Question to marijuana supporters

Marijuana is not for everyone. Neither is alcohol.

Try it before you deny it, thats all I gotta say.

IMHO, in this case, two wrongs can make a right. Alcohol & tobacco are tremendous revenue streams for states & are heavily taxed as a result. Given the financial crisis in the U.S., wouldn't it make sense to consider another source of revenue, with associated taxes, by decriminalizing marijuana? Not to mention that the $s folks spend purchasing MJ would shift from going to criminals into going to legitimate businesses.

[QUOTE="ice144"]

When most people mention legalizing marijuana, one of the main cases against them is that it's dangerous for yourself and those around you.

Drinking and smoking are the same thing blah blah blah... (see next sentence)

The people in support of marijuana will normally counter back saying something along the lines of that smoking and alchohol are worse than it.

Way worse. Do you know how many people go crazy and beat their kids/family members or drive super high and kill other people? (Alcohol) Or how 'bout how many people get lung cancer or other health problems due to weed? (Smoking cigarettes.)

This is the part I have a problem with. Does 2 wrongs make a right? Just because smoking and drinking is legal, weed should be as well because it's less dangerous? That just doesn't make sense to me.

Why would a less dangerous product being legalized and mass marketed be an issue? Have you ever taken an Advil or a pain killer of some type? Those are less dangerous products than cigarettes and tobacco, and you don't say anything against them.

That's like saying abortion should stay legal because it's better than having people do it themselves, you're still killing a life(ironically i'm in favor of abortion though, but that's a different matter :P ).

Abortions are legal in the United States. Weed isn't. If you are against abortion then fine, don't take part in it, but don't defy people who pursue it.

And for those who say marijuana has absolutely no negative impacts at all, i'd like you to ask the thousands of people who's life turned the wrong way after being introduced to that drug. I know this is a rather weak argument I'm about to say, but I highly doubt it's coincidence that most people who use the drug aren't as successful as people who don't.

How many of those "successful" people do you know that self medicate with alcohol? Or smoke? Or do something way worse than weed? You're making a massive generalization of a group of people that you really don't have anything to back up with.

starfox15

Nobody is in the wrong here. Weed is a drug. It affects every person differently and it has the same basic effects from strain to strain. I can't imagine that the government couldn't moderate it the same way they do alcohol and smoking, and with far more of a hand in the profits no less. If you choose not to engage in it I completely see your point. Just don't try and tell me or a group of people that they can't do something because you feel its wrong.

The truth is that both cigarette companies and alcohol corporations stand to lose A LOT of money if weed ever approaches legalization. Think about it. If you could do weed legally why would you ever smoke or drink again? I have a strong impression that lobbyists for these companies are doing everything in their power to keep weed legal right now. Not to mention every state in the US. The biggest profit crop is weed in America. Plain and simple. If they just legalized it and taxed it like any other drug, America could put a gigantic dent in it's debt.

See also: California.

I totally agree, and would like to add that not only do Anheuser-Bush and Phillip-Morris spend a great deal of money lobbying against legalization annually, but oil congolmerates who stand to lose money due to hemp's application as a bio-fuel do the same, not to mention that the entire reason that weed was criminalized in the first place was because companies like DuPont and industrialists like William Randolph Hearst felt threatened by the competition that hemp would have been to them.

When most people mention legalizing marijuana, one of the main cases against them is that it's dangerous for yourself and those around you.

The people in support of marijuana will normally counter back saying something along the lines of that smoking and alchohol are worse than it.

This is the part I have a problem with. Does 2 wrongs make a right? Just because smoking and drinking is legal, weed should be as well because it's less dangerous? That just doesn't make sense to me.

That's like saying abortion should stay legal because it's better than having people do it themselves, you're still killing a life(ironically i'm in favor of abortion though, but that's a different matter :P ).

And for those who say marijuana has absolutely no negative impacts at all, i'd like you to ask the thousands of people who's life turned the wrong way after being introduced to that drug. I know this is a rather weak argument I'm about to say, but I highly doubt it's coincidence that most people who use the drug aren't as successful as people who don't.

ice144

Does 2 wrongs make a right?

ice144

I don't understand. :| I don't think marijuana should be compared with cigarettes or alcohol; lots of people actually die from those. Would it be OK to allow tigers to be household pets and ban regular household cats?

