Legalize Marijuana?
Should smoking marijuana be legalized? Why not? What about for medical use? If so, should it be taxed by the government? Do you think the crime rate would drop if it was legalized? Do you think private companies should grow and market it? Should you be able to smoke it out in public, or should it have laws similar to alcohol? What should the minimum age limit be? If it was legalized would you try it?
Thank you for your input, Jeff
23 comments:
The legalization of marijuana would be disaterious to society. There is not one good thing that comes from a healthy adult using it regularly.
Just to clarify the obvious, smoking pot is terrible for you. If people advocating making cigaretts illegal because they are bad for you have a leg to stand on, then this should be more then enough to keep pot from being legal as one joint has seventeen times more tar then a cigarett.
Also, bearing in mind the reason people do pot in the first place, its an escape, it helps me relax, and it helps me deal with my problems. These are all things people should be able to do on thier own. If haveing a bad day merits getting high to forget about it, what is going to happen when it is legal and people who have important-stress full- jobs start smoking? Nothing will be done and if it is, it will not be done well as there would be no reason for an individual to spend time solving a problem when they can just escape from it.
Finally, the notion that crime will drop becase of it is completely untrue. Of all the drug related crimes, the most serious are not related to marijuana, but to drugs like cocain, heroine, or meth. Legalizing marijuana will not stop these crimes but will probably increase them. Like it or not pot is a "gate way" drug, everyone I know that does pot all the time as do meth, oxy, and even cocain. And what is going to happen when more people want to move up from pot?
There is nothing good that can come from this drug being legalized.
-Matt
I do not see any need fo rthe legalization of marijuana. All that will do is cause more violence in an already violent world.The state of IL just passed a " no smoking law", so legalizing marijuana is five steps backwords instead of a step forward.Even if we were to legalize this drug for " medical use", I still feel that nothing good would come out of it. From what I have seen, one drug is never enough. It is just to easy to get hooked.
~!~cassandra griffith~!~
Marijuana should not be legalized. Legalizing it would do nothing but help those who do it, do it without sneeking around all the time. Marijuana is known for getting people high and then all they do is be lazy and eat as there day passes by. It is also known that it was used to medicate patients in hospitals. But now, there are plenty of medications that can do that and more. If anything, i think the crime rate would go up. I don't think that marijuana causes a lot of crime. If made legal, smoking it in public would be a problem. Unlike cigaretts, marijuana can give people highs. What about those who don't like the feeling it gives them? Legalizing this drug would have only negative effects in my eyes.
~Jamie~
No way should marijauna be legalized. If it is abused so much now, when it is illegal, imagine what would happen if no one had to worry about the cops stopping them? As for medical uses, I think there is always an alternative to marijauna. I hate to imagine a world where we have nothing left to heal us but pot. If it was legalized, the laws would have to be similar to smoking, since the fumes could be inahled second-hand. But that's irrelevent, since the negatives greatly outweigh the positives of legalizing marijuana.
Nope. I think that the legalization would lead to lots of problems. First of all, it is bad for your lungs. (I have a friend that lost part of his tongue to cancer that no longer smokes weed because he believes there was a correlation.) If tobacco were to come up before the FDA today it would be denied. There are problems associated with fertility, lack of motivation,and paranoia, which can be dangerous for someone on the brink of a mental illness. No one I know that has used harder illegal drugs started with them. They started with weed. If it were legalized I can't see the crime rate dropping. There would be a huge influx of new users. Many (not all)of the users would then move on to things like speed, ecstacy, cocaine, etc. We all know what problems that causes. If medical marijuana is useful to cancer patients with certain treatments in a way that is better than other drugs, then of course I would say use it. Pharmacists could measure potency, purity etc. and I'm sure they could derive a pill rather than smoking. ( same concept as the brownies :)
No, smoking marijuana should not be legalized. It's a terrible thing that will just cause more harm to people. No, the crime rate would not drop because people would just start more crimes. It's bad as it is right now why put more harm.
