremental health issues, includeing cancer, and alcohol poisoning has killed many many people aswell. Where as pot, as far as i know, doesnt have the same fatal health effects, but i am not positive on this.
Correct, it's been scientifically proven the odds of developing lung cancer are many times greater from the commercialized cigarettes full of carcinogens compared to a home made joint or smoking out of a bowl. To be fair, smoking tobacco out of a pipe actually isn't that bad either! The biggest difference here is that too many cigs, or too much alcohol CAN kill you, especially over time, where it's incredibly hard to reach OD levels of THC by conventional means and the long term health problems from repeated use of marijuana are basically negligible compared to alcohol and cigs. Ever wonder why you have a hang over and feel like crap after a lot of drinking? Well your body (specifically liver) just got done saving your life from a poisoning agent and now you're dehydrated (despite the poison being served in a liquid!)

AADPFan wrote:I am completely against pot being legalized because i have seen the effects it has on people over a long period of time, though these effects are not fatal, they are social and psychological and can have a huge effect on people life and lifestyle. On the flip side of that i know people that have smoked pot regularly for over 30 years that are living normal lives. I would trade legalized pot for illegalized ciggarettes any day though.
And I know of people who have drunk alcohol their entire lives with no adverse effects. I'm one of them. That doesn't mean alcohol has no adverse effects. Just because some people use marijuana with no obvious ill effects doesn't make marijuana harmless. Users drive while impaired, they get stoned on the job, and they use it as a stepping stone to other more dangerous drugs. Those are all facts that can be proved.
Bottom line, most people live normal lives regardless of what their drug of choice is. If someone gets high at work they risk their jobs, but you can't tell me that that is any different than someone who drinks at work! The problem becomes when the impact of the few far out weigh the impact of the majority. For example, kapp, you say you have drank all your life, that's fine, I don't judge you for that! But I bet most of your drinking occurs after work, when you're at home, watching the game, relaxing, or whatever. I don't imagine you think getting hammered, then driving your car somewhere is perfectly okay? But now imagine they made alcohol, even beer, completely illegal because some guys / gals are irresponsible and drive their cars into other people! Now you can't even drink at home responsibly and have to go to a speak easy on the road! That is Marijuana in a nutshell, if I want to smoke up, eat some cheetos and play video games in my basement where is the harm?

In some ways it's fairly hypocritical, if a doctor says we can get high and prescribes us "medicine" then it's okay. Oxycontin, Opiates, some times even things like Morphine! Then there are all the anti depression, anxiety, blah blah blah drugs and most of them alter the way our brain receptors receive chemicals. (and usually far more than THC does!) A lot of them even say "don't drive or operate machinery until you know how this DRUG effects you!" but people drive and have accidents on them, perhaps they should be illegal too!

In the end, the only reason marijuana isn't legal is because 1. certain people make TONS of money with the "war on drugs" 2. Prisons. 3. A far cheaper and easier solution to a number of things compared to Big Pharma, and way more fun than Big Tobacco. 4. there are people who just don't understand it, their bad apple son or daughter who was going to be problems anyway smoked weed and oh it was just terrible!

Btw, I have yet to find a person who drinks regularly or smokes cigs regularly that is healthier than I am. In fact, I would love to foot, swim, or bicycle race anyone who drinks or smokes cigs (regularly) between 5 and 25 miles in length (depending on type of race) if there are any takers! If you are unable to run 5 miles then I'm fine with a 1 mile race. Just for fun :)

P.S. Simpson was obviously stupid, but like forrest gump says "stupid is as stupid does." Marijuana isn't going to make a difference. The fact that the punishment was so minimal both from the league and LAW kinda goes to show you how serious a marijuana offense is!
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