Why is marijuana illegal?

[nklshaz]

The fact that it directly kills brain cells is the main reason. And legalizing it would increase the risk of people driving while hallucinating. While the effects may not be perceived as being "as bad" as cigarettes or alcohol, it still is bad for you, and we're probably better off without it.

Bahahaha! No, it does not, no reputable study has ever shown any evidence whatsoever of it "killing brain cells". Nor does it cause hallucinations.

Yes, someone already told me that. And while it doesn't cause full-on hallucinations for everybody, it can cause visual disruptions. It also counters the bodies natural instinct to purge, which could be dangerous if something harmful is ingested. I've also heard that the intake of tar while smoking it is higher than tobacco. I don't know if that's true or not, but if I'm inhaling any tar at all, then I'm not touching it. Don't misunderstand me, I don't think that marijuana is the root of all evil, and I don't hold any personal grudge against people who smoke it. Just think of the things I've said as reasons why I, personally, will stay away from it.

 

[No-one Special]

It kills less people every year because, hey, it's illegal. Everything that is illegal is less likely to kill people than something that's legal. That's because only a small few who are breaking the law are doing it as opposed to everyone being able to do it.

Marijuana has never killed anyone. It is impossible to overdose on THC by smoking weed. You would have to smoke your own body weight in pot to inhale the amount of THC needed to overdose, and you'd have passed out long before you got to that point. You could legalise it, and make it bloody well mandatory, and I guarantee there would still be zero instances of people overdosing on pot.

Just because you can't overdose on it does not mean there are no deaths due to marijuana use. That's like saying that the alcohol a person consumed before dying in a drunk driving accident played no role. Just because it can't kill you from smoking a lot of it, doesn't mean no one will ever die because of it. I've met a kid who stabbed himself in the leg and nearly bled out because he thought a blender was attacking him.

Second, when you smoke marijuana it stops your bodies purging system, meaning if you had to throw up your body won't register to do it by instinct. So say if you've had to much to drink, your body by instinct tells you to throw up to get rid of excess alcohol. If, however, you smoke pot and drink (which would likely happen with the amount of duel drug use people do), you're more likely to get alcohol poisoning because your body doesn't tell you to throw up.

Absolutely and categorically untrue. I have smoked a shitload of weed, and can inform you that you are talking out of your arse. I have smoked to the point where I 'greened out', threw up in the toilet, then fell asleep. I have smoked a load of spliffs, got blind drunk, then ended up throwing up in the toilet and falling asleep. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but it didn't kill me. And at no point have I ever been physically inable to throw up while high.

Sorry that was my mistake. I meant to write 'can stop' instead of 'it stops'. The potential is there for it to happen, but there's not a garuntee. Again, poor wording on my behalf.

By nature, the amount of tar that goes into your lungs when smoking marijuana is 2/3 greater than tobacco. It also absorbs more tar when mixed with tobacco. So if you smoke both joints and cigarettes, you're MORE likely to get lung cancer. It's hard to do actual research on it because it is an illegal drug, but from animal testing they have found an amazing number of things.

For those of you who say it does less brain damage that say alcohol, you've never had to try and teach a class of kids who smoke pot heavily from the ages of 12-16. These kids couldn't even remember what time to come back from lunch.

Just because people want to legalise weed doesn't mean they want to make it legal for all ages, or that you can smoke it anytime, any place without punishment. Alcohol is illegal, yet I assume you'd still punish any child who walked into school drunk out of their mind. People want weed legal so that they can have a nice relaxing smoke at the end of the day without being treated like criminals. If people can go down the pub, get blind drunk and start fights with each other, then they should also be able to stay in and smoke some spliffs from the comfort of their own home.

Yes but alcohol isn't legal for all ages either yet a high amount of underage drinking still happens. It's a lot easier with alcohol as they just get an older friend to buy some because you can buy it over the counter. Now imagine the amount of underage kids who would smoke marijuana if they could get their friends to by some. And don't give me that crap about a stressful day. Those people are already staying at home and smoking anyway, so I'm pretty sure they don't care whether they're classed as a criminal.

Marijuana is also seen as a gateway drug. There are very, very few drug users who will do other illicit drugs that didn't try marijuana first. Drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes are less likely to do this, as drinking and smoking circles are far different from drug taking circles.

This has nothing to do with the properties of weed, and everything to do with its illegal nature. Drug dealers who sell weed often sell other, more profitable drugs. The fact that people wanting to smoke weed have to deal with criminals pushing other drugs is a large part of why some weed smokers go on to try other drugs. If weed were legalised, people could get their pot from the local shop, not some shady criminal offering all sorts of drugs, and thus fewer people will be tempted to go out and try other drugs.

