Marijuana legalization

[Supreme Unleaded]

Why do people even want to legalize it. i never really got it, its like legalizing crack, "I want it legalized so that i can feel good without getting in trouble". Of course i know nothing about it but this is what it seems like.

 

[v3n0mat3]

I'm all for leagalizing Marijuana. I may not smoke it, but I'm for legalizing it. It's a good commodity, produces hemp, and it's less harmful for you than smoking tobacco. So why not?

 

[Inverse Skies]

Sigh. This is exactly the sort of thread I tend to get into arguments in, because for some reason a reasonable amount of the Escapist seems to love this plant so I know I shouldn't post... but ok.

I've never understood people's fascination with this drug. It's a hallucinogenic plant, that's it. It relaxes you, that's it. It causes damage to the hippocampus, therefore interfering with long term memory processing thats... oh wait. I honestly don't understand why people need a relaxation in the form of an illegal drug. It seems very odd to me. Personally I believe it should stay illegal and be done with it.

Of course this is going to invite people going on about the war on drugs and how so much money is spent and so on. I think that argument as also fairly shallow, because if there wasn't a demand for it supply would cease. The problem is with the people who need some sort of kick in order to survive their lives, always has been. I'll never understand it myself, they cause a lot of damage to your body and are illegal, why bother with them?

So in short, I'm happy the marijuana is illegal and I hope it stays that way.

 

[axia777]

Here is how serious the discussion if getting to legalize jah herbage in Cali.

BREAKING NEWS: California Lawmakers To Debate Marijuana Legalization Tomorrow!

http://blog.norml.org/2009/10/27/breaking-news-california-lawmakers-to-debate-marijuana-legalization-tomorrow/

Schwarzenegger: Time To Debate Legalizing Pot

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/05/06/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4996114.shtml

State debates legalizing marijuana

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/28/BAV01ABS1O.DTL

Trust me, pot is going 100% legal for people over the age of 21 in the State of California in 2010. Screw the Feds. They can't stop us!

 

[Captain Pancake]

Wait, so you can plant it but can't buy or se- what the hell?
Wouldn't this just mean it won't be allowed anywhere? Unless you steal it or harvest it from fields?

EDIT: I am not a smoker, nor am I interested in starting it, I'm just a little bit confused on PurpleRain's course of action, unless his intention is to completely disallow it, then I understand.

He doesn't say it would be illegal, he says you would have to grow your own.

Essentially, it would mean that you know exactly what you're taking, and not having it handed to you from the back pocket of some sleazy guy in an alley.

 

[Video Gone]

PurpleRain: I'd like to introduce you to a concept called Prohibition that we tried here in the United States back in the 20's.

It was a miserable failure, created more crime than our country had seen it's inception and made criminals out of ordinary folk who just wanted a beer.

This is what the criminalization of Marijuana is doing.

And really, marijuana is a bloody plant, you don't "cut" it with things like you can with heroin unless you're getting yours from somebody who thinks it's funny to throw Oregano in with your stash.

Besides, for all that marijuana can do to you (very little), we have these wonderful things called alcohol and tobacco here that are far worse for you and as legal as waving the American flag.

Plus, can anyone name a mind-altering stimulant that's not only legal but so socially acceptable in the USA that you can buy it in almost every business you walk into? If you guess Caffeine, you're right! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine

I'm all for this argument, except it appears that it loses a million zillion points by playing the "TOBACCO AND ALCOHOL BLERKINFIDDLEDEEWHIP" card.


And no, I don't smoke marijuana.

 

[mechanixis]

All these dang people demanding their marijuana because they didn't have the good sense to be born mellow.

Myself, I can't decide whether I want it legalized or not. The issue has become far too polarized. I wish I just lived in a world where both options where just off the table and people worried about more constructive things with their time and energy than how to acquire a leaf that makes you sleepy and bored.

 

[Dorian6]

The anti-marijuana arguments are total crap. It's only illegal because William Randolph Hearst started a smear campaign in the 30's. In the early 1930s, Hearst's paper empire (he owned hundreds of acres of timber forests and a vast number of paper mills designed to manufacture paper from wood pulp) was threatened by hemp, as an inexpensive raw material to produce paper which had an advantage over wood pulp, because it could be regrown yearly. Between 1936 and 1937, Hearst associated marijuana with hemp in his newspapers and published many of the stories that Anslinger, the Assistant Prohibition Commissioner in the Bureau of Prohibition, fabricated.

American prisons are quickly filling up with kids who are caught with a gram of pot and are sentenced to years of incarceration. This is becoming increasingly absurd after numerous studies prove incontrovertibly that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco.

