Legalization of marijuana

[Phydaux]

I voted yes.

I also believe that other drugs, cocaine, heroin, LSD, Ecstasy, should be legalised (for recreational use) Why because then the government could control the quality of the substances, so people aren’t injecting themselves with drain cleaner, snorting filler, and eating a whole bunch of crap that is produced in extremely unhygienic places.

Do you remember what happened in America during prohibition? People wanted alcohol, so they were supplied with it, by gangsters. Leading to a high amount of organised crime, and higher rates of alcohol use.
Legalising drugs would cut crime and the only people to be negatively affected would be the criminals, other people who wanted to try these drugs would be able to without risk of prosecution, and know what they are getting. Would this send a message saying that it’s ok to take drugs? Of course, but it would be up-to the government (with all the extra tax revenue) to educate people to the consequences of using these drugs (as well as legal drugs) so people can make informed decisions. No-one would be forced to take drugs.

It would also remove the "criminal" tag that users get, when they are otherwise law-abiding.

I really hate people who say things like “drugs are bad M’kay” and “Why do you think they call it dope, huh-huuck!” (Goofy style) These people are usually uninformed, and make decisions on what their friends have said, or what they’ve read in their local (almost always bias) paper.
All drugs (legal or not) have negative side-affects, just like they have positive side-affects. It also depends on what you’re looking for in a drug to decide what is a negative side affect.

Caffeine is bad for you, as it’s a stimulant it puts extra pressure on the heart which could lead to heart problems in the future. People still consume it in copious amounts, because of their addiction to it, and it’s beneficial properties as a stimulant.
Aspirin can cause asthma attacks in sufferers, should this be banned because someone with asthma (esp. if they don't know they have asthma) could die from it? Paracetamol is highly dangerous, even a small amount over recomended dose can ruin your liver.

In moderation drugs are fine, too much of anything is the problem. (even caffeine can kill you if you take too much). Marijuana can be bad for you, but so can fat, and salt.

IMHO If I was stuck in an elevator with someone I would rather they were stoned/high from marijuana, coke, heroin, or E. Than pissed on alcohol. It would be safer.

Also why has everyone only talked about smoking marijuana? I don't smoke, but I eat marijuana. No chance of me getting lung cancer from that.

Marijuana is not physically addictive, tho people can become psychologicaly addicted to it. Many of the biggest “pot-heads” I’ve known are doing big things with their lives. Including being UK tae-kuan-doe (or however you spell it) champion (in his weight class), another is moving to France to set up a youth hostel, another runs a pub.

More often than not it's the person that has the problem, not the drug. Illegal drugs are an easy scapegoat for politicians and journalists, when the real problems are things like bulling, and poverty. Drugs aren't the cause they are the escape.

[na_th_an]

Yup. I can state that MJ is not addictive. I can do without it. In fact, I don't have it while I'm on exams, and that's two months. I don't even think about it. You have a very bad picture of what weed is, maybe 'cause you just saw pure addicts (not to MJ, but to many other things).

Here many MJ users don't even drink alcohol or smoke "legal tobacco", just do MJ when they feel like.

I can understand why most of american/canadian people in this thread have such a bad picture of MJ: it may be 'cause it is something that only rowdy jives do. In Spain it is quite different. The culture among MJ is quite well informed.

[toonski84]

No chance of getting lung cancer from chewing tobacco, either, right?

my friend, i dont get my facts from biased friends or my local crappy newspaper. I hang out with a group that smokes weed. They're my best friends. But they're wasting their lives. And even what you call "recreational" pot smoking. And don't tell me pot smoking is not addictive. How would you know? I know because it is an neurotransmitter agonist, which means you are chemically dependent on thc for whatever feeling you get from pot. Whether you know it or not, you cannot relax as easily now as you could before you started smoking. I didn't get that from a damned pamphlet.

No drug has beneficial properties. Even caffiene (it doesnt "wake you up", it just keeps you concious, your brain functions just as crappy). Medically, drugs are used to correct imbalances to ease pain, but a healthy individual has no right taking them.

Now, as for prohibition, marijuana was banned in the 1930s, as was crack. It's still in the books today, and unlike alcohol, which people abuse regularly, it's used by a minority in the states. Here's another lesson on prohibition. For three years, the legal drinking age was lowered to 18 in Florida. Fatal car accidents jumped. Majorly. thousands of percent. Now at 18, you are fully developed for abstract thinking, and capable of making decisions on your own. So why not let people make the decision to drink and drive on their own?

[na_th_an]

Well, I just can tell you from experience. *I* am not addicted to anything. I was addicted to tobacco a bit ago, but now I am not.

Anyhow, we won't get anywhere with this discussion. It is something personal. You just see it as bad as heroin (for example) when it is somewhat as 1% as bad as heroin. From self experiences, weed doesn't ruin your life, as it hasn't ruined mine, and it doesn't have any traces of ruining it. I even know some of my friends' parents that do weeds, and they work in important positions and they are not failures at all.

Anyhow, say no to dopes. I will say yes. At least I can still reply intelligent programming related questions in this forum with success, can't I?

[Zack]

Phydaux: Legalize Ecstasy?
I don't think that anyone can argue when I say that it kills you without much of it.
And if it were legalized, we'd probably see death rates in kids from ages 14-18 jump incredibly.

Following a similar point, Cocaine and and Heroine should also be kept strictly illegal.

Now, Shrooms (sometimes known as Magic Mushrooms) should also be legalized, like Marijuana, but again, *strictly* controlled.

[_Bill_]

I gotta get this off my chest. Anyone that uses an addictive substance that says their not addicted to it, doesn't hold much stock IMHO.

[wizardlife]

*strictly* controlled.

I keep hearing this term pop up its dirty little head... what do you mean by 'strictly controlled'? Should you require a prescription to purchase it, or is it available at a convenience store? Should there an age limit on it? We all know what a joke the cigarette age limit is...

Does 'strictly controlled' simply mean the government slaps a huge tax on it so that it's better to purchase on the underground anyways?

How can something be legal and yet 'strictly controlled'? And don't just give me that 'no-criminal record' nonsense...

[Zack]

When I say "Strictly controlled," I mean the following:
1) Sell it in places like liquor and drug stores. Definitely not in supermarkets or convinience stores.
2) Yeah. An age limit. Mind as well make it 19, like alcohol and tobacco. While it certainly doesn't prevent kids from taking it, they won't be able to buy it. Convinence store owners sometimes just don't care about the strict fines they might have to pay if they get caught selling tobacco to people under 19, but drug and liquor stores? It wouldn't happen much there.
3) Disallow people from using it in public.
4) And of course, anyone caught driving or operating possibly dangerous machinery while under the effects of it will end up appearing in court.
5) And when you buy the stuff, it should have those disturbing pictures of the diseases or ill-effects that it might cause on the package, like on tobacco boxes.

[Nexinarus]

imo that wont do anything.

[BinarySHOCK]

And don't tell me pot smoking is not addictive. How would you know?

i kno because i smoke the damn shit so don't tell me it's addictive

Whether you know it or not, you cannot relax as easily now as you could before you started smoking. I didn't get that from a damned pamphlet.

Oh really? strange i went to the lake yesterday and had 1 of the most relaxing dayz of my life without smoking weed, so get your facts straight obviously all you know is fiction.