Poll: marajauna legalization

[selfresolution]

I am a hard core conservative, and typically conservatives are very against the use of marijuana. I however do smoke recreational and I have no problem with it. It's not habit forming and causes very little problem as long as it doesn't effect your work or have a negative effect on your home life.

As for whether or not it should be legal is laughable. You can get the stuff EVERYWHERE... You can smoke it just about anywhere you want, as long as you hide it behind your back when a cop drives by. The only positive reason for having it legal is that they would not burn you alive for it showing up on a drug test.

If worrying about getting caught on a drug test isn't a problem for you, then it makes no difference if its legal or not.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Personally I don't think it should be leagalised for the arguments already stated above.

History shows, however, that in bad economic times drugs are more likely to become legalised, A study has shown that anti-drug laws tend to coencide with strong economic positions, and legalisation with low. The same thing happened during the great depression when the end of prohibition happened when the economy reached its low point. That is not to say that this will mean that Marijuana will or will not be legalise due to economic conditions, but that the state of the economy, or rather the effects it has on both peoples attitudes, as well as the economics of organised crime, can be a contributing factor towards the legalisation of drugs.

 

[selfresolution]

Such is the price we pay for our freedoms.

I would much rather have the risk of a junkie attacking me for money, then a government dictating what I can and can not do to myself.

Well the reason is that it clouds your judgment of things and effects how you would react to different situations. They have reasons why its illegal and they are founded reasons not just pulled out of the air. As for the government 'dictating' what you can and can not do, that will always be there even if we do go into this downward socialist spiral. People are in office because they are smart enough to be in a place of power and they know to a limit what will keep the population safe. If they let everyone 'dictate' themselves, I promise you, you will not like the end result. People are sadistic at heart and anarchy only sounds good on paper.

 

[Oolinthu]

why do people want it legalized? drugs are for the utmost stupid of people!

So what are you waiting for, then? Light up.

 

[Cliff_m85]

I think I'd need to know more about the argument for having it legalized. I know there are arguments for it, I just have no idea what they are.

My current standing is: Harmful drug = do not legalize.

Why is alcohol legal then?

......Remember the Prohibition? Me neither, but alchohol is too deeply ingrained into American culture, and really human culture, to be made illegal effectively, and to be honest, weed isn't that much harder to find nowadays then a liquor back then.

legalizing for medical use only.
free use - No.

It's my f*cking body, let me do what I want with it. (Coming from someone who has never smoked)

Yeah that's a terrible argument for the legalization of weed, as doing whatever with your body could lead to other consequences (i.e. junkies mug you, guy driving high smashes into your car) for other people- Not really so much for weed, but the same argument could be made for other drugs.

Wrong. Junkies mugging you = taking rights away from others. Driving high and hitting someone = taking rights away from people.

If you can use drugs and not effect anyone, you should be allowed to. Coke, pot, heroin, meth, liquor, or tabacco.

 

[Jenkins]

today, I am feeling deconstructive,


Use the search bar >.>


I know, I am turning into the thing I hate!

 

[Agayek]

Well the reason is that it clouds your judgment of things and effects how you would react to different situations. They have reasons why its illegal and they are founded reasons not just pulled out of the air.

Of course they do. In the case of drugs, it's usually to protect people from the various effects said drugs have on themselves, as well as from desperate addicts.

That doesn't mean I agree though. Like I said, I would much rather be at risk of being attacked by a junkie desperate for his next fix then have the government dictate what I can and cannot do to myself.

As for the government 'dictating' what you can and can not do, that will always be there even if we do go into this downward socialist spiral.

Socialist societies typically have more government rather than less.

I have no problem with the government limiting what I can do, when it directly effects other people. I do, however, have a problem with the government telling me I can't do something to myself. The role of government is to protect people from others. No more, and no less.

People are in office because they are smart enough to be in a place of power and they know to a limit what will keep the population safe.

No. They are in office because they are smart enough to placate the masses. They know what the, to put it bluntly, rather stupid collection of individuals known as 'society' wants, or thinks it wants.

What will keep the population safe is simple common sense. You don't have to be any more intelligent than the average field mouse to figure that out.

If they let everyone 'dictate' themselves, I promise you, you will not like the end result. People are sadistic at heart and anarchy only sounds good on paper.

Quite possibly. But then, I didn't say anything about anarchy. The government has no right to dictate what I do to myself. That is the entirety of my position. No one in there does it say anything about anarchy.

 

[CryptoKeyblade]

it should deffently be legal for recreational use. I've got friends who smoke it and they're perfectly fine,and if the government put a small tax on it, it would make sooooo much money for us and help the economy.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

I could go on and on about the amount of money goes into keeping drug dealers in jail and how much we could make if we taxed the crap out of it but the main argument i have for legalizing marijuana is that people smoke it anyways. It's not exactly hard to get and keeping it illegal probably encourages stupid kids who want to be cool to start smoking it. The only real argument for keeping it illegal is "it's bad for you." Yeah, so is alchohol and cigarettes and McDonalds, Tylenol and sunscreen. If someone wants to fuck themselves up for the sake of instant satisfaction, who are we to tell them they can't.

 

[benylor]

It should be completely illegal. I know it's dangerous, addictive, and there was that study where it caused brain damage to a bunch of monkeys. The junkies who infest my stairwell are all on pot, I can smell it! And they're bad people, so it should stay illegal. I know my government wouldn't lie to me about how bad cannabis is, I voted for them. Hell, my own daddy, even when drunk on his daily 6-pack of Stella, would beat into me how I must never, ever try Mariju...

