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As long as other recreational drugs like tobacco and alcohol remain legal, so to should all other recreational drugs. There is absolutely no logical reason for them to be illegal.
foxhound_fox
Why make drugs more available than they already are, I see no reason to increase the pot use in todays society.
From a purely logical standpoint, society will benefit from it being legal. Billions are wasted every year on the "War on Drugs", yet the law against marijuana is logically impossible to be enforced in our society. Not only that, but a huge percentage of marijuana users have no criminal record. If they are caught they are put in prison, exposed to violent people who truly are a danger to society. They can become more prone to violence. Legalizing marijuana would decrease the crime rate in that aspect. If it were legal it would arguably be harder for minors to obtain. Personally and from observation it is easier for high school kids to buy marijuana than it is to buy alcohol. If it were legal it is likely that minors would have a more difficult time obtaining it. Crime would drop as a result of other reasons, as many criminal organizations are funded by drug trafficking. If drugs were legal, their trade would have little to no value, hence crime lords lose a huge portion of what funds their numbers and power. On top of that, the drug would be much safer if it was FDA regulated. To help understand this, look at it this way: if alcohol were illegal it would be much more dangerous, and arguably more dangerous than drugs that are illegal today such as crack and heroin. You wouldn't know what would be in the liquid you buy, you would just have to trust you dealer. It would probably be mixed with all sorts of dangerous substances and liquids, and this would lead to more serious physical problems and more deaths. You wouldn't know how much alcohol was in it, and could overdose easily. It would arguably be much more dangerous to society if it were illegal. If weed was legalized, it would be taxed resulting in profit made for the government instead of wasting money so it does not help in any way and only harms in countless ways. Not even from an argument of individual freedom blah blah but purely logical, it is beneficial to society to legalize it.There's tons of threads about whether it should be legal or not, however there seems to be not argument for it besides "it's better for you then cigarettes!".
So I ask you, good sirs of OT, why it should be legalized in the first place. Not including medicinal purposes, and I want a better argument then "it's better then cigarettes."
Why? If the sole reason is for entertainment/hobby/etc, then why bother? It's bad for you, whether you like it or not. We already have a bunch of "entertainment" things that are bad for you (alcohol, cigs, etc.), why have another? It seems to me that the less harmful substances we have out there the better. (let's assume I'm right on this one -- I don't want an argument of whether it's harmful or not)
Have at 'er.
awsss
the taxes would go straight back into the health care system for all the people with schizophrenia.[QUOTE="Big_player"]- It would regulate a drug that is quite easy for minors to get at this point - It would bring in 10's of billions in taxes - it would free up a clogged up prison system of non violent offenders - It would stop funding to the dangerous cartels that have almost complete control over Mexico and slaughter thousands a year - It allows access to vital medicine to the chronically ill - It allows growing of hemp, the most industrially useful plant in the world - de facto legalization of marijuana in Holland has shown to decrease people access to harder drugs.the_kidisblack
-marijuana isn't medicine, it just allows people to get high and ignore their issues.
-hemp is no where near the most industrial plant in the world, are you joking? decrease access to harder drugs? more like increase the want for simple drugs, then people move onto the harder stuff once pot doesnt do it for them
-stop funding to cartels in mexico, it would only increase it, as there would be no limit on it's import and use. sure there could be government 'sold' pot, but that's not gonna happen.
-so what, it's easy for minors to get at this moment, so you're saying because kids can already get it, we may as well give it to them.
-do you have any idea what pot does on the growing body and mind? pot is a devastating drug which ruins many lives. as well as classing yourself as a pothead when you use it, it causes serious damage to your mind and body.
-Marijuana does not cause schizophrenic at a rate faster then any other psychoactive drug, including caffeine - Here is a list of thousands of scientific studies proving you wrong - There's no one link to prove you wrong on hemp, I suggest you do some research and you'll find the reason it was one of the first crops ever cultivated by man kind -The only reason most people know where to get harder drugs is through a marijuana dealer, if you look at Holland you'll see that hard drug abuse has decreased significantly since de facto legalization of marijuana -Marijuana makes up an estimated 60% of cartels funding, flood the market with high quality legal marijuana and cartels lose their funding to push harder drugs -Putting an age limit on marijuana would help keep it away from children and teenagers, as most high school students say it is easier to get marijuana to alcohol -destroys mind and body huh, tell that to Obama, Michael Phelps and the countless other successful people who use marijuana[QUOTE="the_kidisblack"]the taxes would go straight back into the health care system for all the people with schizophrenia.[QUOTE="Big_player"]- It would regulate a drug that is quite easy for minors to get at this point - It would bring in 10's of billions in taxes - it would free up a clogged up prison system of non violent offenders - It would stop funding to the dangerous cartels that have almost complete control over Mexico and slaughter thousands a year - It allows access to vital medicine to the chronically ill - It allows growing of hemp, the most industrially useful plant in the world - de facto legalization of marijuana in Holland has shown to decrease people access to harder drugs.Big_player
-marijuana isn't medicine, it just allows people to get high and ignore their issues.
