For or against: Weed Legalization

[Animarnia]

I'm for legalising Canabis. Because its no more harmful than Alcohol; and while I wouldn't partake in Canabis even if it were legal simply because thats my choice; same as its my choice to not smoke nicoteen, or not dance naked every full moon. Choices are important. The big reason though is economic; the Canabis industry and it is an Industry is huge, we're talking billions of pounds or posabily economic income, not to mention Job boosts with legalised Canabis factories opening, so by and large I view it the same as Prostitution - Legalise it, Tax it.

Secondly - it would lower violent crime; imagine if when people were really really angry and would otherwise resort to violence they could just; light up and melt there anger away, Canabis by and large is less addictive than Alcohol and people smoking Canabis are far far less agressive than people who go out and have 5 pints of Larger. there are side effects but there are side effects to anything taken in excess.

Thirdly. It free's up all those resources to actually contain the really bad addictive drugs like Cocaine and Heorine. The shit that really does ruin lives and fuck you up, really bad.

Fourthly. - It does have good Medical benifits particularlly as a mucle relaxant for people with MS

Fifthly - The UK Drug Advisory Council agrees; not that they are allowed to. the Government only likes to listen to them when they're saying saying things the Government agrees with

[JuNii]

Don't force me to use an inane analogy as to why it's not good policy to be against legalizing something because somebody online had a bad argument.

You specifically said that you have heard the good arguments, didn't you?

unfortunatly, I can't use that excuse.

as I said, I TALKED to people.

So no. all my stated experiences with the 'pro legalization' crowed has not been online but though face to face conversations. tho the ones that had some ideas about regulations were more often online than not.

Oh yeah, I misread that. Still, the same applies.

I have other things I use to decide. so it's not just what people say...

[Kalibarr]

Keep it Illegal but ban alcohol and tobacco as well.

[Free Soviets]

Keep it Illegal but ban alcohol and tobacco as well.

because the war on drugs has been going so well?

[Samaerik]

Against.
But I'm also for the prohibition of alcohol. Not a very popular viewpoint that will probably never actually become a reality, but I still believe in it.
I just do not think the majority of people are responsible enough to handle such monumental influences.

[JuNii]

Keep it Illegal but ban alcohol

Wot... AGAIN!?!?

and tobacco as well.

well, here in the US... we are working towards that...

[Sumamba Buwhan]

Against.
But I'm also for the prohibition of alcohol. Not a very popular viewpoint that will probably never actually become a reality, but I still believe in it.
I just do not think the majority of people are responsible enough to handle such monumental influences.

The problem with that is that you create a lucrative black market for banned goods which only causes problems and doesn't solve anything.

Gang's make lots of money and there is a lot of violence as they compete for territory.

People still abuse the banned substances just as much if not more.

Prisons/jails needlessly fill up with non-violent offenders.

How would you suggest that we address these problems when the billions currently being poured into addressing them have done NOTHING to curb the illegal drug trade?

[Tunizcha]

Prohibitions do nothing but cause trouble.

The first spike is the Alcohol Prohibition (1920-1923), and the second rising is after the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.

[Unterzagersdorf]

Deleted

[Greenyville]

just going to chip in here again with something ive said before
it doesnt matter what it is, if it kills you, if it drives you insane or if it just tastes nice, its really not anyones place to control what anyone else wants to put into their own body. if i want to smoke weed then dammit i will, and it really has fuck all to do with you. same goes for any drug, if people want to inject smack or meth, yeah thats not a road id choose to go down... that doesnt give me the right to stick my big nose in and decide i know better than the person making that choice.
anyone who wants to take up the "its everyones business because of public health bla bla" treatment could always be turned down if it was a direct result of the persons actions.

[Cosmopoles]

Legalizing cannabis is a nice gesture but doesn't go far enough. All drugs must be legalised to reduce the damage organised crime does to countries all over the world. I have never and will never condone the use of the most harmful drugs, but people will continue to use them regardless of whether individuals or governments accept them so I still believe that it is least harmful to end drug prohibition.

[Robarya]

Against. It just turns people into annoying potheads that rabble about the corporations' power, equality and shit like that. As if things are not bad enough already, they want to make it even worse.

[RightLeaningChristians]

Make Weed Legal, and Ban Cigarettes.


Cig smoke smells like shit. Pot smoke smells pretty good.

[Sarkhaan]

If a person is actually in pain there are dozens of alternatives ranging from fentanyl to simple acetaminophen. "Pain" is not a valid excuse in the least bit.

Concentration, same thing.

Homicidal maniac? Asylums work for that.

Here's a thought, how about you just stop giving a shit about what other people do if they leave you alone?

When drugged up teenagers stop getting behind the wheel under the excuse that "Marijuana doesn't affect my driving as much as alcohol" then I will stop "giving a shit".

Then you support the illegalization of alcohol, right?

Not at all. Alcohol has uses other than escaping reality. Alcohol operates as a preservative, antiseptic, is high in calories, and is responsible for colonization of the new world by means of allowing long ocean travel in the days of old.

And Marijuana doesn't have any other uses whatsoever?

All of those uses harp back to "escaping reality".

So, a cancer patient who's on the terminal stages of his disease uses pot to ''escape'' reality? Heh, and here I thought they used it to alleviate their pain. Silly me.
Those evil doctors!

