Poll: Should they legalize pot?

[khaimera]

I'm tired of arguing this repeatedly so I'll just say YES. And its funny how many people don't understand what the drug actaully does to you, its not bad at all.

 

[Plurralbles]

No. If it becomes legal everyone will do it, especially high schoolers, and America will fall as our youth waste their days legally doing drugs.

yep. That's so true. That's exactly what would happen. It is guaranteed that because it's legal for 18 year olds or older to do it, everyon will do it all the days of their lives. No one will abstain from it. No one will ever read the warning lable(which will be the same as cigarrettes, as any smoke will do lung damage), or anything. Nope... EVERYONE IN THE WORLD IS A FUCKING MORON TOO STUPID TO NOT DO SOMETHING UNLESS THE GOVERNMENT NANNIES THEM!

edit:

Legalize it, regulate it, and tax the hell out of it. That would really solve any problems it might cause--no unsafe drug deals/potential additives/other bad things like that, and the taxes would pay for any medical issues.

Besides, marijuana was originally made illegal because tobacco farmers got jealous (don't quote me on that, I'm probably wrong).

Don't worrry, it was mostly racism that got it illegalized but I can understand that tobaccoists had a hand in it too perhaps. ANyway, I'd be just as ahppy if I din't have to pay for the border patrol and air patrols and raids on cannabis growers and smugglers with my tax dollars. That shit gets expensive. THe US gets a good million kilos of marijuana at the border with mexico yearly. Not having to guard it for that drug would make it easier to patrol for illegal immigrants.

 

[MinishArcticFox]

People will smoke it whether it's legal or not so you might as well legalize it so that you can tax it and so that it can be regulated by the FDA and the government. Meaning you could control the quality and put an age limit on it etc etc.

Do you really think that because you legalise it people won't sell it on an idependent basis? Putting an age limit will just force the younger ones to go to dealers so nothing will have changed.

Look at prohibition as an example. Once they made booze illegal people started home brewing it but once it was legalized again the gangs still tryed to sell it but no one bought it because they could buy it from companies. This would be a similar situation why would you want to buy from a street vendor and then have to guess at the quality when you could buy genetically enhanced weed that is modified to have a higher THC concentration from a company?

As for kids I agree people under the age would still try to get it but it would be harder. If a store is selling pot they will check for ID because it's the law just like a liquor store will but a street vendor won't. It doesn't stop them completely but it does hinder them a bit more.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

snip

Well I am sorry not everyone is like you and your friends and when you are drunk are high you are more likely to do stupid things. Now not all dealers are like this but ones in Ireland in certain parts of Dublin dip it in heroine to try get you hooked on heroine. I for one know someone who has basically done nearly every soft drug there is and he said he would never try Esctasy sober but high he would give it a go. While I am not saying this is as bad as cocaine if it is pure it is still a bit of a step up from marijuana. Also if you would have read my post you would have noticed I said not everyone is like this but you will get people that are. You will also get people who are doing it to be edgy and cool but these people will find now that marijuana isn't doing itfor them and may go on to different things. Once again not everyone is like this but there are some who will be even besides that if you wanna smoke it bad enough you won't have any problems finding it if you look hard enough.

 

[Blitzkreg]

But surely criminalizing all drugs is just going to provide bigger business for drug dealers. If you legalized all drugs then at least drug dealers/organized crime will become a lot less powerful. Also people wouldnt be stealing, killing and dieing just to get their next fix, the government could make it affordable and give it to the people who really need it and eventually ween everybody off the dangerous stuff and just let non-lethal drugs be legal.

Making all drugs illegal takes away the rights of people, it doesnt matter how bad it is for them, people should be free to decide what they put into their own body (as long as they're sane)

That's why we shouldn't just take away all drugs. While tobacco and alcohol are bad, like I said before, they're integral parts of our society and cannot effectively be taken away. But we can draw the line a marijuana, and not legalize it. As far as "ween[ing]" people off these drugs, how can we do that?? That has never worked in this country in any way, and the only way I see to stop it from spreading is just not legalize more drugs...

