Legalize Marijuana?

[ElectricDoodie]

That's the most ****ed up view I've ever heard! I smoke weed pretty often, should I be vaporized, just pushed off the face of the Earth? Weed isn't NEARLY as bad as you make it out to be! Many people are lazy and drag on society, but if they smoke weed they should be "officially outcasted." And have fun trying to enforce that, too! I'm only 15 and I could get weed at the snap of my fingers, so obviously the law doesn't work at preventing use.

You must be high right now, because you completely missed what he was saying.

 

[xFear of Napalm]

You must be high right now, because you completely missed what he was saying.

What exactly is he saying? You tell me, because I'm obviously missing the point...

And no, I'm not high.

 

[riffz]

Ya but it causes hallucinations

Mmm no.

 

[deadalnix]

Most of these facts are from the Ignorance of the movie Reefer madness

I don't know your film, but lived in many european contry and know what's the real habbits of populations. Lots of documents can show the same, as an exemple : http://www.drugwatch.org/Cannabis statistics Europe.htm

 

[ElectricDoodie]

What exactly is he saying? You tell me, because I'm obviously missing the point...

And no, I'm not high.

He said he wants lazy people who bum off others, to be outcasted.
You instantly took that as "People who smoke pot should be outcasted!"

 

[Rpotts]

right but dene also thinks that people that smoke pot are lazy people who bum off others...

 

[xFear of Napalm]

He said he wants lazy people who bum off others, to be outcasted.
You instantly took that as "People who smoke pot should be outcasted!"

Well, the debate is about marijuana, and he is referring to marijuana use.

Originally Posted by Kirjava: "Who are you to say that people shouldn't be allowed to do this?"

("this" meaning marijuana)

He said: "Actually, I have absolutely no problem with people bumming off as long as they are officially outcasted from society and are forced to fend for themselves."

("bumming off" used to rhetorically refer to marijuana)

I think I understood him just fine.

 

[ElectricDoodie]

right but dene also thinks that people that smoke pot are lazy people who bum off others...

That doesn't mean that he wants all pot smokers to be outcasted. He specifically wants lazy people to be outcasted. If pot causes you to become lazy bum, than you should be outcasted, not because of the pot, but because you became a lazy bum.

Well, the debate is about marijuana, and he is referring to marijuana use.

Originally Posted by Kirjava: "Who are you to say that people shouldn't be allowed to do this?"

("this" meaning marijuana)

No, I don't believe he meant marijuana by saying "this." I think he meant what he quoted, "start bumming off and becoming a burden."

He said: "Actually, I have absolutely no problem with people bumming off as long as they are officially outcasted from society and are forced to fend for themselves."

("bumming off" used to rhetorically refer to marijuana)

No. Bumming off is usually used to mean literally people who are bumming off.
Did you really just substitute the words "bumming off" with "marijuana users?"





But, I could be completely wrong about what Kir and Dene meant.

 

[maggot]

i dont really care about studies, i care about my own personal experience. someone quoted from wiki about [insert random statistic] smoking weed => hard drug use.

what i'd like to say about this is not so much the strength of the validity of the statistic. think about teenagers. a lot of the things that they are accomplishing in their lives (highschool, development of social interactions including relationships) are very important, amongst many other things. the decisions for not smoking weed for teens imho are just as important for abstinence (or at least safe sex, but safe sex is just imho a gateway drug to unsafe sex). not that i was so smart to stay away from these things, and yet i am fine now, but this is not the case for everyone.

for cigarettes, 18 is the law to purchase cigarettes, but how many people have picked up this bad habit in their teens? the fact is that it is not illegal to smoke, they're not even illegal to purchase, only illegal for the sale of cigarettes or 3rd party purchase of cigarettes. if a minor decides to purchase cigarettes, it is the suppliers responsibility to enforce laws. sometimes this isnt followed (mom and pops corner shops). also, the same thing with liquor. with any kind of legalization of weed, this just makes it more available.

i believe that weed is a gateway drug in a much more dangerous way from alcohol. for many people, weed is more tolerable. for most, it makes them feel silly, sleepy, horny, hungry. and it doesnt have any kind of specific required taste. and it doesnt have a high chance for bad situations (getting sick from being too drunk, blacking out, doing dangerous things like driving, aggression issues, for women being taken advantage of) some hard drugs have a low tolerance and there are some out there that dont and are very dangerous. also, if tried once with no kind of adverse effect, what is stopping them from trying again? the good thing about alcohol is that typically when a teen has a bad experience, they QUICKLY learn to stay within reasonable limits. same thing would most likely happen with hard drugs, but there is chemical dependence issues. so, while i think weed is fairly harmless physically; psychologically and socially it can be very detrimental to a child who doesnt really understand right from wrong and they let curiosity get the best of them.

