Poll: Weed - Legal or Illegal?

[Cat of Doom]

I honestly cannot believe the majority of what I thought was a intelligent online community believe weed should be legalised.

I thought only a few extremely naive or stupid community members would vote "legal".

I voted illegal by the way. Weed, and its users sicken me, I don?t know if you are simply naive and don?t have a true understanding of the world, but it is a truly evil thing and I have always campaigned for harsher punishment for its users and dealers.

Don't believe me, ask any doctor at the william havey hospital how many times they have had to explain to a distraught mother that their son/daughter would still be alive were it not for the drug.

 

[Blazenwizard]

Having been put through a ludicrous in jail over a joint and being forced to show up at court, wait a few hours for a judge to basically tell me to not get arrested for smoking pot again and i can leave thus wasting my day (though I am NOT at all complaining about my sentence but I'm too broke to just call out of work). It was a pointless arrest, legalize it so the cops can arrest REAL criminals like people who actually cause harm to others instead of hassling folks who are just having a night on the town.

 

[Bobzer77]

Weed is addictive, and without it many would be unable to function right anymore (not for awhile at least)

It is possible to develop a dependance on it but only in rare cases.

It is less addictive than Alcohol and Tobacco.

Making it legal will do a lot of things:

1.Cut out the foundation of many criminal orginisations profiting on the drugs trade.

2.Allow it to be regulated.

3.Provide extra tax revenue for the Government (which countries like Ireland really need)

4.Save an enormous amount of the police budget which is dedicated to weed control.

No other arguments other than it has been proven to be less dangerous (even long term) than both alcohol and tobacco.

Legalising it will also improve the general quality of the drug available to the public which will actually cut out a lot of the health problems associated with it as many are due to it being sprayed with make-shift preservatives, enhancers etc.

I honestly cannot believe the majority of what I thought was a intelligent online community believe weed should be legalised.

I thought only a few extremely naive or stupid community members would vote "legal".

I voted illegal by the way. Weed, and its users sicken me, I don?t know if you are simply naive and don?t have a true understanding of the world, but it is a truly evil thing and I have always campaigned for harsher punishment for its users and dealers.

Don't believe me, ask any doctor at the william havey hospital how many times they have had to explain to a distraught mother that their son/daughter would still be alive were it not for the drug.

Do enlighten us with your reasoning, this should be good.

 

[natster43]

I don't care, as I am not going to smoke it.

 

[FallenTraveler]

I believe that lawn weeds need to be illegal in all forms, they are a pest to my home with their pollen and... wait, you want to know if weed is illegal, yeah, it is. WEll except for amsterdam... oh you mean SHOULD IT BE LEGAL.... probably not, hate the smell, hate the way people act on it, maybe if it was in ones home and perhaps prohibited to those without children... but otherwise no, keep it illegal

 

[gertmenkel]

Well, here in the Netherlands, weed and some other kinds of drugs are perfectly legal.
You can buy them at "coffee shops" (I don't know where that name came from, don't ask me).

The moment you make something illegal, everyone wants it, and there will be some kind of war.
Example: if some country would make candy illegal, dealers would still sell them. The police would arrest some, some other dealers and "candy-addicts" would attack the police, or maybe they would even start some revolution.

I think: as long as you don't hurt anyone (else), use as much as you want.

 

[Fragged_Templar]

Yes, and Yes.

I vote keep it illegal. I don't want more 'stoners' driving.

I take it you are in favor of making alcohol completely illegal, then?

except that alchohol, or ethanol serves many industrial functions that we can't easily do without, but as a recreational drug, yea fuck alchohol and weed, make it all illegal!

also as of post: forum I am disappoint. 67% for legalisation...

 

[zehydra]

Either outlaw booze or legalize and regulate weed.

yeah that's my sentiment. I don't like this half-way legality stuff the US is forcing on its citizens. It's pretty arbitrary considering the effects alcohol and cigarettes have on people.