I know it has nothing to do with the actual properties of marijuana, but it is a factor none the less. People don't buy different drugs off of a dealer simply because he has it. They buy it because they want to try new things. I know plenty of hard core drugs users who have been asked by young people if they can buy ecstacy or ice off of them, and those people have turned them down because they don't want them getting involved with it. They didn't offer the drugs to them, the person wanted it out of their own choice.

Think of it like this: if you're in a social circle that plays only Playstation games, you'll play a large variety of only Playstation games. But, if you introduce an X-Box only circle, you'll play maybe one or 2 games, and if you like it you're more likely to play both.

So because X-boxes are not Playstations, but some people like both, then weed should be illegal What?

Way to miss the point completely. I was trying to make a basic example about different social circles. There are social groups you can have that do nothing but drink but would never do drugs, but then there are other social groups that will drink and do drugs. Once you move from group A into group B, it's very unlikely you will go back. And the longer you stay in group B, the more likely you are to experiment with more drugs.



All in all though, I couldn't really give 2 shits what you do. You clearly like marijuana and nothing I ever say, no point no matter how good it may be (and I'm not saying all of my points are right and yours are wrong), will make you agree with me. Seeing the stuff I've seen and hearing the stories I've heard from people of all ages and races who've used different drugs, I stand firmly on this. This isn't me trying to be morally superiour either. They guy asked a question, I gave him an answer.

 

[Uszi]

When are people going to start differentiating between legalizing marijuana and decriminalizing it?

It's a shame that the people who most often fail to make this distinction are the proponents of decriminalization. How much success will you have when you misrepresent your own side of the argument?

 

[DudeistBelieve]

One more thing I forgot to mention: I'm sure we'd ban cigarettes and alcohol if we could afford to, but by the time we figured out how bad they could be, they had become an integral part of our economy, and we literally couldn't financially afford to ban them. Keeping marijuana illegal isn't so much about fairness, it's more like keeping more things like cigarettes and alcohol (i.e. harmful but necessary) from making their way into standard economy and practice. I'm personally in favor of keeping it illegal. I just don't see why people want it so bad.

Some of us just believe in the freedom and liberty ideals the USA was suppose to represent.

 

[tzimize]

Just because something isn't as BAD for you as other things (Marijuana vs Alcohol) doesn't mean that everything 'better' than that one bad thing (Alcohol) should be made legal.

Besides, there isn't any GOOD reason for it to be legalized. Crime goes down? Well fuck, just make murder legal and crime practically vanishes.

Gains revenue? Not enough to make a difference, and you'll just end up in the hospital at some point with a horrible, extremely expensive condition to treat.

Has medical purposes? Medical marijuana is already legal. ARGUMENT INVALID.

Think you might have missed a point. If you legalize crime doesnt go down because its not illegal anymore, crime goes down because a lot less people would go to dealers instead of the store. If you dont have to buy it illegally why would you? Supply and demand. Demand would drop like a rock and the supply would not be needed anymore. So the crime around it goes away. At least a lot of it.

The main reason MJ is a gateway drug is because people get caught in a bad environment, a criminal one. Not because every pot-head ever suddenly get a craving for heroin. Legalize = less drug addicts and less crime.

 

[Jnat]

Because if it was leagal it would still hurt people, even if it wouldn't hurt them as much as alcohol does.

 

[John the Gamer]

Well it isn't here (I don't think so) -> Netherlands <- But I don't know. Maybe because it makes people do stupid things and alcohol was already common. Everyone used to drink beer in the middle ages because water was contaminated. That carried on into todays society. Drugs... Not so much.

 

[RYjet911]

The fact that it directly kills brain cells is the main reason. And legalizing it would increase the risk of people driving while hallucinating. While the effects may not be perceived as being "as bad" as cigarettes or alcohol, it still is bad for you, and we're probably better off without it.

lol, more recent studies than those done in the dark ages show in small amounts the stuff IMPROVES brain functionality.

Killing brain cells was a very awful experiment performed on monkeys where they forced hundreds of joints worth of weed into them via a breathing mask, the smog so thick the poor things didn't get any oxygen. Oh, what am I thinking? Of course it must have been the weed, not the lack of oxygen, that caused the brain damage... So much easier to blame a drug.

 

[reg42]

also it doesn't make you hallucinate

It can, if you get really good stuff.

Also: Marijuana being illegal is stupid etc, etc, etc. These threads are pointless; it just turns into two groups shouting at eachother.

