Opinions - Why Should Marijuana Be Legal??

[xctico]

I think all drugs should be legalized. Not only weed.


Why?


Fiscally


It would increase income through new taxes. It would reduce spendings associated to the drug war[from jail space, to police time]


Law enforcement


Addicts would no longer be forced to pay for overpriced black market drugs. So they won't steal to get drugs. That would reduced crimes indirectly associated to drugs. Also, police time could be used more efficiently by dedicating time and money to fighting real criminals [the kind that harms others]. The same principle applies to judges.


By legalizing the use of drugs, you can also control the areas where drugs are used. In other words, you can have crack heads concentrated in a particular area of town. They usually won't go more than a few blocks away from where they get their fix. Making it possible to separate drug user populations, so thatpotheads won't evolve into crackheads.


History has proven that by legalizing a substance you can regulated more efficiently. The best example of this is alcohol. Is a lot easier to get crack than alcohol for a school kid.


Healthcare


The benefits of currently proscibed drugs could be more widely studied. MDMAis promising in such fields as psicology, marijuana can be usefull in such fields as terminal cancer threatments, and geriatrics. LSD and other triptamines could be used in the treatment of chronic depression.


The avaibility of pure drugs, with the active ingredient concentrations clearly stated, will make OD's a lot less frecuent. Making it a lot easier for doctors. Not to mention that without the fear of incrimination patients would be more open to disscuss with physicians their drug addictions and the interaction of such drugs with other prescription drugs.


Freedom


Every person should be FREE to decide what to do with his/her body, as long as it doesn't affect the freedom of others. This is the main reason why all drugs should be legal.

[billyloner]

agree with every point xctico made. also, legalising all drugs would cut down on the amount of drug related crime such as gun fights and general drug gang warfare. what is the point of fighting a war on drugsto reduce gang-related crime, when it is your war on drugsthat causes the problem in the first place? if the street price of $10,000 of pure cocaine is $100,000 (just a rough estimate) you will get many people wishing to fight over such a profit margin. if the profit margin was only a few hundred dollars per kilo who would want to risk their life for it?


what i dont understand is how america managed to learn a hard lesson with alcohol prohibition and the related crime that accompanied it, and yet they make exactly the same mistake with other drugs. and so does the rest of the world.


also, there is the link to terrorist organisations such as farc or similar groups. they get a lot of profit from the drug industry. if drugs were legalised, it would deal quite a blow to them.

[xctico]

Originally Posted by billyloner

agree with every point xctico made. also,
legalising all drugs would cut down on the amount of drug related crime
such as gun fights and general drug gang warfare. what is the point of
fighting a war on drugsto reduce gang-related crime, when it is
your war on drugsthat causes the problem in the first place? if
the street price of $10,000 of pure cocaine is $100,000 (just a rough
estimate) you will get many people wishing to fight over such a profit
margin. if the profit margin was only a few hundred dollars per kilo
who would want to risk their life for it?


what i dont understand is how america managed to learn a hard lesson
with alcohol prohibition and the related crime that accompanied it, and
yet they make exactly the same mistake with other drugs. and so does
the rest of the world.


also, there is the link to terrorist organisations such as farc or
similar groups. they get a lot of profit from the drug industry. if
drugs were legalised, it would deal quite a blow to them.

In
order to get gov's to understand such an aproach, you gotta make em
understand that legalizing all drugs is the most effective way to
reduce drug use... but that might be WAY too complicated for the mind
of your average politician...

[megassj]

Originally Posted by shneddi

i like weed, but tbh it shouldnt.


why : makes you pure lazy. everyone would be zombies.


the nation would turn more like amsterdam , no offence ( if u live there )but that would suck.


no offence , but smoke to much and u sink like weed all the time , go white in the faceand not care about personal appearance


youll definaly lose ambition


I cant be bothered with every loser who wont smoke it just cos its illegeal smoking it. They will if its legal , and that would b shit.


cancer etc..


it can also cause pscosis ( cant spell ). cant be good to have a load of crazy people running around.


