Monday, November 20, 2006

Marita's question on weed


Should smoking marijuana be legalized? For medication? For recreational use? Should people be allowed to grow it themselves, if they don't sell it for profit? What are the pros and cons of legalizing weed?

21 comments:

English student said...

Why don't we try it and find out? Ha! Ha! Hey, you know, I've never heard of anyone who was high on pot going out and killing someone, or beating on their wife or kids, like alcoholics do. Why should alcohol, which causes people to be assholes, be legal, but pot, which pretty much makes people relax, is illegal? Why not let people grow it? If they sold it in places like liquor stores, the government could even get their claws on all that tax revenue! Then they wouldn't have to worry about dealers and pushers! Personally, I don't see a problem with it. I see more of a problem with alcohol.

Stacie Carlson

English student said...

Yes weed should be legalized. I agree with most advocates for legalization; weed doesn't cause people to fight, beat their children or give them the liquid courage to get behind the wheel and drive. I don't have a problem with people growing it for medication or recreational use. I feel that if you are not hurting anyone why should someone tell you not to do it. A pro of legalizing weed would decrease the illegal drug trafficking resulting in a decrease in crime. A con would be that it would increase its role as a gateway drug.

Emily Chittick

English student said...

I also agree with the others here, if alcohol is legal, why isn't pot?

From Debra Porter

English student said...

tough question.
i personally don't think that any drug should be illegal. As a result of the illegal drug traffic scene, many other crimes and murders are committed. Remember when alcohol was illegal? it didn't go away. neither will drugs. Infact, people will go to about any extreme to experience a high or to check out from reality. The problem is not the drug itself, the problem is why do people want to escape?

I personally do not use drugs and stay away from alcohol because I have personally seen too many loves of my love ones destroyed by the side affects of using.

However, I understand the need for quick highs (probably explains my love of rollercoasters and motorcycles)...I also understand the need to escape (probably why I have been known to read books straight through to the end in one setting - staying up all night long)...I also have abused other things in my life, like my love of food.

I think as a society, there needs to be regulations on drug and alcohol use. I think if someone wants to use drugs or alcohol and puts their own physical well being at risk, then that is their choice (even if I think it is a bad choice). I believe, illegal or legal, they will still make that choice. I do think there should be consequences to serve when their choices put others in physical danger or harm. Like driving under the influence, taking care of children while under the influence, coming to work under the influence...these are a few examples of unacceptable use of drugs and alcohol.

English student said...

the 12:32 comment was from Jan Baker

English student said...

From Barb Beals:

Let's really think about this one. Should Marijuana be legal? In my opinion just because people do it, doesn't mean it should be legal. It's a gateway drug, and what happens when people have their fill of it and want to have a new high. I know people that are completely addicted to pot. they then chose to lace it with other things like coke, or crack.

Pot isn't that big of a deal, everyone at one point or another has tried it. It won't make your teeth fall out, or make you see things necessarily. I don't want my son smoking pot, so why would I condone it's legalization? It's not fair to compare it to alcohol. It's not alcohol, it's a drug that you smoke into your lungs. It's now illegal to smoke in a bar, to even smoke a cigarette will get you a fine now in Champaign or Urbana. So obviously no one else thinks that alcohol is even as bad as a regular cigarette. You could legalize pot, but you couldn't smoke it anywhere. I will end this by saying that I don't want sclerosis of the liver, so I don't drink. One joint has the nicotine of 4 cigarettes. Seems to me that they want to ban smoking, so why would they even CONSIDER legalizing pot?

English student said...

no i dont think it should be legalized because then everybody would be smoking and then pretty soon mostly everybody would have cancer.If it is going to help you then they should use it.No i dont anybody should grow weed because it isn't just right.

Edwidge Philizaire

English student said...

I don't think marijuana should be legalized. It has been proven a harmful drug and has been illegalized for a reason. I think that marijuana could be legalized for medication, if testing proves that it will do things that other prescription drugs will not do. Marijuana should not be used for recreational use. It is already used for that illegally, and causes lots of harm. People drive while under the influence of marijuana, make bad judgements, and then end up killing themselfs or others in an accident. People should not be allowed to grow it. If people start growing it legally, then the market will be flooded with it, and everyone will have marijuana. We do not want marijuana all over the country. I don't think there are any pros to legalizing marijuana.

Jeremy Lamb

English student said...

I believe that the laws fo alcohol are much more lenient than the laws for marijuana. Alcohol does destroy families, and is one of the leading causes of traffic related deaths in this country. Hey, have you ever heard of a guy starting a bar fight because he was high on weed, No! I think pot should be legal, people are going to get high anyway, regardless of the laws, and its usually within the confines of their home or a friends home.

James Johnson

English student said...

I don't think that it should be legal. I think there would be to many consequences for legalizing the drug then there would be benefits. With it being available everywhere like in stores, bars etc. it would be plentiful and possibly more people will be smoking it. I also don't think that the drug industry wants it to be legal because I'm sure the value of it would go down but the government would tax it to an all time high if it was a legal product in this country. The only benefit I see to legalizing it is that it does benefit some people in pain and the government could receive tax for it. Other than that though it would be a mess if Mary J was infact legal!

