marijuana legalization are your for or against it?

[mrveggieman]

What are your thoughts? What are your reasons for believing the way that you do?

[JustAlex]

I think 2Pac said it best....

"Instead of a war on poverty, they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me...."


How many Non-Violent people are in prison right now because of the nonsense that smoking a plant somehow merits the same punishments as murder, stealing, and rape?

[AUTaxMan]

For it. It will kill the drug wars and we can tax the hell out of it.

[mrveggieman]

I personally dont smoke or drink but I wouldn't be mad if they did legalize it. How can the gov't who isn't right themselves tell someone what they can't put in their own bodies? Like previously said they can make a lot of money taxing it and it would reduce the prison population. The only stipulation would be harsh penalties for any crimes commited under the influence.

[ALADOG]

I don't care either way

[mikesilvia]

Decriminalize it completely like many states are doing. Fine for anyone under an obvious consumption level and major fines with possibly jail time for major distributors/dealers. It should still be frowned on for obvious professions like Air Traffic controllers, military, police, surgeons, etc. Come to work stoned then it gets treated like coming to work drunk.

I think you work towards a possible path to legalization, but not over night.

Filling our court system and prison with pot smokers is by far the biggest strain on our system. We parole major violent offenders because we don't have room for them in prison. Decriminalize pot use and empty out the prisons. I think it's a shame that alcohol is legal and pot isn't. Alcohol and cigarettes cause more problems in society than pot. The main problems that pot causes (i.e. crime) are based on it being illegal.

[duwal]

absolutely against legalization of it. its a drug plain and simple that impairs the mind

[JustAlex]

absolutely against legalization of it. its a drug plain and simple that impairs the mind
So does alcohol and tobacco, and technically those are "drugs" as well...

IMO, Alcohol is much more dangerous than Marijuana, and Cigarettes kill a lot more people than most "illegal" drugs.

[duwal]

So does alcohol and tobacco, and technically those are "drugs" as well...

IMO, Alcohol is much more dangerous than Marijuana, and Cigarettes kill a lot more people than most "illegal" drugs.


I agree and I think the world, especially the U.S., would be a much better world if those were expunged as well. All 3 are not necessary at all in people's lives and do more damage than good

[Wickabee]

I'm going to preface this whole thing by saying, while I don't regularly smoke now, I did for awhile in high school/immediately after. Whatever bias you may think that gives me, so be it.

First thing I'm going to do is make the statement that legalizing marijuana for recreational use and legalizing marijuana for medicinal use are two separate issues. Most people who lobby for medicinal marijuana are really trying to get it outright legalized, and end up hurting the cause. The people you see lobbying for pot are usually just the stoner crowd who have no jobs and hurt the cause. The real average marijuana smoker (at least in Canada) is a normal, hard-working, otherwise completely law abiding citizen. These people don't lobby because:
A - The stigma is there and if a lawyer/banker/dentist/doctor came out publicly saying "I smoke pot" there would be major ramifications, including client loss, job loss, etc, etc.
B - It's actually easier to obtain marijuana now than it would be under proper regulation.

The second thing I'm going to say is I'm a entirely for the legalization of marijuana as well as the medicinal use of marijuana

