Marijuana: Should it be legalized?

[JediKnight707]

Aw, the ultimate question. Should it?

 

My $.02:

 

No, it shouldn't. I don't care if someone smokes pot or whatever, but I don't think it should be legalized. ~snipped~ The problem with legalizing it is abuse. You can tax it all you want, but it will be abused terribly.

 

Discuss!

[Fredi]

Aw, the ultimate question. Should it?

 

My $.02:

 

No, it shouldn't. I don't care if someone smokes pot or whatever, but I don't think it should be legalized. ~snipped~ The problem with legalizing it is abuse. You can tax it all you want, but it will be abused terribly.

 

Discuss!

 

Isn’t it Marihuana? Well I think it should be legalize.... Just to keep order and prevent fewer deaths. Marihuana is a natural drug and it’s use by natives is Bolivia, Colombia and Peru for the altitude and medical uses, So as I said I do believe it should be legalize.

[JediKnight707]

Get off the dope man! If you don't know how to spell marijuana.

Trust me, I know how to spell marijuana.

[True_Avery]

Does it matter? The same amount of people are going to smoke weed regardless if it is legal or not. Irrelevant issue in my opinion.

 

I am curious, and amused, about this debate because it relates directly to another drug thats legal in so many places. Cigarettes. Why is weed illegal when Cigs are legal in most parts of the world? They do just as much harm, kill just as many people, and the fact cigs are legal and everywhere possibly makes them responsible for more deaths. Yes yes, I know weed does F you up a bit more than a cig does, but at the core it is the same thing.

 

Do I care if you smoke weed? Not really. All I care about is your second-hand smoke. Smoke it outside or away from people who do not want it in their lungs and brain. Although high people tend to hit people with their cars and hurt people and do other such things, but it is all basically the same. I don't care if you smoke, as long as you do it in a way that will not hurt others. Same with alcohol. But in the end that argument is pointless because once you are drunk or high, you have no guarantee you won't hurt anybody.

 

Make it legal for all I care, or ban it like they have tried. Pointless either way, because people are still going to use it to get high, some are still going to hurt people, and there is nothing law or anything can do about that fact. It does not matter how dangerous weed is, how much legalizing it will hurt people, and how much it hurts the families of people who use it. You can present every bit of proof imaginable for this debate that weed is bad, but it wont matter because people will still smoke. You get rid of all weed on earth, people will just find new ways to get high.

 

In summary, life sucks.

 

Thats my thoughts on the topic.

[Jae Onasi]

Moderator note: This is a public forum. That means _anyone_, including law enforcement, can read this, so you would be wise not to discuss illegal activities. Also, remember that posting about illegal activities is against Forum Rules. Smoking pot is illegal in the US except in CA and NM and there you have to have a doctor's prescription for it. Don't talk about smoking pot or taking illegal drugs, please. --Jae

 

Believe it or not (and ET in particular may fall over in shock on this one. ), I don't object if it's legalized. It can be addictive, but not as addictive as other drugs like heroin or ice, and I think it's less harmful to the liver than alcohol. Other drugs should stay illegal because they are so dangerous to the user (or to the people around the user when the user freaks out). We'd have to implement standards for cannabis DUI when someone decides to be stupid and drives under the influence, but that's doable as well.

[JediKnight707]

Does it matter? The same amount of people are going to smoke weed regardless if it is legal or not. Irrelevant issue in my opinion.

 

But its still worth debating.

 

I am curious, and amused, about this debate because it relates directly to another drug thats legal in so many places. Cigarettes. Why is weed illegal when Cigs are legal in most parts of the world? They do just as much harm, kill just as many people, and the fact cigs are legal and everywhere possibly makes them responsible for more deaths. Yes yes, I know weed does F you up a bit more than a cig does, but at the core it is the same thing.

 

The key phrase is: "Yes yes, I know weed does F you up..." That's they key. Cig. do affect your mind in a way, sometimes they make you lightheaded, but generally speaking you keep a clear head.

 

Do I care if you smoke weed? Not really. All I care about is your second-hand smoke. Smoke it outside or away from people who do not want it in their lungs and brain. Although high people tend to hit people with their cars and hurt people and do other such things, but it is all basically the same. I don't care if you smoke, as long as you do it in a way that will not hurt others. Same with alcohol. But in the end that argument is pointless because once you are drunk or high, you have no guarantee you won't hurt anybody.

