Or, let me rephrase that: if alcohol and nicotine are legal, and both are exponentially more dangerous/unhealthy/addictive than marijuana, then why is marijuana illegal? Far more intense drugs (I'm thinking salvia, kava, kratom, peyote, and the like) are perfectly fine, according to the government--I'm aware of how, historically, mj got singled out, but it that nonsense still relevant in this day and age? Now that we know better, why don't we rectify this silly error?
I warn you, baby boomers--I am physically and mentally prepared to be berated for this, and I am also counter-prepared with my debating shoes!
__________________
It is because he cannot give an accurate account of the reason for his emotions that even the wisest man is fanatical on the subject of music.
- Stendhal
you'll get an interesting article about why it is. It is infuriating to read, actually.
Personally, I would like to see it legalized - for hemp if nothing else. There are so many useful things that hemp can be used for. I don't smoke pot anymore, but I don't have a problem with people that do. It is far less worse in my opinion than cigarettes. I know plenty of functional users (and a few not-so-functional ones - but they wouldn't be functional otherwise when it comes right down to it).
I think eventually it will be decriminalized.
__________________ No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks. --Mary Wollstonecraft
first off pay no attention to the spelling. Second I'm going to assume you're talking about the US. First off to point out the fact that so called greater dangers are legal there for we should logicaly make this legal. Finaly the US is a democracy and it would be relativly easy and quick to legalize it if thats what the majority of people wanted, and in fact it has been legalized in some area's. The majority of voters seem to be against, or atleast thats what I assume since it is still illegal.
I am all for letting stupidity cull the gene pool. If people want to kill their brain cells and their lives, let them. Stop with all these free programs and ads trying to prevent people from doing it. Stop putting them in jail. Just as long as they stick to themselves and are made to stay out of the way of those of us who respect our minds and bodies, and not performing acts that are against the law or harm others, hey smoke, sniff, stick, etc. away. RIP.
Finaly the US is a democracy and it would be relativly easy and quick to legalize it if thats what the majority of people wanted, and in fact it has been legalized in some area's.
Umm ... the US is a republic. That gets lost in all the talk of democracy, but this is not a situation that literally translates into "people rule" which is the direct translation of the word democracy. In a republic we elect the "leaders" who make the decision for us. Similar to most European countries but with a few small differences.
In recent polls, it has been found that nearly 60% of the American populace woul prefer to have pot legal or at least would vote that way rather than see us waste tons of money in the "war on drugs" that is a matter of constant embarassment.
We know how pot was made illegal in America. Most people who care have researched it. There are many reasons it stays illegal and none are for the benefit of the public at large.
First, the government would have to outright admit it was wrong. We know how rarely that happens anywhere.
Second, they have spent too much money building up the image of the "gateway drug". The irony is that it only functions as a gateway drug because those who try it find that the government lied about that one. It has no major negatives and is fun, so they wonder what else they were lied to about. The government spends nearly as much fighting the use of pot as they do with cocaine. So if pot is good, logic follows that it's worth trying cocaine. Not true, but often users don't find that out till too late.
Third, the wrong people want it legal. It's the normal, hard working, lower tax bracket folks that see the logic in legalizing it. Also many economists think its idiocy to keep it illegal rather than taxing it and using the money to offer rehabilitation to people with a real drug problem.
Fourth, it's not a hot-button issue. While the majority of the public feel that legalizing it might be to the greater benefit, they don't feel strongly enough to let it affect who they will get their vote. This means it's not worth going against points 1-3 in order to get the few votes that will come from taking a strong stand.
I'd like to see it legalized at least because it's the fastest and most effective way to kill menstural pain (sorry guys, it's true). And coming from someone who was often in the hospital in her youth for that reason, marijuana has truly been a lifesaver. Thankfully, where I came from (Ontario, Canada) it's decriminalized, but I've still had friends go to court for being caught with larger amounts on them.
DNR: hey, it looks like the anti-drug propaganda paid off after all! Seriously though, you should have the knowledge/research before you say stuff like that--marijuana doesn't kill brain cells. There was one, single, poorly performed and supervised study on primates in the 1970s that roughly indicated that (you can read a bit about it here: http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=796538), but all further modern human (and primate!) experimentation shows no indication of cellular damage from smoking marijuana whatsoever.
