WHY LEGALIZE MARIJUANA?

Voy forum ^ | 2-19-2 | Marc-Boris St-Maurice

[Jonathon Spectre]

>rubs hands together eagerly, waiting for the Drug Warriors to tell us how demon weed will destroy America<
Oooh, this will be entertaining! We'll get to see rationality, reason, and any sort of intelligent discussion fly out the window when the Drug Warriors get here!

"Obey our government, or feel its wrath!"

Can't wait to see if that guy, or his alter ego, show up on this thread. It's like watching for Bigfoot.

[Phantom Lord]

And if they can get it legally, they won't have to steal the radio out of your car to pay for their drugs.

How could this be true? If they have to steal to pay for it today, how will they magically have more money by legal means tomorrow to pay for it if it is legal?

[southern rock]

Why? Because libetarians desperately want their dope and are willing to accept more nanny-state socialism to get it.

Are you from the universe with the bearded Spock???

[Dakmar]

Because prohibition acts as an artificial price support system. During alcohol prohibition a shot of whiskey cost about 8 dollars in todays terms, if I remember correctly from the documentary on the History Channel.

[Phantom Lord]

Wanna get high?

Come on, just a little bit?

[Phantom Lord]

The reason that the hardcore addicts have to steal to pay for their drugs is because they are not functional enough to hold a job and support themselves. That will not change by reducing the price. If anything, they will be able to do MORE drugs.

And before you make any assumptions, i full support the legalization of pot.

[reagent]

I've flip-flopped on this issue in the past, but now I feel the need for the legalization of Cannibis. Provided the substance is used responsibly, who is the government to tell me what I can and cannot do to my body?

However, there is one major difference between an illegal drug such as Marijuana and a legal drug such as alcohol. That one difference is intoxication. I can enjoy alcohol recreationally in moderate amounts and can control my level of intoxication. I can decide just to savor the taste of a good beer, or get obliterated on a fifth of whisky. With Marijuana it's a different story. The only result of use is intoxication. While this isn't necessarily a reason NOT to legalize, it certainly nullifies the comparison of Cannibis to alcohol.

[al-andalus]

'During alcohol prohibition a shot of whiskey cost about 8 dollars in todays terms, if I remember correctly from the documentary on the History Channel'

I'll bet it tasted better, too. The forbidden is always sweeter.

[Phantom Lord]

Did the show you saw give any information on the amount of crime that was caused by the "high price" of liquor that people were engaging in to support their drinking?

[eno_]

I don't want to sound like a preacher, but the most interesting thing I uncovered about the Drug War is the deplorable state of police culture. It is almost literally a case of the wages of sin. Divorce is nearly axiomatic. Alcoholism is twice the general population. Life expectency is 14-16 years lower than the general population (which is even more astounding if you compare against similar incomes and educations). You would have to look in the worst ghetto to find a more dissolute and less healthy culture. And yet the Drug Warriors posture as a thin blue line separating us from chaos. Well, sirs, address that great plank before you offer to remove the mote from my eye.

[Nate505]

MARIJUANA grows like a weed. Therefore anyone could grow their own crop of MARIJUANA for use. There goes your tax it argument. Why buy it from the stores, where it will have less potancy, higher cost and taxes to pay when you can get around all of that by growing it yourself? You are assuming that people are pretty much idiots and could not realize this on their own. Unlike grain alchol and beer, which takes different processes to more potent, the same process is needed for really potent MARIJUANA as does lesser potent MARIJUANA. All you need is a seed, water sunshine and there you go!

I think you underestimate the laziness of many pot smokers. Why grow it when you can get a month's supply or so for $30-50? And when the store has a great variety? Growing it could only get you 2-5 or so varieties at a time, when at a store you could theoretically get 500 or so different strains....not to mention that while growing is easy, growing well and drying well can easily be messed up.

[Wolfie]

Many countries are abandoning the U.S. led (or should I say, "force fed") Drug War model. Canada and the UK will soon follow.

Belgium Legalises Personal Pot Use

Swiss Government Decides to Legalize Pot Use

Portugal Legalizes Drug Use

America's Lonely Drug War

Drug Reform Not Limited By Treaties

[txhurl]

De-criminalize, that's the way to go.

Points to ponder:

How many court cases would have to be immediately dropped, and how many inmates would have to be released?

How many employers would have to re-write their drug policies?

How many urine-testing and drug-screening outfits would have to change policies and procedures?

How many police would lose 'side' income?

How much federal interdiction money would go bye-bye?

Has prohibition created too large of an anti-pot economy? Will this economy die willingly and gracefully?

[Dane]

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!

LOL! Here is the pot quote for the ages,

Another man, Patrick Hughes(a "medical marijuana "patient") circled around the police squad units -- sent as backup -- intermittently standing up and raising his arms in the air. "I have brain damage," he said. "I can stand up, but I can't walk."

Hughes said he smokes marijuana morning, noon and night to ease the pain.

LINK

[lugsoul]

Trust me on this one - I studied it intensely in college. A person can only smoke so much pot.

[Nate505]

I can enjoy alcohol recreationally in moderate amounts and can control my level of intoxication. I can decide just to savor the taste of a good beer, or get obliterated on a fifth of whisky.

That depends on how much you weigh and what your tolerance is to alcohol. I can drink a beer or two, but I still feel a slight buzz, equivalent to the buzz I get by taking a hit or two of pot. I know some potheads who can smoke a whole gram and barely feel anything....

[Phantom Lord]

How many employers would have to re-write their drug policies?

How many urine-testing and drug-screening outfits would have to change policies and procedures?

Well, i think employers who currently screen for users of drugs would be in their rights to continue to do so even if it was legal and would probably continue to screen and not hire those that test positive.

[Dakmar]

No, but there was a lot of crime on the supply end.

[sharktrager]

Good points, however the money spent on the drug war would be available to fight real crime, were this to be a problem. Most of the risks involve things that are already an issue, so I doubt we'd see too much in the way of negatives.

Additionally, the reduced spending could lead to lower taxes, which should help the real economy take up the slack of the pot economy.

I expect we would find we could have more effective policing with less spending if we made changes that forced a refocusing of efforts.

[Phantom Lord]

I also did indepth studies of it in college. I found that one could only smoke it while awake and the limit one could smoke was what was on hand. But the post I think you are refering to was in regardes to "hard drugs."