Legalize Marijuana?

[xFear of Napalm]

Would you vote yes, or no? Why?
(Please discuss in an objective and calm manner)

And please don't vote without at least weighing the pros and cons for yourself.

Spoiler

(I hid my vote and rant in a spoiler for obvious reasons.)

I, personally, would vote yes. For me, there are a plethora of reasons, but in my mind, only one matters: People absolutely deserve imprisonment nor any punishment at all for their personal choice to use marijuana. Also, to hell with medical use and decriminalization, that's just stupid.

This next part is just my "fanboy rant":

Also, I know people are going to say, "So if marijuana is legal, why not heroin, or meth? Hmmm?" To people who think that, well, how often do you think people die from trying heroin or meth just once? And have you read the side affects for half of the prescription drugs that the FDA approves? Seriously, you can't develop a physical dependence off of it, and I'd be impressed if you could actually get anything resembling a hangover. Its nearly impossible unless you drink alcohol, too.

And there are the people who say "Why release a drug that's dangerous and addictive? Alcohol is already a problem!" You say that as if marijuana is controlled so well by the DEA! (It isn't by any figment of the imagination, in case you didn't know.) And also, marijuana isn't going to get any more popular than it is now just because the government won't punish you, but the people who want to grow their own weed or use marijuana for recreational purposes won't have to fear years in prison.

And one more for the road:

Spoiler

 

[riffz]

You forgot to mention that it's NOT addictive.

 

[teller]

Bottom line: Is there such a thing as a victimless crime? By what authority? What gives anyone the right to dictate what you put in your body? And if the mafia created by prohibition in the 20's didn't convince you, then enjoy the gang warfare we see today, created by prohibition. Mexico is in ruins because of the War on Drugs. And for what result after 30 years?

 

[qqwref]

Save money on drug enforcement, cut down on gang activity, increase safety (drug is more regulated -> less likely to have dangerous additives), keep millions of nonviolent "criminals" out of prison, get extra money from taxes, etc. And all that for the price of... oh wait, no, pot *doesn't* cause lots of extra deaths from car accidents and overdoses. Looking at it logically I really don't see a lot of downsides to legalization.

 

[xFear of Napalm]

You forgot to mention that it's NOT addictive.

Well, I know you can't get a physical dependence, and when people say addiction, they think of skinny, twitching, heroin-withdrawn people suffering in an alley. I think it's possible to be addicted to marijuana, but to a very small degree, and it would be possible to stop with little or no withdrawal symptoms. So I guess you could say it's not addictive

Bottom line: Is there such a thing as a victimless crime? By what authority? What gives anyone the right to dictate what you put in your body? And if the mafia created by prohibition in the 20's didn't convince you, then enjoy the gang warfare we see today, created by prohibition. Mexico is in ruins because of the War on Drugs. And for what result after 30 years?

Very true, I think that legalization could destroy much of the border's drug violence, but only if Canada, Mexico, and the US legalized. That would be the most effective approach to ending the drug war: Take away one of the cartel's biggest cash crops, and turning back into the economy.

 

[MagicYio]

I live in Holland. Problem?

 

[xFear of Napalm]

I live in Holland. Problem?

Nah, brah. *o*

 

[Shortey]

You forgot to mention that it's NOT addictive.

Everything is addictive. Marijuana is just not as addictive as other drugs.

 

[Dene]

You forgot to mention that it's NOT addictive.

Yes it is.

 

[riffz]

Everything is addictive. Marijuana is just not as addictive as other drugs.

No, that's not a fair comparison. Marijuana has not been shown to be chemically addictive like substances such as heroin and cocaine.

You can technically be addicted to anything, but not in the same way.

Yes it is.

Mmm... no. As I said above, people can become addicted to anything. But if marijuana is truly addictive then why does every person I know have no problem going without it for months after smoking it daily for weeks on end? (I, for instance, smoke weed very regularly while at university and go without it for months at a time when I'm living at home while on co-op.)

 

[xFear of Napalm]

Yes it is.

Well, if it is "addictive," it's not a physical dependence like what many people think of when they encounter the word "addictive."

Regardless, I want to know why you really don't think it should be legal, because if you think it should be illegal for addiction alone, then chocolate should be illegal too.

 

[Dene]

Who said anything about physical dependence? It doesn't take a physical dependence on gambling to ruin not only one person's life, but their whole family's life.

