Should Marijuana Be Legal

[Subhood]

US Policy on Drugs

Driven by the Drug War, the U.S. prison population is six to ten times as high as most Western European nations. The United States is a close second only to Russia in its rate of incarceration per 100,000 people. In 2000, more than 734,000 people were arrested in this country for marijuana-related offenses alone.

The US war on drugs places great emphasis on arresting people for smoking marijuana. Since 1990, nearly 5.9 million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges, a greater number than the entire populations of Alaska, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming combined. In 2000, state and local law enforcement arrested 734,498 people for marijuana violations. This is an increase of 800 percent since 1980, and is the highest ever recorded by the FBI.

As has been the case throughout the 1990s, the overwhelming majority of those charged with marijuana violations in 2000-- 646,042 Americans (88 %) -- were for simple possession. The remaining 12% (88,456 Americans) were for "sale/manufacture", an FBI category which includes marijuana grown for personal use or purely medical purposes. These new FBI statistics indicate that one marijuana smoker is arrested every 45 seconds in America. Taken together, the total number of marijuana arrests for 2000 far exceeded the combined number of arrests for violent crimes, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

Like most Americans, people who smoke marijuana also pay taxes, love and support their families, and work hard to make a better life for their children. Suddenly they are arrested, jailed and treated like criminals solely because of their recreational drug of choice. State agencies frequently step in and declare children of marijuana smokers to be "in danger", and many children are placed into foster homes as a result. This causes enormous pain, suffering and financial hardship for millions of American families. It also engenders distrust and disrespect for the law and for the criminal justice system overall. Responsible marijuana smokers present no threat or danger to America or its children, and there is no reason to treat them as criminals, or to take their children away. As a society we need to find ways to discourage personal conduct of all kinds that is abusive or harmful to others. Responsible marijuana smokers are not the problem and it is time to stop arresting them.

Once all the facts are known, it becomes clear that America's marijuana laws need reform. This issue must be openly debated using only the facts. Groundless claims, meaningless statistics, and exaggerated scare stories that have been peddled by politicians and prohibitionists for the last 60 years must be rejected.


ANNUAL AMERICAN DEATHS CAUSED BY DRUGS

TOBACCO ........................ 400,000
ALCOHOL ........................ 100,000
ALL LEGAL DRUGS .............20,000
ALL ILLEGAL DRUGS ..........15,000
CAFFEINE .........................2,000
ASPIRIN ...........................500
MARIJUANA ...................... 0
----------------------------------------
Source: United States government...
National Institute on Drug Abuse,
Bureau of Mortality Statistics

 

[J Bryson]

Of course marijuana should be legal. In broad terms, the war on drugs exacts a higher toll physically, financially, and in terms of social stability than the drugs themselves do. This holds especially true when it comes to marijuana.

 

[Zephyr]

Of course. There is no legitimate reason for it to be illegal. Period.

 

[.lava]

i think it should not be legal. matter of fact i think also all tobacco firms should be closed even charged for selling such a addictive product for decades. i certainly do not understand how come they forbid marijuana but not tobacco. (by that i do not mean pure tobacco, i mean tobacco with all those adds, chemicals...etc)







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[Subhood]

i think it should not be legal. matter of fact i think also all tobacco firms should be closed even charged for selling such a addictive product for decades. i certainly do not understand how come they forbid marijuana but not tobacco. (by that i do not mean pure tobacco, i mean tobacco with all those adds, chemicals...etc)







.

Tobacco is harmful and causes cancer and deaths every year. What are the cons to marijuana smoking?