i am not sure about my stand on decriminalization. i think i side a little with kirjava's statement about amsterdam. i believe that with easy access (regardless of any kind of regulations) that people would abuse weed more and other drugs would become an issue amongst everyone (heavy concern for teens) i dont care about what other countries statistics are or studies, it will happen. a lot of these studies look at hard drug abuse as a whole, not the specific target of age groups. im sure if you look at the studies, the overall hard drug use might have went down, but im sure the teen age group and young adult age group would show different results. the curiosity in teens might go down, but it will still be there, only the accessibility will be higher. thats all. .

dont say that there isnt such thing as weed abuse or that weed abuse doesnt have adverse effects on society. if you think that, you are stupid. yes, STUPID. there are people who are addicted psychologically to the effects of weed usage and they smoke weed everyday. im assuming (with a huge insight) that a good percentage of these people are not productive to society, hell, i probably pay their government assistance checks in my taxes (not another welfare debate, as i have a specific stand on this topic as well) with increased access would just promote adverse societal effects (amsterdam) i think weed usage in its basic form, IN MODERATION, in a socially positive environment (much like social alcohol consumption in moderation) is ACCEPTABLE, but legalized, no. i dont have a problem with weed, but i cant say legalize it with all of the negative things that come from it. i also have kids and i could not imagine having my children growing up in a household in which smoking weed was acceptable.

 

[ianography]

I voted yes because people are going to use it no matter what, and not legalizing it is stupid.

 

[Rpotts]

the decisions for not smoking weed for teens imho are just as important for abstinence (or at least safe sex, but safe sex is just imho a gateway drug to unsafe sex).

i stopped reading here. lol

 

[riffz]

You do realize the the gateway effect of marijuana is almost entirely due to its prohibition in the first place, right? If it was legal then people wouldn't be going into alleys and buying it from the same people that sell heroin.

 

[xFear of Napalm]

i think i side a little with kirjava's statement about amsterdam.

You do know what sarcasm is, and who kirjava is, right? (You definitely don't.)

i think weed usage in its basic form, IN MODERATION, in a socially positive environment (much like social alcohol consumption in moderation) is ACCEPTABLE, but legalized, no.

So, It's morally acceptable, but it's still okay to give people prison sentences for having it? Is that what you're saying? (I assume so, seeing how you did say it.)

 

[xFear of Napalm]

But, I could be completely wrong about what Kir and Dene meant.

Well, you are.

 

[ElectricDoodie]

Well, you are.

How can you be so arrogant?

 

[aronpm]

People that dont smoke are pretty ignorant

ಠ_ಠ

 

[riffz]

Wow. I didn't expect anyone to actually take Kirjava's trolling seriously. Pretty pathetic lol.

 

[qqwref]

You do realize the the gateway effect of marijuana is almost entirely due to its prohibition in the first place, right? If it was legal then people wouldn't be going into alleys and buying it from the same people that sell heroin.

As Milton Friedman was saying - pot is relatively big/bulky, so it's easier to get caught. I'm sure a lot of people figure that, if they're going to be breaking the law anyway, they might as well make themselves harder to catch by trying one of the more potent and dangerous ones (which provide more intense highs, too).

I gotta say, though, the entire "gateway drug" theory rests on a pretty shaky premise. Caffeine is a drug too, and how many coffee/tea drinkers do you know who decided to start using meth or heroin because of how much they liked the caffeine? It makes more sense to assume that certain people want a certain level/strength of high and will try different drugs until they find one that's strong enough, than to assume that a small amount of pleasure will make people want to go for extreme and deadly thrills.

 

[DavidWoner]

Wow. I didn't expect anyone to actually take Kirjava's trolling seriously. Pretty pathetic lol.

I did, that's why I deleted all of it.

 

[PatrickJameson]

i dont really care about studies

It is for this reason why I won't even bother tearing apart everything you posted. If you don't care to look at evidence provided by people who spend an extremely large amount of their time trying to find answers, then why should I even bother.

I will, however, say a bit about this:

the decisions for not smoking weed for teens imho are just as important for abstinence (or at least safe sex, but safe sex is just imho a gateway drug to unsafe sex)

Haha wait what? Alright first of all, being forced upon to be abstinent by either society or religion or parents or whatever is not good. At all. This merely forces those who wish to partake in such activities to do so in secrecy. Secrecy often means those partaking could have a lack of knowledge and resources to have safe sex. Now abstinence is the "gateway drug" to unsafe sex. With proper knowledge and resources, safe sex is not even close to being a "gateway" to unsafe sex. Why a 16 year old has to explain this to someone who has kids is beyond me, but it is done.