 

But you are more likely to hurt someone than if you were in your sane mind. Proven.

 

Make it legal for all I care, or ban it like they have tried. Pointless either way, because people are still going to use it to get high, some are still going to hurt people, and there is nothing law or anything can do about that fact. It does not matter how dangerous weed is, how much legalizing it will hurt people, and how much it hurts the families of people who use it. You can present every bit of proof imaginable for this debate that weed is bad, but it wont matter because people will still smoke. You get rid of all weed on earth, people will just find new ways to get high.

 

True, but weed is the most common drug in the world, so you have to assume doing something drastic to its legality would affect it.

 

EDIT: I am totally shocked at your reaction Jae. I thought that you as a parent would object mightly to this. Now your forcing me to get serious D:

 

The biggest problem with marijuana is the fact that it is a gateway drug. 60% of people who smoke dope before age 15 will try cocaine, and people who smoke it under age 15 are 80times more likely to do cocaine. Those to me are the biggest harms of it all. It leads you to the bad drugs [:

[Emperor Devon]

Marihuana is a natural drug

 

Dunno why whether it's natural or not matters, either way it screws up. Poking your eyes out with a pointed stick is natural but not very healthy either...

 

and it’s use by natives is Bolivia, Colombia and Peru for the altitude and medical uses,

 

Marijuana is already allowed for medical uses. If you have some types of illnesses, you can be given a permit to own up to 200 marijuana plants in your house. (In WA, at least - and yes, it's silly, no one person would ever need 200 plants) Legalizing it will only allow people who don't need it to abuse it.

 

Well I think it should be legalize.... Just to keep order and prevent fewer deaths.

 

To keep order? For Pete's sake, the drug ruins people's memories, fills their lungs with tar and kills them. Doesn't strike me as particularly orderly.

 

(In case anyone didn't infer from this post, I am against the idea of legalizing marijuana)

[Samuel Dravis]

I say legalize it. It's relatively harmless and it would give the police and prison system a break. It would also crash the market for it completely, which would be entertaining. I have no intention of ever using such drugs, legal or not, but I don't think it's something to be really worried about. Doubtless its use would require a certain (small) amount of personal responsibility, but that's hardly a reason to have a ban on something.

 

I wonder if the police themselves would be happy or sad about its legalization...

 

True, but weed is the most common drug in the world, so you have to assume doing something drastic to its legality would affect it.

It would still be #1?

[mimartin]

We'd have to implement standards for cannabis DUI when someone decides to be stupid and drives under the influence, but that's doable as well.

 

I see this all the time in the industry I work. That is why they changed the name of the offense from DWI to DUI. One of my clients was even charged and convicted for taking over the counter cold medicine and driving. Read the warning labels!

 

As for the topic of legalizing marijuana can’t say if I’m for or against it, I’ve seen how it has effect people within my family and led to stronger drugs. I don’t know if it was just the additive properties of the drug or their weak personalities. I don’t really care if people can handle it the I guess so. I however will not be using it or any other drug (except alcohol and caffeine ). I don’t even take aspirin till my head is about to pound off.

 

In summary, life sucks.

Turn that frown upside down. I know that is stupid but trust me life gets better.

 

I wonder if the police themselves would be happy or sad about its legalization...

 

Don’t know about the police, but the tax payer should be happier. Maybe our prison would be a little less crowded without all the recreational users filling the prison beds. Maybe that would free up the police to actually go after the violet members of our society.

[JediKnight707]

Yeah ditto about the family thing. Haven't had a fun ride with pot with the famiglia.

>__>

<__<

[GarfieldJL]

Marijuana growing was once legal in the United States, however it wasn't for drug use, it was for using the plant as rope, apparently it made very good rope. Also it's cocaine use that is in Columbia, not Marijuana.

[Fredi]

Marijuana growing was once legal in the United States, however it wasn't for drug use, it was for using the plant as rope, apparently it made very good rope. Also it's cocaine use that is in Columbia, not Marijuana.

 

Yes my bad It's coca , I forgot

[Totenkopf]

(In WA, at least - and yes, it's silly, no one person would ever need 200 plants)

 

Unless of course they're doing a little "discreet" dealing on the side.