Katherine Schluter
I believe that marijuana should not be legalized, even if it were for medicinal use. If it were used for just medicine, what would happen if an individual said "I have a prescription from my doctor to smoke a joint for my sore throat?" That individual could probably get away with that excuse.
If it were legalized, I would say that it should be taxed and private companies should not grow it. It should have laws similar to alcohol, because it may be safer for the environment.
A minimum age limit that would be fair, is twenty-five, I believe. Although, this is under the circumstance that marijuana is legalized. I believe if there was an age limit, strict policies would have to be set in place and carried out concerning age.
If marijuana were legalized, there would be so many people who would try the drug. This would ruin the lives of many. I say it should not be legalized in any scenario.
I think they should legalize it because i think it would stop a lot of drug dealers there wouldn't be as much crime in my opinion. people wouldn't be so paranoid all the time. I do think they should grow and market it. I think they should be able to smoke it where ever they want. I think they should have laws the same alcohol and smoking cigarettes. i wouldn't smoke it but i wouldn't care if everyone else did.
If marijuana was to be legalized in some form, what good will it do? Increase marijuana addiction? Increase poverty rates? It may increase the number of rehab facilities. Unlike alcohol, you can become instantly addicted to majijuana with one puff, whereas alcohol you could only have one drink and that would be fine.
sry! i forgot my name for the one posted on Monday, July 28, 2008 9:12:00 AM
no it should not be legalized to the general public. Yet, medical marijuana should be. because test have shown that it helps with certain conditions of cancer and aids patients.
George
Okay well I would first like to say that there is no evidence showing that marijuana is physically addicting at all. That's in response to a student's post, not the question itself! But okay, I don't think it should be legalized because it would turn into this whole market and it would just be weird. It would become a product like shampoo or beer, just available everywhere. I really don't think there's much wrong with the drug. It's less harmful than tobacco, less judgement-impairing than alcohol, and less addicting than both. If it were legalized they would have to tax it and it would still be illegal to sell it on the street. Also, a lot of people who have never smoked or rarely smoked would react differently than those who smoke often or regularly. People may also search for the next high, going right back to illegal drugs. It's just better to scare kids and law-abiders away from it by calling it illegal. Medical marijuana should be legalized, but it would probably be better to make a pill that had the active ingredient in it. It's often used to get cancer patients to eat and stuff, so I'm sure a THC pill would have the same effect.
I feel like marijuana should be legalized for medicipal purposes because it has been proven that the drug has helped with the pain for cancer,severe arthritis,and people with glaucoma. i feel that the government should tax marijuana just like any other medication the doctor prescribes. Crime associated with marijuana would drop; however, there would still be some illegal activity just like with oxycotin or codeine. Everyone will not get a legal prescription for marijuana. As far as private companies growing and marketing marijuana; again, I say treat this like any other pain medicine. well, if the drug is for medicipal purposes, who can tell you where to take your medicine? The minimum age should have the same limits as cigerettes and the severity of a person's illness. If marijuana was legalized and my doctor felt like it would help me with the pain associated with my anklyosing spondilitis, oh yeah! I would try it.
My first reaction to the question “Should marijuana be legalized?” was that it should be for medicinal purposes. I have a sister who just went through chemotherapy who may have had benefits from this drug. So, if something could help someone who is suffering then it should absolutely be made available.
As for recreational use, I have given this issue a lot of thought and the only thing I came up with is that maybe alcohol should be illegal too. When comparing alcohol and marijuana, there are a lot of similarities. They both are harmful to your body if used excessively, they impair judgment, they are addictive, they can contribute to the break down of families, and they are the cause of many car accidents, even resulting in death. On the positive side, they both can have medicinal benefits when used properly. So, I guess as long as alcohol is legal, then the “legalize marijuana argument” has a leg to stand on. I personally would not like to see it happen.
