Blast Off!! Save the Space Program by.. Legalizing #Marijuana?

I say legalize marijuana. It is safe, has medicinal properties, and nobody has ever DIED from a joint. Every other substance including that stupid synthetic marijuana, YES. But death by weed? NEVER. I rest my case. Legalize it, tax it, and solve the debt crisis. Oh, and it would curtail the expensive and senselessly bloody drug war. 

I would say that the authorities have never had any basis to label the herb as dangerous other than the pharmaceutical companies report, no, not even that, It started with a certain person with initials Starting with D. If one were to look at Holland where the Herb is legal , there is a thriving business and opportunities derived from the Herb itself and all of it beneficial, so I do not believe that the authorities have it right. I say No to Drugs (heroine,LSD..etc) but ok to the Herb. I say NO, to the Pharmaceutical companies that are using the masses as test subjects.

Wow, this was an interesting and daring post. You presented some very good points.  Definitely controversial, but thought provoking at the same time.  Your blog makes me wonder if you've been hanging out with Bill Maher lately.   If not, you need to be a guest on his show since he would most likely agree with you completely. I do like the idea of helping various Federally funded programs, including the deficit, by legalizing marijuana and taxing its use.  After all, people are buying the substance illegally and all related taxes are lost in the process.  There are of course some health risks, but I recently read that the use of prescription drugs are off the charts in the US.  Those are legal, for the most part, but appropriately taxed.   Even legal, prescription drugs can open up a whole other can of worms just as legalizing pot would do. I appreciate your boldness in asking these questions. ~Karen

I feel like this is the appropriate Blog post to add something of use to your blog Tony. I may not guest blog, but it can't be a coincidence that you wrote a post on pot and space exploration, 2 subjects that I know more about than any other reader you'll have tonight hahaha. If we could start harvesting fuel from Space, it would pay for itself. I'll try to re-create a story I heard once here. It's semi-long, but it's mind opening, so I'll go for it - "In 2024 NASA has scrapped most of the space exploration program due to lack of funds. They decide to start privatizing by offering contracts to private companies for advanced space exploration after studies show that the beuracracy of government raises the costs of space exploration by 85%. A small company, We'll call it So-Cal Medina Sun ;) , wins the bid to send an un-manned probe to Neptune to take some readings for the price of $200 million. NASA didn't give very good  odds for the mission, but 200 million was considerably less than what the were spending a decade ago to study rocks on Mars. SCMS ended up making it to Neptune, and scheduled a press conference for a couple days after the successful contact and readings were relayed back. At the press conference SCMS related that they had in fact made the trip for 160$ million, 40$ million less than the projected price. They explained that the component makeup of the planet was largely H3 hydrogen isotopes, just like NASA had long suspected and that it was an extremely valuable fuel source that was in such an abundance that it could serve thee entire planet's energy needs indefinately, and several more planets like it. After they went through the details of the readings, they broke the outstanding news that not only did they make it to Reptune, but they also designed the probe to return to Earth, and that they had atmospheric samples! SCMS had discussed it, nd they decided that they were going to give NASA the 5 litres directly on board the probe of the H3 gas for academic study as a gift. No charge!! And they were going to return the other 40$ million dollars, as a gesture of goodwill. It was then that SCMS broke the greatest news of all - that they were not only bringing back 5 litres on board the probe, but they had also developed a large solar bag with the grant, and the probe was tramming back 10 million Litres along with it. At the current price, that was 200$ billion dollars worth of viable fuel! The real reason for the press conference was to sign contracts with energy companys and take bids for the next trip. Space exploration as is is a lost cause. Much like our blogs - if they never generate revenue, people soon lose interest, and business never develops an interest. This story is 100% true... well, it could be. Private space exploration will take off when companys learn how to make more money from mining than they do from getting up there. It turns out the same hydrogen isotope that is so abundant on Neptune doesn't exist on earth - it naturally bonds with oxygen and turns to water. There is however a considerable amount of that same isotope in the dirt on the moon. The Sun's solar winds bombard the moon everyday leaving atoms of those rare Hydrogen isotopes, and it can be found over the entire surface of the moon. So if we can develop the technology to extract, and convert it to energy, we have an available source of energy everywhere. What's even more exciting is that with all that hydrogen, all it takes is oxygen in space to develop water. The costs of rocketing supplies into space will soon be very cheap. You could already tow shuttles into Near Earth Orbit and decrease the fuel costs substantially. Scientists believe that carbon nano tubes will be light and strong enough that they could build them long enough that the centrifical force of the earth's rotation would keep them taught enough that they could be used as infrastructure for an elevator, or a pipeline! We could pipe Oxygen into space where it's practically free (There is no resistence. A small amount of thrust will accelerate an object at thousands of miles per hour toward the moon!) to transport to the moon from there. We already have the technology, we have the incentive (fuel), and we have the know how. WHy doesn't the countries of the world work together to start mining the H3 from the moon before 2020? After we terraform part of the moon, we have a base that could launch shuttles from 1/6 the gravity of earth. From there we could launch ou missions to Neptune, which as stated earlier would end our energy crisis forever. And as for Pot, I know people say it can't kill you, but it can. It isn't good for you, it makes you dumber, it affects your heart and lungs, and it is a step in the wrong direction.

Haha You're just running for the Senate because it rhymes. I'll move to Southfield for a year just so I can vote for you though :)  My friends in Michigan call Pot Heads Fockers (after the delighful movie Meet the Parents). Are you a focker Tony?