Now, let's look at the two issues separately. Does medicinal marijuana actually work? Or is it just a bunch of potheads who came up with a lie to use their weed?
Well, I can say, the vast majority of people using medicinally on both sides of the border don't need it and either have terrible doctors, or just want to get high (and have terrible doctors). Marijuana does help women with period cramps, I've been told (and I believe it as pot helps with a lot of stomach issues), but do they need it? No. There are many ways to deal with that problem without smoking pot.
Before I go any further, I have MS which gives me terrible headaches (like lay under the covers with the lights out and tearing up pain) 1-3 times a week. I know for a fact marijuana does help me with my headaches. I was out with friends, felt a headache coming on and was handed a joint. It didn't kill the pain, the headache was still there, but it did dull the pain enough so I could continue to be with friends instead of running home and laying in the dark. Now I don't use pot medicinally on a regular basis (really only one other time since then) for two reason:
1 - Tylenol muscle and back does about the same job and I have no problem with Tylenol. Though if they got worse and I was prescribed morphine or another opiate, I'd want to use marijuana instead. Marijuana is not physically addictive, though it is psychologically addictive. Morphine is both. Morphine does much damage to your system if used on a long term basis. Marijuana's most damage is done by the fact you're smoking it (fire=combustion=carcinogens), but there are other ways of taking it (baking with it, vaporizers, even pill form). I've seen morphine addiction. It's not pretty and inevitably leads to heroin addiction when you can't get another morphine prescription. Many call marijuana a gateway drug and cite that as a reason medicinal marijuana should not be allowed, but have no problem prescribing morphine.
2 - I'm in a weird situation. I live in a Country where medicinal marijuana is legal. I can go to my doctor, get a prescription, take that to health Canada where they confirm it, then go to my local RCMP detachment for a criminal record check (which my local police refused to do checks for medicinal marijuana until they were told that was going to lead to a lawsuit they couldn't win) take that back to Health Canada and, if everything checks out, I get a "Green Card" that allows me to grow and possess smaller amounts, which as I understand it, usually works out to a 1 month supply at any given time in cut pot and something like 14 plants. Unfortunately for me, I live on what is technically a reservation and this reservation is governed by the local Native Band. That's all well and good, until they passed a law that says on their lands, a Medicinal Marijuana Card is meaningless. So, if the Tylenol didn't work, My choices would be get a card and put my name and address in the system so that the cops can come knock on my door and take my medicine away whenever they please, or go get something stronger like morphine or some other opiate. I'm not taking morphine unless I'm in a more extreme situation than a massive migraine and I can't use marijuana here, so I'm relegated to laying in the dark. You could say that's my choice, and you wouldn't be incorrect, but this is a law taking away my right as a Canadian to medicine on my terms. But I digress.

In short, there is really no reason to hold back medicinal marijuana. I agree, the way it's being done in the US is the wrong way. Even Canada has it wrong. They let you grow your own, which is stupid and the reason pharmaceutical companies are so against it, which is a big reason there's so much push back, especially from government. Farmers can't make any money, pharmaceutical companies don't want a good, working medicine that they can't sell, so let the farmers grow for the pharmaceutical companies, and let those companies sell it as they do their other medicines. Not that hard, folks.

The only problem with that scenario is that, especially if marijuana remains illegal for recreational use, those farmers will now be subject to some (probably violent) robberies. Of course, the pharmaceuticals could easily afford protection for those farms, and likely would if their bottom line ultimately depended on it.

Now recreational use, which I am also for. To be honest, I don't understand the theory behind drug laws, especially in America. As gung ho (as a nation) as you are about personal freedoms and as much complaining I hear about the government controlling what your kids eat at school, here is the government outright telling you what you can and cannot put into your body. It amazes me a little that you guys put up with that. When you think about it, until he hurts someone else, a drug user is only hurting himself. But we're only talking about marijuana and, frankly, there are a lot of drugs I would keep outlawed. Heroin, meth and crack come to mind right away.

But to recreational use. The first thing I have to say is compare it to, perfectly legal but heavily regulated, alcohol. I've watched several people slowly kill themselves with booze and I've watched several people use marijuana to break addictions to harder drugs. The amount of marijuana needed to overdose is unsmokable (you'll pass out before you'll even get close) while alcohol is very easy to overdose on, especially for younger people. In fact, the only upside to alcohol being legal and marijuana not is the fact that right now, we have accurate roadside checks for alcohol with breathalizers. There is no marijuana equivalent (that I know of).
So, as I see it, marijuana is safer than alcohol in consumption.

The next thing you have to look at is the crime surrounding marijuana, which there is very little. I read a study awhile ago that I really really wish I could find again. The study was done in Australia. It looked at a number (I can't remember the exact number) of admitted, long-term users and looked at their criminal history. Like any gathering of people anywhere in the world, there were the usual traffic/parking violations, some petty theft, the odd assault charge, etc. "Marijuana possession" made up about 92% of crimes committed by this group and the other 8% was committed by around 10% of the group. This study tells me that about90% of users' only crime is the use itself. That's ridiculous. Good, hard-working and otherwise fully law abiding citizens are branded criminals over a plant. I think that's shameful.
So current laws are not only government interference but they're smearing the names of good people. Remember the guy who has more Olympic Gold than anyone else has Olympic medals? Remember the scandal he found himself in? Remember how he won 8 Gold medals over 8 events right before that scandal?

