Should marijuana be legalized?

[FreakyLocz14]

That's a different system than what we use so it doesn't apply to my arguments, but I'd ask why there isn't some measure in place to disqualify such people from the taxpayer-funded version of health care. That seems like a pretty obvious requirement of such a system. If you do stuff that is harmful to yourself, you should obviously have to pay for the consequences. Over here, if you're a smoker, your health insurance costs go up. Makes sense to me.

Because Europe is raging mad. The people in the UK pay astronomical amounts of taxes.

 

[Dawn]

Pretty sure anything is bad for you in excess. Caffeine is bad for you if you take in too much of it, as well as fat.

Anyways, it's not all bad. Cigarettes will never have enough good for me to actually use them, but they are used to release stress, and honestly, they do help some people who have stressful lives. Don't state it in a manner where you're saying "it's completely bad", even if it is almost that.

Who said anything about excess? One teensy cigarette. ONE smoke of weed. Bad for you. It's basically poison. I would be relatively impressed if someone could show me something that has been studied and proven to be smoke-able without any harm.

It's flat out bad for you, and unless by some horrible twist of fate it's the ONLY way you can relieve stress it doesn't really justify anything saying it's not completely bad. That's like saying that taking an extremely dangerous shortcut isn't completely bad because nothing bad happened, even though the long way was a lot safer.

Oh by the way, I'm late.

 

[Livewire]

I would be relatively impressed if someone could show me something that has been studied and proven to be smoke-able without any harm.

Peyote. The active ingredient in peyote, Peyocactin, has been shown to actually combat around 20 different strains of bacterial resistant Staphylococcus aureus.


Now when you say smoke something, remember that the harm comes from the actual smoke, not the substance being smoked if that makes sense.

 

[SIN1488]

Peyote. The active ingredient in peyote, Peyocactin, has been shown to actually combat around 20 different strains of bacterial resistant Staphylococcus aureus.


Now when you say smoke something, remember that the harm comes from the actual smoke, not the substance being smoked if that makes sense.

Peyocactin? I thought it's Mescaline in peyote?

Either way I've never heard of smoking it..... But what about smoking things that don't have plant matter in it? I can't imagine DMT being bad for you, considering it's a bunch of crystals AND it's the same chemical that causes people to have dreams naturally. And people with asthma inhale a certain chemical that is a crystal, Albuterol Sulfate, so it's obvious that doesn't cause harm.

Who said anything about excess? One teensy cigarette. ONE smoke of weed. Bad for you. It's basically poison. I would be relatively impressed if someone could show me something that has been studied and proven to be smoke-able without any harm.

Yes, any foreign substance you put in your body IS bad for you. So all the germs on the food you eat is bad. But yeah, I get your point about the benefits outweighing the harm. So how about vaporizers? Yes, if someone vaporizes weed, they are not inhaling any organic matter, they are just inhaling the Cannabinoids (THC, etc.). If there are any damages from that, they are probably so minuscule that breathing air in the city is worse for you. Also, you seem to forget about consuming brownies and other edibles that have weed in them. Those aren't bad for your lungs, obviously, and I find it hard to believe that it would be bad for your digestive system, with all the organic plant matter we eat daily. And about THC and other Cannabinoids' effects on the rest of the body? Well, it was once thought that they are very identical to the same Cannabinoids our own bodies produce, however research has shown that they are not really that identical. But, they are identical in the way they behave, which is why Cannabinoids (Such as THC) will bind to Endocannabinoid receptors in the brain.

Oh by the way, I'm late.

That's really not good, you should take a pregnancy test right away. :shocked:

 

[Livewire]

Peyocactin? I thought it's Mescaline in peyote?

Either way I've never heard of smoking it..... But what about smoking things that don't have plant matter in it? I can't imagine DMT being bad for you, considering it's a bunch of crystals AND it's the same chemical that causes people to have dreams naturally. And people with asthma inhale a certain chemical that is a crystal, Albuterol Sulfate, so it's obvious that doesn't cause harm.

You can smoke and ingest peyote, but the effects will be the same. As for mescaline, that's the actual psychotropic ingredient, peyocactin is an actual antibiotic agent found in peyote.

 

[SIN1488]

You can smoke and ingest peyote, but the effects will be the same. As for mescaline, that's the actual psychotropic ingredient, peyocactin is an actual antibiotic agent found in peyote.

Ah, no wonder I have never heard of it.

 

[BrandonE]

OK, time to break it down:

I. Harms (or lack of harms) of Cannabis

1. Cannabis does not kill brain cells. This was a myth created by the Heath-Tulane study. In it, the scientists would put a gas mask around a monkey's face, pump pot smoke without oxygen, and suffocate them. What happens when you suffocate? Your brain cells start to die.
2. Cannabis does not cause lung cancer. Although intaking heated plant matter paralyzes the cilia, unlike tobacco, cannabis has anti-tumor properties which are believed to counteract the negative effects.
3. Cannabis has not directly killed a single human being in history. It is physically impossible to overdose on.
4. Cannabis is not physically addictive.
5. Many people have managed to live successful lives who have used it, some still using it today (Ted Turner).
6. The gateway theory is nonsense. Is milk a gateway to alcohol?

