Posted on 02/20/2002 6:08:45 AM PST by Magician
My first reaction is WHY NOT?
It’s a question of common sense.
Our marijuana laws do not work. They never have, and they never will.
Their stated goal being to rid society of the so-called affliction of marijuana use, the harsh reality is that since prohibition, usage rates have increased drastically.
Either we legalize it, and fast, or we get busy locking up millions of Canadians. With one out of three Canadians admitting to having tried marijuana, we may very well be locking up our best and brightest, not ruined by drugs, but ruined by the criminal sanctions that go with getting caught for what amounts to a common social practice. I can’t even begin to count how many elected officials admitted to having used it, yet everyday hundreds of average citizens are arrested for marijuana offences.
So, why are there so many users, and why is marijuana so easy to acquire?
In a strange twist, prohibition is to blame.
When a product is illegal, the profit margin skyrockets. Prohibition turns an agricultural product (a plant that’s very easy to grow) into a drug worth its weight in gold. Without prohibition, marijuana would cost pennies to produce. No wonder some adventurous modern day prospectors are setting up in their own back yards and basements to try and get in on the gold rush. Who could blame them? They aren’t hurting anyone, they’re making good money, and most of all customers are willing, grateful participants in the process.
We must come to grips with the fact that the demand for marijuana is never going away and find a better way of dealing with it. Imagine the billions of dollars spent on marijuana and enforcement going to more noble causes like health care and other social programs.
The general public understands this. Support for legalizing marijuana recently reached the much sought after 50%+1 majority. Recent polls show that 51% of Canadians support legalizing marijuana, a slim, but very real majority.
And with more and more advocates, the trend is just taking off. Several European countries like Belgium, Switzerland, Holland and Germany are successfully leading the way towards tolerance with legislation aimed at helping drugs users, not by treating them as criminals, but as human beings deserving of respect. There is no reason why Canada should lag behind. We should be on the cutting edge of this new international movement.
Now it is time to step onto the world stage and assert our sovereignty by legalizing marijuana once and for all. I would venture a friendly wager that the international community would stand by Canada on this issue. Our inevitable success would then make us a world leader in marijuana reform—an example for others to follow.
(I can hear it already): But marijuana is dangerous!
For the record, marijuana is NOT dangerous. It is no worse than coffee and much safer than alcohol. Marijuana is also much less addictive then cigarettes. Chronic use is rare as the majority do not smoke it everyday. Try that with tobacco!
What little risks that may be present with marijuana are no worse then any other risks deemed "morally acceptable". Should we ban music because, if played too loud it might hurt your hearing?
French fries and gravy are far more dangerous for our health then marijuana. Should we ban fast food and send overeaters to mandatory fitness camps?
Who are we, as a society to judge? What exactly are marijuana users guilty of? Who are they hurting? What have they done wrong?
To deny marijuana users the right to choose what they want to consume is nothing more than an arbitrary decision based on moral values, not public interest......
Legalization does not mean promoting use. It means providing medical care, support, education, quality standards and proper labeling. We then trust that responsible adults will make their own choices. This is what makes legalization healthy for our society. At least legalization would force retailers to be accountable for what they sell.
Under prohibition, the government has waived its responsibility for the well being of marijuana users, and is only responsible for their arrest and persecution.
This total disregard for their rights drives a wedge between them and the rest of society and breeds contempt for our legal institutions. If society does not tolerate pot smokers, how are pot smokers supposed to tolerate society? This does not make for a healthy social climate and even less a basis for sound policy.
If a policy so deeply flawed as prohibition not only fails to reach its goals, but actually makes the situation worse, it should be radically changed.
Prohibition is the problem, and legalization the solution.
In places where marijuana is tolerated use actually decreases.
Of course, don’t count on the politicians to have the courage to change the law—it’s not in their nature. Look instead to the Supreme Court. That is where most significant legal change comes from anyway. Gay rights and abortion issues were resolved there, and, some time this year our land’s highest court will also rule on the constitutionality of marijuana prohibition. I strongly urge government to make a wise decision and end this madness now. Millions of bright, productive, patriotic pot-smoking Canadians are counting on it.
Most sincerely, Marc-Boris St-Maurice Le Parti Marijuana
Even more bizarre was the fact drug warrior Dick Nixon made Mr. Pillhead himself an honorary DEA agent when the latter showed up for a White House visit in the early 1970s, loaded to the gills on prescription meds.
YOU ARE NOT EVIL BECAUSE YOU THINK DRUGS ARE A MENACE TO SOCIETY.
