Poll: Should they legalize pot?

[Bealzibob]

Onward to meth or heroin then?

Everyone on the gateway train,
through your mouth, up to your brain.
Everyone on the gateway Drug,
we'll live in slums and all get mugged...

Anyway, after that jaunty tune. I don't mind, I don't smoke pot moar than once or twice a month so it effects me only slightly. It would make it alot easier to buy and safer, although I suppose that like cigarettes it would be illegal to those under 18 so it might not even change a thing for me, depending on how long this takes to come to friuition.

 

[Salviar]

Hm...I can't answer yes or no on this question, I just realised. I feel I'm in the grey area instead of in the "black or white" place. I'm not against pot, I've done it myself a couple of times (can I say that on here?...) , but I also don't think that it should be easily gotten. I guess at least when it's illegal it's not so "grab a go."
But at the same time, if it was legal maybe less people would feel they wanted to do it? You know, people who feel they want to try something because they can't...
Man, I don't know. I'm not certain one way or the other.
I do believe in medicinal marijuana though, think that's a good idea.

 

[MoganFreeman]

Nah, what you've got to look out for is those types who start smoking it to be cool, and then move onto harder stuff. The bad thing is, they're the loudest about being "Stoners" so they're the common perception.

The "gateway drug" argument is a clear case of mistaking correlation with causation. Besides, even in cannabis use led folks towards harder drugs, wouldn't legalising cannabis draw a clearer distinction between it and more damaging narcotics? The other two 'gateway drugs' we hear about are legal.


EDIT:

On top of this, while not quite on the level of a movie, weed can get people intoxicated through secondhand smoke, especially if a lot of it is being consumed in one area. What's more it's also very fragrant and sticks to clothes, being far worse in this respect than cigarettes. It infringes on the rights of people who just happen to be present when someone else happens to be enjoying a fatty.

Eh, contact highs are a disputed phenomenon, even among career stoners. Certainly, hot-boxing can intensify your high, but that takes effort. If I am sitting out on the patio at my local Starbucks and some young delinquents are passing around a blunt twelve feet away, I'll certainly smell it. But the psycho-active effects of the kind of second-hand exposure, if any, would be negligible.

Besides, if it is legalized, it'll probably be controlled in the same way as alcohol, in that you won't just be able to consume where ever you damn well.

EDIT PART DEUX:

Anyway, it causes scizophrenia/psychosis because it's a psychoactive drug. In larger/constant amounts, it becomes a hallucinogen, like acid.

ERRONEOUS! Weed can exacerbate pre-existing cases of schizophrenia but it does not cause them. Which is why some people (non-psychotics) can smoke their whole lives with no ill effects and some people (psychotics) smoke once and freak the fuck out. Which is silly. People with damaged brains shouldn't smoke. Just like how people with damaged livers shouldn't drink. But people with healthy livers should and do, within reason.

Also, as a less concrete, more anecdotal objection, weed is NOTHING like acid. Even in large amounts.

 

[Omikron009]

Yes, for 2 main reasons.

1. Because it's not really all that bad.

2. So my friend will just shut the hell up about it already.

 

[Unesh52]

Now that's a little mean. If it can be stated that pot is illegal for health reasons, then it's harmlessness compared to other, legal drugs undermines the reason for it being illegal. It's not even very poor grammar.

Also, I didn't know pot caused schizophrenia. How is that?

It's not really. "He has candy, why can't I have soda? His teeth are rotting, WHY CAN'T MINE?" To legalise something dangerous because there are other legal dangerous things is the worst logic I have ever heard.

The reason cigerettes and alcohol are illegal is because they are so entwined with our culture. Legalising weed is a step backwards.

Anyway, it causes scizophrenia/psychosis because it's a psychoactive drug. In larger/constant amounts, it becomes a hallucinogen, like acid.

The issue is that it's not a constant. Many people will smoke every day and never be affected. Some will smoke once and experience mental health issues for the rest of their life. There's no way to predict how any given individual will handle it.

I'm not willing to sacrifice other people so that some can get high. And if anyone is, they're a bastard.

Caveat emptor dude. I don't think it's unreasonable for people to be expected to decide for themselves what risks they're willing to take and what detriments to their health they're willing to have in exchange for their pleasures.

And regardless of whether the logic behind wanting to do it is sound ("I want long-lasting repercussions to my health too!!!"), the logic behind being allowed to do it is still sound:

Man: Why can't I have pot?

THE Man: Because it's bad for you.

Man: But I can have cigarettes, and they're bad for me.

THE Man: Tobacco is part of our culture. Pot was grown by Mexicans and dirty Asian people -- which means it's WORSE for you.

I can see how legalizing a dangerous substance in itself just sounds like heresy, but his argument doesn't really qualify in any absolute terms whether it should be legal or not. It calls for consistency with substance abuse laws. Either have none of them, or all of them.

 

[Keepitclean]

No, because scizophrenia is terrible and I don't want to risk people getting it because people can't deal with life.

Also, it won't eliminate gangs. Anyone who thinks that is a fool.