-hemp is no where near the most industrial plant in the world, are you joking? decrease access to harder drugs? more like increase the want for simple drugs, then people move onto the harder stuff once pot doesnt do it for them
-stop funding to cartels in mexico, it would only increase it, as there would be no limit on it's import and use. sure there could be government 'sold' pot, but that's not gonna happen.
-so what, it's easy for minors to get at this moment, so you're saying because kids can already get it, we may as well give it to them.
-do you have any idea what pot does on the growing body and mind? pot is a devastating drug which ruins many lives. as well as classing yourself as a pothead when you use it, it causes serious damage to your mind and body.
-Marijuana does not cause schizophrenic at a rate faster then any other psychoactive drug, including caffeine - is a list of thousands of scientific studies proving you wrong - There's no one link to prove you wrong on hemp, I suggest you do some research and you'll find the reason it was one of the first crops ever cultivated by man kind -The only reason most people know where to get harder drugs is through a marijuana dealer, if you look at Holland you'll see that hard drug abuse has decreased significantly since de facto legalization of marijuana -Marijuana makes up an estimated 60% of cartels funding, flood the market with high quality legal marijuana and cartels lose their funding to push harder drugs -Putting an age limit on marijuana would help keep it away from children and teenagers, as most high school students say it is easier to get marijuana to alcohol -destroys mind and body huh, tell that to Obama, Michael Phelps and the countless other successful people who use marijuana Great response.
your arguement is so full of fail it reeks of someone who believes whatever their gov't tells them. you must think the officer that came to your school for D.A.R.E. was telling the truth. please allow me to retort-marijuana isn't medicine, it just allows people to get high and ignore their issues. this is incredibly inaccurate. the more studies done on marijuana the more it is shown to help the body. i'm not suggesting everyone smoke it, thats obviously bad for your lungs. however it is a bronchiodilator (for folks with asthma, a VERY widespread condition) and continuous studies have been shown that it may help prevent breast cancer.
-hemp is no where near the most industrial plant in the world, are you joking? decrease access to harder drugs? more like increase the want for simple drugs, then people move onto the harder stuff once pot doesnt do it for them actually being what it is, it is one of the sturdiest plants and cheapest to grow. it could actually overtake cotton, wool and trees as a primary source for clothing and paper. it wouldn't decrease access to harder drugs directly but as mentioned the cartels would have that much less funding to bring harder drugs in. its also been shown that in other countries where its legal although there was an initial spike in marijuana usage, overa short period of time not only did marijuana usage decrease but so did other harder drugs. there is a country in europe (maybe holland? i can't quite recall) where marijuana is being successfully used to get people off of cocaine and heroin. real drugs that actually harm people.
-stop funding to cartels in mexico, it would only increase it, as there would be no limit on it's import and use. sure there could be government 'sold' pot, but that's not gonna happen. actually, yes, it would stop it, not increase it. cartels are run by illegal operations that can't get licenses for importing/exporting. how often do you see bottles of mexican moonshine? oh thats right, never. why get it on the street when you can legally go to a gas station to get it?
-so what, it's easy for minors to get at this moment, so you're saying because kids can already get it, we may as well give it to them. making alcohol legal makes it harder for kids to get. i remember not too long ago when i was young getting pot was never an issue, but when we wanted whiskey we really had to pull some strings.