II. Hypocrisy

1. Tobacco and alcohol can cause cancer, both legal.
2. Prescription drugs kill tens of thousands a year, completely legal.
3. Although it's not a smart idea to drive high, it's not impossible, unlike driving drunk. Sure, it might make you unable quickly react, but you're probably not going to drive off the road.
4. Alcohol can destroy lives. Legal.
5. More people commit crimes on alcohol than cannabis.

III. Problems with Prohibition

1. Like the prohibition of alcohol, prohibition of cannabis doesn't reduce usage. Before prohibition, there was an estimated 50,000 cannabis smokers in the US. Today, there are over 5 million. That is a 100000% increase.
2. It costs $17.7 billion to enforce. This money could be redirected to better use.
3. We have a bigger percentage of imprisoned people than any other country of the world, and we jail more people for possession of "narcotics" (Cannabis is not a narcotic) than any other crime, feeding billions to the private prison prohibition industrial complex. Land of the free, right?
4. There are plenty of conflicts of interest in prohibition. For example, the companies who do drug tests are making a killing.Not to mention that "drug tests" will not pick up cocaine or heroine after a long weekend of no use.
5. Prohibition delivers all of the profit to organized crime. Because of the inflated cost of cannabis due to prohibition (Cannabis would be WORTHLESS if legal), mob members think it's worth killing people over controlling the market. This is happening in your neighborhood.
6. OK, I get it, you're a concerned parent and don't want your son / daughter using cannabis. OK, tell them not to. Let's say they're one of the millions of kids who don't listen to their parents on this subject. They get caught with cannabis. Do you want them to go to jail? No, you want to ground them. You don't have that choice.
7. Above all, we don't need burecrats telling us what we can or cannot do in the privacy of our own home so long as it does not hurt anyone else. This is a conservative issue.

IV. Positive uses of Cannabis

1. Cannabis relieves pain, increases hunger, and calms people down. Perfect drug for coping with chemo. I dare you to tell a cancer patient to put out his / her joint.
2. Cannabis can be cultivated into Hemp. Hemp can be used for paper and clothing superior than that of we have today without expending depleting resources. It is also a renewable source of fuel that's growth can cancel out the greenhouse effect. The solution to global warming.
3. You can't tax something illegal. If you hate it, support legalizing and taxing the hell out of it.
4. Hell, we all need a break from our stressful lives, no? Why do you care if someone uses cannabis when you're drinking a beer?

V. Why the government wants to keep Cannabis illegal

1. See III-3.
2. If you flip flop on cannabis, you're saying "Oh, sorry, you millions of non-violent people shouldn't have gone to jail. My bad." They aren't going to get re-elected again.
3. Many protestors use cannabis. You can't arrest someone for protesting. You can arrest them for using cannabis. No more protests!
4. It's a diversion techinique. People are so focused on this problem that they ignore everything else. Exactly what they want.

If you are well informed on the subject, you cannot support prohibition, user or not. For more information, watch "The Union: The Business Behind Getting High".

 

[Dawn]

But what about smoking things that don't have plant matter in it? I can't imagine DMT being bad for you, considering it's a bunch of crystals AND it's the same chemical that causes people to have dreams naturally. And people with asthma inhale a certain chemical that is a crystal, Albuterol Sulfate, so it's obvious that doesn't cause harm.

Whelp, smoking it is probably bad for you in relativity, believe it or not. Basically what I'm saying is, there are flat out better ways to use something that can be much less damaging to your health.

That's really not good, you should take a pregnancy test right away. :shocked:

ohgodwut

OK, time to break it down:
If you are well informed on the subject, you cannot support prohibition, user or not. For more information, watch "The Union: The Business Behind Getting High".

TL;DR - Alcohol and smoking are worse so they're legal so marijuana should be legal and it's not that big a deal so why fight it.

Point A has been made many times and countered an equal amount of times. The only reason alcohol and smoking are not illegal is because they were FORCED legal. If you really want to play that card, be ready to force Marijuana legalized, not to argue it should be because that's the only way the scenarios can be the same.

Point B is fair, but Marijuana is a much bigger deal than you're giving it credit for. Before marijuana can be legalized the arguing about it's effects needs to stop, and the medical facts, given by a professional (See: Not you, or me for that matter) need to become clear and accepted as factual. Until that happens, it's just making Marijuana more dangerous than it might actually be if there was clarity.