[QUOTE="ice144"]

Does 2 wrongs make a right?

shoot-first

I don't understand. :| I don't think marijuana should be compared with cigarettes or alcohol; lots of people actually die from those. Would it be OK to allow tigers to be household pets and ban regular household cats?

People die from heart attacks, people die from tanning, people die from a lot of things, but we accept that it's alright for them to make choices about their own body and health. Besides, used responsibly both alcohol and cannabis' negative effects can be minimalized. I think we should stop spending so much time and efforts going after teh drugs and spend more time trying to get people to be more responsible.

[QUOTE="shoot-first"]

[QUOTE="ice144"]

Does 2 wrongs make a right?

theone86

I don't understand. :| I don't think marijuana should be compared with cigarettes or alcohol; lots of people actually die from those. Would it be OK to allow tigers to be household pets and ban regular household cats?

People die from heart attacks, people die from tanning, people die from a lot of things, but we accept that it's alright for them to make choices about their own body and health. Besides, used responsibly both alcohol and cannabis' negative effects can be minimalized. I think we should stop spending so much time and efforts going after teh drugs and spend more time trying to get people to be more responsible.

Well of course we are all going to die someday. :| That is more of a reason for marijuana to be legalized. :P

Also, my point was that people don't die from marijuana. >_>

When most people mention legalizing marijuana, one of the main cases against them is that it's dangerous for yourself and those around you.

ice144

thats not really a legitimate case...only a decades-old, fear-induced myth which people still cling to. It is not dangerous.

With that said, this is not a matter of two wrongs making/not making a right.

It is about double standards.

We live in a country where tobacco and alcohol are legalized; not only legalized, but taxed, so the government makes huge profits fromsubstances that can be harmful to you.

And yet marijuana, which is a gentle fluffy bunny next to tobacco and alcohol, remains illegal. It doesnt make sense.

And it does not stop there: look at the entertainment industry. Its perfectly fine to expose our children to violence, but the second a woman exposes her chest or derrier STOP THE TAPES! Im sorry, but a woman's boobs and ass are beautiful and should never be censored before violence is.

[QUOTE="ice144"]

When most people mention legalizing marijuana, one of the main cases against them is that it's dangerous for yourself and those around you.

mrbojangles25

We live in a country where tobacco and alcohol are legalized; not only legalized, but taxed, so the government makes huge profits fromsubstances that can be harmful to you.

And yet marijuana, which is a gentle fluffy bunny next to tobacco and alcohol, remains illegal. It doesnt make sense.

That is exactly one of the things that makes the government pretty scary.

When weed kills millions every year THEN it can be compared to alcohol and cigarettes, until then they're in completely different leagues (...and always will be)

When weed kills millions every year THEN it can be compared to alcohol and cigarettes, until then they're in completely different leagues (...and always will be)

Brainkiller05

good man. :P

Marijuana is not for everyone. Neither is alcohol.

Try it before you deny it, thats all I gotta say.

jtj2004

I agree with your initial statement. There are both positive and negative effects of marijuana. It's debatable if the negatives outweight the positives, or vice versa, but whatever the case is, the effects are reletivly minor.

Although that's not to say Marijuana can't mess up someones life. I think we've all seen the total burnout loser who can't hold a steady job because he's high as a kite 24/7,but I think that those people have a weak mind, and it has little to do with marijuana itself, and it's idiots like those who give marijuana (and drugs in general) such a negative reputation.

If someone lets marijuana ruin their lives, that's their own fault. Chances are, they were probably going to fail anyways, with or without weed. There's plenty of successful people that have smoked, and probably continue to smoke weed.

ill keep smoking

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

[QUOTE="ice144"]

When most people mention legalizing marijuana, one of the main cases against them is that it's dangerous for yourself and those around you.

shoot-first

We live in a country where tobacco and alcohol are legalized; not only legalized, but taxed, so the government makes huge profits fromsubstances that can be harmful to you.

And yet marijuana, which is a gentle fluffy bunny next to tobacco and alcohol, remains illegal. It doesnt make sense.

That is exactly one of the things that makes the government pretty scary.

I wouldnt say scary.

