Why is marijuana illegal?

[B-Rye]

If it is illegal then it is illegal. However, to paraphrase Bill Hicks, doesn't outlawing something that is naturally occuring (outlawing nature essentially) seem a bit unnatural? Yet the government legalizes designer drugs, cigarettes, pushes diets, and controls the people via fear and sensationalism. Does that seem a bit unnatural?

 

[SD-Fiend]

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

that's because it's not legal so less people smoke marijuana.

 

[GraveeKing]

I don't know the original reason, but there's good reason for it to STAY Illegal.
My Sister had an Ex who started smoking Weed.
Well. Let's just say there's a good reason they're not together anymore, considering how nice he was before and then compared to how he was 2years into smoking weed. You may understand that after said personal experience of watching the relationship slowly be crushed to dust by a drug.
You can understand that I'll just keep it short and say:
IT'S ILLEGAL BECAUSE IT'S FUCKING NOT GOOD FOR YOU.
I think that sums it up well don't you?

 

[Eggsnham]

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

Because people are stupid, stubborn, and ignorant.

That's an answer to a lot of things actually.

EDIT: Also, Marijuana has never once been recorded as somebody's cause of death. Just thought I'd mention that.

 

[SinisterGehe]

Because long term usage of cannabis sativa is not good for your brain (short term exposure to THC is tho) and some people (including me) doesn't like mind altering substances to be available without some kind of control, this includes alcohol and medications. Also the smell is awful like burned tobacco's.

 

[TheJesus89]

snip

Look, we're jumping around the argument here.

I was pissed that you got so accusatory, and you said that driving high is equivalent to driving drunk.

You were pissed that I said smoking weed doesn't impair my driving ability.

We've both posted numerous articles showing that we were both wrong and right. It does slightly impair your driving ability, you were correct in that regard, but to the same degree as drunk driving or texting while driving? I don't think so.

So for the sake of trying to stop a pointless argument, truce?

 

[Eggsnham]

I don't know the original reason, but there's good reason for it to STAY Illegal.
My Sister had an Ex who started smoking Weed.
Well. Let's just say there's a good reason they're not together anymore, considering how nice he was before and then compared to how he was 2years into smoking weed. You may understand that after said personal experience of watching the relationship slowly be crushed to dust by a drug.
You can understand that I'll just keep it short and say:
IT'S ILLEGAL BECAUSE IT'S FUCKING NOT GOOD FOR YOU.
I think that sums it up well don't you?

The original reason was because someone figured out how to separate hemp fibers at about the same rate as cotton. Since hemp clothing is stronger and about as versatile as cotton, hemp clothing would have likely outrun the cotton clothing industry, something that a rich man who'd invested a lot of money into cotton clothing didn't like. So this man convinced congress that Cannabis was a deadly and poisonous plant, and the rest is history.

I also think it's funny how you can see over the years, that the arguments against weed slowly start to crumble and weaken.

For instance, it was originally thought to be deadly.

Then it was just potentially a threat to mind and body.

Then it was the whole gateway bullshit.

Afterwards it was the whole "it'll make you lazy" argument.

And now it's basically just health teachers saying whatever the fuck they want to say about it. I've had 2 teachers in 2 years say that weed is both harmless, and bad for you, respectively.

And honestly, the proof that weed is practically harmless and possibly beneficial, is overwhelming in comparison to the "proof" that weed is bad for you.

The most probable reason for your sisters' ex to have a drastic change in personality is likely a mixture of stress and a pre-existing mental condition with the addition of weed.

Weed doesn't cause mental issues, but it can exacerbate them. For instance schizophrenia, anger issues, and paranoia can all be worsened by smoking a lot of the green.

I'll just leave this linky here and get to bed before I fall asleep typing.

In it, are the statements and opinions of doctors, leaders of health organizations, and people smarter than you or I.

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Marijuana

 

[Naeo]

I'm gonna take a slightly different stance from what most people here seemed to take. I'm gonna go ahead and say that it's not a question of why marijuana is illegal but why tobacco/alcohol are legal, since everyone always throws those around as examples.

