Fed bans it if it involves interstate commerce as that is how FDA got implemented as law as the org that governs drugs.

However, the law is clear as mud as Feds have a marijauna pill to be used for medical patients..cancer and etc.

The question involves so much interesting stuff like law, ethics, federal policy, relationship between federal and states that how can you not allow it to get those areas of expertise in the answers?
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I'm rather certain it is against federal law for anyone to grow marijuana unless they are government sponsored. With the continued move towards legal medical use of marijuana the need for knowledgeable 'farmers' has increased to the point that you can take college courses on the cultivation of the plant. Even so, general home growing of the plant is illegal and answering questions in regards to growing it should not be done on this site. Whether it is a law that people agree with or not it is still a law... in the end if a decision to allow it is made where does the community draw the line?
Source(s):
http://www.stateuniversity.com/blog/permalink/Can-You-Grow-Marijuana-Legall...

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I think this is a channel for free speak so I think its ok. Questions like this is the reason why Mahalo Answers shouldn't have anonymous posting. If someone is willing to submit a question about growing weed then they should be only allowed to do it with their profile as the submitter.
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Why shouldn't there be questions about marijuana? It is actually legalized in some states for medicinal purposes. Marijuana is not as bad as other drugs, ie. cocaine, ecstasy, crack, heroine, etc. As much as I do not like drugs, I have seen the positive effect that marijuana has on people that needed it for medical reasons. I'd much rather see questions about marijuana than how to score crack or anything worse.
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Personally I see no problem in talking about things of this nature. Now, there might be a limit like "How do I make a pipe bomb?" or "How do I grow marijuana?" But for the most part, I think it should be freedom of speech (kind of an oxymoron heh).
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The 1st Amendment makes it legal to ask any question, however there are no states where it may be legally grown. In California with a Dr.'s script you can buy legal medicinal grass...frankly I don't know the quirk between growing and the Ca. laws. The U.S. Justice Dept. still takes a contrary position and it is an ongoing situation with them destroying "plants" despite the Dr. situation
Source(s):
personal awareness

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Well, I know it is not legal to grow in all states, and if you allow questions on growing marijuana then what is stopping people from asking questions about making meth or which prescription drugs to take to get high? I really don't care if people are growing pot or doing other drugs, but there are probably a lot of people a lot less relaxed about the topic. I also think there are much better places to get info about marijuana mold.
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Based on the concept of freedom of speech and "no harm no foul", I think most discussion about marijuana growing should be allowed. It should be remembered that not all users are Americans, and international users may be able to legally grow marijuana. Of course, a disclaimer such as exists in other sections would be appropriate.

While Canada does have some legal, licensed medical marijuana farmers, some states in the U.S. have also licensed hemp farmers (marijuana is the product of a variety of hemp) in the past; this has come to be an issue with federal law, as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) banned commercial hemp farming. This matter is still in the process of appeals, so far as I can tell, but it would be unwise to count on any specific outcome.

Several other countries in the world produce a legal, industrial form of hemp, including (according to wikipedia) "Australia, Austria ... China, Great Britain, France, Russia and Spain." However, these may require appropriate licensing as a prerequisite.
Source(s):
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp#Countries_that_produce_hemp

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As I understand it, regardless of what each state permits, the U.S. federal law (which forbids growing, using or possessing marijuana) supercedes any state law.

So it would seem logical that a written, public discussion of growing / possessing / using an illegal substance in the United States might not be the wisest activity on Mahalo.

I'm just saying...
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If a person is requesting information just for the growth of marijuana, we should allow it. IMO, If a person has the legal documents to grow marijuana, and is simply asking a question to make its substance more potent to help ease with pain, then yes... we should allow it. its a question, which could be answered legitmately. without breaking laws.