To be honest, I think its more of society's fault for marijuana being illegal. People are still scared of it. We are in marijuana prohibition right now and, like alcohol prohibition, it will get repealed. In addition, like alcohol prohibition, it was made illegal for the wrong reasons. Even the subculture is similiar; people used weed and alcohol in celebratory ways during their respective prohibitions.

Its going to be a long battle. I work in a brewery and as we try to make changes to it, we encounter these old laws left over from prohibition. We're talking 80+ year old laws made for wrong reasons. And it takes months, even years, to get them repealed.

The governemnt isnt scary imo. It just really drags its ass.

[QUOTE="shoot-first"]

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

We live in a country where tobacco and alcohol are legalized; not only legalized, but taxed, so the government makes huge profits fromsubstances that can be harmful to you.

And yet marijuana, which is a gentle fluffy bunny next to tobacco and alcohol, remains illegal. It doesnt make sense.

mrbojangles25

That is exactly one of the things that makes the government pretty scary.

I wouldnt say scary.

To be honest, I think its more of society's fault for marijuana being illegal. People are still scared of it. We are in marijuana prohibition right now and, like alcohol prohibition, it will get repealed. In addition, like alcohol prohibition, it was made illegal for the wrong reasons. Even the subculture is similiar; people used weed and alcohol in celebratory ways during their respective prohibitions.

Its going to be a long battle. I work in a brewery and as we try to make changes to it, we encounter these old laws left over from prohibition. We're talking 80+ year old laws made for wrong reasons. And it takes months, even years, to get them repealed.

The governemnt isnt scary imo. It just really drags its ass.

Society isn't the one who banned marijuana.

You don't think the government is scary? I'm pretty sure it is.

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

[QUOTE="shoot-first"]

That is exactly one of the things that makes the government pretty scary.

shoot-first

I wouldnt say scary.

To be honest, I think its more of society's fault for marijuana being illegal. People are still scared of it. We are in marijuana prohibition right now and, like alcohol prohibition, it will get repealed. In addition, like alcohol prohibition, it was made illegal for the wrong reasons. Even the subculture is similiar; people used weed and alcohol in celebratory ways during their respective prohibitions.

Its going to be a long battle. I work in a brewery and as we try to make changes to it, we encounter these old laws left over from prohibition. We're talking 80+ year old laws made for wrong reasons. And it takes months, even years, to get them repealed.

The governemnt isnt scary imo. It just really drags its ass.

Society isn't the one who banned marijuana.

yea i suppose thats one difference.

but society is the reason it continues to be banned.

[QUOTE="shoot-first"]

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

I wouldnt say scary.

To be honest, I think its more of society's fault for marijuana being illegal. People are still scared of it. We are in marijuana prohibition right now and, like alcohol prohibition, it will get repealed. In addition, like alcohol prohibition, it was made illegal for the wrong reasons. Even the subculture is similiar; people used weed and alcohol in celebratory ways during their respective prohibitions.

Its going to be a long battle. I work in a brewery and as we try to make changes to it, we encounter these old laws left over from prohibition. We're talking 80+ year old laws made for wrong reasons. And it takes months, even years, to get them repealed.

The governemnt isnt scary imo. It just really drags its ass.

mrbojangles25

Society isn't the one who banned marijuana.

yea i suppose thats one difference.

but society is the reason it continues to be banned.

I suppose your right on that. My parents for instance, they still think of marijuana as harmful drug and still believe the lies about it.

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

[QUOTE="shoot-first"]

Society isn't the one who banned marijuana.

shoot-first

yea i suppose thats one difference.

but society is the reason it continues to be banned.

I suppose your right on that. My parents for instance, they still think of marijuana as harmful drug and still believe the lies about it.

same

my dad asked me once if I was doing any drugs and I said "Yes. I tobacco and beer" and he said "Oh, those arent drugs! You know what I mean"

This is the mindset we need to change. They are drugs, theyre ok...why cant weed be ok too?

[QUOTE="shoot-first"]

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

yea i suppose thats one difference.

but society is the reason it continues to be banned.

mrbojangles25

I suppose your right on that. My parents for instance, they still think of marijuana as harmful drug and still believe the lies about it.

same

my dad asked me once if I was doing any drugs and I said "Yes. I tobacco and beer" and he said "Oh, those arent drugs! You know what I mean"

This is the mindset we need to change. They are drugs, theyre ok...why cant weed be ok too?