Further, those of us that oppose public smoking may refuse to support legalizing marijuana until we're sure we won't just be giving ourselves not one but two sources of smoke to be forced to breath, regardless of how good the argument is.

 

[BrandonE]

Point A has been made many times and countered an equal amount of times. The only reason alcohol and smoking are not illegal is because they were FORCED legal. If you really want to play that card, be ready to force Marijuana legalized, not to argue it should be because that's the only way the scenarios can be the same.

Tobbaco's legal because politicians would never dare alienate every smoker out there. Alcohol is legal because prohibition was an incredible failure. Cannabis should be legal because prohibition IS an incredible failure.

Point B is fair, but Marijuana is a much bigger deal than you're giving it credit for.

Firstly, that wasn't my point. My point was that prohibition is hurting you and you should fight AGAINST it. The status quo will be sustained if we don't do something about it.

OK, you think Cannabis is a big deal. Now tell me how it is. You can't just say such a thing without backing it up with evidence.

Before marijuana can be legalized the arguing about it's effects needs to stop, and the medical facts, given by a professional (See: Not you, or me for that matter) need to become clear and accepted as factual. Until that happens, it's just making Marijuana more dangerous than it might actually be if there was clarity.

There's a couple problems with that:

1. The professionals have a conflict of interest, seeing as they are in bed with the pharmaceutical companies.
2. Even with that kind of pressure, the professional's agree with me. Everything that has come out against cannabis is propaganda, and professionals have refuted each one of them.
3. Me telling you facts about cannabis doesn't make it more dangerous. I don't understand how I could possibly affect the effects of a substance by exercising rational thought.

Further, those of us that oppose public smoking may refuse to support legalizing marijuana until we're sure we won't just be giving ourselves not one but two sources of smoke to be forced to breath, regardless of how good the argument is.

I oppose public smoking. Rest assured, if cannabis is legalized and regulated by the federal government, the law they enact will have a provision against public smoking, and no cannabis user will argue with it. That said, if you happen to be at a private party where it's filling the room, feel safe knowing that the second hand smoke will do no adverse damages to you in the long or short term, not to mention it's not absolutely repulsive like tobacco.

Who said anything about excess? One teensy cigarette. ONE smoke of weed. Bad for you. It's basically poison. I would be relatively impressed if someone could show me something that has been studied and proven to be smoke-able without any harm.

It's flat out bad for you, and unless by some horrible twist of fate it's the ONLY way you can relieve stress it doesn't really justify anything saying it's not completely bad. That's like saying that taking an extremely dangerous shortcut isn't completely bad because nothing bad happened, even though the long way was a lot safer.

But they aren't the same. You're comparing arsenic to milk. If someone wants to relieve their pain and stress, you can't tell them how to do it, no matter how much you hate it.

 

[NarutoActor]

No, it smells bad, and druggies annoy me. While where at it, ban cigarettes; yucckie

 

[Ghost]

I say no, though I have my reasons. If a person was able to have 6 plants in possession for a certain reason, they could sell the plants to get a profit and continue to ask for plants. They would get it for free if it was prescribed of course. If you think about it is a necessity to some people as if someone wasn't able to eat, they would smoke some weed and that causes them to have the munches, so they'll eat. No offence to those who thinks this should be legal or illegal but this is a very dumb question, I'm guessing the thread creator mainly wanted to know your thoughts and what you see so right or wrong about the possession of weed. It's a common question.

 

[Blaze The Hedgehog]

Legalize it! Let everybody feel the tripped-out happiness of the so-well named "Wacky-Baccy".

Besides, the government won't legalize something they can't tax.

 

[Captain Hobo.]

No, I do not think it should be legalized it messes you up.

 

[Scarlette]

Never tried it and most likely never will
but if people wanna do it. Let them. It's their own choice to do it or not.

 

[Yuoaman]

OK, time to break it down:

I. Harms (or lack of harms) of Cannabis

1. Cannabis does not kill brain cells. This was a myth created by the Heath-Tulane study. In it, the scientists would put a gas mask around a monkey's face, pump pot smoke without oxygen, and suffocate them. What happens when you suffocate? Your brain cells start to die.
2. Cannabis does not cause lung cancer. Although intaking heated plant matter paralyzes the cilia, unlike tobacco, cannabis has anti-tumor properties which are believed to counteract the negative effects.
3. Cannabis has not directly killed a single human being in history. It is physically impossible to overdose on.
4. Cannabis is not physically addictive.
5. Many people have managed to live successful lives who have used it, some still using it today (Ted Turner).
6. The gateway theory is nonsense. Is milk a gateway to alcohol?

II. Hypocrisy

1. Tobacco and alcohol can cause cancer, both legal.
2. Prescription drugs kill tens of thousands a year, completely legal.
3. Although it's not a smart idea to drive high, it's not impossible, unlike driving drunk. Sure, it might make you unable quickly react, but you're probably not going to drive off the road.
4. Alcohol can destroy lives. Legal.
5. More people commit crimes on alcohol than cannabis.