I have a uncle who is legally obliged to grow marijuana but didnt know anything about it. he questioned the young kids, and found his answers through them... and I know there is more intelligent people on here to help distribute the right info and the positiveness of the legal uses for marijuana.

if the question is regarding crossing state lines, then no. conducting growing marijuana in a hidden/compact environment, than maybe his purpose of the question should be questioned/deleted.
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Free speech doesn't apply to privately owned web sites. Even if it did, your right to free speech also means the police are free to track you down and arrest you.

A vibrant, adult discussion of the merits of medical marijuana? Sure! Growing? No.
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It is legal, under some circumstances, in some states. And, it is decriminalized in others. However, it remains against Federal law, which probably trumps state laws on the internet.
Remember as well that anyone from any country can ask and answer on the net. In some countries marijuana is legal, in others a serious felony.

However, just because something is illegal doesn't mean you can't talk about it on the internet. Only a few things are treated as taboo for discussion by society, mainly involving unusual variations on sex and particularly heinous violence.
Actually, it looks as if the question in question, so to speak, is poorly asked. The answer would apply to all plants and gardening.
When in doubt, don't censor is my suggestion.
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I think this a touchy subject; however, everyone has an opinion about. I think this goes along the same lines about the question about anonymous: http://www.mahalo.com/answers/mahalo-answers-community/should-mahalo-answers-allow-anonymous-questions-or-not .. People need to know information about Marijuana and they may not want to discuss it publicly. This might be a good place for the anonymous question area to be put in place. I personally don't think we have anonymous questions; however, if it is done right a user could pose a question anonymously about Marijuana.
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It's legal to talk about illegal things, so it should be allowed. I've heard people speak freely about using marijuana on public radio and no one's ever really cared, so...I seriously doubt it would be a problem.
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It may be legal to talk about illegal things and I am definitely a proponent of free speech. But mahalo is entitled to ban speech about certain topics.

That said, I think mahalo should be kept family friendly for the most part. So I think these sorts of questions should be placed in a special section with a disclaimer indicating the adult nature of the questions or banned altogether.
But I have no idea how you can name the category :-D I don't think drugs is an acceptable name for a category.

It doesn't offend me personally and I find that kind of topic engaging. But I'm just watching out for the fact that as a new company mahalo should aim at a general audience and these sorts of questions can alienate many users and in fact hurt business.
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Hi, I am the guy at the top that answered the question.

After a little thought about the matter my view on this is that it should NOT be allowed in the sence of solicitation for the following reasons.

1 - The internet is a interstate connected medium.
And therefor it would not be considered legal to solicit the use of any drug.
2 - Sometimes questions of this nature have alterier motives and only invite hostility.
3 - It's simply unethical.


So in a solicitory form I don't think it should be allowed
And even in a informatory form I think it still be questioned greatly.

Now that I had a little time to think about it ....
I would rather we not allow these types of questions if the user does not have a calm rational concern and acts childish about the matter.



I would rather see this community focus on more fruitful mainstream questions and leave all the crap for yahoo :P

Simple as that.
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Free speech in this context is less about legal rights, for it is correct to assert that none exist in this private forum, and more about the type of ideals we wish this forum to embody. I am new to this forum, but I find it of the utmost importance that information be exchanged freely to the extent that it is not explicitly forbidden by law. Pipe bombs no, horticulture (even with respect to marijuana) yes.
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It is not legal to grow Marijuana in any state. It is, however, legal to talk about marijuana everywhere in the US.
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What ever happened to free speach. Our founding fathers fought very hard for us to have these rights and now our government is slowly taking them away. I think we should be able to talk about whatever we want as long as we don't shout fire in a crowded theater or the equivalent of such, causing direct harm to others.
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If it is legal for the site's owners to publish this information in the legal jurisdiction they fall into then the question should be re-asked in a global context. Why consider only the US in this answer?
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I think it might work better and be easier on some consciences if mahalo was the middle man. If the info was not put on mahalo, but was on some other site that was linked to, through mahalo. I think this should be the case for all content, even what would be considered illegal in some areas, ie "where can i find info on..." answered by a link with notes
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