I used to think that it should be legal , but I thought about it a bit more and hey.... its just my opinion.

I know your like thats your opinion but I really have to ask you what is it based on? I mean zombies because of weed? No way man weed is way to inspirational and even though u dont always think straight u think a whole lot.


Second a nation is not going to turn in to amsterdam because weed is going to be legalised. I dont know exactly what your aiming at but every mayor city has parts that are just shitty that's the way it is the only difference is there are coffeeshops here.


Not caring about their appearance just another thing seriously? Myself I make sure I look good enuf every day and as for other people just look around a bit man weed smokers have their own way of looking. Look at rastafarians look at people like snoopdogg look at queens of the stoneage fans and things like that.


Losing ambition can be true but even this varies for each person. Drugs react on how ur feeling they never create anything new.


The fact that something is illegal may stop some people but it also offers a trill so that would make no difference.


Cancer is only when you smoke it. Get a vaporizer and you already solve that problem. And maybe if people werent so hard on weed we wud have known by now if it is really a cure for it or not.


Im not exactly sure what u mean wiv ur last comment. Seriously dude I can respect anyones opinion but what is it based on. I mean you even used weed urself so you'd think you know what your talking about.

[billyloner]

Originally Posted by xctico

In order to get gov's to understand such an aproach, you gotta make em understand that legalizing all drugs is the most effective way to reduce drug use... but that might be WAY too complicated for the mind of your average politician...

its gonna be a long way off, thats for sure. it would take a brave politician to stand up in front of a nation of people brainwashed by the antidrugs propaganda and say "we are going to legalise these". the only way i can see it will work is for it to be a more gradual process - as more people become tolerant of drugs, it will become easier for more 'radical' ideas such as the complete legalisation of all illegal drugs to take hold.

[msumegi]

I should be legal to take the profits out of the blackmarket and private prisons.

[biga]

I dobt legal weed would be any cheaper that black market weed, because the government would tax it heavily.

[msumegi]

I'm not talking about making mary jane a cash cow for the already bloated governments of the developed world. I was thinking more along the lines of making it legal to buy/grow a few plants for personal/shared use. In my little world theremay still be laws against selling, but not sharing. This would take all the weed money out of the black market and still alow for cheep/free weed.

[billyloner]

i doubt the government would tax it all that heavily, because if they taxed it too heavily they would simply create a black market. and defeat half the point (in their eyes) oflegalising it in the first place...

[jaked588]

i think it should be legal because:


1. alchohol is legal and can mess you up as much as weed can any day.
2. cigarrettes are legal meaning there are already people smoking no matter what.
3. weed usually inspires creativity.
4. i donno but i dont think u can die from weed OD? correct me if im wrong.
5. i saw something on the news a couple days ago saying that weed can prevent alzheimers


I THINK IF MARIJUANA WAS LEGAL, THE LAW SHOULD BE YOU CANT SMOKE IN PUBLIC OR DRIVE HIGH, meaning that most people would be smoking at home where theycant cause much trouble.

[EternalReaper]

It should be legal cause it's kinda harmless. Cofee has killed
more people that marijuana. Cigaretter kill more people every minute
than marijuana has ever killed. You cannot OD on pot. It doesnt make
yoy crazy like Alcohol. It's not as deadly as cigarettes, nor as
addictive. It has many madicinal purposes. No one has ever died
strictly from pot, maybe of cancer, but the sun gives you cancer . Alcohol is still more illegal and funks you up way more than pot ever will. Plus it's great fun and a good relaxant.<!--
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[BEEKSc1]

thekey tolegalizing theherb isto convince the government (swinging major to the conservative side) that they will somehow benefit from legalizing cannabis. a majority ofconversatives are not regular users of cannabis and they see no benefit for legalizing cannabis. conservatives like money. you have to provide hypotheticalstatistics regarding the economical benefit of legalizing cannabis. it would pump more money into the economy and maybe our dollar would increase in value a little, considering the worth of theit today. but the means by whichconvincing the government that is will be economical benefit is another story.ie -&gt;webster defines conservative as: Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change;

[Stingray_313]

Another reason that i thought of recently: Cut down on
drug-dealing/gang violence. A common problem in America (as im sure it
is in other countries) is gangs and such getting too much power through
drug dealing and they sometimes become terrorists with their funds. If
marijuana was legalised (along with other drugs, not JUST marijuana),
it would cut their power/funds significantly, providing a safer, less
violent towns and cities across the world.