 

Basically, I think there are good reasons to ban pot, but also think that most casual users should be forced to do community service in order to keep the jails clear for hardened felons. The federal mandatory minimums would make a helluva lot more sense if they were applying them to the dealers and producers of the drug. The other way casts to wide a net at too great an expense. Btw, does anyone have any figures on how many of the 2.2 million prisoners in the US are "merely" casual dopeheads?

[TK-8252]

First, I'd like to point out that pot was originally banned in the U.S. because of racist white people. These racists demanded that weed be banned because they claimed Mexicans were smoking pot and going on rampages through town. Of course this was a lie spouted by racist bigots who had a big influence in the government. Currently, the "reason" why weed is illegal in the U.S. is because it has no medicinal value. Which, of course, is silly.

 

Weed is not addictive. It has no addicitive qualities to it. They're not cigarettes.

 

Weed is not a gateway drug. There are lots of people who smoke pot and never touch any other drugs. If someone does go on to use hard drugs, the reason why is because they want to, not because weed makes them.

[GarfieldJL]

First, I'd like to point out that pot was originally banned in the U.S. because of racist white people. These racists demanded that weed be banned because they claimed Mexicans were smoking pot and going on rampages through town. Of course this was a lie spouted by racist bigots who had a big influence in the government. Currently, the "reason" why weed is illegal in the U.S. is because it has no medicinal value. Which, of course, is silly.

 

That's actually not true, Marijuana was originally used during World War 2 to make rope not for smoking or drug use. Also stop playing the race card, it is complete and utter garbage, quit claiming people like me are racist. I'm part Native American, and tobacco actually had cultural significance, ever hear of the Peace Pipe, that wasn't Marijuana they were smoking!

 

Weed is not addictive. It has no addicitive qualities to it. They're not cigarettes.

 

Sorry but police reports and former users of marijuana would say otherwise.

 

 

Weed is not a gateway drug. There are lots of people who smoke pot and never touch any other drugs. If someone does go on to use hard drugs, the reason why is because they want to, not because weed makes them.

 

Isn't that cause they often get caught, also there are lots of people who do smoke pot and go on to more hardcore drugs.

[TK-8252]

That's actually not true, Marijuana was originally used during World War 2 to make rope not for smoking or drug use. Also stop playing the race card, it is complete and utter garbage, quit claiming people like me are racist. I'm part Native American, and tobacco actually had cultural significance, ever hear of the Peace Pipe, that wasn't Marijuana they were smoking!

 

Of course I'm not saying YOU are racist. However, the original people who demanded pot be criminalized WERE. You just need to watch the History Channel or read a book on the history of drugs, or even read a Wikipedia article to realize that these white racists were key to the criminalization of pot. It would probably never be illegal if it weren't for the efforts of racists.

 

The legal history of marijuana in the United States mainly involves the 20th and 21st centuries. In the 1800s, marijuana (also referred to as cannabis) was legal in most states, as hemp to make items such as rope, sails, and clothes, and was used for medicinal purposes; however, after the Mexican Revolution of 1910, a flood of Mexicans immigrated to the United States and introduced recreational marijuana use. A public misconception that Mexicans and other minorities committed violent crimes while under the influence of marijuana, which caused many states to criminalize marijuana, was promoted by Harry J. Anslinger's media interviews, faulty studies, and propaganda films that claimed marijuana caused violent, erratic, and overly sexual behavior.

 

[...]

 

In 1910, recreational marijuana use was introduced to American culture when large numbers of Mexicans immigrated to the United States due to the Mexican Revolution. Anti-drug campaigners claimed that terrible crimes were a result of Mexicans who used marijuana. In the 1930, during the Great Depression, research linked the use of marijuana with violence and crime primarily committed by minorities; growing unemployment increased resentment and fear of Mexicans and 29 states had outlawed marijuana by 1931.

 

Harry J. Anslinger, the nation's first drug czar, publicly spoke about marijuana's effects; for example, Anslinger claimed, "[African American]s' satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others"

 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_history_of_marijuana_in_the_United_States

 

Sorry but police reports and former users of marijuana would say otherwise.

 

The police have an interest in seeing weed remain illegal. Probably about half of the police force would be out of a job if pot was legalized. And I'm sure that there are people who are addicted to pot. But there are people who have addictive personalities, and they can become addicted to just about anything from baseball to the internet. Pot does not have addictive qualities.