- Around 5.4 million deaths a year are caused by tobacco.
- Over 438,000 Americans (18.1 percent of all deaths) die because of smoking each year. Secondhand smoke kills about 50,000 of them.
- Tobacco use will kill 1 billion people in the 21st century if current smoking trends continue.
From http://www.inforesearchlab.com/smokingdeaths.chtml
Annual Causes of Death in the United States
Tobacco 435,000 1
Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity 365,000 1 Alcohol 85,000 1
Microbial Agents 75,000 1
Toxic Agents 55,000 1
Motor Vehicle Crashes 26,347 1
Adverse Reactions to Prescription Drugs 32,000 2
Suicide 30,622 3
Incidents Involving Firearms 29,000 1
Homicide 20,308 4
Sexual Behaviors 20,000 1
All Illicit Drug Use, Direct and Indirect 17,000 1, 5
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Such As Aspirin 7,600 6 Marijuana 0 7
__________________ ~Ignorance is bliss. ~Failure is success if we learn from it. -Malcolm Forbes ~Those willing to sacrifice freedom for safety deserve & shall receive neither. -Benjamin Franklin
I agree with most posters. It's just stupid to spend so much money and man power on the least harmful drug out there. There have been no proof that marijuana is detrimental to the body, other than breathing in the smoke which lungs don't like. I have had several pregnant friends who doctors told them to smoke it to reduce the morning sickness so they could eat! The doc said there has never been any study that concluded pot was bad for the growing fetus. So if it's not bad for a growing fetus, its not bad for grown adults. It is a natural substance that occurs naturally in the environment. Most other drugs have to be processed or compounded.
IMO, there are many many reason as to why mj will not be legalized. But I'll tell you this, if it were to be legalized with no restrictions and no regulations, I still wouldn't smoke it. But I'd sell so much of it it would make your bong spin!
IMO, there are many many reason as to why mj will not be legalized. But I'll tell you this, if it were to be legalized with no restrictions and no regulations, I still wouldn't smoke it. But I'd sell so much of it it would make your bong spin!
Pot prolly won't get legal. It has a slight chance of seeing decriminalization over time, but that won't be soon.
As for the restrictions and regulations, they would likely do it similar to alcohol. Age limit and driving restrictions.
Oh how I long for those days and I don't even smoke anymore :P
They should legalize it just to get them to stop whining about it. No offense to the OP or any other MJ supporters. I am just sick of people whining because alcohol is legal and MJ is not. Alcohol is far more socially acceptable and IMO MJ is not.
MJ can have just as much of a negative effect on someone as alcohol or any other drug. Of course its effects vary per person but when I use to smoke it, it took away my motivation and it screwed up my judgement.
__________________
Minds are like parachutes......they only work when open.
They should legalize it just to get them to stop whining about it. No offense to the OP or any other MJ supporters. I am just sick of people whining because alcohol is legal and MJ is not. Alcohol is far more socially acceptable and IMO MJ is not.
MJ can have just as much of a negative effect on someone as alcohol or any other drug. Of course its effects vary per person but when I use to smoke it, it took away my motivation and it screwed up my judgement.
Does it occur to you that the only reason marijuana isn't as "socially acceptable" as alcohol is because it's illegal, and it's only illegal because of (basically) lies perpetuated by the government?
It really depends on what you mean by "negative effects", but I think most people with experience using marijuana/alcohol/harder drugs would agree that marijuana does NOT have the negative effects of other drugs--especially not alcohol. The fact that nobody has ever died from using marijuana is a pretty good indicator that it's not very harmful.
This is becoming a good discussion though--I'm surprised at the tolerance displayed by (what I thought was) a relatively conservative community!
God knows. It is no worse than Alchohol and it is time for it to be legalized. Drugs in general should be legal because should be allowed to put what they want into their own bodys.
I don't believe all drugs should be legalized because there is proof that most drugs are detrimental to the body, not to mention society. MJ users are not like the hard drug users. When your out of pot, you don't go stealing or killing to get the drug. Your just out...damn. There has been no proof it does anything negative to your mind or body (except lungs just for breathing in the smoke, but hell cigs and some cities' smoggy air are far worse on the lungs).
However, I do believe that if MJ was legalized the government would tax the hell out of it with the "sin tax" and make it more expensive. I could see them making it illegal to grow and sell your own too.
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