To go with this, the public would not have to go through these
dangerous sources to get their fix (as some of you have pointed out).
If the middle man is marked out, the prices would be lower (better for
us) and the dealers would lose power. Not to say drug dealers are bad
people, but in some situations, it can fund terrorists and gang
violence. If the focus on gangs and terrorists were reduced (they would
slowly reduce and break apart due to lack of funding), plus the
reduction of watching drug trafficing, their would be MUCH more money
for the government and local police to make a real difference by
stopping SERIOUS criminals (i.e., murderers, car theifs, etc.). The
whole system would be vastly improved upon the simple legalization of a
nearly harmless substance. The fact it is illegal is still a stupid,
ignorant fact that i suppose we will have to deal with until someone
finally sees that it really WOULD make a difference...



Lastly, I would like to thank those of you who have posted on this
thread. I would like to believe that our thoughts are being read and
taken into consideration by some government official as you read this.
Thank you all again, and the thread will remain open for any of you to
post more thoughts upon this topic. Peace.



(Random: my 100th post, yey )

[D.U.M.B]

Main reason for me as to why MJ should be made legal.

1. I love it and I think it's better then alochoal
2. I am sick and tired of bad deals, SWIM got ripped off twice today when buying two ounces of hash. Both deals were bad. At least if it was legal I might get value for money

[billyloner]

stingray - i agree with your points on gang related violence and terrorism. it is the point i was trying to make above. there is such a stupid amount of money available to drug dealers, how can you expect there not to be violence? i mean, you see the lengths nations goto for money (ie wars).


i know this link isnt related to marijuana, but it raises many interesting points about the 'war on drugs', in particular plan columbia, and it seems kinda relevant to the discussion...

[The_Great_Sage]

im begining to think that full legalization wouldnt be that good but i
do believe that the goverment should use it and be leniant (sp) and i
think that if we all opened our minds a little more (maybe not the drug
users but some) with or without drugs, than we as humans would be able
to function much easier as a race and we would coexsist in harmony. the
limitations made by modern civilization as made it so from the time we
are born we are built to think, act, speak, and feel how they want
us which is in a box that if we stray away from then we are
shunned and so with the help of drugs we can drop the limits of
this modern closed society and even this world. we could fly like birds
and create wonderful art and be peaceful. another thing that i relized
is that times dont change, focus does. like back in the times of
hippies they were shunned and looked down upon (good example is
the scene in the southern dinner from Easy Rider) and now we are still
looked down upon by the "normal" crowd or when we talk about freedom of
mind or anything then we are shut away and brushed off. the
legalisation would bring the average person to more of a intalectual
(sp)

so i think i could say that im split on my decision

[Alfa]

A recent study has showed that smoking marijuana can slow down the memory loss with parkinson.

[BEEKSc1]

wow, that might be because many of the receptor cites for the thc are located in the hippocampus


hippocampus: a structure in the limbric system that plays a central role in the storing of new memories, the respnse to new or unexpected stimuli, and navigational ability


this explains the negative effect on the submission of info toshort-term memory, but someday in the future,this mighthelp toexplain why smoking cannabis can slow down memory-loss associated with parkinson's disease.

