Poll: Weed - Legal or Illegal?

[Singularly Datarific]

Don't care that much about marijuana, but for **** sake- why the shit are cigarettes still legal if marijuana isn't?!?!
Cigarettes disgust me far more.
Some asshat decides to get rich off of selling an addictive poison to millions of people, HOW IS THAT LEGAL?!?

 

[Naackelad]

Well as a person from the Netherlands. Pot is a difficult subject. We see it here where it is legal to have and grow your own ( meaning you're allowed to have 3 plants). Problem is Drugs trafficking. We have Belgiums, French hell you name the country it comes to us for pot. Now if Pot is legalized this will need to be done all over the US or people from one state will go to another to buy it giving state border towns a lot of drug tourists.

Pot should be treated in the law the same as alcohol. Don't get stoned and drive. Don't show up at work stoned and all that.

 

[ugeine]

Keep it banned! Iv seen one too many stoners to know that the stuff is bad for you.

Have you never seen a drunk before?

I'm not trying to be smart, I genuinely don't know if you have.

I'd argue it should be legalised. Criminalising a drug is not a deterrent. Cannabis use is widespread in my country, I doubt nobody would argue otherwise. I live in the UK, where the the current and previous but one prime ministers and an ex American president have managed to buy cannabis, and openly admitted doing so.

One you accept that, illegal or legal, there are always going to be cannabis smokers in your country you start to see that criminalising a drug causes more problems then it solves:

1) Users are treated as criminals, rather then patients. There's no real money in selling cannabis, compared to drugs such as cocaine or heroin, which tend to be sold by people who aren't always users themselves. Cannabis sellers tend to be users who are supporting their habit. Arresting a person and throwing them in jail does not solve their drug problems.

If it was decriminalised, more emphasis would be put on actually helping those dependant on cannabis, rather then arresting them.

2) It provides money to criminal organisations. In an ideal world, nobody would take harmful substances. However, we live in a world where people are always going to make poor choices. These people are always going to provide the supply and there's going to be a demand for these products.

Somebody who sells cannabis tends to be a user, but those who produce and sell it wholesale are organised criminal gangs making millions off of the drug. If the drug was decriminalised, home growing would increase, harming these gangs' profit. If it was legalised an regulated, you'd be taking millions of pounds in profits away from these gangs, money which tends to be reimbursed in other criminal activities.

3) It's a massive drain of governmental resources. Millions and millions of pounds a year are spent on training police officers, caring for prisoners who have been arrested on cannabis charges, carrying out busts, etcetera. Legalising cannabis would mean these resources could be spent on other valuable policing activities.

If it was legalised and taxed, it would also provide a lot of extra finance to our governments.

Arguments about the health risks are moot. Tobacco is the single biggest preventable cause of death in the world right now, and you can buy 20 cigarettes for a fiver.

 

[The_Decoy]

Legalisation does not increase usage and actually brings in money for the government. What's not to like? (Unless you're a drug dealer of course...)

 

[ArialUchiha]

Well, first post, but back on topic.

Personaly i think it should be legal, although i can understand peoples point of view in regard to it being addictive / causing mental problems, as bad as smoking because of the air polution and the smell etc.

Lets look at those points though. Yes it can become addictive, but is that realy any different to tobaco or alcohol? A percentage of the population can become addicted to anything, hell iv seen people addicted to caffene and chocolate. It is down to an individual basis whether or not people over-use it or not, and at the end of the day, if someone is stupid enough to smoke it to such an extent that it causes them mental health problems, then its their own fault.
As far as the passive smoking stance goes, that is a prety weak argument also. Iv grown up with smokers my entire life. My grandparents, great grandparents and mum smoke. Has it caused me to want to smoke? No. Has it caused me any health problems? No. If i cant put up with it, i go into a different room and open a window. That would be the same with weed. No one would force you to stay next to someone while they smoke a joint. Get up and leave.

It should be legal. It's a natural plant. Making a naturaly occuring plant illegal takes away peoples rights to make a choice. It would also decrease criminal activity because alot of power would be taken away from drug dealers, and it would allow the police to focus on more serious crimes (though here in Britain, they would probably just spend more time giving out speeding tickets ¬_¬). The tax that governments could raise on its sale mite just help with the slight global financial problem, and if it is regulated right, i dont see why it would be a problem.

That is just my opinion though, im not saying its right, just how i feel.

 

[standokan]

Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

 

[Lilani]

The reason weed wasn't legalized in California I think is illustrated quite well by the following graph:

Seriously.

 

[ugeine]

I'm really enjoying watching people who frequent a video gaming forum saying that things which are addictive should be banned.

 

[SadakoMoose]

Also don't like endorsing something that can lead to developing schizophrenia. It's too harmful, I wouldn't want to see this legalized.

You could never scientifically prove that consumption of THC (the active ingredient) leads to the development of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is largely genetic in origin according to most respected scientific sources, like juvenile diabetes or sickle cell.