YOU ARE EVIL BECAUSE YOU WISH TO USE THE FORCE OF GOVERNMENT FOR GOING AFTER PEOPLE WHO HAVE MADE THE SAME MISTAKES THAT YOU YOURSELF ADMIT TO MAKING.
You are the one who needs to catch a clue, and learn to read.
Yes I am fine with a society in which people make mistakes - I believe it has something to do with the human condition and the fact that we are all fallible and we are all sinners. People do learn from their mistakes. You are making what is called an ecological fallacy by equating the learning undertaken by individuals and the "learning" of society - you cannot logically project individual learning to the greater society. Also, society is not a monolithic structure. People go through phases in their lives just like you did, and people change (i.e., learn). You just think that you are superior to everyone else; they don't have a chance, and they can't make the proper choices for themselves because they are not as smart as you. What's worse, is that you think the government ameliorates the situation, while even cursory observation of the drug problem in this country reveals the government not only exacerbates the problem, but is duplicitous in it as well.
Hubris is a major character flaw, next time you opt for dessert, take a slice of humble pie.
LOL, actually Dane might have a point. He could be a poster child for the horrible things that drugs can do to the mind.
I've yet to see and drug hegemonists in Gen X or later.
What about the body?
Man...listen I am living proof that heavy,long term pot use can be harmless,I have never had pneumonia,my lungs are crystal clear,I am reasonably lucid,my motor skills are above average,as is hand to eye coordination,I am able to remember characters and events from books I read in school and just last week.
People only notice the mental midgets who screw up on drugs not the users who are nondescript.I suspect that alot of people would suprised to know how many people actually smoke pot.
58 Posted on 08/21/1999 20:32:10 PDT by HEAVYD [ Reply | To 56 | Top | Last ]
Link(Biographer: Carl Sagan Drew Inspiration From Getting High
I am sorry that HEAVYD passed away and sympathize with his family who are no doubt still missing him, but his words were quite ironic.
I know this post will have people pushing the abuse button and I may even get banned, but I thought it an important point to show that pot is not benign as pointed out by the article of this thread.
Don't worry, you won't get banned, if disrupting hundreds of threads with lies and inane off topic comments over the past year or so hasn't gotten you banned this probably won't either.
Now are you going to tell everyone about your guilt in dealing drugs as well as using them? Or are you going to deny that you ever exchanged drugs for money? Ignoring the question leads to the inevitable conclusion.
Uh I am keeping with the spirit of the thread and that was that pot is basically benign and causes no harm.
Sorry that you can't see the forest for the trees.
You are very interested in the forest because it makes some forget about the trees. But I'm not one, I am still waiting for the answer to your drug dealing past. Changing the subject doesn't get it. It is pretty clear now that you were a dealer.
LOL! You are on a crusade aren't you. No I wasn't a dealer, just a messed up consumer of the late 70's/early 80's.
What about you. We all know that you think that you are as pure as the wind driven snow.
So you never, ever bought more drugs than you needed and sold them to your friends/drug buddies for a small markup or even for the same you paid for them?
You know,, not as a dealer like being in the business, just like, ya know,, to help your friends and fellow druggies?
Him,,,,"Like, ya know man,, I didn't score today, got any"? You,,,,Ok man, but like I paid good bread for this stuff so you gotta like reimburse me dude".
Fess up Dane
You know,, not as a dealer like being in the business, just like, ya know,, to help your friends and fellow druggies?
Him,,,,"Like, ya know man,, I didn't score today, got any"? You,,,,Ok man, but like I paid good bread for this stuff so you gotta like reimburse me dude".
Fess up Dane
LOL! You know for someone who says that he has never touched drugs and considers himself as pure as the wind driven snow, you sure know a lot about drug dealing.
But I am not going to focus on that and wish to refocus on the original naive spirit of this thread and that was pot is benign and doesn't hurt anyone.
But that doesn't matter to you, IMHO. You probably think I am some clandestine government drug dealer and you are going to harp on that so that you can keep your belief that drugs come from the goverment "alive".
Go right ahead, that is your right to be paranoid.
Hey Man, we all can't be totally cool rad like a bitchin' '69 convertible firebird duuuuuude. You crank some Steppenwolf in that puppy or what, Boss?
Of course you wish to refocus, you choose to not answer. The truth is you were a dealer. And a trafficer.
LOL! In reply #194 I stated that I was not a dealer.
You are getting pathetic, but what else could I expect.
Oops I now see that you added trafficer in your reply #198.
LOL! You like to play Clinton like word games also.
I am not a trafficer, either.
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