Should marijuana be legal?

[wilbunk]

This is a thread i am starting for fun just to get an opinion from my peers here.
I don't smoke but i have kin folk who do and i personally don't see anything wrong with it. If it were legal id do it in place of drinking because i drink often and i know hurts you way more than smoking. Id like your opinions on this subject pro or con, please give details on what you think
I ordered some marijuana seeds from Canada about a year ago to try to get them to grow because i thought it would be a fun thing to do, they were called Northern Lights. The plant is beautiful but i was unable to get any seeds to germinate. I live in Louisiana and i hope they will join the few states that will legalize it soon.

 

[rob]

Even if they legalize it at a state level, it is still illegally federally.

This is what I believe is holding it back:

1) delivery method. Smoking is a horrible way to administer a 'drug' and flies in the face of what the FDA has been saying about cigarettes for decades
2) stoner 'pharmacists'. They seriously need to up their method of distribution. "hey man, want some organic chemical free medicinal...KUSH, MAN? this is some serious medicine. Look at those medical crystals. that is where the medicine is, man"
3) Reducing the schedule level of marijuana would be a major milestone victory for it. Some states (and federal gov't) have penalty escalators built into the punishment of some crimes. An example would be owning a firearm while having marijuana = felony.

All that said, I'm fairly libertarian in my leanings and i'm generally open to the legalization of it. I am concerned about driving under the influence, but more laws won't solve that. Social awareness and a greater focus on personal responsibility is the only way we can hope to solve that problem.

 

[dewey2461]

I am concerned about driving under the influence, but more laws won't solve that.

I'm more worried about the idiots who are playing with their phones, texting and talking and generally not paying attention to the traffic.

 

[PRWraith]

For the sake of the monetary value to the government in the form of taxation on MJ I don't think they can afford NOT to legalize it.

For the sake of usage I could care less I don't smoke and I probably never will. Not because I'm adverse to MJ I just don't need the benefits it offers. Yea I might like some of the side effects but frankly I'm a pretty happy go lucky guy as it is.

 

[William12]

No. If they legalize it they will do it in a way where big corporations profit and no one else. We already have these company's putting patents on dna strains for it just waiting for it to happen.

Should it be legalized ? Yes, but it won't happen anytime soon members of the UN have already told Obama to get the states in line how can we expect them to honor anti drug pacts when our states are legalizing it ?

 

[cadman]

Personal opinion - legalize it. Alcohol related violence is rife in Australia because youth and stupid people binge drink and go out looking for a fight. It's to the point where it's stupid to go out to popular nightspots.
If people smoke / vape / eat too much pot, then Dominoes makes more money. That means pizza delivery guys do ok, and service stations can sell a lot more chips.

I think it should really be a "if you grow it yourself, you can take it as much as you like" thing. However, everyone profiting from the selling / distribution should just be shot point blank in the head. No trial. No lawyers. You're selling drugs? Yes? Bang. Someone come get rid of this mess please.

Just a personal opinion obviously.

Hey, how the hell do you cook MJ into stuff? Never tried, never asked, never knew before.

 

[cadman]

Oh and stealing drugs, same as selling. Boom. No faffing about, just do it.

In Cadman's world anyway...

 

[Nicedreamsbt]

I think it should be legalized. I believe in peoples personal choice its your body and your not hurting anyone else doing it.

I personally would rather smoke than take all the pills doctors give me for sleep and anxiety. I have ptsd and I can fall asleep stay asleep and wake up feeling much better then I do on what the doc gives me for sleep/nightmares/anxiety.

I was just retired from the army and when i was home in Cali it was so nice to just call the delivery man and have my Meds no problem.

i also think prostitution should be legal. Its legal in Germany and other EU nations . I personally have not used the service here in Germany because i am married but we have walked by. everything is regulated and checked. It has not destroyed peoples morals here and not everyone is a sex crazed

 

[cadman]

What IS the reason they haven't? Is it just cause it will cost jobs? Or because bought and paid for politicians don't want their owners to lose out on income? Surely in Nicedreamsbt it'd be a good thing.

 

[PRWraith]

I think it should be legalized. I believe in peoples personal choice its your body and your not hurting anyone else doing it.

I personally would rather smoke than take all the pills doctors give me for sleep and anxiety. I have ptsd and I can fall asleep stay asleep and wake up feeling much better then I do on what the doc gives me for sleep/nightmares/anxiety.

