Legalization? An Insult-Free Discussion

As I said, I'm talking from my own experience as a kid. I enjoyed using a variety of drugs into young adulthood.
I think most drugs, including marijuana, should be legalized.
So, to clarify my previous post in light of your response:

At least when I smoked pot, some times it was more difficult to find than other times. Therefore, you had to know a variety of people from whom you could get it. Some of those people might only sell pot; other might have other drugs. As a consumer I found it best to have as many points of access as possible. That way I could always find it when others couldn't. So, the people with whom you associated might have been pot-only people, but I wouldn't be so quick to think that your experience is the norm. I suspect it's not.

My point was that lies and scare tactics are not drug education.

Third, let's leave the gun out of this, because it has nothing to do with what I was saying. Here's what I was saying: Kid A wants to get some beer and hang out, but he can't find anyone to get him beer. Kid B has some pot. Kid A gets the pot from Kid B instead of the beer and goes to hang out with his/her friends. I'm not saying that scenario happens in every instance; I'm saying it is a common scenario.
Another example, Kid C wants to buy pot. He/she calls everyone source he or she knows, but no one has any pot. Kid D, however, has mushrooms (or hash, crank, LSD, X, whatever). Kid C might opt to purchase what's available because he/she can't find any pot.
Buying a gun is not substitute for a bag of pot, and buying an 8-ball because you can't find a gram of pot is like scratching an itch with a rake. A kid looking to buy a dime bag of pot probably doesn't have the money to buy an 8-ball.

 

I don't have a problem with pot use (except by my kids, of course) but I wonder whether it's needed. Alcohol abuse can cause problems, and yes, it's legal. We know it's not going to be made illegal. That was tried once and we saw how well that worked. Is there a reason to legalize something else that, when abused, can also cause problems?

I'd vote for decriminalization. It still attaches a stigma to its use without our criminal justice system having to deal with it. Also, all medical use should be legalized.

 

The stigma is a huge problem, though. The thing is: it's not any more harmful than alcohol or cigarettes -- which don't have that stigma -- and in many ways, it's a lot less destructive. As was said earlier, no one ever died from a marijuana overdose. And it's the actual smoke that gives you cancer from cigarettes, it's the carcinogens. Marijuana cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes are two completely different consumptions.

Legalize it!

 

Let's get back on topic

What the fuck is wrong with incessant masturbation?

 

Exactly. I can't keep my buddy on hold all day.

 

Honestly, I can't think of a thing.  I could check pub med for you, though.   ;D

Cigarettes yeah - absolutely no redeeming value.  I do feel bad for the people hooked on them right now.  

 

Carpal tunnel, fellas.

Or so I've heard.

 

What about alcohol? Prohibition could save hundreds (if not thousands) of babies from being afflicted with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Not to mention all the lives saved from drunk drivers and liver disease.

 

Thanks for the clarification, DOH. I was going off the top of my head. Certainly the "tolerance" the Dutch show to things like this didn't seem to alleviate the number of vagrants in the streets, high and otherwise, when I visited Amsterdam.

 

So now we're citing other bad behavior to justify additional bad behavior?

 

I'm out!

 

Well, that's just intentionally silly, Lyman. But I'll answer anyway.

I was pointing out that a series of studies that show me that marijuana use is harmful to one's health really should have no bearing on whether it's legal or not in this country.