Dan Berger

English student said...

I think weed should be legalized. For any reason. If weed were legalized, there would be less problems associated with drug dealing. Maybe even less fights, or people getting killed due to selling weed. If it were legalized, people might be more inclined to grow it themselves, cutting the middle man out. If weed definatley can not be legalized for any other reason but for medication purposes, it is still a good idea. It could really help put people that have cancer, or arthritis at ease. I don't really see why any drugs are illegal. If people want to do any kind of drug, they are going to find a way to get it, illegal or not. They are going to do them regardless. If they became legal,the people that didn't do them wouldn't start. It would let law enforcement officals concentrate on more important things other than drug busts. Like finding missing children, or murders.

English student said...

I guess I have to agree with most of the posters here. I gues the biggest crime I have heard of from people smoking pot was maybe overeating.... I guess I also dont believe it to be a gateway drug as some would say. Isnt it legal ( or wasnt it) for awhile in Alaska, to grow your own. I think I remember reading that once... oh wait, that is one thing say say pot does. They say it kills brain cells, but so they say about alcohol also. I say if it does kill brain cells, it weeds out the weak ones to make the stronger ones prosper :) JUST KIDDING -- I AM NOT ADVOCATING DRUG USE!
Dave Crain

English student said...

I posted last comment
Caitlin Parker

English student said...

This is a very good question. My reply is no. I believe that smoking pot; dope; marijuana, whatever you want to call it, leads to the use of more recreational drugs.

Although I do believe it would be good for the use of medicine--due to the fact that it causes people to want to eat, it could be useful in treating anorexia, or people who have cancer.

I think it is better than alcohol, although I do believe it is the cause of accidents when people get behind the wheel. I would rather see someone drive under the influence of a joint than be drunk on whiskey behind the wheel.

I think if it is legalized, there would be just as many problems as there is with alcohol. And it would give the government another reason to stick their nose in the public's business.

Thanks for the great question.
Pam Whisman

English student said...

Yes it should, even though i never smoked it I have friends that get high. And if weed can save a persons life then there should be nothing wrong with that. I thnk that it is stupid that people can get introuble for smoking it, i never seen nobody get out of trouble or die from it. Compred to xasty, cocaine, or mushrooms. Weed does not cause those same affects as those other drugs. the affects i see from a person smoking weed, the person is relaxed, calm, eat alot, and very sleepy. I never seen a person go off the wall and do something crazy, as they would off any other drug. So weed she should be ok and not such a big deal.
Fabion HArris

English student said...

I dont think weed should be legalized for recreational use. I think it leads to the use of other drugs, and any drug impairs your judgement. I do see that it could possibly be used in some medical aplications, so maybe that's a good idea. It all just depends on what you're going to do when you use the drugs. Sure some people are not going to hurt themselves or anyone else while using them, but you can't make it legal for just some people(other than medical applications). you have to make the regulations based on what is better for the whole society.
-Blake Diehl

English student said...

I dont think it should be legalized because i havent heard of anyone using it for medical purposes. Most of my friends smoke weed all the time just for the fun of it. I have never tried it nor will i ever try it, it doenst seem like fun for me. I think it should be legal for medical purposes though because it helps people get through pain, and they shouldnt be forced to suffer. I dont think people should be allowed to grow it themselves even if they have on intention of selling it. Some pro's are helping people who are sick with cancer or any other diesease but the cons are more and more teens would use it and they would overuse it and take it way to far. I think we would see a lot more people cutting class, or even coming high to school.

From Stephanie Einck

English student said...

Why is your question-even the photo the same as Aaron's in the past class?

English student said...

From Big Beazy:

I think it should be legal, and this is coming from a non-smoker. I as well have never heard of someone who was high going out and killing someone. My step-father is an alcoholic and I would much rather see him smoke a little buddha than drink himself under the floor. I hear of more alcohol related accidents than I do of marijuana. You've never heard of someone who was buttered wrecking a car and killing people. If it grows from the earth, then it was put here for a reason so make it legal.

English student said...

I think that it should NOT be legalized. Too many people use the drug in the first place and if it becomes legal it will be abused and the whole world will be stoned most of their life. I do NOT think people should grow it themselves, i think this because if they do then they can sell it and make tons of money and then not have a job and then don't have to pay taxes. That isn't fair for the rest of us. I think that there aren't any pros for making it legal but there are tons of cons such as: people going to work stoned, going to school stoned, selling it and making money, and etc. That is my take on the topic.

Sonja Paul

English student said...

I think that marijuana should be legalized, especially for medical use. it is a known fact that marijuana helps with glaucoma, and it helps people deal with the side effects when going through chemotherapy. I think it should be legalized for recreational purposes too. perhaps if it was made legal the crime rate would go down and there would also be a lower rate of inmates in jail. people dont overdose from pot so I dont see the harm there like how people die from alcohol poisoning.

Ashlee Meredith