The other side of the crime issue is who is selling it? Usually gangs and other lowlifes. Deals go bad, lives are lost and this is why marijuana should be illegal right? Well, let's think about that. If marijuana were legal and sold at liquor stores or gas stations (with the smokes) or in their own little niche shops, what market is there for street level dealing? Oh, there will be growing pains, don't get me wrong. Gangs would move in harder on schools, as it would now be more difficult to obtain marijuana (dealers don't ask for ID) and the first 5 years or so would be a bit of a war between police and gangs.The thing is, at this point it's actually doing something. Right now, people are going to jail for simply dealing with marijuana, either buying or selling. Once marijuana is legal and regulated properly, now their crime is going against those government regulations, not just having some weed. That's easier to catch, easier to prosecute and easier to incarcerate than simple possession. You can also seize all proceeds and really make them pay. Right now, marijuana is just a revolving door in the prisons. Eventually, criminal activity around marijuana would die out. Yes I'm convinced of this and if you want proof, I'll just ask how big a problem moonshine is these days.

Now let's look at the war on drugs and specifically marijuana. The war on drugs has been a horrible failure. It's done little-to-nothing to curb the use of drugs, especially marijuana. These new "designer drugs" with the bath salts and whatnot? The war on drugs is directly to blame for even the existence of those synthetic drugs. So, no real impact at a cost of what? Well, in 2010 alone it was about $15Billion, or $500 every second ( http://www.drugsense.org/cms/wodclock they cite their source as the Office of National Drug Control Policy). With that kind of money being tossed out the door, you'd think they could completely fix the problem several times over, but it's a losing battle. A money losing battle. A fortune losing battle.

Properly regulated, legal marijuana can be taxed as heavily as alcohol, cigarettes or even gas. Right now both countries are losing money on marijuana and the gangs are making money. It'll take some time, but I truly believe that once all was said and done you'd have government making money and gangs losing money on it. You just have to pass the correct laws regulating it and word those laws properly so there's no question. Growing=illegal. Possession=legal. Retail sales=legal, street sales=illegal.

Just some of my thoughts on this...

[Wickabee]

absolutely against legalization of it. its a drug plain and simple that impairs the mind

Nicotine is a drug, caffeine is a drug, Tylenol is a drug, morphine is a drug, xanex is a drug...need I go on?

[JustAlex]

I agree and I think the world, especially the U.S., would be a much better world if those were expunged as well. All 3 are not necessary at all in people's lives and do more damage than good
I definitely understand.

I don't like cigarettes or or hard drugs such as cocaine and meth.

But I just don't think we should tell people what they can and can't ingest into their bodies.

And the drug war has been terrible for the U.S.

[shrewsbury]

this is a fine line for me, but i would rather deal with someone stoned than with someone drunk. atleast the stoners are to lazy to do anything and are not violent when high. i am unsure what the stats are for crimes committed while high just on pot, but I imagine they would be small compared to those crimes committed while high on other drugs and alcohol.

[PvtDirt]

I'm not entirely against it, but like Mike said, it needs to be done slowly. It needs to be regulated much like alcohol, where if you smoke and drive, are high in public, etc... there are penalties for it.

I agree that alcohol is by far more dangerous, but I don't necessarily agree with the argument that just because one kind of drug is legal, we should legalize them all. I don't know, either way it doesn't effect me personally much.

[PvtDirt]

this is a fine line for me, but i would rather deal with someone stoned than with someone drunk. atleast the stoners are to lazy to do anything and are not violent when high. i am unsure what the stats are for crimes committed while high just on pot, but I imagine they would be small compared to those crimes committed while high on other drugs and alcohol.


The crime rates among high offenders are much smaller. I'm a Criminal Justice student going for my PhD, so I've been researching such things. There are many extraneous events though.

For instance, two high people were arrested last year for the following reason: There were two high guys in a car, as an ambulance flew by flashing their lights, they decided it'd be cool to follow it. They followed it at a high speed all the way through town, the police report as well as the testimony from the ambulance drivers said the speeds were upwards of 50-55 mph. A girl in a car pulled over to the side of the road to get out of the way of the ambulance, the ambulance made a turn in front of her. The car with the guys tried making the turn, but instead plowed in to her, killing her instantly.