 

[Subhood]

Like any substance, marijuana can be abused. The most common problem attributed to marijuana is frequent overuse, which can induce lethargic behaviour, but does not cause serious health problems. Marijuana can cause short-term memory loss, but only while under the influence. Marijuana does not impair long-term memory. Marijuana does not lead to harder drugs. Marijuana does not cause brain damage, genetic damage, or damage the immune system. Unlike alcohol, marijuana does not kill brain cells or induce violent behaviour. Continuous long-term smoking of marijuana can cause bronchitis, but the chance of contracting bronchitis from casual marijuana smoking is minuscule. Respiratory health hazards can be totally eliminated by consuming marijuana via non-smoking methods, i.e., ingesting marijuana via baked foods, tincture, or vaporizer.
A 1997 UCLA School of Medicine study (Volume 155 of the American Journal of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine) conducted on 243 marijuana smokers over an 8-year period reported the following: "Findings from the long-term study of heavy, habitual marijuana smokers argue against the concept that continuing heavy use of marijuana is a significant risk factor for the development of chronic lung disease." "Neither the continuing nor the intermittent marijuana smokers exhibited any significantly different rates of decline in lung function as compared with those individuals who never smoked marijuana." The study concluded: "No differences were noted between even quite heavy marijuana smoking and non-smoking of marijuana."

Marijuana does not cause serious health problems like those caused by tobacco or alcohol (e.g., strong addiction, cancer, heart problems, birth defects, emphysema, liver damage, etc.). Death from a marijuana overdose is impossible. In all of world history, there has never been a single human death attributed to a health problem caused by marijuana. Legalize marijuana and life would be better for most people.

 

[.lava]

Tobacco is harmful and causes cancer and deaths every year. What are the cons to marijuana smoking?

IMO burning something else and inhaling its smoke into your lungs is always harmful and unhealthy.






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[Zephyr]

IMO burning something else and inhaling its smoke into your lungs is always harmful and unhealthy.






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Psst, smoking isn't the only way to consume it. Edibles or vaporizers completely remove the issue of smoke.

 

[Yes Man]

i think it should not be legal. matter of fact i think also all tobacco firms should be closed even charged for selling such a addictive product for decades. i certainly do not understand how come they forbid marijuana but not tobacco. (by that i do not mean pure tobacco, i mean tobacco with all those adds, chemicals...etc).

Tobacco firms? What about people growing their own tobacco in their backyard?

 

[.lava]

Tobacco firms? What about people growing their own tobacco in their backyard?

i don't know. i think it is more acceptable if people were growing their own tobacco. at least it would be pure. when it is illegal then it usually means there would be big market for it. if it is legal, then it becomes public. both not good. therefor i feel little confuse about this issue.






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[Subhood]

IMO burning something else and inhaling its smoke into your lungs is always harmful and unhealthy.






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ah yes i see thats why there have been 0 deaths continuously every year due to marijuana. And also doctors issue it as a form of medication. makes sense

 

[Subhood]

i don't know. i think it is more acceptable if people were growing their own tobacco. at least it would be pure. when it is illegal then it usually means there would be big market for it. if it is legal, then it becomes public. both not good. therefor i feel little confuse about this issue.






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more acceptable to grow their own (pure) tobacco but not there own marijuana?
neither has any natural addictive ingredients

 

[Thief]

A gardener, friend of mine spoke of such chemistry from a botanical viewpoint.
True...marijuana kills no one.
Tobacco has one other use, besides smoking.....pesticide.
Nicotine sulphate kills bugs dead.

A tv documentary noted that hemp was the staple form of rope.
In 1935....Dupont invented nylon rope.
In 1937...marijuana became illegal. Coincidence?

If the government banned tobacco....the 400,000 that die every year from lung problems would begin to live longer.
Social security is already deep in trouble.
Imagine writing 400,000 new s.s. checks each month!

 

[.lava]

A tv documentary noted that hemp was the staple form of rope.
In 1935....Dupont invented nylon rope.
In 1937...marijuana became illegal. Coincidence?

would you please explain? i do not get it.







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[.lava]

more acceptable to grow their own (pure) tobacco but not there own marijuana?
neither has any natural addictive ingredients

friend, i do not consider marijuana in the same category with alcohol, tobacco, heroin, cocaine, extacy...etc. i just think marijuana smokers have a different kind of life style and even though marijuana would not kill them, their life style keep them in touch with other drugs. so to speak, among all those smokers i've ever known, i did not know anyone who does not take extacy as a New Year's fun or join their friends with cocaine just as an daily event. that's bothering.







