Poll: Weed - Legal or Illegal?

[Choppaduel]

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

Stoners drive anyways. Prohibition doesn't work.

Were there more drunk drivers when prohibition of alcohol was going on or when it was just illegal to drive drunk?

Your reasoning is fallacious. If you don't want stoned drivers, you make it illegal to drive stoned, not make it illegal to be stoned.

 

[godfist88]

Are there any countries that do have it legal, if so than how are doing?

 

[Electrogecko]

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?

Irrelevant to my post and the thread.

What?

It doesn't have to be legal to drive under the influence of a legal substance....or are you saying that anybody who smokes weed (stoners, w/e your definition) shouldn't ever be allowed to drive?

The bluntness and complete incorrectness of your post is astounding. His question was relevant to both your post and the thread.

Edit: Oh and I voted to legalize it because....umm....duh.

I don't want more people under the influence of drugs driving. Key word is more.

That's why I say no, and that's why alcohol has nothing to do with it.

If you insist tho, sure, I also don't want more people drinking and driving.

If you don't want more people drinking and driving, then shouldn't alcohol be made illegal?

And of course when deciding whether a drug should be legal or not we're going to draw comparisons to other recreational drugs.

 

[StBishop]

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 [less] 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.

Fixed that. I've heard a rumor that the only thing stopping it happening in Australia (beyond the obvious need for politicians to stay on everyone's good side and "think of the children") is that it's very difficult to control the dosage of THC in weed, because certain plants will give a stronger dose than others making it hard to regulate.

But I forgot the source of this information so it could very well be bollocks.

I personally don't want it legalised but I think it might be worth decriminalising it. ie. It's a banned substance, it cannot be sold or imported/exported but you won't go to jail for having it, just a fine. Same as parking fines, not a criminal offence apparently.

Edit: I'm in favour or making tobacco illegal, at least weed has a purpose. Getting high.
I don't support making alcohol illegal, because a) I don't think it's inherently detrimental to individuals or society (same applies to weed) but I do think tobacco is; and b) Could you imagine telling Australia that beer is illegal. Ha!

 

[Solo-Wing]

I don't get why Booze is Legal and Pot isn't. Booze has been proven to be much more harmful then Pot. They should really make it the other way around.

 

[ALX-00]

Legalize it, then tax it just like tobacco. This way, people don't go to jail, can buy safely from stores, not shady dealers, and the economy will get a boost from all the stoners.

Just treat it like alcohol, and make laws accordingly.

Give it treatment like cigarettes, and have it so it can't be smoked in certain places, preferably in public places where there are a lot of people or the possibility of children being around is present. (This is more because I can't stand the smell of it, and for the protection of children to an extent.)

 

[Loki Cain]

make it Legal, and i don't say that just because i enjoy weed. It has no proven long term side effects, it dose nothing to your memory except for the time in witch you are intoxicated, and has actually been proven to prevent some forms of cancer. It has also shown that it barely effects the users ability to operate a motor vehicle, less then lack of sleep (and lack of sleep is the number one health problem in Americans so lots of people do that). The only reason it's illegal in the first place is because of propaganda and greed, mostly from the paper companies because hemp can be use to make paper at a much cheaper cost as well as better and cheaper cloths, strong rope, and many other things.

...
........

LEGALIZE IT!!!! 420 YEA!!!

 

[Choppaduel]

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.

"Weed can help someone function better in school"
what? how? this statement is absurd.

"A lot of money would be saved since you wouldn't have to buy it from doctors"
No. Restricting supply by criminalizing its growth drives price up. Or maybe you mean something else, its not quite clear.

"Weed can benefit studies for advancing research, see if anything can be made from it"
I guess, but weeds real potential is in pain management, using it for these mad science excursions seems like a waste.

"Growing it can help pay off families while giving it to medical centers who need it"
Hey, you actually made an acceptable point. Decriminalizing would open up a lot of opportunity for business for a typical law abiding citizen.

"Teens can easily get a hold of it now and pay less for weed alone"
Teens can get a hold of it RIGHT NOW, while its illegal, because the people who sell it atm don't care, they're breaking the law simply by selling it, why would they care how old the person is? If it was decriminalized it would most likely be treated like alcohol & tobacco and be no easier for teens to get a hold of that those substances.

"Some people will abuse it to just get high and it can be a downfall to their lives"
People do this anyways, despite it being criminalized.

"Weed is addictive"
This is isn't true in the same sense that heroin is addictive, I suggest you read up on this. Here comes the links...
http://hubpages.com/hub/Is-Marijuana-Addictive
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_marijuana_addictive
http://scienceblog.com/12116/study-says-marijuana-no-gateway-drug/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_drug_theory

"Weed would rise problems with bad cities or streets, relating to gang violence"
Clean this statement up a bit. It's unclear what you actually trying to say.

 

[Bobbity]

Marijuana can trigger Schizophrenia, and once you have that, your life is pretty much over. I say keep it illegal.

 

[Choppaduel]

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

Stoners drive anyways. Prohibition doesn't work.

Were there more drunk drivers when prohibition of alcohol was going on or when it was just illegal to drive drunk?

Your reasoning is fallacious. If you don't want stoned drivers, you make it illegal to drive stoned, not make it illegal to be stoned.

So you're saying legalizing weed wouldn't cause more people to smoke it, and in turn the numbers of those who smoke it and drive wouldn't increase as well?

I'm saying its inconsistent to expect someone who's already broken one law to obey another, similar one. possessing drug & driving impaired.

 

[Lucifron]

Marijuana can trigger Schizophrenia, and once you have that, your life is pretty much over. I say keep it illegal.

Certain psychotropics can trigger a person's latent Schizophrenia, meaning that it would have been triggered by something or other sooner or later. That weed should be illegal because people with a family-history of psychoses can't be bothered to think twice is an extremely weak argument.

 

[Choppaduel]

Stoners drive anyways. Prohibition doesn't work.

Were there more drunk drivers when prohibition of alcohol was going on or when it was just illegal to drive drunk?

Your reasoning is fallacious. If you don't want stoned drivers, you make it illegal to drive stoned, not make it illegal to be stoned.

Like I said to the other guy, I know maths is hard.

Currently, there are a few stoned drivers. If weed were legal, there would be MORE stoned drivers. Why are people having such trouble with this equasion?

Also people seem to just like ignoring the word "more"... or what it means, or something.

You are misusing "equation," for the record.

By what reason would there be more stoned drivers? You fail to explain this and just assume your guess is an accurate prediction of what would happen.

Its inconsistent to expect someone who's willing to break one law (possesion) to obey a similar one. (driving impaired) They don't respect the law.

You also seem to assume that people who want marijuana decriminalized want to be able to drive stoned. I don't hold this position. I think that what should happened it that it would be treated like alcohol, in respect to driving, and like tobacco in other respects.

 

[AgDr_ODST]

Go the route that California has gone and make it medical and set up dispensaries, but fuck all that heavy shit that's not natural(crack, heroin, meth, ecstasy)

 

[Choppaduel]

Snip

My good sir, there is no need to get hostile now. I just stated my opinion, thus a User before you, [user]Pyode[/user], has criticized my same post with proper manners still showing respect.

You are conflating facts with your opinions. I am pointing that out.

and when was I hostile?