Like I said in my previous post, I'm not for or against the legalization of this, but it does have to be regulated to an extent like alcohol.

[Wickabee]

I'm not entirely against it, but like Mike said, it needs to be done slowly. It needs to be regulated much like alcohol, where if you smoke and drive, are high in public, etc... there are penalties for it.

I agree that alcohol is by far more dangerous, but I don't necessarily agree with the argument that just because one kind of drug is legal, we should legalize them all. I don't know, either way it doesn't effect me personally much.

If the government isn't qualified to feed kids school lunches, how are they qualified to tell you what you can or cannot put in your body?

As I said in my nove..er, post, I do not think all drugs should be legalized, but there is an argument for it, just not a strong enough one.

[Wickabee]

The crime rates among high offenders are much smaller. I'm a Criminal Justice student going for my PhD, so I've been researching such things. There are many extraneous events though.

For instance, two high people were arrested last year for the following reason: There were two high guys in a car, as an ambulance flew by flashing their lights, they decided it'd be cool to follow it. They followed it at a high speed all the way through town, the police report as well as the testimony from the ambulance drivers said the speeds were upwards of 50-55 mph. A girl in a car pulled over to the side of the road to get out of the way of the ambulance, the ambulance made a turn in front of her. The car with the guys tried making the turn, but instead plowed in to her, killing her instantly.

Like I said in my previous post, I'm not for or against the legalization of this, but it does have to be regulated to an extent like alcohol.

That's brutal, but it is reality (unlike the brutal say no to pot ads where the kids blows his head off), but there are laws against the things they did (speeding, driving without due care and attention, vehicular manslaughter, etc) and if you outlaw what made them make that decision, you have to outlaw movies because I'm sure someone somewhere has injured or killed someone driving too fast so as not to be late for a date. Late for anything, actually, so you'd have to outlaw dance recitals and sporting events of any kind, along with any sort of meeting. In short, bad decisions can be made sober or inebriated and bad decisions aren't against the law. Criminal acts are.

Of course, I took it to the extreme, but that was just to make a point. Obviously marijuana does affect judgement and that needs to be taken into account and obviously, even if marijuana stays illegal, I don't want to ban movies etc.

[habsheaven]

I am all for legalizing it and controlling it. I'm not too concerned about the added tax revenue benefit, but the idea that we could eliminate a major cashcow for the criminals is my strongest motivation for legalizing it.

[Wickabee]

I am all for legalizing it and controlling it. I'm not too concerned about the added tax revenue benefit, but the idea that we could eliminate a major cashcow for the criminals is my strongest motivation for legalizing it.

Not to mention the money we won't be spending to fight it.

[habsheaven]

Not to mention the money we won't be spending to fight it.

Exactly! Not to mention the jail cells and court dockets that would get freed up for more important criminal offences.

[shrewsbury]

you Canadians might be on to something!!

[Wickabee]

I'm a little surprised at this thread. I expected more of an "against" to come out. More than the 1 so far anyway. That's really interesting.

[duwal]

I'm a little surprised at this thread. I expected more of an "against" to come out. More than the 1 so far anyway. That's really interesting.



sadly I was hoping for that as well

[Wickabee]

sadly I was hoping for that as well

Well I wasn't hoping though I was curious.

Let me ask you this. What is your stance on medicinal marijuana and why?

[PvtDirt]

Well I wasn't hoping though I was curious.

Let me ask you this. What is your stance on medicinal marijuana and why?


I know you weren't asking me, but I thought I'd add a thought to this anyway.

As far as medical marijuana goes, I think it could have a good use, just as long as it isn't abused. It's a great alternative to high-grade pain killers in my opinion. It just has to be done right.

There are other medical uses as well. I think it could be used highly effectively for veterans and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

As far as a recreational use, I'll never see the point. More power to ya, and you won't see me looking at you differently if you do it, but I live a straight-edge lifestyle, so maybe that's just the way I think.

[Wickabee]

I know you weren't asking me, but I thought I'd add a thought to this anyway.

As far as medical marijuana goes, I think it could have a good use, just as long as it isn't abused. It's a great alternative to high-grade pain killers in my opinion. It just has to be done right.

