Poll: Should they legalize pot?
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How about free enterprise? For the same reason people would consider it absurd to criminalize things like Coca Cola or laughter, people don't think marijuana should be criminal. People do get arrested for marijuana, even in places where medical marijuana is legal, and the social costs of arresting so many people is very high.muffincakes said:
I don't smoke pot, I see the appeal in it, it just doesn't appeal to me (I don't smoke or drink heavily either so don't try that bullshit on me), and while marijuana is by no means the worst thing around, governments that are interested in controlling things that actually do cause harm to people's health(like ecstacy, seriously, it's just chemicals from some guy's garage, what is wrong with you people?), are typically addictive and I'm sure some other things too (I am adamant that there is more, but it escapes me at the moment), will have to go about the legalization of marijuana carefully. First of all, it would have to be regulated the same as tobacco (here in Canada, tobacco and alchahol are carefully regulated, with the provincial governments having control over the latter, like the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, which is both a regulatory body and a franchise of liquor stores) for the state to make any real gains from it. The most important thing though, and I will fight legalization until this happens, is that a roadside sobriety test for THC be developed. Given marijuana's affects on an individual's reaction time and judgement, it is really not something people ought to be on while driving. The easiest rebuke to this arguement is that it's the person's choice wether they want to drive high and risk their lives, as it is with their passengers, however, I argue that, as in drunk driving accidents, that intoxicated drivers tend to survive their accidents more than the people they hit, their more relaxed state allowing them to absorb the blows with less harm to them, and since they have to share the road it really isn't just their life they are endangering. A roadside THC test, however, would mitigate this enough that marijuana need not be banned anymore.
A little pot? Who cares? People across all walks of life indulge in it at their leisure. It's not just for the 'hip' crowd, it's not just for the young crowd, it's not just for the slacker crowd, and it's used daily by people everywhere you could take one look at and never even guess that it's one of their favorite social pastimes. It's neither cool, nor is it edgy. I don't know anyone over the age of 15 who would say any differently. It simply is. It's simply a way to move your mentality a little out of normal bounds. Which, in the right company, is most enjoyable.
Now, I'll be perfectly honest, right here, right now. I have been, so you say, "clean" in that department for about 4 months now. Well, compared to the habit I had, I've smoked less in the past four months then I would have in a day prior to that. I've been "stoned" three times in 16 weeks, whereas that would have been about 3 times daily, at a bare minimum, previous.
I have noticed an extreme change in my mentality since cutting back so drastically. It's not like a haze has lifted, or that I feel more intelligent, no, nothing of the sort. It's more like a certain black cloud that hung like a pall over my disposition has suddenly lifted away. I was tense, I was irritable, I was occasionally mildly paranoid. Huge anxiety. That has, for all intents and purposes, faded away, and left me enjoying being alive more than I have for years previous.
Despite all this, though, I still do not see the harm in using it, if one uses it responsibly. I did not. I abused it. I paid for that abuse with my very happiness. The occasional smokes I have had since losing the abuse of it have been more profoundly powerful than I've felt in years. I actually enjoyed those couple of occasions, not doing it because it felt like an obligation, and not being disappointed in the results to the point of smoking even more. Tolerance is a *****. Expectations and routine, perhaps moreso.
I might be rambling, so I'll go ahead and get to my ultimate talking points, here.
Yes, pot is downright fun, relatively safe, and most enjoyable in social situations with friends.
Yes, there is the capacity for abuse, just like everything else in life. It's up to the individual to recognize themselves and understand their limits, to realize an error and enact control. To use responsibly is to use most intelligently, and with grace.
No, pot is not physically addicting. I have experienced nothing remotely like a withdrawl since my major cutback. However, it is very psychologically compelling. I became convinced that certain activities just weren't enjoyable without it. There's still a certain sense of longing from time to time (which crop up when I catch certain aromas drifting from the neighbors next door...) , but I am glad to discover I was wrong about my favorite hobbies no longer being fun without it.
Should it be legal? Absolutely. I can't think of one positive aspect of the war against pot that's accomplished anything worthwhile. The government throws billions of dollars a year at it here in the states trying to combat it, to no effect. We The People throw billions more at violent Mexican drug cartels, because that's where the goods flow from. These are excessively brutal groups who are on the verge of imbalancing their country completely, and we're beginning to feel the overflow. We expend billions more keeping non-violent offenders behind prison bars for no worse offense than simply possession. It's entirely ludicrous.
Pot is nothing more than a plant, a plant with some pretty neat effects on the brain. It's time to regulate, tax, and establish it as part of our real economy. Flat-out truth.
It's far safer than alcohol, I know that for certain.
Sure, there's room for abuse, and I know that all-to-well, myself.
But what can't be abused?
Now, I'll be perfectly honest, right here, right now. I have been, so you say, "clean" in that department for about 4 months now. Well, compared to the habit I had, I've smoked less in the past four months then I would have in a day prior to that. I've been "stoned" three times in 16 weeks, whereas that would have been about 3 times daily, at a bare minimum, previous.