III. Problems with Prohibition

1. Like the prohibition of alcohol, prohibition of cannabis doesn't reduce usage. Before prohibition, there was an estimated 50,000 cannabis smokers in the US. Today, there are over 5 million. That is a 100000% increase.
2. It costs $17.7 billion to enforce. This money could be redirected to better use.
3. We have a bigger percentage of imprisoned people than any other country of the world, and we jail more people for possession of "narcotics" (Cannabis is not a narcotic) than any other crime, feeding billions to the private prison prohibition industrial complex. Land of the free, right?
4. There are plenty of conflicts of interest in prohibition. For example, the companies who do drug tests are making a killing.Not to mention that "drug tests" will not pick up cocaine or heroine after a long weekend of no use.
5. Prohibition delivers all of the profit to organized crime. Because of the inflated cost of cannabis due to prohibition (Cannabis would be WORTHLESS if legal), mob members think it's worth killing people over controlling the market. This is happening in your neighborhood.
6. OK, I get it, you're a concerned parent and don't want your son / daughter using cannabis. OK, tell them not to. Let's say they're one of the millions of kids who don't listen to their parents on this subject. They get caught with cannabis. Do you want them to go to jail? No, you want to ground them. You don't have that choice.
7. Above all, we don't need burecrats telling us what we can or cannot do in the privacy of our own home so long as it does not hurt anyone else. This is a conservative issue.

IV. Positive uses of Cannabis

1. Cannabis relieves pain, increases hunger, and calms people down. Perfect drug for coping with chemo. I dare you to tell a cancer patient to put out his / her joint.
2. Cannabis can be cultivated into Hemp. Hemp can be used for paper and clothing superior than that of we have today without expending depleting resources. It is also a renewable source of fuel that's growth can cancel out the greenhouse effect. The solution to global warming.
3. You can't tax something illegal. If you hate it, support legalizing and taxing the hell out of it.
4. Hell, we all need a break from our stressful lives, no? Why do you care if someone uses cannabis when you're drinking a beer?

V. Why the government wants to keep Cannabis illegal

1. See III-3.
2. If you flip flop on cannabis, you're saying "Oh, sorry, you millions of non-violent people shouldn't have gone to jail. My bad." They aren't going to get re-elected again.
3. Many protestors use cannabis. You can't arrest someone for protesting. You can arrest them for using cannabis. No more protests!
4. It's a diversion techinique. People are so focused on this problem that they ignore everything else. Exactly what they want.

If you are well informed on the subject, you cannot support prohibition, user or not. For more information, watch "The Union: The Business Behind Getting High".

Bravo sir, you have demonstrated far more patience and intellect in scrounging up this post than I'd be able to given twice the amount of time. What I find funny is that all of the information you gave can easily be found online and in books, but so few people know it.

 

[Rapidash]

No, it smells bad, and druggies annoy me. While where at it, ban cigarettes; yucckie

This!

I know fine well that it's not as dangerous as cigarettes and alcohol, but personally I think that those should be banned too.

The whole world would be better without these substances!

 

[twocows]

This!

I know fine well that it's not as dangerous as cigarettes and alcohol, but personally I think that those should be banned too.

The whole world would be better without these substances!

The latter statement is true, but that does not make the former statement the proper solution. While it would be better for these substances to not exist within the world, banning them infringes on peoples' rights and would upset a great many people. And simply because something "smells bad" is certainly not a valid reason to tread on personal freedoms. Now, some of these substances are harmful, but the risks are widely known and people understand that they're doing harm to themselves. If that's their decision, so be it; we have no right to stop them from doing what makes them happy if it doesn't hurt others.

 

[PokemonLeagueChamp]

Well, in all technicality, if something smells bad, people have the right to NOT smell it in common public locations.

And the thing about alcohol, and also marijuana, granted far higher with alcohol, is that they have a tendency to remove inhibitions and aid poor decision-making. We all know drunk driving is epidemic. While I'm sure high driving isn't exactly good, it must not be a major issue because it's never mentioned. However, if you're high, and for example, have unprotected sex, then we have different, but still serious, issues added in.

 

[PokeLawry]

Legalize weed, have world peace. It honestly does nothing but chill you out. Everybody thinks it's this horrible thing that, if you smoke a joint, you'll end up shooting up heroine, or something. but no, not like that at all. It leads to music and junkfood. I've never understood why it's illegal anyway, it's of God. it grows in the ground, untouched by chemicals or anything. Blah. End.

 

[Nathalie]

I'm all for legalizing it. Everyone knows it's much less dangerous for the consumer and those around them than alcohol, and that's still legal. :\