EDIT: obviously addiction has nothing to do with why I think it should be illegal. I don't care if a moron goes and gets themself addicted to anything. It's the harm that the people do to others around them, but more importantly to society in general. I work with a guy who smokes weed casually, he's a relatively smart guy, but his performance in all domains of his life have suffered dramatically since he started smoking weed. While the effects are not the same with everyone, you are only encouraging it by legalising it. People that would otherwise contribute well to society will start bumming off and becoming a burden.

 

[cuberkid10]

Legalize it. The government shouldnt be throwing drug users in jail. They should be using that money to do other things. Plus, just becuase it's legal doesnt mean you should do it.

 

[Kirjava]

People that would otherwise contribute well to society will start bumming off and becoming a burden.

Who are you to say that people shouldn't be allowed to do this?

 

[d4m4s74]

I'm for decriminalization. It's till officially illegal, but we're allowed to. Which means (except for maybe the places you can sell weed) the govs can't regulate it, which includes taxing it into oblivion which they would probably do if it were simply legal.

But since I don't have that choice, LEGALIZE IT!

 

[Ethan Rosen]

Legalize marijuana, heroin, ecstacy, lsd, and every other drug out there. The government has created the drug problem in this country through this ridiculous war on drugs. Mexico is hurting because of it. Prohibition never works, and always increases violent crime. End the drug war, legalize freedom.

 

[Escher]

I'm all for the legalisation (or at least decriminalisation) of Marijuana, and like Ethan said, everything else. They've had it* since 2001 in Portugal and I don't see them imploding under the strain of millions of heroin addicts, it takes a quick google search to see that overall drug use (and HIV rates) have actually declined since the introduction of the policy.

*It being deciminalisation of possession for a small number of doses

 

[Bapao]

You can get addicted to the tobacco in a joint, not the weed...

*Yawns and lights up his spliff legally*...

 

[Nestor]

Based on direct experience alone, I would say that that legalizing marijuana poses no harm compared to other legal drugs already available.

Spoiler

Marijuana, illegal: I used to smoke marijuana daily for about a year. One day I decided to stop so I could focus on finishing college, since it was starting to get an impact on my grades. I received my first bad grade report, made up my mind, stopped smoking right there and ever since I've only smoked occasionally (every 5-7 months, just a little puff). About 1/5th of my friends smoke pot, so far I haven't seen any downsides to their use except when they "overdose" and act somehow stupidly funny.

Tobacco, legal: I started smoking tobacco around the same time I did pot, I've been trying to quit for over 10 years with lame success as I keep falling as soon as long overnights with extensive work put pressure on me. I've had a number of health issues all smoke related ranging to skin diseases to gum /throat irritation and bleeding. About 1/5th of my friends also smoke tobacco, and although the young ones have shown no apparent illness from the habit (besides yellow teeth), older ones are having lung problems and a couple have died from lung and throat cancer.

Alcohol, legal: besides hang overs, a few intoxications that required hospitalization and one uncle who died of liver collapsed due to his alcoholism I haven't seen any other form of illness related to alcohol personally. On the other hand, car accidents and other alcohol related accidents? Around 20 people I've known have died due from these and several more have been injured, one had to cut shot her athletic career as she had her legs nearly amputated and just yesterday another one got fatally ran over by a drunk driver. I've been hit about 8 times by drunk idiots and in 3 of those accidents I was idle at a freaking red light, rammed from the rear. Lucky for me none of these accidents have been serious, but they do hurt my wallet (although one gave me neck pain for several days). I don't even want to estimate the amount of property damage I've seen over the years. Every single friend I have drinks alcohol to some degree, I haven't met the first full abstinent.

Coffee, legal: I don't drink coffee as much, but many people I know do so daily. Seem pretty harmless and beside from blood pressure issues on older people and yellow teeth, I've seen no side effecs directly to its use.

Besides my direct experience, when taking also into account all the existing arguments in favor and opposing its legalization, the balance shifts considerably further towards legalization.

 

[Gunnar]

Legalize marijuana, heroin, ecstacy, lsd, and every other drug out there. The government has created the drug problem in this country through this ridiculous war on drugs. Mexico is hurting because of it. Prohibition never works, and always increases violent crime. End the drug war, legalize freedom.

I agree.

The ammount of deaths, destroyed lifes, unjust imprisonments etc. that governments all over the world are responsible for is one of the biggest scandals in the world today.

All for the purpose of fighting "bad moral/health", it seems. Most of the crimes connected to drugs are created by making it illegal.

In Sweden people can get, and do get, up to 10 years in prison for smuggling drugs, while you can get less for attempted murder. There's no sense to that.

I don't use any drugs except alcohol myself, and that in moderate ammounts, so this isn't a personal issue for me.