legalization of Marijuana

[Sunstone]

I don't think marijauna needs to be perfectly healthy for you, for it to be worthwhile legalizing it. Alcohol is certainly not perfectly healthy and yet it is legal. Furthermore, the alternative to legalizing marijauna is to continue to send to prison people whose only crime is that they smoke the damn stuff. Aren't there better uses of prison space than that? How many lives have to be ruined by prison sentences before we legalize marijuana?

 

[jewscout]

again though, my concern is that if we legalize it corporate america will get it's nasty hands on the stuff and ruin pot...those pages and pages of carcinagens and cancer causing poisons in cigarettes now? Guess what will be in your pot!
and the bag of weed you bought when it was legal for $25 will now cost $250 or more because it's the "pure" stuff...

pot heads only think about how cool it would be to walk down the street and openly smoke a joint...they don't think about what Phillip Morris will do to their precious plant!

 

[Mr Spinkles]

Im assuming the line that says "Marijuana is smoked all the way to the end.." is refering to the end of the joint, bong, pipe, etc. But if this is the case, the tar can't possible be any worse at the end than it is at the front, since you roll your own joint, and fill your own bongs and pipes.

And what do you think happens to the tar at the front as you smoke a joint? Does it move backward or forward as you inhale?

Also, its a known fact that cigarettes have many cancer-causing and poisinous additives, such as Nicotine. If youve ever seen a list of all the cigarette additives, its several pages long. That would mean that people who grow pot would have to add several things to thier own weed to make it have more cancer causing additives than cigarettes.

The article you quoted did not say weed has more cancer causing addities than cigarettes, so that's a moot point.

One thing to remember when reading a source like the one you listed is they won't tell the truth, it will be biased, heavely manipulated statistics they use.

I'm surprised you would so viciously attack the largest private, nonprofit source of cancer research funds in the United States.

One thing to remember when reading a source like the one you listed is they won't tell the truth, it will be biased, heavely manipulated statistics they use. Why would the Cancer Society say its OK to smoke something, when that could possible lose them money?

Please justify this accusation by explaining how the volunteers at the ACS's Relay for Life events, for example, would lose money by telling people it's OK to smoke something.

 

[Sunstone]

I think legalization would drive the cost down. But which corporations would jump on it? The big tobacco companies or the big breweries?

 

[jewscout]

i think both would stand to make some money off of it. I'd bet money too that Phillip Morris has got plans for just such an event. You'd have standard prices for what the companies put out at your local 7-11's but the "gourmet" stuff...like purple haze or chronic would probably have to be bought at higher prices as a specialty item

 

[Sunstone]

Think of all the microbreweries in this country. They often put out a very good product, at a premium price, and yet they sucessfully compete with the major breweries. I could see some weed farmers doing much the same as the microbreweries.

 

[jewscout]

but for pot i think the most likely thing is the influence of the tobacco industry...it seems only logical that they would step in as the corporate power in a new legalized marijuana industry...maybe they would have micro-headshops too but i can't imagine P.M. just sitting by while this huge market goes by...

 

[EnhancedSpirit]

Not only are there medicinal properties. Hemp oil can be used as a substitute for petroleum in all oil based products, paint, plastics, cleansers, etc. Also, when harvested as sprouts, marijuana can be used just as diversly as soy. Hemp milk, oil for cooking, you can even make hemp flour.

The amount of paper that can be produced by one acre of hemp is equal to 10 acres of trees. And the process of making hemp paper does not involve polluting our air.

Also, hemp fiber is the strongest fiber in nature. Until the invention of nylon, hemp was used on all warships, because it would not deteriorate in the salt invironment. The only reason marijuana is illegal, is because the pharmecutical companies, and the potroleum companies lobbied to government, and convinced them that the United States had more to gain with man made medicines and such, rather than use nature, which is free to all and rather hard to control or tax.

Here is a rather detailed list of what we could do with legalizing this herb that was given to us by God. 101 Uses for Hemp

 

[jamaesi]

pot heads only think about how cool it would be to walk down the street and openly smoke a joint...they don't think about what Phillip Morris will do to their precious plant!

Nice stereotype, but you're way off.

I think it would be cool to be able to smoke cannabis in my own house without fear of going to jail for longer than rapists and murderers do.

 

[jewscout]

Nice stereotype, but you're way off.

I think it would be cool to be able to smoke cannabis in my own house without fear of going to jail for longer than rapists and murderers do.

stereotype yes...because it's based heavily on truth...i know i was a HUGE pothead and a card carrying member of NORML

i'm not talking about jail sentencing i'm talking about what corporations like Phillip Morris will do to pot when they get their evil hands on it...the cultures of Amsterdam and the US are very different...the commercial US would take over pot and i'm scared of what they would do to it...

 

[Crystallas]

STFW.... Yep, here it is... 10,000 cases a year of cancer caused by marijuana.

BC and Amsterdam are examples to the world. Boy those crime rates are high and povery is so aweful there(esspecially due to the weed.) Its sad to know places that have legalized weed are crumbling, people are unhappy, and accidents happen so darn much.