 

[James Raynor]

As long as you can still fire people on the spot for coming to work stoned and they are not allowed to drive while stoned then I do not care.
Sure it has long term side effects and totally destroys your memory but eh, thats your problem.

Mirrors my own thoughts.

 

[Ickorus]

Legalise it, I don't smoke the stuff myself (I don't smoke at all in fact) but if it were legalised it could be taxed meaning more money for our governments to spend and less money for criminals which would hopefully also mean less crime, it could be controlled so people can't fuck themselves up with it. (And don't feed me the regular 'It's harmless' bullshit, i've seen the effects it can have on people if they get the wrong type)

 

[Hamster at Dawn]

It's not much worse than alcohol or smokes so I see no reason why it shouldn't be legal. I'm not going to be buying much myself but if others want to smoke it then why the hell shouldn't they? It's their choice. I think that laws like this are just petty to be honest and we should let people make their own choices rather than dictating what they can and can't do.

 

[n03s]

Im not a chemist to explain you with precision the chemistry revolved around them, but both of their substances that makes the chemical reaction with our brain and leading to the known effects are extremely similar.
Dont get me wrong , the best choice is to not use anything that can lead to addiction, but since in our time, pharmasuitical companies making legal drugs a lot more powerfull than weed, I cant understand why I cant as an adult legaly purchase cannabis.

In other words, you know nothing about the subject, and you have no evidence whatsoever to support your idea that cannabis is so bloody harmful to your health?

Move along, unless you have evidence to back up what you say, I don't wanna hear it.

Easy there sunshine..
I have smoked weed and I have drank a lot of booze as well, those things are equaly bad for ones health..
What I am saying which obviously you missed is that IF sedative narcotics (LIKE VALIUM AND OTHER PILL SHIT) are already LEGAL and mainstream , natural crops like cannabis should be legal with the same laws as alcohol..

Also in what you quote... when i said Im not a chemist.. It means that I cant explain like a REAL chemist the exact diffrences between THC(Cannabis chemical compound that leads to euphoria) and Ethanol (Alcohol chemical compound that leads to euphoria)
How you deducted that I am clueless, is your buissness and frankly I dont even care about some random smartass..

 

[Ickorus]

Yes, and Yes.

I vote keep it illegal. I don't want more 'stoners' driving.

I take it you are in favor of making alcohol completely illegal, then?

except that alchohol, or ethanol serves many industrial functions that we can't easily do without, but as a recreational drug, yea fuck alchohol and weed, make it all illegal!

also as of post: forum I am disappoint. 67% for legalisation...

Problems with outlawing it all is the dealers who begin selling it:

- Price inflation goes up on the drugs meaning addicts are forced into crime, this increases the amount of money the government ends up paying in taxes as well as the suffering of innocent people.

- Dealers start cutting drugs with other things, for cannabis apparently sometimes dealers cut it with glass dust, this kills people and for those it doesn't at least here in england, it means more stress on hospitals.

- Drugs aren't standardised meaning someone who is used to one strength of a drug may imbibe some purer stuff and die.

Now if things were legalised it would mean the government gains more tax money, prices go down so people aren't forced into lives of crime, strength of drugs are standardised so people don't go and kill themselves on stronger stuff, and the drugs aren't cut with shit that'll kill people.

 

[DTWolfwood]

Its cheaper to make it legal than to keep it illegal.

also more profitable.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

This is just an honest question - I'm curious how many people on Escapist are for weed legalization and how many are against it. Feel free to give reasons why you feel the way you do, but let's keep it civil.

Personally, I am for it. Smoking weed is like smoking tobacco (which is perfectly legal), granted that the chances of lung problems and cancer are much higher with marijuana then tobacco. Smoking weed is also much more dangerous, in my opinion, than drinking (which is perfectly legal). More people have died from drunk driving and drinking-related things than from getting high on weed. Again, this is just my opinion and how I feel.

As helpful as weed could be for people which would save loads of money from having to buy them off doctors for medical use - a lot of people would abuse the weed for personal reasons like just wanting to get high.

