Should Marijuana be legalized for medical purposes/recreation?

[LudavicoSoldier]

If you do illegal drugs, you are an idiot.

Marijuana to Meth, you are nothing but a goddamn loser.

That is all.

What, if you drink beer till you puke, your not a goddamn loser? I'll be damned if I let "the man" tell me how to have a good time. I find it funny and in the "land of the free" people have such a hard time keeping an open mind. Yes, lets all do what the government says, as they CLEARLY have our best interest in mind.

[lather]

Legalization aint gonna happen.

The powerful liquor/beer special interest groups in Washington would lobby hard against any legislation attempting to legalize marijuana.


On a side note here in Hawaii, the DEA and the Feds spend countless millions of dollars a year on the big island of Hawaii trying to eradicate the Marijuana fields.

All they have really accomplished is raise prices without really affecting the availability of pakalolo.

If a new law was enacted making Marijuana legal, all these government Agents and Beauracrats would be out of a job. These agencies depend on Marijuana being illegal in order to justify a large portion of their annual budget.

Personally, Id rather put these agents to use guarding our ports and entry ports from terriost infiltration then spending millions of dollars and wasting huge amounts of manpower just to burn a few pakalolo plants.

[Lohman446]

My opinions on the smoking of pot and those who use it regularly aside (they are not good) I am of firm beleif that the government does not have the constitutional authority to legislate its use, at least on the federal level. Even if one excepts the unconstitutional broadening of the federal governments power over time the logic behind the total ban of pot is at best questionable.

[Target Practice]

What, if you drink beer till you puke, your not a goddamn loser? I'll be damned if I let "the man" tell me how to have a good time. I find it funny and in the "land of the free" people have such a hard time keeping an open mind. Yes, lets all do what the government says, as they CLEARLY have our best interest in mind.

Where did I ever say that? I see binge drinking every weekend. Do I think it's stupid? Yes. Are the people that do it weekend after weekend goddamn losers? Yes.

Drugs are illegal. They are harmful.

What about that don't you understand?

[LudavicoSoldier]

What I don't understand is why people think that drugs, marijuana in this case, are the worst thing on earth simply because the government tells you so. I am inclined to trust my own experience over some pompous crusader politician. I also don't see why people get so up-in-arms over something that they have no interest in. If you have no interest in smoking pot, then don't. However, simply because you do not subscribe to my beliefs does not make them wrong.

EDIT - I am not advocating drug use. My personal decisions are mine alone. Most drugs are EXTREMELY harmful. Marijuana is not one of them. Marijuana is a plant that grows in nature, as is tobacco. Sure, smoking anything adversly affects your lungs, I am not denying that. There is also a HUGE misconception the marijuana is a gateway drug, and that if you smoke pot, you MUST be dropping acid or snorting coke. It is simply not true, despite what politicians would like you to believe.

Don't believe the hype. Form your own opinions from personal experience, not from what you are told.

[Torbo]

alcohol is legal. The effects and dangers of alcohol are so much more severe that that of marijuana. No one goes home and beats their family because they are blazed. You can drive a car high. You can think, work, do really anything at all high. Drinking? cant do any of them. Can you become addicted to alcohol? yes, alcoholism is a dangerous problem, and ive seen first hand what it can do to an individual and their family. Can you become addicted to marijuana? no, not physically. a mental habit forms, but anyone with willpower can stop at any time.

yes, i do speak from quite a bit of experiance.

Whichever side of the fence you are on, i highly suggest you go to www.erowid.org. That is the most informative and unbiased site there is.

[Target Practice]

I beg to differ, LS. If someone gets high, and gets in a car, it becomes my business. If a drug deal goes to hell, and an innocent bystander gets shot, it becomes my business. If someone needs to knock off convienince stores or houses to support their "habit", it becomes my business.

It might not happen to me, but it could happen to me, and that's enough.

[LudavicoSoldier]

TP - Fair enough. All I am saying is that there are far worse things that the government could spend their time fighting, such as meth and coke. They demonize marijuana and attempt to put it in the same ballpark as hard drugs, when it is nowhere close. The effects of alcohol are 10x as bad as the effects of marijuana. Why spend so much time and money fighting something that does not cause nearly as many problems as is portrayed?

EDIT - I would be willing to wager that marijuana accounts for a TINY fraction of drug related violent crime. Weed is simply not worth enough to kill someone over. Additionally, Marijuana is not physically addictive. Mentally addictive, yes, but so are cigarettes. I have never heard of anyone who robbed someone so that they could smoke a joint. There are exceptions to every rule though.

[Chris42050]

I beg to differ, LS. If someone gets high, and gets in a car, it becomes my business. If a drug deal goes to hell, and an innocent bystander gets shot, it becomes my business. If someone needs to knock off convienince stores or houses to support their "habit", it becomes my business.