I was just retired from the army and when i was home in Cali it was so nice to just call the delivery man and have my Meds no problem.

i also think prostitution should be legal. Its legal in Germany and other EU nations . I personally have not used the service here in Germany because i am married but we have walked by. everything is regulated and checked. It has not destroyed peoples morals here and not everyone is a sex crazed

As an aside I have nothing against prostitution. It'd probably benefit a lot of people if they could get laid once in a while.

Not to mention solving the issue of dry spells muhaha

 

[wilbunk]

puff puff give

My dad smokes but i don't, im about to ask him for a fat joint and smoke one up seriously...i think im fed up with my job now and i wanna get high as hell. My job pissed me like 8 years ago, what are the chances they will do it now?

 

[SiegeTank]

The best arguments for legalizing MJ are (1) that it will reduce the criminal involvement in its manufacture and distribution and (2) it will raise a lot of money via taxation thus taking some pressure off raising other taxes since under the present administration an increase in taxes is inevitable.

A counter-argument to this is that if MJ is taxed there will still be a powerful incentive for criminal involvement to undercut the cost of the legal product. This happens now with tobacco. However with MJ because there is already an extensive underground distribution network there will be even more reason for a bootleg non-taxed product still to be sold on the street.

The best argument against legalizing MJ is alcohol. Legalizing MJ will increase consumption and we'll have more people driving stoned, wasting their lives by being stoned, doing stupid things while being stoned, blowing their money on getting the product to become stoned, having their health problems adding to the health costs paid by all of us, etc., etc. Yeah, the effect of MJ on the user isn't exactly the same as alcohol but ultimately it has the same negative impact on the average user's life. I don't see society getting a lot of benefit by adding millions of brain-addled people to the population. Note that Europe's rapid technological advancement in the Industrial Age was triggered by the citizenry switching their drink of choice from diluted ("small") beer to coffee and tea, after both were discovered in the New World. The stimulus of caffeine is what led to Europe dominating the world, not the crippling effect of sedatives like alcohol and MJ!

Plus, increased MJ consumption via smoking will lead to a further rise in smoking-related diseases. It isn't tobacco per se that causes lung cancer, it's breathing in the toxic byproducts of burning organic matter and this happens with MJ just like it does with tobacco. Yeah, there is plenty of controversy on this topic but common sense says inhaling hot smoke from any source isn't good for you. If there's more of a correlation between lung cancer and tobacco than between lung cancer and MJ I suspect it's simply because the average MJ user doesn't smoke the equivalent of 20-40 tubes of tobacco daily, altho with legalization the usage will move more in that direction.

Personally, I don't care either way. I'm mostly a libertarian, politically. You can smoke all the MJ YOU want but if you drive stoned and hit my car I'm hoping you go to jail for a while!

 

[JimJohnson]

I am pro MJ, Anti Smoking MJ. I actually relocated to a friendly state to start growing medically.

CBDs<THC any day med-able based distribution is the way to go. Or with one of those E cigs.

If you are about to spark one up, at least use a water pipe to filter out some of the nasty crap.

 

[Alexandra]

Yes, I am not a smoker or a drug user. I've always thought it should be legal, it's a natural herb and I find it much less damaging than alcohol. You can't overdose on it, it's just honestly a lot less dangerous, it never really made sense to me that it was illegal.

Here in Georgia they've developed something called K2 that is legal, it's sold in head shops and it's super dangerous as it's chemically made and does the same thing as THC, kids here have died taking it. They allow every drug under the sun FDA approved and marijauna is illegal.

I'd vote to legalize!

 

[PeteSampras]

When you ban something, you give rise to a criminal underground. Prohibition brought the mafia. Gambling kept the mafia. Drugs brought the cartels.

When something is legalized, you lose a lot of the danger associated with the criminal elements. You can also have it regulated for content so you arent getting poison. I am all about legalizing pretty much everything. Other countries have done it and saw a dramatic decline in drug use and more importantly, health care. See Portugal for full legalization of drugs. Or germany, australia, et all for prostitution.

By legalizing, regulating, and taxing these taboos, you generate revenue for the country and everyone is much safer that decides to participate. If someone wants to kill themselves with drugs, they could just as easily do it with a gun or alcohol and get into a wreck.

The flip side is you free up billions of dollars spent on inmates that have been arrested for drugs and you sink the cartels and terrorist/druglords in afghanistan that use their money to fund violence. You take just a sliver of the revenue earned and use prevention and treatment prorgrams. It is really win/win.

 

[kombat]

my Q

why should one be branded a crim just to smoke a cone ?.