(ahem)

I'm sorry, I can't do this whole trolling thing. It hurt my head even to just type that. Of course it should be fucking legalised, but it won't be because people are too stupid to think independently and too ingrained to accept facts at face value and not look into balancing arguments, biased sources, or anything like that... Politicians are scared of the public so they pander to what the people want, and they think the people want a hard line on drugs of all kinds. The politicials give this hard line, and back up the impression the public has that marijuana is the evil weed and so on. Vicious circle.

We need another wave of hippies, I feel. Or, at least, an honest debate, but I don't think that'll ever happen.

 

[Wasabi-Knight]

Well, it's legal here. The only good thing that comes from it, is that the people who use it, use the right stuff, probably controlled by the government.

But I think it stinks, bad for your health and all that. So, I don't really care. Alcohol is just as addictive and probably more harmful.

 

[Robert632]

i don't think, it would be a good idea because people become addicted to the point of depending on it when it's illegal. just imagine the amount of peope who would be addicted to it if was legal.

 

[Nuke_em_05]

Harmful or not, helpful or not, there are people who will use it regardless of if it is legal or not. Personal responsiblity (it's like my motto or something...); if you don't want to use it, don't. If you do want to use it, know the risks.

So... make it legal. Less cost of busting illegal operations. Less illegal operations that tend to help fund and propigate less savory stuff. Legal operations that can then be taxed for monies, create legal jobs, help the economy legitimately. Legal operations subject to regulation, making sure people aren't buying something else that they don't want or could mess them up worse. Tax the sales.

 

[Mewick_Alex]

I think I'd need to know more about the argument for having it legalized. I know there are arguments for it, I just have no idea what they are.

My current standing is: Harmful drug = do not legalize.

Why is alcohol legal then?

Fair enough, I have heard the potency of alcohol and marijuana compared before, but I consider it to be somewhat of a special case. Allow me to explain:

Alcohol has been a part of life in so many societies in so many countries for so many years that its banning would result in so many ill effects that I can't even begin to name them all. Off the top of my head, pubs and bars (not to mention their brewers and suppliers) would all be immediately out of business, which would have a huge effect on several countries economy's, not least because of the sheer number of unemployments this would produce.

On the flipside, were marijuana to be suddenly legalised, there are many ill effects there too. For starters, there's the social stigma to worry about. Because it's been illegal for so long, lots of folk simply won't agree with its legalization as they've been told for years how bad it is (even if it does have beneficial aspects). Secondly, and this is linked to the first point, I suspect many people will want to experiment with this newly legalized distraction and quite possibly not be aware of their own limits before doing so. This could lead to many people getting hooked from the start.

Sorry I didn't mean for this to turn into a rant, I may have got a bit carried away there...

 

[Iampringles]

Tobacco and alcohol are arguably just as dangerous as, if not more so that Marijuana.

So therefore, Marijuana should be legal. Or tobacco and alcohol should be illegal. Either is good.

 

[DaMan1500]

I don't see why it's taken so long for it to be legal. It has fewer harmful effects than alcohol, it's not addictive, you can't OD, and it would get rid of a lot of drug based crime. Plus it would be safer to use, since production would be standardized and monitered by the government. I don't necessarily want to use it, but I don't see the point in expending so much time, energy, and money arresting potheads, especially when cigarretes, a substance far more deadly than marijuana, is perfectly legal.

 

[pompom8volt]

I think I'd need to know more about the argument for having it legalized. I know there are arguments for it, I just have no idea what they are.

My current standing is: Harmful drug = do not legalize.

well first theres the whole 'not harmful drug' thing...
and then theres the 'no more money for gangs when you can buy it at a pharmacy' thing...
then theres the whole 'taxation= more money for the country and less spent on anti-weed cop raids' thing...

just a few of them...

Not to mention the whole "It isn't physically addicting thing" (you can form an addiction but it isn't caused by anything in the drug, sorta like TV and video games.)

 

[TheScarecrow]

I voted yes but on reflection that wouldn't be such a good idea.

 

[quiet_samurai]

Most of the really good arguments for legalising marijuana have nothing to do with smoking the drug.

Marijuana was legal in the US until the mid-30s. George Washington is known to have smoked it. Why was it illegalised? Lobbying and smear campaigns from the cotton industry. Marijuana used for growing hemp to use in clothes and fabrics was the number 2 resource behind cotton. The cotton industry wanted the monopoly and they got it by lobbying the government to ban hemp, with the help of movies like "Reefer Madness" which greatly exaggerated the negative effects of marijuana smoking.

Interestingly though, farmers were ordered to start growing hemp again briefly during WWII to make parachutes for infantry. The guys who prepared the way for the D-Day landings in Normandy would have definitely been using hemp parachutes.

Marijuana plants are also a rich source of ethanol which can be used as biofuel for cars, it's a much better biofuel crop than most other alternatives because of the speed at which crops grow, and the fact that the plants are quite hardy.

For the record I don't smoke it and I don't really like it when people smoke the drug around me because it has a tendency to turn them into stoner idiots, but then alcohol does far worse things to people (it certainly kills a lot more of them).

This is everything I was going to say, it only became illegal because it competed with other resources and business. And there has never been one ducomented case where anyone has ever died as a direct result of smoking weed, ever. The average human has to smoke somewhere around 100 joints to come close the the max-dosage of THC neeed to kill someone, it's just not possible.

I think as a consenting adult we should be allowed to put into our bodies whatever we wish, our minds and bodies are our own and we should be able to make the choice on what to do with it.

 

[murphy7801]

because its proven to give you mental illness no thanks