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[Tiapan]

If something is illegal you loose control, you fill prisons, you increase the street price of the product, there is no quality control, there are medical problems and fatalities, because the drug is impure or suddenly uncut.

In Australia abortion and prostitution were serious social and medical problems when they were illegal. They have both been legalised here and the crime and hospitalization rates have been drastically reduced. While the society does not condone either, the social impact is far less now than when they were illegal.

The same applies with drugs, cannabis was made illegal not because of medical problems but because during the right wing religious period of the US in the 1930's it was a racial issue. Those blacks where getting drunk on that weed and not paying tax. We cant have that can we. Alcohol prohibition failed the same as the war on drugs has failed. I would have thought it was time to wake up and decriminalise them, not to endorse them as some would argue, but to control them.
Take the money out of drugs you would reduce the crime almost over night. You would also destroy the main income stream for Alqueda and the Taliban. But while corrupt American Politicians have their fingers in the lucrative criminal drug pie, the american justice system will keep it illegal in the guise of protecting the public and keeping prison warders employed.

This would have a positive effect socially by decreasing crime. It would halve the population of american jails, so instead of spending billions they would be generating billions in taxes because they would like everyone else be working leading constructive lives rather than being wasted in incarceration.

In Australia in 2006 it is estimated that 7 tonnes of Heroin entered the country. 700 died in heroin related deaths. Thats 10kg/death (Thats a hell of a lot of non lethal doses). Thats bad, but lets look closer at the statistics, 90% of the deaths were due to overdoses and impurities. If it had been available medically legally with constant purity and concentration there would have been only 70 deaths. 630 would still be alive. These are our kids we are talking about not anonymous criminals.

70 deaths is still a tragedy, but considering the billions we spend on the "war against drugs" it does not seem particularly cost effective, we spend less on the 2000 annual road deaths which we happily accept for our privilege to speed down the ubiquitous bitumen.

Humans have been using drugs since the beginning of time, it is artificial to simply make this natural human behavior illegal.

Remember the biggest killer with drug use is not the drug itself, its usually acute lead poisoning that gets most killed. Courtesy of Messieurs Smith and Western, Colt and Uzi.

Cheers

 

[tumbleweed41]

Interesting fact. Personal use of marijuana was made legal by voters in Denver a few years ago. The State police will still bust you for it. But City officers are forbidden from arresting, or issuing tickets for small personal amounts of marijuana.

The times they are a'changing.

 

[TheKnight]

The more and more I learn about Marijuana, the less and less I think it should be illegal. In fact, I don't really believe in illegalizing drugs because (from where I stand) you can't logically illegalize any drug by any logical principle.

The thing is (and I've noticed this is debates about drugs) that those who advocate drug legalization/decriminalization often say things of which they know nothing about and all in all make bad arguments. It's not that all people who support drug legalization/decriminalization make incoherent arguments, but (as with most political topics) it is those who are vastly ignorant in argument-making that seem to protest the loudest.


All in all, I think drugs need to have medical value. After all, I believe that drugs should be used in a medical purpose, and if we can use a drug (like Marijuana) for a medical purpose then we should. Especially if it discontinues the use of certain worse drugs.

As far as recreational use...I don't think I support recreational use of drugs. But then, arguing against the use of recreational drugs is like arguing against recrational use of food. I think that in the case of drugs, legislation is not the answer, but that education is.

 

[J Bryson]

If you have $300 you can pay to a doctor, you can buy it legally here from several different convenient locations. The world hasn't ended yet.

 

[tumbleweed41]

would you please explain? i do not get it.







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Hemp is a plant in the marijuana family.
Hemp has been used for rope fibers for hundreds of years. It is the best natural fiber for rope known.
Nylon was invented by DuPont in 1935. Nylon was promoted by DuPont as a better fiber for rope.
Hemp, and all plants in the marijuana family were outlawed in the US in 1937.

Now I am not advocating any conspiracy theories. Just clarifying what Thief was saying.