 

[JimJohnson]

Yes, I am not a smoker or a drug user. I've always thought it should be legal, it's a natural herb and I find it much less damaging than alcohol. You can't overdose on it, it's just honestly a lot less dangerous, it never really made sense to me that it was illegal.

Here in Georgia they've developed something called K2 that is legal, it's sold in head shops and it's super dangerous as it's chemically made and does the same thing as THC, kids here have died taking it. They allow every drug under the sun FDA approved and marijauna is illegal.

I'd vote to legalize!

I would check that the K2 is legal. Just about every state has banned K2/K3 and the offshoots as it is literally just pesticides.

 

[Alexandra]

Yes, I am not a smoker or a drug user. I've always thought it should be legal, it's a natural herb and I find it much less damaging than alcohol. You can't overdose on it, it's just honestly a lot less dangerous, it never really made sense to me that it was illegal.

Here in Georgia they've developed something called K2 that is legal, it's sold in head shops and it's super dangerous as it's chemically made and does the same thing as THC, kids here have died taking it. They allow every drug under the sun FDA approved and marijauna is illegal.

I'd vote to legalize!

I would check that the K2 is legal. Just about every state has banned K2/K3 and the offshoots as it is literally just pesticides.

These people here find loopholes, they create another chemical combine and can somehow market it as potpourri (sp?)

 

[SiegeTank]

When you ban something, you give rise to a criminal underground. Prohibition brought the mafia. Gambling kept the mafia. Drugs brought the cartels.

When something is legalized, you lose a lot of the danger associated with the criminal elements. You can also have it regulated for content so you arent getting poison. I am all about legalizing pretty much everything. Other countries have done it and saw a dramatic decline in drug use and more importantly, health care. See Portugal for full legalization of drugs. Or germany, australia, et all for prostitution.

By legalizing, regulating, and taxing these taboos, you generate revenue for the country and everyone is much safer that decides to participate. If someone wants to kill themselves with drugs, they could just as easily do it with a gun or alcohol and get into a wreck.

The flip side is you free up billions of dollars spent on inmates that have been arrested for drugs and you sink the cartels and terrorist/druglords in afghanistan that use their money to fund violence. You take just a sliver of the revenue earned and use prevention and treatment prorgrams. It is really win/win.

This all sounds nifty but why do I think it won't happen as described in THIS world? It never seems to work that way. You say "See Portugal for full legalization of drugs." I'd say "See Portugal for the worst economy in Europe." It all comes down to point of view. You can find articles on the web saying both that "Drug use in Portugal is UP" and "Drug abuse in Portugal is DOWN." That's probably because being stoned all the time "legally" is considered use but not abuse. Drug addiction there is considered a sickness so anyone hooked on drugs is offered treatment at government expense. Surely that's a drag on the national economy. Drug users or abusers (what's in a name) don't contribute much at all to economic growth, that's for sure.

Some countries that have famously legalized/enabled MJ use have retrenched to some extent. Read about Holland's drug cafes... they had to tighten the laws up recently because foreigners were coming to the Netherlands to use drugs under their "tolerant" approach and causing trouble for the locals and becoming burdens on Dutch society. What a surprise, eh?

Sure maybe if the whole world tolerated pot use like Holland did this wouldn't happen. But we have to deal in REALITY here not fantasy. Libertarianism holds that each person should be responsible for themselves. Unfortunately a lot of drug users aren't responsible at all.

 

[JimJohnson]

Yes, I am not a smoker or a drug user. I've always thought it should be legal, it's a natural herb and I find it much less damaging than alcohol. You can't overdose on it, it's just honestly a lot less dangerous, it never really made sense to me that it was illegal.

Here in Georgia they've developed something called K2 that is legal, it's sold in head shops and it's super dangerous as it's chemically made and does the same thing as THC, kids here have died taking it. They allow every drug under the sun FDA approved and marijauna is illegal.

I'd vote to legalize!

I would check that the K2 is legal. Just about every state has banned K2/K3 and the offshoots as it is literally just pesticides.

These people here find loopholes, they create another chemical combine and can somehow market it as potpourri (sp?)

if you broke it down so simple yea it is flavored incense. It was taking 6-12 months last time I checked for them to re ban the new formula that they change to after the last one gets banned.

We actually have or had a guy on this site that would sell you some in bulk if you wanted.

Here is a list of some states that banned. This is banned for good reason btw.

Synthetic Cannabinoids (a.k.a. "K2" / "Spice") Enactments