Yeah. Not that it's healthy to use, but if alcohol and cigarettes are legal, there's no reason to keep weed illegal.

This is the worst argument for anything ever. It's like kindergarten all over again.

I would loved to have seen your kindergarten.

I honestly don't care if it is legal or not. I'm pretty sure most people who are gonna smoke it will regardless.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Weed is a lot harsher on your lungs than cigarettes. As in, you get more cancer. Also, smoking a lot of dope can cause you to have chronic respiratory infections, like a sore throat or pneumonia.

So if you wouldn't smoke cigarettes because of health reasons, DON'T smoke weed. It's worse, and that's saying a lot.

Other than that, I agree with therumancer. Still, I think it's a little silly we have legalized two very dangerous drugs (tobacco and alcohol) and one minor stimulant (caffeine), but we continue to demonize pot and similarly "mild" drugs. You know, if you smoke and drink heavily you are 40 times more likely to get cancer. Even just alcohol can mess your body up bad. I mean, even freaking CAFFEINE can mess your system up, and it's only a mild stimulant drug.

What I find strange is the defense of smoking, drinking and caffeine abuse (come on, we ALL know somebody who is a caffeine addict) under the garbage argument of common usage, then we get out our pitchforks when we hear about somebody getting high off marijuana or something.

 

[Kaptajn Emil Alfred Conan Swagga Benzon]

Give me one good reason why it should be illegal.

If it was legal, then the gang violence and the drug market in general, would be reduced drastically.
You cannot become physically addicted to it, like you can with alcohol.
It would be remarkably healthier to smoke pot, than drink alcohol and smoke tobacco (i enjoy both, though.)
oh yeah, and being high kicks ass.

oh yeah... you're american. you don't care about the overall health status or other peoples lives. you just care about sounding ethically right.

 

[InconceivableTruth]

If they make marijuana legal, then corporations would take advantage of it. It would no longer be 'pure':


Just throwing out a commonly overlooked reason why pot should remain illegal.

 

[Kaptajn Emil Alfred Conan Swagga Benzon]

oh yeah, some people say that marijuana leads to hard drugs... alcohol is more likely to lead to alcoholism.

 

[darthzew]

Sure, let's legalize it.

As a side note, I really hate the argument that just because tobacco and alcohol are legal, pot should be legal. Under no circumstances should two wrongs ever justify another wrong.

Now, you may get onto me and say that you don't think they're wrong, but the above argument forces you to acknowledge that all three are wrong, just some are less wrong than others.

It's a bit like little Billy sitting over there in the corner. He's playing with two toys. One is a gun and the other is a grenade. In your hands is a combat knife, which is technically less dangerous than the other two. Well, we might as well let him play with our knife since he's for some reason got a gun and a grenade already.

 

[Bored otter]

Live in Holland, and they are now trying to ban it again. which i'm against because it just makes crime go up again.

 

[SpaceCop]

Now that's a little mean. If it can be stated that pot is illegal for health reasons, then it's harmlessness compared to other, legal drugs undermines the reason for it being illegal. It's not even very poor grammar.

Also, I didn't know pot caused schizophrenia. How is that?

It's not really. "He has candy, why can't I have soda? His teeth are rotting, WHY CAN'T MINE?" To legalise something dangerous because there are other legal dangerous things is the worst logic I have ever heard.

The reason cigerettes and alcohol are legal is because they are so entwined with our culture. Legalising weed is a step backwards.

So, assuming it were possible, do you think we should make cigarettes and alcohol illegal?

Anyway, it causes scizophrenia/psychosis because it's a psychoactive drug. In larger/constant amounts, it becomes a hallucinogen, like acid.

The issue is that it's not a constant. Many people will smoke every day and never be affected. Some will smoke once and experience mental health issues for the reast of their life. There's know way to predict how any given individual will handle it.

I'm not willing to sacrifice other people so that some can get high. And if anyone is, they're a bastard.

The connection between drugs and schizophrenia hasn't been conclusively shown to be causal. It's entirely possible that people use drugs because they have schizophrenia, rather than them having schizophrenia because they use drugs.

Regardless, the issue is about restricting personal freedoms for the sake of safety. With marijuana--and other drugs, tobacco included--people make a choice to use or not use it, knowing that there could be risks involved. Should the government step in and take that choice away?

 

[f0re1gn]

Of course. Holland has it legalized and there's just no problems concerning all this illegal transport and stuff. Just put a huge tax on it and you'll get more money than if you don't legalize it and you won't have to pay all the toll-workers and dogs snuffing for weed all the time etc.

Weed makes you think slower, but it prevents development of brain cancer and it never causes a single brain cell to die. And to get an overdose of THC you'd have to want to do it, because accidentally would mean that you were smoking while sleeping from the extremely relaxing effect of a big dose of THC.

 

[mrhappyface]

No. Enough people have died under the influence of a legal drug: alcohol. Another legal drug that has disorienting effects can easily cause much more deaths and tragedies.

 

[Ch@Z]

I think they should legalize all drugs. Too many people die from drug wars.