 

[Plurralbles]

it should be legalized just so that criminals stop getting HUGE amounts of money, especially to stop those pot farms in remote areas that would be lovely to hike otherwise.

there was someone in one of the past "should we legalize pot" threads that mentioned how his biggest concern in being a park ranger, his childhood dream, was that he was likely to get shot at by some drug growers in the remote places where he's supposed to go for the job.

To save the lives of people who gain their livelihood from caring about the environment is a good reason to me for legalizing pot.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Yes. It appears to be no more debilitating than alcohol and no more harmful than tobacco. I see no reason it shouldn't be a consumer product.

 

[Blitzkreg]

everything should be banned and stuff

So um, where would you draw the line? Ban Caffeine? Ban any food that isn't strictly nutritional? At what point does something go from being an essential to a luxury? That's a pretty slippery slope.

--

I'm for legalising pretty much everything. Making it illegal doesn't stop it being used, it just means only criminals profit from it. Hell if heroin was legal al-qaeda and North Korea would lose their primary source of income.

Legalizing things only makes the problem worse. If we can stop the flow of drug addicted people we can eventually push back the drugs themselves. As far as the luxury drug thing goes, you're right, that is a slippery slope, which is why we SHOULDN'T ban all drugs, because while they have a negative effect, they're here, and there's not much the government can do to stop it. In short, I'm content with what we have today, and I don't think the government should take a step further into any other recreational drugs, even if they can be "medicinal".

 

[Plurralbles]

Not a great many people I enjoy debating with so much my man (not-gay hug).
I did indeed forget that it was legal in the ACT, I did indeed. Agreed that cigs are pointless, just slow suicide is all. At least cigars are enjoyable, but I wouldn't start doing that on a regular basis either.
Personally I think that as long as people know the risks, and are mentally capable of deciding for themselves, they should be able to put whatever they want into their bodies. Maybe excluding steroids and a few other things, because I'm not so keen on the idea of them killing other people.

Myself, I had very (very) very severe depression for a few years of my life, and I know that there are risks of bringing that back up to the surface by smoking, but I don't want to let it control my life. I was on antidepressants for a while, but that fucked my over in a way that I would consider to be way worse that the depression itself. They just stop you feeling anything at all, and I can't deal with that. You're like a zombie. I digress. What was my point again? Uh... I forget. Make what you will of that all.

Haha, not to try and one-up you man, but I went through a period of feeling nothing, including emotions and hunger. Like, full-blowm medical syndrome thing. I know exactly how bad it is. And that's why I'll never be able to smoke weed

And yeah, I know personal freedoms are important. But we will never be able to stop people doing this, but legalising encourages it, and I just can't support that. It's not legal in Canberra, it's just not a criminal offence. That means that you can be fined for it, but you will not recieve jail time or a criminal record, even for repeat offences. I think that this is the best strategy, as it doesn't encourage use but doesn't fuck up people who want to do it.

One upped me you have, but I'm kind of glad I didn't win that one. I remembered my point (-:
There is a history of mental illness, both in my family and in myself, but I still choose to smoke. I'd rather live with the risk than inhibit myself from experiencing everything I want to. I mean, that's just my personal view but I feel that people should always have the choice to use drugs, even if it is a risk. I'm glad I did try, because regular weed use hasn't done anything to make my depression worse, and I enjoy life a little bit more because of it. For me, cutting out weed would be like cutting out video games, or good food.

Also, I don't necessarily agree that it encourages people to do it. More people would start smoking, yeah, but I think that those would just be people who wanted to smoke prior to lagalisation but were unable to. Maybe more people would try it, but I don't think that all that many more people would become habitual smokers if they didn't already want to.

My ideal system would be legalised weed, but only available from specialised outlets, regulated by the government. I don't agree with what other people suggest, that it should be taxed heavily, because that would just open up the black market again.

Also, I'd like to put this graph up here.

It's taken from wikipedia, and just demostrates that weed is less harmful in the long run than either alcohol or tobacco. Not directed at you Dude, just putting it up. Happened to find it just then, in ma browsing.

so tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol should all be illegal but LSD and Ecstasy are fine, in comparison?

Wow, I wonder how they made that graph.. I'll call bulshit for now.