Tobacco is extremely deeply rooted in both American and western culture. And really, in the culture of almost every country on earth. Trying to outlaw tobacco in the same way that weed is outlawed would be similar to outlawing flip flops or ironic t-shirts. It's too strong a force as is, and the tobacco industry has gotten to the point where it has enough money to seriously lobby Congress, so there's not a real chance of it being outlawed at any point in the forseeable future. As for alcohol, same deal, but infinitely larger extent. Nearly every single person in America will have had alcohol by the time they're reasonably old (thirties or forties). Lots of them will drink semi-regularly--with meals, at parties, what have you. Further, alcohol is extremely deeply rooted in ALL human cultures. Outlawing alcohol would be like trying to outlaw cars or iPods. Since something like everyone (spot the hyperbole!) over 21 and a shitload of people under 21 drink, there simply no way to enforce something like that. If nearly the whole population ups and refuses to obey a law, you can't really enforce it. Especially not in a country as populous and physically large as America.

Were it not for those things, I think that at least tobacco would be illegal. Hell, it probably would be illegal were it not for the lobbyists alone. Alcohol I can't be so sure of. But, those things seem to me to be the only reason that people ever even bring up "why is marijuana illegal when tobacco and alcohol aren't." I'd say it's as simple as being so deeply ingrained in our culture, which marijuana is not.

Also, people saying "marijuana is good for you" and so on: yes, it has had many demonstrated medicinal uses and has many chemicals naturally found in the plant that are of great utility. BUT, something like all the people (spot the not-quite-as-big hyperbole!) who recreationally take marijuana smoke it. It doesn't matter what you're smoking--it could be the cure for fucking lung cancer--you still risk getting things like lung cancer and mouth cancer and throat cancer, because surprise, inhaling smoke is fucking stupid. Yes, there are some people who consume it in other ways that don't damage your health, but people overlook the fact that yes, in theory, marijuana is great for you. It has all the benefits. But in practice, just about everyone smokes it, so that's all null and void. Legalization would mean more and more people would get their fix via smoking it, rather than other means, which would completely negate the health benefits point.

 

[Eggsnham]

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

that's because it's not legal so less people smoke marijuana.

And before I go to bed, I must learn another person some common sense.

Approximately 80% of Americans have tried weed at least once in their lives.

Approximately 40% of Americans smoke weed on a regular basis (a few times a month).

That said, you'd imagine that there'd be people dropping dead left and right from Cannabis consumption, right?

Well, then why aren't Cancer research centers and hospital mental wards crowded with marijuana users? Because you can't die from smoking marijuana. You can't overdose, there's no conclusive evidence that it causes any type of cancer or respiratory illness, and there's plenty of evidence suggesting that there are anti-carcinogens in marijuana smoke. Meaning that the shit could potentially help in the fight against cancer.

 

[SD-Fiend]

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.

you are free to do whatever you want. it's just that there will be consequences.

 

[SD-Fiend]

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

that's because it's not legal so less people smoke marijuana.

"and there's plenty of evidence suggesting that there are anti-carcinogens in marijuana smoke. Meaning that the shit could potentially help in the fight against cancer".

well okay then but do you have cancer? people who are given medical marijuana are smoking it because they in need of it. people without cancer just want to get high

 

[mikeybuthge]

if we legalize all drugs, including marijuana, then all of the people that use it to the extreme, or excessively, or dangerously, whatever, will eventually just start to die off, a terrible way to look at it, but at the same time, if you think about it, would it not be a bit better?

 

[lizards]

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.

i had a much longer post but windows decided it was time to restart and update anyway:

crime goes down because unlike murder no one is hurt when someone smokes pot except that person, and while the cop is arresting that person people are speeding by, drunk drivers are going past, and we pay that cop for his time arresting that person, then that person goes through the courts, bogging down the already severely overloaded court system, and if its the right scenario that person goes to jail and then the tax payer pays for that as well, if pot was legalized none of those people would be wasteing their time and money doing any of that, and the person with the pot would just go smoke it

and your naive as hell if you honestly think that the government would not make much revenue off taxing pot, look at cigerattes and alcohol the only reason their still legal is because of that (more on that in a second)

and medical pot is a good thing to bring up because those people still manage to function and contribute society while they smoke pot

and more on the governments part: do you know how much money and time police spend on tracking down pot dealers, the growers, and the people? more money than most people can even imagine, probhibition of alcohol didnt work, but for a while the government kept trying and kept trying until they finally just stopped fighting the pointless war they had waged on alcohol, and pot is no different, they are losing the war againt it as well, pot is as easy to find for most people as alcohol, the only thing that we are gaining from prohibtion of pot is this odd feeling of "well we just spent a couple million dollars at least we got this much" while the people who think that go home and drink alcohol

and as to your other post if your breathing in the ash your doing it wrong

 

[lizards]

if we legalize all drugs, including marijuana, then all of the people that use it to the extreme, or excessively, or dangerously, whatever, will eventually just start to die off, a terrible way to look at it, but at the same time, if you think about it, would it not be a bit better?

um no...portugal i believe if is legalized everything or something of that nature and use is going down...and the people who would be using them in the extreme excessive dangerous way, are the ones doing that now so....what?