If marijuana were legalized, then I think it should be an agricultural product so that the American farmer (and only the American farmer) could profit. I think the drug companies are getting rich enough off of the drugs already on the market.
Yes it should be legalized. It should be treated no differently then alcohol (it is actually less troublesome then alcohol to the user- no hangover or calories.) It should be regulated like alcohol. Smoking should be limited to private places only because it can effect the people in the area. Of course it should be taxed except for medical use. As with smoking and alcohol there should be information of the dangers because it does involve health problems just as normal cig & alcohol.
The police have much more serious drugs and crimes to worry about. Also the prisons would have less.
I do believe that crimes done under the influence should be sever, however these would probably not be violent crimes but more of the order of DUI's.
I do not believe that it leads to any harder drugs. What does cause the problems is the fact that you have to be a criminal or know a criminal element to use it.
If it were legal I would smoke it tonight as I have had a really trying day. Smoking pot does not mean you have to "get high" any more then having a glass of wine means you are going to get drunk.
Grow up people, I'm a grown up and I can decide for myself if I want to use pot or not. I really don't need the government to decide that.
I'm not saying that things would be better, I'm just saying they would be no worse and untill they limit fast food I think I should also have the choice on pot.
Should it be legalized for recreational purposes? I don't think so. It's bad enough that so many kids are smoking it illegally and screwing up their lives because of the stupid choices they make while "under the influence". Why tempt the "good" kids that don't want to break the law? How many more kids would begin their drug use with legalized pot? I am not saying that everyone that smokes pot becomes a drug addict, but I will never be convinced that smoking it doesn't put a lot of people on the road to destruction and failure. I have seen first hand what it did to one of my own kids. He wound up not finishing high school because of it.
As far as for medicinal purposes, I guess if it could help alleviate some symptons associated often with chemo, it could be OK. I wonder though how the strength of it could be controlled. I don't know how that could be regulated.
Taxed by the government? Oh, hell, why not? What's one more ridiculous tax? It would never be legalized in this country without it being taxed. Think about it - it's the American way!!
I don't know if the crime rate would drop or not - probably would depend on the economy. When people can't afford to buy what they want - crime goes up. I also wouldn't give a rat's ass how or why it was grown or whom it was grown by. I don't smoke cigarettes and I absolutely would not try pot. I don't think smoking of any kind should be allowed in public, particularly pot because it's smell is obnoxious! I guess if it was legal, I would say that people should be old enough to make the stupid decision to smoke it, so the age should be at least 25!!!
Legalize Marijuana?
Plain and simple NO!
There is no absolute proof that marijuana being legalized would of benefit society economically or medically.
The argument that legalizing marijuana to generate taxes is nothing more than a myth. Currently the United States government can’t even control the illegal production of alcohol, which has been legal and heavily taxed for years. The government would not be able to control the production or the country of origin, causing for the government to speed even more tax dollars trying to control the production of marijuana, possible spending even more than what tax dollars are being generated by the legalization.
Do you think the crime rate would drop if it was legalized?
I believe we would see an already soaring crime rate climb to unforeseen levels. People need to face the facts. The “weed” today is not the same “weed” the hippies smoked back in the 60’s. Today’s marijuana is a genetically altered hybrid with THC levels over 10 times higher than what their mommy and daddy smoked. It has been proven that people who smoke marijuana will have problems in daily life or make a person’s existing problems worse. In one study, heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important measures of life achievement including physical and mental health, cognitive abilities, social life, and career status. Several studies associate workers’ marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers’ compensation claims, and job turnover.
What about for medical use?
Another big myth, There is NO concrete proof that marijuana has ANY medical use! This is nothing more than a talking point for the “pot heads” to push their agenda. There are dozens of LEGAL prescription drugs available for people going thru chemotherapy and suffering from glaucoma and these drugs have been proven to help with the symptoms.
Zofran is one of the drugs used to prevent nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients and is Clinical proven to work better than marijuana.
