Legalization? An Insult-Free Discussion

You're right, P-Tap. DUI of anything is extremely dangerous. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

But to add one more point ... Marijuana's status as a "gateway" drug.

It is true that if you are around illicit drugs, you are more likely to try other illicit drugs. (Obviously, legalization would change marijuana's status -- thus disproving the theory, IMO.) So people who smoke marijuana are more likely to be around blow, X, etc., and be into the harder stuff.

But no educated doctor or scientist believes that marijuana is any more of a gateway drug than alcohol -- which is to say, it's not. Most people who smoke weed smoke weed because they like it. Kids, of course, don't count (as with alcohol, they'll do any drug they can get their hands on. That's where a lot of this gateway crap comes into play, too.)

Responsible usage of marijuana is absolutely comparable to responsible consumption of alcohol. End of story. Legalize it!

 

Just to qualify my response, I don't smoke anything, never have, the smell makes me sick.

When sane, responsible, rational people discuss, it always sounds so simple....lots of successful, responsible, well-adjusted people smoke pot, makes them feel good or relaxed, whatever.  No different than having a drink at home.

But the laws are in place for the rest of the crowd....kids, abusers, irresponsible users, who would STILL break the laws even if they were relaxed, just as they do with alcohol.  You'll still have 15 years olds lighting up, and potheads smoking too much and driving into a crowd of kids. Same as alcohol, and that too is a huge problem....perhaps a bigger problem. Do we need more?

For medical reasons---absolutely.

 

An important point is that millions of people can drink in moderation -- a beer, a glass of wine, a belt of scotch -- often for the taste of it and still drive while without showing signs of intoxication. I think one major hurdle of marijuana (and most other drugs currently illegal) is that the sole reason for existence is to intoxicate.

That being said, I don't care one way or the other if it's legalized. I guess I don't care because it doesn't affect me.

 

I don't know about the rest of the potheads out there, but as a former smoker, I can say when I did it, the LAST thing I wanted to do was drive. No freaking motivation. Except where food was concerned, that is.

 

21, you bring up an interesting point. However, because there are individuals that are irresponsible you are advocating the punishment of the responsible.

I don't light up. I don't do any drugs, besides alcohol. I think they should legalize it with certain caveats. These additional laws should be the inability to smoke in public or get behind the wheel of a car.

Just like DUI is a terrible, terrible problem, so too would driving while high. If you legalize it and allow for in-home use only, I wouldn't see much problem. Of course, there will always be those that flagrantly ignore the laws, just like there are those that do it with alcohol.

There is the issue with "kids." Of course this always comes back to "Will somebody think about the CHILDREN!!!!!????" If people haven't noticed, kids are smoking up now. They get it easier than anyone else. As such, since you can only use it in the home, kids will be forced to locate a house where parents aren't around. Smoking up behind a dumpster late at night could lead to getting busted. And, like some parents are with alcohol, they may be able to monitor the scene.

I would also point out that this would remove quite a bit of illegal activity regarding marijuana and open the doors to a wonderful means of taxation for the US government.

 

I know quite a few people who would gladly pay pretty much whatever tax the government slapped on a 20-joint pack of Highland Menthols.

 

Not to threadjack my own thread, but can you imagine the initial advertisting and marketing campaigns companies could come up with if the government DID legalize it?

"Doobieboro, the only brand preferred by lonely cowboys on the plains. Contains more THC than any other brand. Guaranteed to get you higher than the Stealth Bomber."

 

Mmm ... munchies. ;D
Oreos were always my munchies food.

Two points I take issue with:

That's simply not true. The medical benefits of marijuana have been proven for a long time now, and, of course, it has been legalized for medical purposes in several states for a few years now.

As for the intoxication ... you can get a small high off a single joint just as you can get a small buzz off a single beer/glass of wine. Marijuana can relax you -- just as alcohol does -- and it can also get you high, just as alcohol can also get you drunk. Obviously, you've got to know what your own limits are. But that's no different than alcohol, either.

The problem with the laws, though, are that there are currently, in this country, millions of people wasting valuable jail space and tax dollars and extra law enforcement personnel for mere possession charges. It is a travesty how much money and time and effort we have wasted on this failed "War on Drugs."

Of course, irresponsible users (kids, abusers, etc.) ought to be punished and we have laws in place for irresponsible alcohol users, as well. But the effects of marijuana are much different than the effects of alcohol. Again, alcohol is a downer -- and it raises anger and aggression levels. Marijuana does not do this. Legalizing marijuana would not bring the same "problems" as legalizing alcohol has. Its effect on people is completely different.

We've tried to make alcohol illegal before. We saw how that worked. It created more crime, and caused more problems, than it solved. Prohibition II -- the one on marijuana -- has the same effect.

Legalize it!

 

And you get one of my WFW stickers.

 

1. For any law already on the books, you can strike "alcohol" and insert "marijuana" and be just fine. Alcohol is legal, yet DUI isn't. If marijuana were legal and the cop smells it, the penalty should be the same. Why should it be different for one and not the other? "You toke, you drive, you go to jail."

2. If somebody could post how modern cannabis laws came to existence, it would be interesting. If I'm not mistaken, I think I heard the post-Prohibition alcohol lobby worked hard to make gange illegal in the 1930s to remove competition.

3. Maybe today, with modern marketing, all the big beer companies could roll out some pretty hilarious weed campaigns. The most obvious would be "This Bud's For You." 8)

 

That's pretty true for most laws....you wouldn't need laws at all if everyone was responsible and had great judgment. Laws are enacted to protect everyone else from the goofballs.

 

Just my two cents on the Marijuana is a gateway drug argument.... It was my expericene that pot was not a gateway drug, DRUG DEALERS were the gateway drug. Smoking pot didn't make me want to do harder drugs, the guy that was selling pot pushing everything else was the problem. Legalizing would take pot out of the hands of those pusing everything from meth to heroin, making it safer, and that is the point.