 

[Drizzitdude]

You ever seen people drive while high? Good enough reason i suppose.

 

[Dorian6]

its illegal yet cigarettes and alcohol kill alot more than marijuana does.

Waaaaaah MOOOM! Why can't I play Fallout? Timmy's mom lets him play Grand Theft Auto, and that's way worse!

 

[Kopikatsu]

Just because something isn't as BAD for you as other things (Marijuana vs Alcohol) doesn't mean that everything 'better' than that one bad thing (Alcohol) should be made legal.

Besides, there isn't any GOOD reason for it to be legalized. Crime goes down? Well fuck, just make murder legal and crime practically vanishes.

Gains revenue? Not enough to make a difference, and you'll just end up in the hospital at some point with a horrible, extremely expensive condition to treat.

Has medical purposes? Medical marijuana is already legal. ARGUMENT INVALID.

Think you might have missed a point. If you legalize crime doesnt go down because its not illegal anymore, crime goes down because a lot less people would go to dealers instead of the store. If you dont have to buy it illegally why would you? Supply and demand. Demand would drop like a rock and the supply would not be needed anymore. So the crime around it goes away. At least a lot of it.

The main reason MJ is a gateway drug is because people get caught in a bad environment, a criminal one. Not because every pot-head ever suddenly get a craving for heroin. Legalize = less drug addicts and less crime.

None of that made sense.

Let's say there are 45,000 crimes a year in a certain area, and drug use accounts for 12,000 of those crimes. If you make drug use legal, then they only have 33,000 crimes a year. Crime went down because it's no longer a crime.

And people keep saying that 'The government could tax it'. That just means that everyone would either still go to dealers (Because it's cheaper), or grow their own (Because it's legal and cheaper still.)

Marijuana is a gateway drug because people enjoy the high they get, but they want an even higher 'high' and faster. So they turn to harder drugs to get it. Pro-Marijuana really has no stance besides 'I WANNA SMOKE POT BECAUSE IT'S COOL'.

 

[RYjet911]

le snip 2

So instead of asking me to rephrase something you may of misunderstood, you are going to be a juvenile prick about it?

Let me make this as clear-as-fucking-possible since you seemingly cannot understand anything that isn't put in the simplest of terms:

SMOKE = BAD (No matter where it comes from)
CIGARETTES = BAD, KILLS PEOPLE
MARIJUANA = BAD, ALSO KILLS PEOPLE IF YOU SMOKE IT.

How can you not understand that? I am quite aware of the effects of cannabinoids on the human body, but I'm sorry I don't have a link to either a irrelevant study that is completely circumstantial(not saying yours were) or to something that is government-funded propaganda.

Smoke is not marijuana. Smoke can kill, and marijuana smoke may be worse than tobacco smoke(which it isn't). If you use marijuana without smoking it, it. Will not. Kill you.

Maybe respond with a logical argument instead of immediately telling me to screw off because I actually said something worthwhile.

From what I've read, weed has a lot of toxins and such... But none are in nearly high enough quantity to cause much harm at all. Unless someone's smoking pounds of the stuff each day... And damn I doubt they'd remember their own name if they were doing that!

 

[Harlief]

At least alcohol can be enjoyed in a variety of wondrous flavours and textures, it's not just for getting smashed.

For weed smokers such as myself, part of the fun is in finding a new strain and smoking it, seeing how it tastes and what sort of high it gives. There are just as many different flavours, and probably more, than there are shish tobacco.

Yes, I imagine there is a flavour element to weed smoking, my point is that getting high appears to be an integral part of weed smoking. Am I right in saying that?

 

[Webb5432]

A less dangerous drug like weed would sell much, much more than tobacco and alcohol would.

Are you suggesting that the only reason people use tobacco or alcohol is because there aren't any safer alternatives available? I highly doubt that...

Not at all. The reason people still use those drugs are:

1) Addiction (pretty straightforward)
2) Availability and legality (easy to find and perfectly legal)
3) Media (Not going to rant on that. Use your imagination)
4) Peer pressure from anyone or anything having experience in all the above

That basically covers it.

What I meant to say is that from a business standpoint, weed would be a serious competitor, and no one whose runs a brewery or tobacco company would like more competitors. How could they afford their BMW's and Aston Martin's otherwise?

 

[Gimelbub]

The fact that it directly kills brain cells is the main reason. And legalizing it would increase the risk of people driving while hallucinating. While the effects may not be perceived as being "as bad" as cigarettes or alcohol, it still is bad for you, and we're probably better off without it.

It doesn't cause hallucinations.