-do you have any idea what pot does on the growing body and mind? pot is a devastating drug which ruins many lives. as well as ****ng yourself as a pothead when you use it, it causes serious damage to your mind and body. no ones saying "give pot to kids" but kids will inevitably try it, as people we are curious about things, its simply human nature. i'm all for decriminalizing it/legalizing it and putting the same penalties on it as alcohol. also pot doesn't destroy lives, the gov't destroys lives because of pot. i've known plenty of good hard working people that put in a lot of time at their jobs, take care of their kids, house and bills. if they want to smoke a joint at the end of the day instead of drinking a couple beers, why shouldn't we/they have the freedom to do that? also, no serious damage has ever been done to anybodys body or mind because of marijuana, simply put you believe what your gov't tells you. they appreciate you being a sheep and not thinking for yourself and doing your own research. btw, if you ever really DO want to become enlightened and do your own research, don't even think about reading gov't research, it's obviously biased. they have spent millions and millions of our money (my money as a taxpayer) and done hundreds and hundreds of studies only to use a couple of them as "evidence" because all the rest of the studies show the same thing, that although it's not completely harmless, it's not nearly as harmful as tylenol.
the_kidisblack
[QUOTE="the_kidisblack"]the taxes would go straight back into the health care system for all the people with schizophrenia.[QUOTE="Big_player"]- It would regulate a drug that is quite easy for minors to get at this point - It would bring in 10's of billions in taxes - it would free up a clogged up prison system of non violent offenders - It would stop funding to the dangerous cartels that have almost complete control over Mexico and slaughter thousands a year - It allows access to vital medicine to the chronically ill - It allows growing of hemp, the most industrially useful plant in the world - de facto legalization of marijuana in Holland has shown to decrease people access to harder drugs.Big_player
-marijuana isn't medicine, it just allows people to get high and ignore their issues.
-hemp is no where near the most industrial plant in the world, are you joking? decrease access to harder drugs? more like increase the want for simple drugs, then people move onto the harder stuff once pot doesnt do it for them
-stop funding to cartels in mexico, it would only increase it, as there would be no limit on it's import and use. sure there could be government 'sold' pot, but that's not gonna happen.
-so what, it's easy for minors to get at this moment, so you're saying because kids can already get it, we may as well give it to them.
-do you have any idea what pot does on the growing body and mind? pot is a devastating drug which ruins many lives. as well as classing yourself as a pothead when you use it, it causes serious damage to your mind and body.
-Marijuana does not cause schizophrenic at a rate faster then any other psychoactive drug, including caffeine - Here is a list of thousands of scientific studies proving you wrong - There's no one link to prove you wrong on hemp, I suggest you do some research and you'll find the reason it was one of the first crops ever cultivated by man kind -The only reason most people know where to get harder drugs is through a marijuana dealer, if you look at Holland you'll see that hard drug abuse has decreased significantly since de facto legalization of marijuana -Marijuana makes up an estimated 60% of cartels funding, flood the market with high quality legal marijuana and cartels lose their funding to push harder drugs -Putting an age limit on marijuana would help keep it away from children and teenagers, as most high school students say it is easier to get marijuana to alcohol -destroys mind and body huh, tell that to Obama, Michael Phelps and the countless other successful people who use marijuana I know this may be a bit off-topic, but I'm some what curious as to what an avid pot smoker would think about this.... If marijuana were to be legal, how would you react to the sociological reforms that would run rampant amongst teens, adults, kids, etc.? Meaning if a vast majority of the populace were to smoke weed, how would your perception of weed and other drugs be affected? It sounds like a weird question, but I think with the legalization and marketing of marijuana, weed will stop being weed.What? You've seen no arguments besides "they're better than cigarettes"? Where have you been?
And if you want us to say why we think it should be legal, you can't just have us assume that it's bad for you... that's like saying, "Tell me which car company you think is better: A, B, or C. But you can't choose C because C sucks."
I'm not talking about isolation and such, I mean how will current marijuana consumers and "hippies" (for lack of a better term, I mean the pro-marijuana people that are for "weed" pride) react to a slew of posers and essentially the bastardization of the "hippie" subculture into a bunch of frilly rich kids that think they're weed-core because they smoke a joint at school? As I said, it's off-topic, but I'm still curious as to how weed's current fan-base would react to weed being converted to a fad.^ i foresee fewer societal issues if marijuana was legalized.
z4twenny
[QUOTE="z4twenny"]I'm not talking about isolation and such, I mean how will current marijuana consumers and "hippies" (for lack of a better term, I mean the pro-marijuana people that are for "weed" pride) react to a slew of posers and essentially the bastardization of the "hippie" subculture into a bunch of frilly rich kids that think they're weed-core because they smoke a joint at school? As I said, it's off-topic, but I'm still curious as to how weed's current fan-base would react to weed being converted to a fad.I agree that it would probably become a fad, but I think it would die quickly. As for me caring if posers did it, I don't think I would really care, I think I'd just be happy it was legal. :P^ i foresee fewer societal issues if marijuana was legalized.