 

[Caligulove]

Legal.

Mostly because it forms the foundation of the income of so many Cartels and Underworld dealings.

But also because it cannot directly kill you from overdose, unlike legalized alcohol- non addictive- unlike legalized alcohol and because the ridiculous War on Drugs is putting far too many people away into our jails for petty, victimless crimes like possession of marijuana. I don't understand why you would outlaw the one that appears to be less harmful while keeping something very dangerous like alcohol legal.

Also, yes, there's regulation and taxing. Which would help, but it wouldn't solve this (United States) country's money problems- as many of my more affluent pot smoker friends would say- but its something towards it.

THAT SAID:
I think this is why it will never actually be legalized. Too many jobs and too much money at stake. Not just the crooked people in power, but all the people employed by the DEA- all the guards in our prison system, the increased privatization of that prison system that makes profit for keeping more inmates for longer periods of time- not to mention that Underworld element that would be very mad at the possibility of losing their largest customers

 

[JochemDude]

Welcome to Holland, where it's been legal since the down of time. We may even grow it ourself, in small amounts ofcourse, I have about 13 health leafs right now. One every month and on the day me and my girlfriend met.

 

[SadakoMoose]

I believe anyone who is doing that kind or bigger drugs is stupid xD, my opinion.
And with the weed on his stupidity is becoming 19999x worse therefore it ends up annoying me therefore i want it illegal, if pathetic ppl cant feel fine by themselves and need a buyable method to feel better are pathetic and a waste of time but that's how 90% of world is... sigh

Sturgeon's law does not apply to people.
Even then, the prohibition on marijuana (and other substances) is a major drain on the US economy, destroys our reputation abroad, and changes absolutely nothing about the problem.
In the last century of prohibition, nothing has changed and the DEA has never met it's intended goals. Sentences are harsher, more people are being imprisoned every year for marijuana related offenses, and yet there has been no progress made on the drug problem in this country. That's billions of dollars of hard earned American tax payer money going into a flaming hole! My family hasn't paid it's fair share of taxes just so a shadowy government organization run by people that we don't get to elect can piss away millions to get a washed up horror movie actress to smash eggs with a frying pan! Last time I checked, if you paid someone to do a job and the don't make any progress for a damn century, you get to fire them.
What happened to that?
It's nice to talk about how you don't need substances, that's fine. However, there are many people out there with medical conditions who's lives would be much better if marijuana was readily available and legal. Even those who consume for recreational reasons, do not deserve to have their lives destroyed because of a personal choice. The world is a complicated and diverse place, and not everyone will make the same choices as you. By forcing these people into the shadows, we are exposing them to harm and increasing the profitability of crime. The world is a complicated place, where romanticized thinking can get a lot of people hurt when it comes to the law. Law has to be practical, and reflect the very real situations and dangers that we all face. We can't throw a big blanket solution over a problem, like this some kind of story book, with a knight and a dragon or an action movie.
I support legalization because it makes sense. It seals a big drain on the budget, it increases personal freedom, and it lets us focus on more important issues. The scientific evidence is there, and it supports the idea that weed is largely harmless. People are being hurt every day by an ineffective and costly system with no over site for the people who it was designed to help.
It's time we stop playing Rambo in South America and start focusing on realistic solutions, based in fact and not emotion or narrative.
Not a time to be smug, or a time to be judgmental.
Not when the country is in such a state.

 

[MagicMouse]

Legal and regulated.

People already have easy access to it, and use it. It has less affect than alcohol. So why not let the Gov. make billions by taxing it?

**Also, just wait until more of the older generations die off, then you will see legalization laws being passed.

 

[Sir Ollie]

Legal so I can finally open my own damn cafe.

 

[USSR]

1-This should be in Religion/Politics.

2-No reason, as far as I can see, that it should be illegal.
Less harmful than cigarettes and alcohol.

3-I still think you're stupid if you engage in it.

 

[William Dickbringer]

Legalize weed completely, decriminalize all other drugs.

I mean, for fuck's sake. You'd think we'd have learned from prohibition.

I don't really agree with the other drugs they tend to have a more negitive effect than weed drugs like heroin are too dangerous to be legalized
O.T. I may not smoke it but I do think legalizing it with regulations in place would cause a major damage in the drug trade

 

[mrdude2010]

.

sniip
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
.

a perfectly reasonable post except for these 2

weed is not physically addictive at all, the only thing stopping you from quitting is you not wanting to. you can quit cold turkey any time wihtout any consequences

i feel like the legalization of weed would limit problems with violence, etc. most drug-related violent crime comes from the potential risk of being put in jail for years, but if it was legal/regulated, gangs would have no reason to trade in drugs/kill each other because they're worried about someone telling the cops they sell drugs

 

[A Raging Emo]

I think that if it's legalized and regulated well, then it shouldn't be a problem; treat it the same as alcohol.