There is no legitimate reason for this irrational hatred and fear of pot.

I say, Burn 'em if you got 'em

 

[twistedmic]

Also, marijuana can be cut or laced with other things.

Just out of curiosity, what would be cut or laced with Marijuana? I've heard of soaking the buds in formaldehyde which is just stupid, but it's a bloody plant, it's not an innocuous white powder like heroin that you can mix with baking soda without anybody noticing.

I've never dealt with drugs myself but I'm assuming you could mix in anything that resembles marijuana tobacco or other types of plant leaves for example. And PCP can be added to marijuana in addition to the already mentioned formaldehyde, you never know what dealers would put into their product.

 

[Ammadessi]

PurpleRain: I'd like to introduce you to a concept called Prohibition that we tried here in the United States back in the 20's.

It was a miserable failure, created more crime than our country had seen it's inception and made criminals out of ordinary folk who just wanted a beer.

This is what the criminalization of Marijuana is doing.

And really, marijuana is a bloody plant, you don't "cut" it with things like you can with heroin unless you're getting yours from somebody who thinks it's funny to throw Oregano in with your stash.

Besides, for all that marijuana can do to you (very little), we have these wonderful things called alcohol and tobacco here that are far worse for you and as legal as waving the American flag.

Plus, can anyone name a mind-altering stimulant that's not only legal but so socially acceptable in the USA that you can buy it in almost every business you walk into? If you guess Caffeine, you're right! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine

I'm all for this argument, except it appears that it loses a million zillion points by playing the "TOBACCO AND ALCOHOL BLERKINFIDDLEDEEWHIP" card.


And no, I don't smoke marijuana.

I'm insulted by the idea that I've ever said BLERKINFIDDLEDEEWHIP in my life, you BLERKINFIDDLEDEEWHIP you. I only bring up alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco because really, if marijuana is illegal because it's "bad for you" then logically those should be illegal too.

And for the record, I don't smoke either, I actually have problems with my lungs which would make smoking a really dumb idea for me.

Edit:

The anti-marijuana arguments are total crap. It's only illegal because William Randolph Hearst started a smear campaign in the 30's. In the early 1930s, Hearst's paper empire (he owned hundreds of acres of timber forests and a vast number of paper mills designed to manufacture paper from wood pulp) was threatened by hemp, as an inexpensive raw material to produce paper which had an advantage over wood pulp, because it could be regrown yearly. Between 1936 and 1937, Hearst associated marijuana with hemp in his newspapers and published many of the stories that Anslinger, the Assistant Prohibition Commissioner in the Bureau of Prohibition, fabricated.

American prisons are quickly filling up with kids who are caught with a gram of pot and are sentenced to years of incarceration. This is becoming increasingly absurd after numerous studies prove incontrovertibly that marijuana is lss harmful than alcohol and tobacco.

There is no legitimate reason for this irrational hatred and fear of pot.

I say, Burn 'em if you got 'em

/thread. Seriously, this is all that needs to be said about marijuana.

 

[Dorian6]

Also, marijuana can be cut or laced with other things.

Just out of curiosity, what would be cut or laced with Marijuana? I've heard of soaking the buds in formaldehyde which is just stupid, but it's a bloody plant, it's not an innocuous white powder like heroin that you can mix with baking soda without anybody noticing.

I've never dealt with drugs myself but I'm assuming you could mix in anything that resembles marijuana tobacco or other types of plant leaves for example. And PCP can be added to marijuana in addition to the already mentioned formaldehyde, you never know what dealers would put into their product.

But if marijuana is legalized, then there is no need for shady dealers. You'd be able to acquire it at a pharmacy, and i don't think your local pharmacist is going to be mixing PCP or formaldehyde into your perscription

 

[Adam]

Why doesn't the government take control of how marijuana is grown and distributed? That way you take out the element of risk with using the drug, because if it is grown by the government then they can get rid of all the shit that it is cut and grown with, thereby making it completely safe to smoke. They can earn themselves money from it, taking the money away from street gangs and dealers, they could then put the money to good use.

It makes no sense making marijuana illegal because all that does is create more demand for the product, then dealers can start making money, gangs can get in in the action and they can cut the stuff with whatever crap they want, add in all kinds of other harmful stuff as well. Also we can get alot of sick people out of prison. People who smoke mara are not criminals, in the same way that smokers are not criminals and drinkers are not criminals. Just make it so you can only smoke it in your own home and some other places.