 

[Blitzkreg]

snip

Okay, so here's your article from science daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090209075631.htm

Look, regardless on how I feel about drugs, this issue with marijuana should be stopped, it goes past the point of your "personal liberties" and into the realm of brainwashing the younger generation. Not all drugs should be banned, many are good for people in certain citations, even admittedly marijuana, but as for a recreational use? That would only prove to hurt the young adults growing up with it. Bear in mind I'm 16, so I'm talking about my future here. I actually think that you're being the ignorant one about the anti drug cause, and while I don't support it, you have to know that while some drugs when used in the correct proportions can save your life, ALL will kill you if used incorrectly, which is why all such drugs should be left solely in the hands of the professionals who can prescribe them, and out of the hands of the out of control individuals who just want a buzz. I'm sorry that you yourself use these drugs, as I have a friend who I knew from a young age, and I've seen her evolve from a nice girl, into a heavy drug abuser, and it did all start with Marijuana. Granted she was underage anyways, but perhaps if the government cracks down harder on these drugs, we can stop their spread once and for all, and stop sad stories like this.

 

[Reverend Del]

As a former pot smoker I can assure folks that pot is not harmless. Short term it kills motivation, and short term memory. Long term it can do very serious damage. As with any drug (including the legal ones) pot essentially rewires the brain for a short spell. Continued use can cause severe mental issues owing to the fact that your brain isn't supposed to be rewired by anything other than the body's natural chemicals. I personally acquired some fun mental disorders not the least of which is chronic agoraphobia. From being a perennial walker I now don't leave my house except if I have no choice. It's not a case of won't, but more a case of can't owing to debilitating fear. Fun times. This is a result of drug abuse over the years. I've done many powders herbs and other fun things, but I was mostly a pot smoker. The others were passing fads never lasting more than a single month or single use depending on the narcotic in question. I wasn't the most well balanced person to begin with so it's also fair to say weed won't have this effect on everyone or even most, but if you're already prone to staying indoors a whole bunch it could very well be how you end up if you use it long term.

Now for my stance on prohibition, which is what this is, it didn't work when the Americans tried it in the 20's and it isn't working now. All it's doing is making criminals richer, why not legalise it all? Make it available in specific clinics where the government can regulate the strength, and what each drug is cut with. Also they can easily provide documentation on all the short and long term health problems as well as offer rehab courses in the very same buildings. Or at leats ones nearby. They could tax the hell out of them like they do with alcohol and tobacco and everyone would be happy.

 

[benoitowns]

people want to smoke pot because to them it's cool and edgy. Take away the cool and edgy part and reduce it to Tobacco and I think we'll start getting somewhere as a society.

Onward to meth or heroin then?

YES! Wait a second, is that a trick question>

 

[Dok Zombie]

Fuck no, it'll get more expensive.

 

[Zorg Machine]

It's less dangerous than tobacco and it would help the economy.
We should legalize pot, prostitution and all that so it can be regulated and safe...and so that we can get filthy rich of the added taxes *hands half way into the air, laughing manically*

 

[Legion]

I don't like it myself, but considering Alcohol and Tobacco are legal in most places then I can see no valid reason behind having it banned. Especially considering Tobacco has no benefits to people but plenty of problems and Alcohol has very little benefit to a lot of potential ones.

 

[riotwraith]

Instead of another heartfelt argument to not read as you skip down to the reply button, enjoy this lame "What's the point man" copout. None of us understand all of the issues at stake, none of us know how the government works and how legalization would actually work out or what kind of backlash there would be from the anti-pot people, we don't have any real statistics to back opinions up as half of the pot related statistics are lameass high school surveys that no one takes seriously (I always marked that I started smoking crack when I was less than ten years old and that I use all forms of drugs at least 6 times per day because LOLOLOLO WE ARE SO COOL AND EDGEY PUTING WRONG STUF ON SURVEYZ LOL) and the other half are lobbyist, see-what-you-wanna-see crap from both sides.