Setsa
[QUOTE="z4twenny"]I'm not talking about isolation and such, I mean how will current marijuana consumers and "hippies" (for lack of a better term, I mean the pro-marijuana people that are for "weed" pride) react to a slew of posers and essentially the bastardization of the "hippie" subculture into a bunch of frilly rich kids that think they're weed-core because they smoke a joint at school? As I said, it's off-topic, but I'm still curious as to how weed's current fan-base would react to weed being converted to a fad.^ i foresee fewer societal issues if marijuana was legalized.
Setsa
well people are people. i think most potheads wouldn't have a problem with it. i know that although i don't smoke anymore (i'm just biding my time until the time is right) i didn't care who i smoked with, it's kinda like asking what someone who drinks would think of someone else who drinks. i don't foresee anyone really caring, it just wouldn't be a legal issue. right now as it is alot of people smoke pot, chances are there wouldn't be a dramatic increase, at least not in america.
I'm not talking about isolation and such, I mean how will current marijuana consumers and "hippies" (for lack of a better term, I mean the pro-marijuana people that are for "weed" pride) react to a slew of posers and essentially the bastardization of the "hippie" subculture into a bunch of frilly rich kids that think they're weed-core because they smoke a joint at school? As I said, it's off-topic, but I'm still curious as to how weed's current fan-base would react to weed being converted to a fad.[QUOTE="Setsa"][QUOTE="z4twenny"]
^ i foresee fewer societal issues if marijuana was legalized.
z4twenny
well people are people. i think most potheads wouldn't have a problem with it. i know that although i don't smoke anymore (i'm just biding my time until the time is right) i didn't care who i smoked with, it's kinda like asking what someone who drinks would think of someone else who drinks. i don't foresee anyone really caring, it just wouldn't be a legal issue. right now as it is alot of people smoke pot, chances are there wouldn't be a dramatic increase, at least not in america.
At the moment though, there is a sort of invisible connection amongst people that smoke weed though, and such a thing would cease to exist if weed were to become "popular". I know most people (like needled 24-7 :o) would just be happy that it's legal, but imo it would sort of demerit it. It'd be like playing on a professional sports team after working your rear gear off to get there, then finding out the coach just drafted a bunch of newbies to the team. I guess I just fear how rebellious future generations might be :P^ i disagree, firstly it's not a sport and as such generally through smokers there is no elitism (at least other than "my buds are better lets smoke them") as for rebellion, i think we've gone way past rebellion to the point of "it should be a basic human right" just like the choice to smoke a cigarette or drink alcohol. if you can do it responsibly then go for it.
'tis the irresponsible that ruin it for all then, no? And the sports deally was just an analogy, but I could see a form of elitism similar to the goth/emo social hierarchy forming for weed consumers.^ i disagree, firstly it's not a sport and as such generally through smokers there is no elitism (at least other than "my buds are better lets smoke them") as for rebellion, i think we've gone way past rebellion to the point of "it should be a basic human right" just like the choice to smoke a cigarette or drink alcohol. if you can do it responsibly then go for it.
z4twenny
You say there seems to be no argument besides "better than cigarettes"? Based on what, exactly? That's only one of the many arguments; it's pointing out a case of hypocrisy toprohibit some recreational drugs and not others, especially when some of the legal ones are arguably more dangerous than some of the illegal ones. But it's hardly the only argument.
In terms of marijuana itself, I can't help but think that many of the things people attribute to it have more to do with society's reaction to it. Consider for example the gateway argument; saying that because people used marijuana before using harder drugs, the marijuana caused them to use harder drugs. If anything, society's exaggeration of how dangerous marijuana is would cause them to take what society says less seriously once they find out it isn't as bad as society made it out to be, therefore less inclined to believe it about harder drugs. Both our laws and our social taboos need to be saved for when we really need them.
But the relevant point isn't about the drug itself, but about prohibition; there's a difference between how good or bad an activity itself is (like drug use) and how good or bad legalization of that activity is; just because something is bad, doesn't mean it's bad enough that the government has to come in to prohibit it, especially when doing so hasn't seemed to be that effective at stopping it anyway. Right now we're focusing our legal resources on trying to stop people from putting a recreational drug that isarguably less harmful than permitted ones into their own bodies. If we were to legalize it, at least it could be regulated and taxed.