However, I shall not say I am against it.. but there should be rules set out. I think that you must have an adult buy the weed and anyone without medical problems using it should be put into custody. That's just my opinion, but clearly there will be many issues if it's legalized.

Think of the Pros and Cons for Weed:

Pros
Weed can help someone function better in school
A lot of money would be saved since you wouldn't have to buy it from doctors
Weed can benefit studies for advancing research, see if anything can be made from it
Growing it can help pay off families while giving it to medical centers who need it

Cons
Teens can easily get a hold of it now and pay less for weed alone
Some people will abuse it to just get high and it can be a downfall to their lives
Weed is addictive, and without it many would be unable to function right anymore (not for awhile at least)
Weed would rise problems with bad cities or streets, relating to gang violence

However you consider weed being legalized or not, these are actually from what i've observed and put into my own words without looking it up (because doing that just would feel like cheating). I'm a little more against it then for it actually, but it wouldn't really matter for it's a 50/50 thing. Just depends on how people handle it if we should be worried or not.

Marijuana isn't physically addicted. Anyone claiming to be addicted to it, it's all in their head.

 

[Fire Daemon]

This argument again...

This argument really pisses me off, mainly because those arguing it have a very selfish and very self-centred outlook on the issue, despite acting as if they know everything about the issue and how it will effect everyone, and claiming that their side of the argument will better everyone. Interestingly enough I could be talking about both sides here, but it's those that want to legalise it that annoy me the most, mainly because their the most selfish.

One thing you never someone who is pro-pot legalisation bring up in an argument is what will happen to the drug dealers that supply their pot. Will they simply walk away, call it a day and admit defeat and go into some other form of work. Probably not, seeing as how the reason they turn to dealing drugs is the inability to find other forms of work, or at least the desire not to because of the lower income and the more tiring work hours involved. No, what is going to happen with the legalisation of weed is that these guys are either going to try hitting you with cheaper prices, which they will probably be able to meet, or turn to harder and more illegal substances like cocaine, ice and heroin. So what we're going to end up with is a legal change that either achieves nothing, encourages people to sell more deadly drugs much harder, or a mixture of the two. The law will be a waste and now we're going to find it much harder to move backwards because suddenly farmers depend on selling their weed crop, that is if the legal weed even sells at competitive enough prices and is "good enough quality" to compete in the first place.

So no, there is no way I support the legalisation of pot because you're going to be screwing people over in so many different ways, and for what? So that some middle class white kid, blowing their parents money on booze, weed and whatever else when they should be focusing on their schooling at college or university, can feel better about themselves and don't have to deal with criminals when they need a fix. Do you hate going out at night to talk to some shifty guy so much that you'd be glad to encourage that guy to sell all sorts of worse shit if it meant that you didn't have to put up with? If that's the case, you've got problems.

Oh, one other thing that pisses me off about marijuana smokers in general is that even though they know that they have to go to some criminal scum to get their fix, they never seem to consider how deep that goes. Either they're such giant wastes of society that they don't even bother knowing about the Mexican Drug War [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War], or they deliberately choose to ignore that and keep on buying the stuff anyway. I don't know which is worse.

That isn't to say that I'm completely anti pot though. Ya see, I've thought about this on a level higher then my own selfish wants, and while I don't want pot legalised tomorrow, I also don't want some sort of all traditional society plucked right out of the worst the 50s had to show where everyone is God fearing and constantly thinking of the children, which fortunately takes me right off of the spectrum for this argument. I do believe that pot could be legalised and done in such a way that the actions taken in doing so would generally improve whichever country is trying to legalise it, and in many cases those countries around it, rather then worsening the situation. However to do so would take many years, cost a large amount of money and involve some sort of input from a lot of different people, and unfortunately those screaming more legalisation and those screaming against want nothing more than being able to get high easily, or feel superior because they don't get high, rather then actually help anyone.

EDIT: Everytime this thread comes up a higher percentage of people are in favour of legalisation. It looks like The Escapist is starting to attract a much different crowd to the one it attracted 1 year ago, or even 6 months ago. Hmmm, I wonder what is changing.