Until we all get some serious facts to back this up and the government seriously looks like it might look into it, why don't we all just leave it alone and go back to doing what we were going to do? Does anyone think the president or prime minister or whatever you have is reading this right now going "OH MY GOD! Theyre all right, what was I thinking? Well, this 12 year old from arizona wants to smoke pot so I better legalize it. But this crotchety old man who doesn't want kids on his lawn thinks it should still be illegal. I'll go with whatever side gets more votes"

 

[Billion Backs]

snip

Okay, so here's your article from science daily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090209075631.htm

Look, regardless on how I feel about drugs, this issue with marijuana should be stopped, it goes past the point of your "personal liberties" and into the realm of brainwashing the younger generation. Not all drugs should be banned, many are good for people in certain citations, even admittedly marijuana, but as for a recreational use? That would only prove to hurt the young adults growing up with it. Bear in mind I'm 16, so I'm talking about my future here. I actually think that you're being the ignorant one about the anti drug cause, and while I don't support it, you have to know that while some drugs when used in the correct proportions can save your life, ALL will kill you if used incorrectly, which is why all such drugs should be left solely in the hands of the professionals who can prescribe them, and out of the hands of the out of control individuals who just want a buzz. I'm sorry that you yourself use these drugs, as I have a friend who I knew from a young age, and I've seen her evolve from a nice girl, into a heavy drug abuser, and it did all start with Marijuana. Granted she was underage anyways, but perhaps if the government cracks down harder on these drugs, we can stop their spread once and for all, and stop sad stories like this.

There's no way to kill yourself through use of marijuana. It's impossible to overdose through smoking because you'd stop caring about that before you even got half of the amount you need to overdose.

People do not magically become drug abusers through some kind of a "gateway" drug. People become drug abusers for a variety of reasons, the main one, of course, is because their life sucks balls, they're depressed, and they try to get away through escapism of any sort. That's why some people drink themselves stupid on daily basis, that's the reason people do any type of escapism. And if you think about it, it's reasonable. If you ignore all the pink and fluffy lies you're fed about the world since childhood, you see plenty of ugly, shitty things, so you try to escape - whether through books, movies, video games, or religion, or drugs. You try to add meaning to a world that inherently lacks meaning.

Lastly, individuals who just wanted a buzz always existed in our society. There's such thing as alcohol, and it's most often used for such matters.

The main fight is ideological here. And I stand by my views. Your body belongs to you and you only, you put in or take out whatever you want, and it's your own decision to choose death if you want to. Government has no business telling me what to do with my own body.

And why exactly do we assume that a long life is automatically better? It's the experiences that matter, although they kind of don't considering that any meaning is fleeting and ultimately futile.

Personal liberties are more important then life.

 

[Billion Backs]

Instead of another heartfelt argument to not read as you skip down to the reply button, enjoy this lame "What's the point man" copout. None of us understand all of the issues at stake, none of us know how the government works and how legalization would actually work out or what kind of backlash there would be from the anti-pot people, we don't have any real statistics to back opinions up as half of the pot related statistics are lameass high school surveys that no one takes seriously (I always marked that I started smoking crack when I was less than ten years old and that I use all forms of drugs at least 6 times per day because LOLOLOLO WE ARE SO COOL AND EDGEY PUTING WRONG STUF ON SURVEYZ LOL) and the other half are lobbyist, see-what-you-wanna-see crap from both sides.

Until we all get some serious facts to back this up and the government seriously looks like it might look into it, why don't we all just leave it alone and go back to doing what we were going to do? Does anyone think the president or prime minister or whatever you have is reading this right now going "OH MY GOD! Theyre all right, what was I thinking? Well, this 12 year old from arizona wants to smoke pot so I better legalize it. But this crotchety old man who doesn't want kids on his lawn thinks it should still be illegal. I'll go with whatever side gets more votes"

Government doesn't care about facts too much. I mean, you can see plenty idiotic decisions that has been made since, say, the start of 20th century up to today.

Although I do agree with the whole "what's the point" theme in your post.

 

[Bloodstain]

Legalize it and it will no longer be "cool". Ss a consequence of this, people who want to be "cool" have to take meth or heroin.

I think it should be legalized, though. Who cares for dumb cool people. Let's all be freeeeeeeee~!

 

[hiiamolli]

For all the people saying 'Tax the hell out of it'all that will do is cause people to go back to lower quality stuff on the streets again, bringing back all the problems it caused their in the first place. Granted all countrys could eliminate debt with it, chances are with extortionate taxes no-one will buy it.