Why don't we make smoking and drinking illegal? They are a hundred times more lethal and harmful that marijuana . If you have drinkers who crash cars on the motorway
, beat their lovers to death, generally become unpleasant and obnoxious and smokers who slowly drive themselves towards lung cancer, then why can't we have people who sit at home mellowed out from smoking a little grass?

(Im sure someone else has already said all this in a much more eloquent and persuasive way then I have)

 

[CrysisMcGee]

Sure, but what if say, ol' farmer Benson started up the cannabis trade in his farm atop the village. Then one day there was an enormous fire which spread all the way through his fields, and possibly even to the villagers marijuana growths. I can guarantee you the whole damn town would be high as a kite for a week. I say any substance that can make the world go funny and slow, and if overdone CAN cause health problems should not be allowed, to cultivate, use, abuse, trade anything associated with it. Simple as that. And no I am not a blowhard, joyless old man.

Actually pot has to be dried for a few days in order to release the THC.

 

[yaik7a]

I don't think it should be the governments business to tell people what to do with their bodies. Its the height of hypocrisy to say smoking cigs and drinking alcohol are ok, but smoking marijuana isn't.

All you have to do is look at the "deaths caused by" and "dollars spent enforcing" to see how stupid the whole thing is.

Anti-drug? Great, eat a cookie, put out a public service announcement, and talk to groups at your church. Prohibition has a long history of abject failure. Why is marijuana cut with shit? Because its illegality makes it expensive, and a limited supply can be bolstered by cutting. Thats the government's fault, not marijuana's. Also, gangs are interested in it because smuggling is lucrative.

California does the grow it at home thing quite frequently, and its not really working out too great. The best option is to end the stupid prohibition, and regulate through the ATF&E. Then we get on to doing more important things.

Also, there is little credible evidence to support brain damage caused by marijuana.

This for being rightness

 

[axia777]

The anti-marijuana arguments are total crap. It's only illegal because William Randolph Hearst started a smear campaign in the 30's. In the early 1930s, Hearst's paper empire (he owned hundreds of acres of timber forests and a vast number of paper mills designed to manufacture paper from wood pulp) was threatened by hemp, as an inexpensive raw material to produce paper which had an advantage over wood pulp, because it could be regrown yearly. Between 1936 and 1937, Hearst associated marijuana with hemp in his newspapers and published many of the stories that Anslinger, the Assistant Prohibition Commissioner in the Bureau of Prohibition, fabricated.

American prisons are quickly filling up with kids who are caught with a gram of pot and are sentenced to years of incarceration. This is becoming increasingly absurd after numerous studies prove incontrovertibly that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco.

There is no legitimate reason for this irrational hatred and fear of pot.

I say, Burn 'em if you got 'em

Add to that Do Pont for the petrochemical industry. You can make plastic out of hemp oil and they knew this back in the 30's. You can also fuel a car off of the bio-diesel hemp oil. No good for the oil industry.

Also add to that list the cotton industry who wanted hemp out of the way so cotton would become king of clothes and fabrics.

There are more but I can't think of them right now.

I am also serious when I say that California is going to legalize pot. It will be legalized, regulated, and taxed for an estimated 1.4 billion dollars! So yah, there goes all of California's money issues for our state budget!

 

[Superbeast]

This came up on Question Time (British politics debate show) the other night, as some time ago our Home Secretary re-classified Cannabis as a Class B drug (up from Class C).

The government's medical advisor on this issue stated that he believed it should be legalised as it's less harmful than alcohol etc - in fact he supports the legalisation of LSD and Ecstasy on the same grounds IIRC - or at least makes the point alcohol is more damaging than they are.

However the Home Secretary's justification is kinda a good counter-argument (I don't know where I stand on this issue, I despise the drug and think the users should be doing something better with their time; but simultaneously have taken E in the past and likely soon Coke and drink a fair bit so I don't really have a leg to stand on) is that "just because some legal things are more dangerous is not a good reason to add another thing to the list. Cannabis may or may not be harmful, and in cases where the evidence is unclear, as it is in this drug, I would rather err on the side of caution" or words to that effect.

 

[Tdc2182]

If it were legalized, people wouldn't care (as much) about it.

That is very true. Thats one of the main appeals about it.

I personally think that if we legalize it, there will be different problems than if we kept it illegal.

 

[DrunkWithPower]

I would like to see it legal because it would boost the economy (Government sells it, drives Cadillacs with 40' spinners), and the drug dealers lose a great deal of customers (one drove Cadillacs with spinners, now drive Ford Pintos). Sure there is still debate about harm but... anything pot does, booze can do better (see alcoholism, kindney failure, auto deaths, and domestic violence).