Instead, we have an unpermissive, impractical approach that prohibits a plant that happens to also be grown for other purposes; cannabis hemp is good for paper, rope, and supposedly even for the production of ethanol. And yet, we prohibit its cultivation for the sake of stopping the use of it as a drug. And who knows, that might noteven be the intention;perhaps it might really be about industriesthat rely on paper and on fossil fuel trying to hold back a potential competitor. Governments are known for being controlled at least partly by special interests; who's to say that isn't at least part of what's going on here? I remember coming across a video that blames the oil industry for cannabis prohibition; to be fair, it does look selectively in favour of cannabis, but I think it makes good points:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB9rNhwofvI
:oImagine that another marijuana thread where a bunch of kids come in and display their lack of understanding concerning the subject. Gotta love the internets.. :lol:
o.o And who are you calling "kids" who "display their lack of understanding" about this?:oImagine that another marijuana thread where a bunch of kids come in and display their lack of understanding concerning the subject. Gotta love the internets.. :lol:
warbmxjohn
[QUOTE="warbmxjohn"]o.o And who are you calling "kids" who "display their lack of understanding" about this?The ones who are regurgitating dare/partnership for a drug free America propaganda. Whoever posts about how they would never do it but then pretend to completely understand every pro and con of the substance and the subculture that surrounds it. Anyone who exaggerates the negative effects of the drug and claim anyone supporting its legalization is stupid scum. Anyone who says its kid stuff and for losers.:oImagine that another marijuana thread where a bunch of kids come in and display their lack of understanding concerning the subject. Gotta love the internets.. :lol:
matthayter700
EDIT: I forgot my personal fravorite; "Marijuana is more harmful than Alcohol" The almighty statement of showcasing a lack of understanding pertaining to the subject at hand.
Here are my reasons.
-Legalizing it would generate tons of revenue by taxing it.
-Legalizing it would take away the revenue it generates for street gangs, crime syndicates, and drug cartels around the country.
-It's relatively harmless
-It would created another industry, and therefore more jobs in an economy where we sorely need them.
-Currently the "war on drugs" in America spends more than half their budget combating marijuana. If legalized this can be allocated to far more dangerous drugs like heroin, acid, extasy, etc.
-The vast majority of offense that peoplke are in jail for a drug related offenses. The majority of them are due to marijuana. Legalizing it will lower the strain on our prisons and therefore be less expensive to run.
It should be legalized because I'm sooo tired of looking for it. It would be sooo much easier to just walk to the store and buy a pack "o" blunts!
No Law, No cops have ever stopped me from smoking it over the last 14 years. No Law, No cop will stop me from smoking it over the next 14 years.
Look at all them tax dollas they be losing!
[QUOTE="thardus317"]Lol close minded FTL :PI say keep it illegal but frankly it's kid's stuff. If you're still smoking it after the age of say 20 then you're either a loser or an addicted loser.
ManifestoJoe
Problem of kids using it wrong (Lack of education), anyway cigarettes should be banned. I swear they should make a medical high school (NA starting to need lots of doctors and nurses), and actual one instead of having it in High School taking about non-medical stuff..
If you legalize it you can tax the hell outta it thus helping the economy and stop wasting millions on jailing/finding non-violent offenders. Then again humans by nature are irresponsible and will abuse the drug, hurting their lives,hurting the people around them, and end up becoming druggies. If ruining a lot of people's lives isn't a big cost to get the economy going....Congress......Go for it!:D
If you legalize it you can tax the hell outta it thus helping the economy and stop wasting millions on jailing/finding non-violent offenders. Then again humans by nature are irresponsible and will abuse the drug, hurting their lives,hurting the people around them, and end up becoming druggies. If ruining a lot of people's lives isn't a big cost to get the economy going....Congress......Go for it!:D
DanteSuikoden
And you can simply add that to the fact that alcohol is legal. And us stupid irrisponsible people abuse that. When was the last time you heard about a "stoned driver" killing someone. Drunk driving kills every day. I've driven both ways, Drunk "where am I." Stoned, "Cool this is like Mariocart, how could I crash"
Anyways. I showed up to work everyday after a night a smoking. When I started drinking, it became a problem. So what's worse?
'Cause it would be massively hilarious and entertaining for at least a decade.JandurinI am so glad that this is the first reply in the thread. :lol:
It would free up jail space, cut down on drug dealers, and save billions in tax dollars.
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