It might not happen to me, but it could happen to me, and that's enough.

If it were legalized you could buy it in a liqour store. No more bad drug deals. The price would be about the same as a pack of smokes. No more robbing people to get the cash for thier pot. NOw getting into a car, anyone on alcohol can get into a car and be far more dangerous than someone on pot.

[Target Practice]

If it were legalized you could buy it in a liqour store. No more bad drug deals. The price would be about the same as a pack of smokes. No more robbing people to get the cash for thier pot. NOw getting into a car, anyone on alcohol can get into a car and be far more dangerous than someone on pot.

I'm just refering to LS's "no interest" comment, that's all.

Just because we make it legal, cheaper, and easier to obtain doesn't make it right. Take cigaretts, for example.

Edit:

NOw getting into a car, anyone on alcohol can get into a car and be far more dangerous than someone on pot.

You're absolutely right. And?

Why spend so much time and money fighting something that does not cause nearly as many problems as is portrayed?

Marijuana is a gateway drug. That's a fact. It's better to nip drug use in the bud, pun intended, then to catch it later.

[LudavicoSoldier]

Hehe...you wouldnt happen to be straight edge, would you? I hear the same level of intolerance from edge kids I know.

Also, do you form your opinions from personal experience (friends who have problems with marijuana) or from what you have been told or have read? Just curious.

[Target Practice]

Hehe...you wouldnt happen to be straight edge, would you? I hear the same level of intolerance from edge kids I know.

No, not straightedge per se. I drink wine occasionally, because it tastes yummy, and being Italian, it has been served on the table for years. Also, it contains important antioxidents. However, I couldn't tell you the last time I had a glass. Maybe...4 months ago? The more you know. It's been...a touch over 14 months since my last beer, on St. Paddy's day (I'm Irish too, it was required).

I hate drugs, and if you smoke you are retarded. Can't quit? Then you shouldn't have started in the first place, moron (not to you, LS, but just any smoker). Seriously. Anyway, I digress.

I was taught that drugs were bad. When I saw best friends of 10 and 12 years get thrased, and screw up their lives, I realized what I was told was true. Have I ever been tempted to try drugs? Hell no. Will I ever? Hell no. Have I been asked to try? Of course I have. I told them no.

"Just say no" really works. They offer, you decline, they don't offer again. If they keep bugging you about it, then perhaps you need to associate with different people.

[Target Practice]

Edit:

Also, do you form your opinions from personal experience (friends who have problems with marijuana) or from what you have been told or have read? Just curious.

I think I inadvertantly answered this, but I'll answer it again. I base my opinions from both sources. I've seen good friends and family get screwed because of drugs. One smoked weed, which led to cocaine and meth. Another tried weed once, then went to buy it, and was pulled over on the way home and arrested. One was a father who smoked weed, and now his 12-year-old son smokes. Why? Because he saw his father do it.

All the stuff they put on TV isn't just propaganda, people. It's real, and it happens.


Edit Number Two:

Reply != Edit

[LudavicoSoldier]

See, now this is how previous threads about this subject should have gone. Civilized discussion about a serious topic. Kudos to everyone who has voiced their opinion!

I wholeheartedly agree that kids who do drugs are down the wrong path, no question about it. I did not smoke pot in high school, nor did I drink. I am a firm believer that if you are going to try drugs, you should be mature enough to accept to consequences of your actions. As an adult, I accept full responsibility for what I do, and don't try to blame anyone for making me the way I am. In all things, moderation is key. If you cannot handle what you put into your body, you are a fool for doing so.

EDIT - Let me preface this by saying that while I do smoke weed, I am also an upstanding member of my community, and I hold down a management level job with 40+ hour work weeks. I don't smoke pot because my friends do it, nor because its the "cool" thing to do. I smoke primarily because it calms my ADD addled brain after a long day of prescribed medication/work.

[Chris42050]

I'm just refering to LS's "no interest" comment, that's all.

1.-Just because we make it legal, cheaper, and easier to obtain doesn't make it right. Take cigaretts, for example.

Edit:



You're absolutely right. And?



2.-Marijuana is a gateway drug. That's a fact. It's better to nip drug use in the bud, pun intended, then to catch it later.

1.-I thought we lived in a free country. Why dont we start acting that way. Just because you think its bad that means I cant do with my body what I want to.

2.-Lets be realistic, Alcohol is a gateway drug, Not marijuana. Lets stop the hipocrisy and let people do as they wish with thier own bodies and in the process not only save billions of dollars, but make money by taxing it and making crime go down drastically. Why let the gang bangers make all the money while us taxpayers spend it trying to stop them. Why shouldnt we get a peice of the action and stop hemoraging cash from our own pockets to stop this violence.