Should Cannabis Be Made Legal?

[RisingKnowledge]

Those are very real problems.
Also real:
- A vast expensive & oppressive 'justice' system to imprison drug offenders at the highest incarceration rate in the entire world.
- As reported to me by cops I know, diversion of resources from other areas of law enforcement to the victimless crime of drug use.
- No tax revenue from the huge illegal drug market.
- Organized crime thriving to provide what people will buy whether it's legal or not.

Trust me when i say i agree with you on these issue's. i also think any human on this planet has the right to do whatever they want as long as they aren't physically hurting someone else with the act. Rehab and education of drugs has failed IMO seeing first hand how drugs are so prevalent in the younger generation even though we were the most well informed of its negative effects and no amount of rehab centers has changed anything. So what would be your plan to fight drug addiction after mass legalization of scheduled drugs?

 

[BSM1]

Legalize pot? Yes. Next question. (Anybody got any corn chips?)

 

[Revoltingest]

Trust me when i say i agree with you on these issue's. i also think any human on this planet has the right to do whatever they want as long as they aren't physically hurting someone else with the act. Rehab and education of drugs has failed IMO seeing first hand how drugs are so prevalent in the younger generation even though we were the most well informed of its negative effects and no amount of rehab centers has changed anything. So what would be your plan to fight drug addiction after mass legalization of scheduled drugs?

I don't have a plan.
I know too little of drug abuse & recovery to design one.
But tis clear that we'd need programs to keep citizens productive, peaceful & sober.

 

[RisingKnowledge]

Those are very real problems.
Also real:
- A vast expensive & oppressive 'justice' system to imprison drug offenders at the highest incarceration rate in the entire world.
- As reported to me by cops I know, diversion of resources from other areas of law enforcement to the victimless crime of drug use.
- No tax revenue from the huge illegal drug market.
- Organized crime thriving to provide what people will buy whether it's legal or not.

This part i disagree with though gangs in colorado have already seen massive hits in income since the legalization and are now heavily resorting to other means to substitute.

 

[McBell]

Thank to the persistence of the Colorado voter, it is legal to possess and grow cannabis in this kind state.

This is a common misconception.
No, it is not legal.
Why?
Because cannabis is a FEDERALLY controlled substance.
The State not enforcing a Federal law does not make cannabis "legal".

 

[RisingKnowledge]

I don't have a plan.
I know too little of drug abuse & recovery to design one.
But tis clear that we'd need programs to keep citizens productive, peaceful & sober.

I think what we don't notice enough is that american society is built off addiction drug use caffeine is a stimulant food is a huge addiction plus many others. We can not call for mass legalization of all scheduled drugs at this point in america without a plan. I also see legalization as a good thing as it takes away the im getting with a crime this is a thrill part of it just like many people i have talked to said drinking alcohol is not as fun once you are the legal age your no longer getting away with something society or government labels wrong. Same as alcohol during prohibition as it did nothing but make it more popular when illegal.

 

[RisingKnowledge]

This part i disagree with though gangs in colorado have already seen massive hits in income since the legalization and are now heavily resorting to other means to substitute.

misread what you posted i take back this statement.

 

[Enai de a lukal]

That is just a weird comparison to me. Drug use is such a distinct activity, deserving of differentiated treatment.

Except, the argument you've given applies equally to these as well, despite being distinct activities. They have undeniable negative effects on ones health, just like marijuana or any other drug. And yet, curiously, they are legal. How can that be?

I struggle to understand why so many people think otherwise.

Because the only way you get to rule out drugs but not anything else by the argument you've given is by applying a blatant double-standard.

Being drugs is plenty reason enough IMO.

In other words, no good reason then... Gotcha.

 

[Brickjectivity]

But why do people make such a point of using it anyway?

It has a natural quality of encouragement. For example, if you are having a party with people who don't know how to relax together, marijuana can be an ice breaker. It has the opposite affect of, say, beer and promotes diplomatic speech -- really and truly. Often marijuana is used to increase inspiration in those who have a 'Cannot do' attitude. When you are on this drug ideas come more readily, so for some it increases creativity. It also decreases pain, such as the pain of a broken heart or of a broken arm. I've only tried it one time, but I know these things from that experience. It is a drug, however; so I completely accept that you object to it.

I am. And also tobacco, alcohol, and many otherwise legal prescription drugs. I worry a lot about the current mentality about drugs of all kinds.

Yes, but you are a Buddhist. I wonder if you are hoping to encourage Buddhism by opposing all drugs? Buddhists are not permitted to take anything that alters their mental state -- even aspirin unless I'm mislead. I don't accept forbidding-by-law a thing just on the basis that it goes against your own religion, mainly because that is what Christians here have tried to do multiple times with bad results. Perhaps your beliefs about marijuana are religious in character?

 

[kloth]

it is legal.
[youtube]ZKftVsPq-sY[/youtube]
Marijuana legal in Washington State - YouTube

 

[DallasApple]

Its ridiculous to throw people in jail for smoking (possessing ) pot that's all I know.

 

[Poisonshady313]

So you truly don't fear that legalization might encourage the drug problems to even worse levels?

No.

You might find this interesting...

"Researchers adopting diverse research methodologies provide no evidence that the decriminalization of marijuana leads to increased marijuana use. Similarly, the Seattle City Council Marijuana Policy Review Panel concluded that the de-emphasis of marijuana law enforcement mandated by ballot initiative I-75 did not result in increased marijuana use or problems related to public safety. When combined with substantial evidence that the intensification of marijuana enforcement since 1990 has not been associated with decreased marijuana use, and has therefore failed to reduce any harm potentially associated with the use or abuse of marijuana, these findings strongly suggest that the enforcement of marijuana laws does not reduce marijuana use or any harm with which it may be associated. "

http://www.aclu-wa.org/library_files/BeckettandHerbert.pdf

It seems you fear that making marijuana legal will open up the floodgates of new pot smokers, or that current pot smokers will smoke a lot more, and there's simply no good reason to believe this will be the case when evidence shows that going either way... legalizing or criminalizing have no effect on how frequently it's being used.

 

[McBell]

So you truly don't fear that legalization might encourage the drug problems to even worse levels?

Seems to me that legalizing pot would actually make it less of a problem.

Look at the states that have decided to not enforce federal laws concerning cannabis.
Have their drug related stats gone into overdrive?
No, they haven't.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

It seems you fear that making marijuana legal will open up the floodgates of new pot smokers, or that current pot smokers will smoke a lot more, and there's simply no good reason to believe this will be the case when evidence shows that going either way... legalizing or criminalizing have no effect on how frequently it's being used.

It might be interesting to look at whether Prohibition of alchohol in the US made any difference to consumption. I'm guessing it pushed up the crime rate considerably though.

 

[RisingKnowledge]

It might be interesting to look at whether Prohibition of alchohol in the US made any difference to consumption. I'm guessing it pushed up the crime rate considerably though.

"The saloons went underground and became speakeasies. There were lots of them. The 16,000 saloons in New York City, for example, became (depending on whose estimate you believe) from 32,000 to more than 100,000 "speaks." Unlike the saloons, which were men-only institutions, the speak-easies welcomed women, and the women came."

I think it definitely did.

PROHIBITION