Wait, am I being sarcastic? You bet I am. Legalize it. Its not anyone elses choice to say weather or not I want to do something. If anything it should be illegal to drink alcohol if people believe what they do.

And I like the opinions of those who have never tried it. Maybe the real question should be, can those who have never experienced something should have an opinion about it. I think they should have an opinion, but I will regard it that they are inexperienced.

 

[Druidus]

I've tried marijuana twice, both times to unsatisfactory results. I don't plan on ever trying it again. The first time, I felt nothing. The second time, I might have felt something, but I'm not sure.

 

[Bastet]

i see one of the main blocks being the inability to regulate it, especially in the context of driving under the influence...it is impossible to do "breathalizer" type tests w/ people to see if they are stoned while they are driving

Actually, yes there is. At least here there is - I clearly remember in recent months the introduction of a marijuana 'breathalyzer' here in Australia. Not sure of the ins and outs of how it works and what have you, but it is out there. I'd be interested to see what the accuracy and success rates of its use have been since its introduction...may have to go looking.

Sorry if someone has already addressed this...I haven't read the whole thread yet.

 

[ch'ang]

What most people don't realize or think about is that people who get caught smokin the reefer are usually sent to jail which costs us money. I really don’t see how anyone could support a law that bans a drug with about the same toxicity of cigarettes and then pays for with their taxes

 

[Bastet]

But you won't see a pothead hurting anybody.

I can tell you from personal experience that that's a load of crap. I've been on the receiving end of it from one person, and heard about a whole lot more. :sarcastic You can't just make these broad generalizations about people who smoke marijuana, anymore than you can make broad generalizations about people who drink alcohol. It just doesn't work - not everyone has the same reaction to it.

 

[Majikthise]

Experience. I had my first joint when I was 12, a lot of coughing ,don't think I got a buzz. I was a bit of a pothead during my teenage years but didn't get into any trouble until I started drinking alchohol (waited till I was 18). In my early 20s I was in the military and only smoked a couple of times ,but did a lot of drinking which got me into most of my bad life situations(it was ok if you got plastered but god forbid you spark a bone!).

Hanging out in bars in my late 20s cocaine was the thing(not for me), not pot, much easier to hide, went better with booze.At 30 it all just stopped. I got married ,had kids , and have a good job that requires attention and skill. I still don't drink much,but like to smoke a couple of times a week and hang out with my wife watching tv and listening to music.I am not stupid and have no memory problems.Maybe I'm different, maybe there are people whose lives have been ruined by marajuana alone, but I have yet to see them.I know MANY people who smoke and not one who you could blame pot for the problems in their lives.Alchohol, on the other hand ,is the cause of many personal tragedies I have seen all through my life. I see a lot of false info about the effects of marajuana in the media today. Reefer Madness anyone? Drivel.

 

[Majikthise]

I found no option "lock them up for life, to protect innocent citizens", so I voted for the last item. I've known one person who claimed that he smoked hashish or marihuana or whatever, and he was as crazy as they go. That's enough for me.

:areyoucra

 

[Fluffy]

Maybe the real question should be, can those who have never experienced something should have an opinion about it.

This is just a sly attempt to get the voices of many people discounted. If the question was along the lines of "Does smoking pot make you feel good" then sure I'd go along with your logic. But that is not the question. The very idea that I cannot see or be affected by pot fueled negativity, and therefore unable to make an informed opinion on the matter, without having taken the drug myself is ludicrous.

Are you saying that my opinion means nothing if someone close to me died in a drink driving accident if I have never drunk booze in my life?

Having said that, I am pro-legalising pot. I just wouldn't want to do so by preventing those people who disagree with me from having their say, simply because they disagree with me.

 

[jbphburg]

One big difference between tobacco and pot is that you can easily grow an amount to support one's personal use. It is horrible to imprison people over it, just not that big of a deal, responsible use is vry realistic, far more so than alcohol.

 

[EnhancedSpirit]

I have suffered from severe migraine headaches since I was 9 years old. When I got pregnant, I could no longer take the ibeprophen that I used to get rid of my headaches, and since I couldn't get rid of my headaches, I would just vomit for hours and hours on end, a couple times a week. My docter told me that it would be OK for me to smoke pot. He said that in fact marijuana does not have any effect on the fetus, except lethargy. He said that often, women who are high risk for miscarriage, are prescribed marijuana to keep the baby lethargic, and put less stress on the mothers' body.

My mother works in a hospital, and was absolutely livid when she found out I was smoking while I was pregnant. She discussed it with everyone at the hospital and found out that almost half the people she worked with smoked pot. She also learned that the pharmecutical companies are the ones in charge of what medical students learn in school. (since they are the biggest income for medicinal research.)

This was a big eye opening experience for my mother. I smoke pot. I used to be one of the kids that skipped school, and got in trouble. But it was not the pot. It was my problem with authority. Now, the people I smoke pot with are doctors, lawyers, and I even have a couple of friends on the local police force who fire one up with me now and again. They believe, that alcohol causes them way more problems, but their hands are tied, because drinking is legal, and pot is not.