[TypicalDream]

I've come to the conclusion that weed is just about as effective as alcohol, minus the angry drunk syndrome. If you're responsible about it, you can have fun with good friends, good places, make some good times. Plus the probability of people becoming useless members of society, well ,i don't think that would happen. If it was legalized, I think certain states/companies would step in with their own regulations for employees and citizens. Otherwise I don't see a problem with it. Quite a few of the people I know smoke regularly, haven't aquired a nasty gut, and hold jobs that take up about 50 hours a week of their time. I think it depends on the person. I could be wrong, but it's all about your limits. I don't think I'd care either way if it was legalized. you can look at it one of two ways. You can state that it would make everyone a bunch of slackers, like the movies tend to portray. Or, for those it does have that effect on, you all of a sudden look that much better if you're an "upstanding" citizen. Plus the simple act of legalizing weed, well, it certainly leaves a LOT more open time to work on problem areas in the country. And the revenue the government would make on regulating it, like they do tobacco, could just as well help work on our countries money problems, but then thats a ramble I'm not gonna get into.

[deathmarch]

There is only ONE reason it should be legal:



It's called FREEDOM



Pot, like all drugs, is an inanimate object with no will or power of
its own. You should be able to smoke as much as you want of
whatever you want, and until you hurt someone else that isn't anyone
else's business.



We can't have the government banning inanimate objects to prevent people from what they might do with them.



When you commit a crime, ie murder, whether you're stoned or drunk or sober shouldn't matter, only the crime itself.

[BEEKSc1]

exactly... amerika's law are to oppress are certain type ofppl. (gay rights, women sufferage, slavery, etc.) in addition to amillion other reasons that don't make sence, cannabis was made illegal becuase it was the traditional (along with tequila) psychoactive that the mexicans used.


laws are suppose to prohibate one person frominfringing on another persons rights... anddoes one personsmoking cannabis infringe onanother person'srights?

[highasakite]

it is an ABSOLUTE hypocrisy that alcohol is legal but weed isnt. alcohol killed 19,000 people in england last yearaccording to one english paper and weed killed about, errr, maybe NONE!!! it makes me sick just thinking about it.

in the middle east, marijuana grows like a "weed" and they could make
so much money if they let the people of afganastan sell their product,
as opposed to spending money to destroy it.

so they could help allot of the world if they legalized it.

and you cant od, government could tax it, people make more money.

[purplehaze]

I think that marijauna should be legal because it makes everybody happy that ive seen it doesnt make people wanna go kill people it makes everybody get along except one guy i know who is a complete idiot when he smokes but that comes with alcohol to i think the government hasnt made it legal because driving you cant have a roadside test if your high the cops cant tell for sure if your high inless your and idiot and start laughing at him which will definitally get you put in jail and alcohol needs to be banned for some people, some people i know get drunk and wanna fight all the time and end up hurting each other and ontop of that they wake up with a hangover ive never woke up with a hangover from marijuana i think they should legalize it and put a limit on how much you can buy so people wont be busting the block up and ruin it for everyone selling to children and get it illegalized again and i think you should be 21 to buy it and you can only buy a ounce a day thats only fair if you smoke and drive it should be like aalcohol test because i can drive fine even if im tore slap up but ive seen some people who cant and im willing to not drive if im under the influence just because the simple fact that some people cant stay in there own lane plus id rather be at home ordering some pizza anyways.

*I guess I decided that should all be one "HUGE" sentence. I tend to do that from time to time I guess. LOL

[PenguinPhreak]

In my opinion the pros and cons of
marijuana use are a totally different issue than why it should be
legal. Even if it was the nasty, vile substance most governments
would have us believe it is, that is no reason to make it illegal.
The very concept of regulating behavior because it might be unhealthy
is totally absurd. People die all the time of obesity related health
problems due too an excessively</span> fatty diet,
but you don't see people being arrested for buying a cheeseburger.
Its really no ones business</span> if you choose
to use drugs or not as long as your use doesn't hurt anyone else.
Drugs are obviously not a large societal problem, but prohibition
definitely</span> is. We are squandering billions
every year to fill up our prisons</span> past
their capacity with people who have never even hurt anyone. Not only
this, but prohibition creates profitable black market opportunities
and gets organized crime involved in drug trade. It also makes
quality control impossible. If drugs could be sold openly by
legitimate businesses you would never have to worry about getting
something other than what you thought you were getting.