 

[lizards]

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

that's because it's not legal so less people smoke marijuana.

"and there's plenty of evidence suggesting that there are anti-carcinogens in marijuana smoke. Meaning that the shit could potentially help in the fight against cancer".

well okay then but do you have cancer? people who are given medical marijuana are smoking it because they in need of it. people without cancer just want to get high

so the people without cancer are doing it for the same reason people with cancer are doing it? i dont see your point here....

 

[lizards]

I have a few theories:

1. In some places, it grows wild and therefore is impossible to fully control. Since it is a potentially dangerous drug and also a potentially very profitable one, control needs to be airtight if they are to open that door, or at least better than it is now.

2. Not enough research has been done, or at least, not enough conclusive evidence has been drawn from that research. Levels of addiction, lung and respiratory damage, intensity of trip e.t.c. vary so wildly from person to person and depend on both the type of marijuana and the method of taking it (smoking, vaporizing, eating, e.t.c.). Marijuana may be considered too much of a wild card.

3. Just because other dangerous things are legal doesn't mean that more dangerous things ought to be legal. It may raise a question of double standards, but that alone isn't enough to justify legalizing a hallucinogenic.

Don't get me wrong: I approve of marijuana use in general. The issue is that it is still a drug, and it can be a dangerous one if it's not used carefully. And many people refuse to use it carefully. It CAN be addictive, so stop saying that it's 'totally not, not at all.' It certainly can be, depending on the person and the frequency of use. And I'm sick of hearing that marijuana is 'healthy'. Dude ... on a stress level, sure, but you're still inhaling hot smoke. That's never good for your lungs, and I can't believe that some people still don't see that.
Marijuana's great, but it isn't fucking broccoli.

thank you for being informed as opposed to the "BUT POT IS BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD" or the "hey man its healthy makes your brain grow big and strong check out my pot leaf hat to man" crowd that this thread as attracted

 

[Tryforlive]

cause people are stupid

 

[SD-Fiend]

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

that's because it's not legal so less people smoke marijuana.

"and there's plenty of evidence suggesting that there are anti-carcinogens in marijuana smoke. Meaning that the shit could potentially help in the fight against cancer".

well okay then but do you have cancer? people who are given medical marijuana are smoking it because they in need of it. people without cancer just want to get high

so the people without cancer are doing it for the same reason people with cancer are doing it? i dont see your point here....

well what eggsnham said was that it marajuana has anti carcinogis and can be used to help cure the cancer of the patient but the people who use this argument are the people who are NOT inflicted with cancer and only want to get high.

 

[lizards]

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

that's because it's not legal so less people smoke marijuana.

"and there's plenty of evidence suggesting that there are anti-carcinogens in marijuana smoke. Meaning that the shit could potentially help in the fight against cancer".

well okay then but do you have cancer? people who are given medical marijuana are smoking it because they in need of it. people without cancer just want to get high

so the people without cancer are doing it for the same reason people with cancer are doing it? i dont see your point here....

well what eggsnham said was that it marajuana has anti carcinogis and can be used to help cure the cancer of the patient but the people who use this argument are the people who are NOT inflicted with cancer and only want to get high.

while their has been some study into the anti carcinogen effect of pot, their still is some evidence that it causes it, what most speculation is that unlike tobacco which damages lung cells, pot smoke kills lung cells, which in theory is better because dead lung cells have no chance of becoming cancerous and are just replaced with the bodys natural healing, while damaged cells are what causes cancer

and no doctor perscribes pot has a treatment for cancer nor any patient smoking in attempt to kill the cancer, cancer patients smoke medical pot to get high same as non cancer patients

 

[SimpleJack]

Because if it was legal nobody would care about it...