 

Isn't that cause they often get caught, also there are lots of people who do smoke pot and go on to more hardcore drugs.

 

But if they do go on to hard drugs, it's not because of the weed itself. It's because of other circumstances. The whole "gateway drug" thing is government propaganda and holds no real water.

 

I highly recommend reading this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_%28drug%29#Relationship_with_other_drugs

[Jae Onasi]

Garfield, I don't believe TK was directing the racist thing at you in particular. I think it was meant as a general comment. TK--please stop swearing in Kavar's, even with the filter. You're capable of so much more verbal creativity than that.

 

I think pot may be a gateway drug because it's an entree to an illegal activity and to the people who sell illegal substances. Granted, the smoking of it is not the safest--it has the same risks as smoking cigarettes in that respect, but there are other ways to get the THC besides smoking it.

[SilentScope001]

The Drug War is a quamire, yes, but it is a quamire I support.

 

It is a quamire because people will want to use drugs anyway. Like people want to murder other people, or steal money, or cheat on their taxes. We can't withdraw from those fights, but what if we do, based on the fact that you can't stop them, you might as well regulate their use?

 

And I object to legalization because, well, actually, I won't. I dislike it because there are side-effects, and the government, by stopping me from taking those drugs, prevent me from getting the side-effects, and prevent me from harming them. But if they legalize it, I won't start protest marches. I just won't use those drugs at all, because I don't want to be drugged.

 

We got tobbaco problems and drinking DUIs...do you think we really want more of these sort of problems? Well, maybe we do. But I won't.

[Fredi]

TK-8252.... hmmm I think this might sound heavy but dont take it bad.... you are not white right?

[TK-8252]

TK--please stop swearing in Kavar's, even with the filter. You're capable of so much more verbal creativity than that.

 

Not really.

 

But okay....

 

I think pot may be a gateway drug because it's an entree to an illegal activity and to the people who sell illegal substances.

 

You're right about that. The reason why some argue pot is a gateway drug is because it's an introduction to the underground, and to some degree it's true. Which is why you legalize it to solve this problem, and many other problems associated with the criminalization.

 

TK-8252.... hmmm I think this might sound heavy but dont take it bad.... you are not white right?

 

I am white. However, I don't have to be colored to realize that other whites have done severe damage to our society through their racism in the past (and to a lesser degree, in the present).

[Samnmax221]

I dislike it because there are side-effects, and the government, by stopping me from taking those drugs, prevent me from getting the side-effects, and prevent me from harming them. But if they legalize it, I won't start protest marches. I just won't use those drugs at all, because I don't want to be drugged.

Well there is the option of growing a ****ing spine and deciding whats right for yourself instead of requiring some entity to pop out of the wall and tell you whats right and what isn't.

[Corinthian]

I don't see any value in legalizing it. If you tax the crap out of it, people are just going to smuggle it in. Interesting thing, I've heard you can make in excess of $2 Million smuggling perfectly legal cigarettes over the border and dodging tariffs. Legalizing it won't make the illegal traffic much less. In fact, it could concievably increase illegal traffic.

[PoiuyWired]

To keep order? For Pete's sake, the drug ruins people's memories, fills their lungs with tar and kills them. Doesn't strike me as particularly orderly.

 

Well, other than the time where someone is high, the effect on memory is qutie minimal, unless its severe abuse over a long period of time. So it is really not much different from alcohol abuse.

 

And as for "fills their lungs with tar and kills them" that can hardly happen, more like physically not possable. BTW as for the tar factor, there is less of it in a blunt than in a cigarette.

[TK-8252]

I don't see any value in legalizing it. If you tax the crap out of it, people are just going to smuggle it in. Interesting thing, I've heard you can make in excess of $2 Million smuggling perfectly legal cigarettes over the border and dodging tariffs. Legalizing it won't make the illegal traffic much less. In fact, it could concievably increase illegal traffic.

 

Then go for the free market way and don't tax it any more than other products. I know of no people who obtain cigarettes from smugglers... that's just stupid... to turn an otherwise legal activity into one risking one's life and liberty. I really don't think that would happen on a large scale.

[Corinthian]

You'd be surprised. As for risking your life and liberty for money, welcome to the world. You think people rob banks for the humanitarian value of it?