There are other medical uses as well. I think it could be used highly effectively for veterans and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
It's great for nausea and tons of other stomach problems like Crohns and IBS. There's are people who want to explore it's uses without the "high" using it in topical creams and such. They've actually come up with a topical cream for pain relief that actually seems to work fairly well. Unfortunately, archaic drug laws are preventing them from going any further with research in this area.


As far as a recreational use, I'll never see the point. More power to ya, and you won't see me looking at you differently if you do it, but I live a straight-edge lifestyle, so maybe that's just the way I think.

I wish more people were like that. Think of what Phelps went through for that month or whatever. He shouldn't have had to deal with that, but there it was.

[TyrantsASupremeBeing]

FOR, should be legal to grow your own & if you dont have a green thumb, pay a little tax & buy it


http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e359/TyrantsPics/Art/Leaf.jpg?t=1221361980

[Wickabee]

FOR, should be legal to grow your own & if you dont have a green thumb, pay a little tax & buy it

Why allow growing? Making your own booze is illegal. I don't know about tobacco.

[PvtDirt]

Why allow growing? Making your own booze is illegal. I don't know about tobacco.


In some states you can get permits to grow tobacco I believe. I don't think marijuana should be allowed to grow in a home. If you have a business, grow it there... much like a green house operates.

[TyrantsASupremeBeing]

OOOOOK, i agree about a stoner rather than a drunk, but to just say stoners are lazy is wrong, ive done plenty of work with stoners & since im retired now i can say ive done many jobs, roofing & siding, auto mechanic, over the road truck driver etc. & was basically high nearly every day. No house i worked on fell down & i never fell off a roof, no car i ever worked on wrecked because of what work i did to it, never had a problem on the road in a truck tho i am soooooo thankful no #*@hole in a car caused me to be in a wreck cause i would have gotten the blame even tho it wasnt my fault
Let er rip...

[TyrantsASupremeBeing]

You can brew your own beer at home

[Wickabee]

You can brew your own beer at home

Can you make your own whiskey

[cbuskstwar]

I've seen what damage cancer can cause and saw that of all the medication she took, the weed I bought on the corner did more to help her than anything. Legalize it

[jdawg]

legalize it and tax it...same with online poker

[mrveggieman]

What do ya'll think of hemp, bud's legal distant cousin? I personally consume a lot of hemp based foods and there are delicious not to mention contain a lot of health benefits. I had a holistic dr put me on to hemp. As a matter of fact I buy some of my hemp foods at a store ran by a church. What do yall tink?

[AUTaxMan]

You can brew your own beer at home

depends on the state

[pghin08]

Floored that we have an almost unanimous ruling here.

[Star_Cards]

I say legalize it. It wouldn't stop the drug war as there are plenty of other illegal drugs on the market. It would be interesting to see how many corporations would be created to produce it. I'd also be interested to see what restrictions that would be placed on it.

I am also for legalizing online poker and other gambling.

[Wickabee]

What do ya'll think of hemp, bud's legal distant cousin? I personally consume a lot of hemp based foods and there are delicious not to mention contain a lot of health benefits. I had a holistic dr put me on to hemp. As a matter of fact I buy some of my hemp foods at a store ran by a church. What do yall tink?

Hemp is an amazing product and part of the real reason marijuana was first made illegal. By making marijuana illegal, they were able to make all cannabis illegal, including hemp, which was the goal of the cotton industry. Hemp shirts can last 100 years and still be the quality as the day it was sewn. Hemp rope is entirely stronger than nylon. The best example of the quality of hemp fabric I've seen is a little odd. I have 3 cats...actually, my wife has 3 cats and, while I like cats, I simply let them live. Anyway, two of these cats have claws that would make an eagle jealous. As such, anytime we bought a catnip mouse it was, quite literally, destroyed in a matter of minutes. A buddy of mine told me to go to the local hed shop and pick up a hemp catnip mouse. It wasn't much more expensive and that mouse lasted 6 months.

[Triple Peanut]

legaize it. if i want to smoke a joint and listen to records or watch a hockey game, who is that hurting? maybe my own health slightly but so does beer, pizza, car exhaust. if you abuse it, it can absolutely have a negative effect on your life but in moderation i don't see a problem.