I have noticed an extreme change in my mentality since cutting back so drastically. It's not like a haze has lifted, or that I feel more intelligent, no, nothing of the sort. It's more like a certain black cloud that hung like a pall over my disposition has suddenly lifted away. I was tense, I was irritable, I was occasionally mildly paranoid. Huge anxiety. That has, for all intents and purposes, faded away, and left me enjoying being alive more than I have for years previous.
Despite all this, though, I still do not see the harm in using it, if one uses it responsibly. I did not. I abused it. I paid for that abuse with my very happiness. The occasional smokes I have had since losing the abuse of it have been more profoundly powerful than I've felt in years. I actually enjoyed those couple of occasions, not doing it because it felt like an obligation, and not being disappointed in the results to the point of smoking even more. Tolerance is a *****. Expectations and routine, perhaps moreso.
I might be rambling, so I'll go ahead and get to my ultimate talking points, here.
Yes, pot is downright fun, relatively safe, and most enjoyable in social situations with friends.
Yes, there is the capacity for abuse, just like everything else in life. It's up to the individual to recognize themselves and understand their limits, to realize an error and enact control. To use responsibly is to use most intelligently, and with grace.
No, pot is not physically addicting. I have experienced nothing remotely like a withdrawl since my major cutback. However, it is very psychologically compelling. I became convinced that certain activities just weren't enjoyable without it. There's still a certain sense of longing from time to time (which crop up when I catch certain aromas drifting from the neighbors next door...) , but I am glad to discover I was wrong about my favorite hobbies no longer being fun without it.
Should it be legal? Absolutely. I can't think of one positive aspect of the war against pot that's accomplished anything worthwhile. The government throws billions of dollars a year at it here in the states trying to combat it, to no effect. We The People throw billions more at violent Mexican drug cartels, because that's where the goods flow from. These are excessively brutal groups who are on the verge of imbalancing their country completely, and we're beginning to feel the overflow. We expend billions more keeping non-violent offenders behind prison bars for no worse offense than simply possession. It's entirely ludicrous.
Pot is nothing more than a plant, a plant with some pretty neat effects on the brain. It's time to regulate, tax, and establish it as part of our real economy. Flat-out truth.
It's far safer than alcohol, I know that for certain.
Sure, there's room for abuse, and I know that all-to-well, myself.
But what can't be abused?
It's still a billion dollars they don't have. And then there's the money saved when the government no longer has to spend money enforcing prohibition and incarcerating offenders.Ultratwinkie said:
They should legalize all drugs. There is no rational justification to have alcohol and cigarettes legal and the rest of the drugs illegal. Either make it all illegal or legalize all of it. Legal or not people will find a way to do drugs. Legalizing it would make junkies easier to find and control. Not to mention that it would put a lot of criminals out of work. I'm all for lower crime rates.
Dutch guy here.
I love the fact that I can just go out and buy pot whenever I feel like it and not feel all bad about it because I'm doing something against the law.
In my opinion there's nothing wrong with using pot what so ever. I believe drinking alcohol causes a lot more damage, both to the drinker and to whomever he drives into.
I love the fact that I can just go out and buy pot whenever I feel like it and not feel all bad about it because I'm doing something against the law.
In my opinion there's nothing wrong with using pot what so ever. I believe drinking alcohol causes a lot more damage, both to the drinker and to whomever he drives into.
Not reading 360+ Posts, and I'm sure it was said, but I'll say it again. In the words of Daniel Tosh (comedian for those that don't know): Legalize pot because it'll shut the pot heads up finally.
I'm paraphrasing of course.
I'm paraphrasing of course.
Like this fulla said, it should be illegal to sell it, but not illegal to grow it.steve-iii said:
I'm sorry, but you really need to look up the history of Prohibition. The influx of criminals was directly tied to the criminalization of alcohol, not its decriminalization. The only reasons criminals make money off of the production, distribution, and sale of marijuana is because it's criminalized and they have no legitimate competition. This is exactly what happened during Prohibition, as soon as alcohol was criminalized, elaborate criminal networks popped up to meet the illegal demand.Ultratwinkie said:
This is the same argument used against prostitution despite many countries having benefited from legalizing that.
Couldn't we just legalize it in one or two states as an experiment for a couple years and see how that goes? If it works then do the whole nation. I don't see why people look at this with an "all or nothing" attitude
Pot ain't as bad as the two legal drugs, so why not. It stops violence, makes the drug lords disappear and would bring the cash rolling in to governments. Why is it illegal???
Legalise: No. Decriminalise: Yes.
There's far too many things we don't know about MDM that can't be properly tested. I've no wish to see Cannabis Cigarettes on sale, but investigating the pain-relief for Cancer sufferers is a very worthy cause.
There's far too many things we don't know about MDM that can't be properly tested. I've no wish to see Cannabis Cigarettes on sale, but investigating the pain-relief for Cancer sufferers is a very worthy cause.
No, because I hang out with stoners and it's fun to hear their bitching and conspiracy theories about why the government won't legalize it.