Nothing good would occur with the legalization of marijuana.
Legalizing marijuana in my opinion would be stupid! Its bad enough people are smoking it illegally. To legalize marijuana would be telling our children(the future) that its ok to do drugs. As for medical use,marijuana may infact cause more medical problems as it causes people to forget things, and impair judgement. I dont believe medical marijuana would be so bad for those that really need it such as cancer patients regardless if it has no "concrete proof for medical use." Anyone that know's anything about marijuana knows that one of its effects is actually causing you to not feel as much, which would be good for cancer or aids patients because they feel nothing but pain.
Legalizing marijuana in my opinion would be stupid! Its bad enough people are smoking it illegally. To legalize marijuana would be telling our children(the future) that its ok to do drugs. As for medical use,marijuana may infact cause more medical problems as it causes people to forget things, and impair judgement. I dont believe medical marijuana would be so bad for those that really need it such as cancer patients regardless if it has no "concrete proof for medical use." Anyone that know's anything about marijuana knows that one of its effects is actually causing you to not feel as much, which would be good for cancer or aids patients because they feel nothing but pain.
All right, let me explain something to all of you bitches. First off I am proud to say I smoke marijuana, and I most certainly think it should be legalized. One, it is a fucking plant we are talking about. Two, it would help stabalize the economy. Three, marijuana has no bad effects, no school effects. There have been no deaths linked to marijuana use, morons. Four, marijuana legalization will help there be less arrests in the US. Did you know that it costs over $20,000 a year to keep one person in prison? Did you know that there are currently over 1,000,000 arrests for marijuana use in one year? Did you know that we pay for these arrests in our tax money??? Five, marijuana is not a gate-way drug. Infact, marijuana legalization would help the high numbers of hard drug users in America. Six, Marijuana has many uses besides pleasure and recreation. Fuel, MEDICINE, paper, food, and fiber are all reasons for legalization. There are thousands of ways medical marijuana would help. It is a pain killer and a helper toward AIDS. g2g fags
I believe that marijuana should be legalized. There is actually no conclusive evidence that marijuana is unhealthy for you let alone worse than cigarettes.
Alcohol is actually responsible for more problems in society, but we know now that it started organized crime when it became illegal. That's right; crime went up. How do you think Al Capone got his start? With the legalization of marijuana a big portion of drug dealers would go out of business.
Also, marijuana is stated as a "gateway drug". Well duh it's gonna be viewed that way as it's the most popular illegal drug. A person who has done heroin has most likely tried marijuana. Just because I've tried marijuana does not mean I'm going to try a heroin, though. That's what's called a slippery slope fallacy :) In fact, youths move on to harder drugs because a good amount of drug dealers not only deal marijuana but cocaine, heroin, LSD, etc. If it's legal, youths will be less likely to be around heavier drugs.
Marijuana has not varied from the 1960's to now. I read that report. The information they used was skewed. They used strains that had higher potencies to prove their point. Different kinds have different potencies, but it's all the same stuff as in the 1960's. Besides why does that matter? Studies have shown that in order to overdose you would have to consume an amount equal to 1/3 your body weight or 5000 times as much as it takes to get high in order to overdose. Deaths relating toward marijuana use were caused by inhalation of vomit and were dramatically lower than alcohol use.
Taxation is also another important aspect. Not only the revenue from it, but it would also stop the waste of taxpayer money spent on law enforcement directed toward it. Manpower and money would be able to divert to more important issues such as heavier drug use and crime. California is actually considering legalizing as it could bring in billions of dollars in taxes.
Thanks for reading. I know it was a lot, but hopefully you learned a little more. I do agree though that it should not be legal in public, but what we do in the privacy of our homes should not be the government's business if it's not causing any adverse affects to others.
I commented above. I forgot to mention that you have to consume 1/3 of your body weight in about an hour or so to overdose which is physically impossible. Forgot the hour part :)
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