Fentanyl lollipops.

Nothing like taking a drug that isn't addictive, and replacing it with one that is highly addictive.

Did you miss the "terminal stages" part or are you just ignoring it to try to make a point?

No...just being amused by the fact that you can blatantly disregard the risks associated with one medication, but not another. Addiction is only one of many bad side effects of fentanyl, even if you are terminal. And, for many, it is too strong of a drug.

As a side note, I'm curious. What is your opinion of Marinol (a schedule III drug)?

[Of the CSA]

Because there's no legitimate reason to keep it illegal unless we also make alcohol illegal. In other words, having alcohol legal and cannabis not is hypocritical and logically untenable.

You have to draw a line somewhere. alcohol is so deeply rooted in the foundation of society it is impossible to remove. Sometimes as a society you have to accept the things you can't change and instead put your energy into trying to deal with things you can change. I agree alcohol is harmful, but can you agree that it cannot be removed?

Marijuana has been rooted into human society for just as long. It was one of the first plants to be domesticated by humans and has grown alongside human civilizations for thousands of years. People have valued it not only for its mind-altering state but also for its hemp fibers.

In the 1930s, innovations in farm machinery and industrial technology were promising to greatly increase the production of hemp. This single resource could have created millions of new jobs generating thousands of quality products.

In 1937, Dupont patented the processes to make plastics from oil and coal. Dupont's Annual Report urged stockholders to invest in its new petrochemical division. Synthetics such as plastics, cellophane, celluloid, methanol, nylon, rayon, Dacron, etc., could now be made from oil. Natural hemp industrialization would have ruined over 80% of Dupont's business.

Andrew Mellon became Hoover's Secretary of the Treasury and Dupont's primary investor. He appointed his future nephew-in-law, Harry J. Anslinger, to head the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

Anslinger immediately drew upon the themes of racism and violence to draw national attention to the problem he wanted to create.

Here are some quotes from this man:

“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.”

“…the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.”

“Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death.”

“Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men.”

“Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing”

“You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother.”

“Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind.”


(notice how some of these quotes are contradictory)


Hemp was declared dangerous and a threat to their billion dollar enterprise. For their dynasty to remain intact, hemp had to go. These men took an obscure Mexican slang word: 'marihuana' and pushed it into the consciousness of America.

The menace of marihuana made headlines. Readers learned that it was responsible for everything from car accidents to loose morality.

Films like 'Reefer Madness' (1936), 'Marihuana: Assassin of Youth' (1935) and 'Marihuana: The Devil's Weed' (1936) were propaganda designed by these industrialists to create an enemy. Their purpose was to gain public support so that anti-marihuana laws could be passed.

Examine the following quotes from 'The Burning Question' aka REEFER MADNESS:

* a violent narcotic.
* acts of shocking violence.
* incurable insanity.
* soul-destroying effects.
* under the influence of the drug he killed his entire family with an ax.
* more vicious, more deadly even than these soul-destroying drugs (heroin, cocaine) is the menace of marihuana!

Reefer Madness did not end with the usual 'the end.' The film concluded with these words plastered on the screen: TELL YOUR CHILDREN.

They told their children and their children grew up to be the parents of the baby-boomers.

On April 14, 1937, the Prohibitive Marihuana Tax Law or the bill that outlawed hemp was directly brought to the House Ways and Means Committee. This committee is the only one that can introduce a bill to the House floor without it being debated by other committees. The Chairman of the Ways and Means, Robert Doughton, was a Dupont supporter. He insured that the bill would pass Congress.

Dr. James Woodward, a physician and attorney, testified too late on behalf of the American Medical Association. He told the committee that the reason the AMA had not denounced the Marihuana Tax Law sooner was that the Association had just discovered that marihuana was hemp.

Few people, at the time, realized that the deadly menace they had been reading about on Hearst's front pages was in fact passive hemp. The AMA understood cannabis to be a MEDICINE found in numerous healing products sold over the last hundred years.

In September of 1937, hemp became illegal. The most useful crop known became a drug and our planet has been suffering ever since.

Congress banned hemp because it was said to be the most violence-causing drug known. Anslinger, head of the Drug Commission for 31 years, promoted the idea that marihuana made users act extremely violent. In the 1950s, under the Communist threat, Anslinger now said the exact opposite. Marijuana will pacify you so much that soldiers would not want to fight.

About time some one said that, Im for it, its wasting time and money make it legal so we can move on

[Cameroi]

i'm for legalizing anything that doesn't involve money.
and regulating the hell out of anything that does.

just signed the petition in question today myself.
they had a table out in front of trader joe's, where
i stopped off to pick up a couple of groceries on my way home.

they also had one that was something about car insurance.
to put something on the ballot about insurers not being able to charge more
when the lure people to change on the premis of charging less. or something like that.

i'll pretty much sign anything that sounds remotely liberal to put something on the ballot.
(where i'll then read the fine pring of the actual text before deciding how i'll actually vote on it)

while there are many things people might be better off not consuming,
banning possession of them is just simply not a logical or otherwise good approach.

[The Movie of the Book]

Prohibitions do nothing but cause trouble.

The first spike is the Alcohol Prohibition (1920-1923), and the second rising is after the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.

The second spike started years before the controlled substances act of 1970, and it's been a linear increase, not exponential.