Should Marijuana Be Legalized?

[Random]

Yes, marijuana should be legal and freely available. It has not only recreational value but some degree of therapeutic value also.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

The number of people who use marijuana is too small. The tax rate would have to be so high that there would be no point in decriminalizing the drug.

You also have to take into account the number of people who secretly use it (doctors, lawyers, people who work were drug screens are mandated, etc.), people who don't use because it is illegal, and those who would use it again if it was made legal. Few people are open about thier drug habbits.

 

[NoahideHiker]

I don't think that it should be legalized. Kids have a hard enough time staying away from cigarettes and alcohol. If you legalize it then you have even more kids trying it and then trying more drugs. I know that since it is illegal it has kept quite a few more people from using it than if it had been legal.

Parents already deal with trying to keep their kids off drugs. It would be no different if drugs were legal except for the fact it would probably be HARDER for them to get. If the drugs are legal, stores carry it and the street pushers are pretty much out of business then the kids would have to get it from a store somehow and get passed the age limits. Can they? Of course but it's not as easy as it used to be. Now kids can go to any neighborhood and get it from a pusher who isn't going to ask for ID.

We now have stores that sell alcohol on nearly every street corner and yet millions upon millions of kids manage to stay out of trouble with it. We can also look to the Prohibition and see that alcohol abuse went way up when it was ilegal and then it came right back down when they legalized it again.

And just so everyone knows, I don't do drugs other than some alcohol socially. So it's not like I'm some pothead who just wants to make it legal so I can smoke in peace.

 

[Booko]

Parents already deal with trying to keep their kids off drugs. It would be no different if drugs were legal except for the fact it would probably be HARDER for them to get. If the drugs are legal, stores carry it and the street pushers are pretty much out of business then the kids would have to get it from a store somehow and get passed the age limits. Can they? Of course but it's not as easy as it used to be. Now kids can go to any neighborhood and get it from a pusher who isn't going to ask for ID.

Uh huh. I just found out today the reason I haven't seen my neighbor's oldest kid is because he's in a boarding school over his out of control lifestyle, which includes addiction problems. He certainly hasn't had a tough time getting pot.

We now have stores that sell alcohol on nearly every street corner and yet millions upon millions of kids manage to stay out of trouble with it. We can also look to the Prohibition and see that alcohol abuse went way up when it was ilegal and then it came right back down when they legalized it again.

Exactly. Alcohol is legal, and we distinguish between recreational users (no problem) and abusers (DUI etc). Banning alcohol didn't stop people from getting drunk and beating up others, neglecting their families, or driving the car.

I'd like very much to find out what's going on elsewhere, where pot is legal, and see if they've had the same experience with that as we've had with our Prohibition and alcohol. I think looking at that question could be mighty instructive.

And just so everyone knows, I don't do drugs other than some alcohol socially. So it's not like I'm some pothead who just wants to make it legal so I can smoke in peace.

Likewise, except I don't even drink at all.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

This brings up another point. Many people say that the pot now is a lot stronger than it was 20 or 30 years ago. If it's regulated, then pot can be bred to reduce potency.

If potency's really such a problem, that is.

I was reading something along the lines that potency is usually a lot higher if the plant has been grown hydroponically...I don't think they're really sure why yet. And higher potency is a huge problem if you've got a preexisting tendency toward say schitzophrenia...it seems to trigger a variety of mental problems in succeptable people.

 

[Valjean]

While I have no objections to the full legalization of pot/hashish, I have great objections about legalizing other recreational drugs. I am a bit hard pressed to think of any medicinal uses of crack or crystal meth or heroin.

I think you may have dashed of a response without completely thinking it through, my friend. Amphetamines and opioid narcotics have legitimate medicinal uses and are, in fact, some of the most commonly prescribed types of drugs in the US. Chemically, crystal meth is just a methylated amphetamine, with properties comparable to any other amphetamine -- Ritalin, for example.
Heroin is just an acetylated form of morphine. It has the same effect, though it seems to cause less nausea than the commonly prescribed sulfate. It's ban in the US is entirely political. Other countries use it all the time. It's a safe, inexpensive and effective pain reliever.

 

[Booko]

Heroin is just a methylated form of morphine. It has the same effect, though it seems to cause less nausea than the commonly prescribed sulfate. It's ban in the US is entirely political.

Great. So I suffer like the dickens if I have surgery because of some idiotic politics?

 

[Valjean]

Great. So I suffer like the dickens if I have surgery because of some idiotic politics?

LOL! -- :sorry1:
Ordinary morphine works just as well on pain as diacetylated morphine (Heroin). Actually the body's 1st step in metabolizing Heroin is to knock off the actyl group, so Heroin's first breakdown product is ordinary morphine.

 

[James the Persian]

Great. So I suffer like the dickens if I have surgery because of some idiotic politics?

What? Is heroin banned for medical use in the US? It's certainly used over here, where in the medical profession it's known as diamorphine. I've worked with a number of patients who were prescribed it.

I have to concur with the near unanimous view of those who have posted in the thread and say that marijuana and, in my opinion, all drug use ought to be legal. In some cases I think that pushing drugs should be illegal, but criminalising the use of drugs is always going to be counter-productive. It's interesting to note that it's actually quite a recent phenomenon to ban such things as well. Cocaine and various opiates were perfectly legal and not uncommonly used in 19th century England, for instance.

James

 

[Arabis]

The illegality is what attracts many kids to drugs and alcohol. That and the desire to experience altered states of consciousness, which many adults have, too.

But don't you think that the more it is readily available or accessable, then more and more people will think that it is ok to use drugs and/or abuse them.

 

[Valjean]

But don't you think that the more it is readily available or accessable, then more and more people will think that it is ok to use drugs and/or abuse them.

Not really. I don't hear much about morphine being sold on the streets.

What's really dangerous to the future of our species is ready availability and widespread commercial usage of antibiotics

 

[Shadow Wolf]

It's ban in the US is entirely political.

Most illegal drugs are illegal because of either political b.s., or to discrimate agains a group that uses it (such as the Chinese and opium.) Marijuana especially suffered alot of political crap through its process to become illegal. It even had doctors testifying that it does not cause the effects the government wanted people to believe it does. And the stamp you can buy to legally posses it would be nice, except even though it is (or was) law, the stamp has never existed, and even if it did, the process to acquire one would get you arrested for possesion.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

But don't you think that the more it is readily available or accessable, then more and more people will think that it is ok to use drugs and/or abuse them.

Robotussin is widly available, and cheap, especially the off brands. Yet it's not exactly a drug of choice for many people, despite the legallity and avalability. Out of all the druggies I know, only one of them enjoys and uses 'tussin.

 

[Ciscokid]

Should marijuana be legalized? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes it should if there are some rules and regulations as to when you can legally purchase it just like beer. I smoke marijuana from time to time and I'm quite fond of it.

 

[Arabis]

Robotussin is widly available, and cheap, especially the off brands. Yet it's not exactly a drug of choice for many people, despite the legallity and avalability. Out of all the druggies I know, only one of them enjoys and uses 'tussin.

I don't think the potency is quite the same. You can abuse anything, but the point is why make it ok.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

Not really. I don't hear much about morphine being sold on the streets.

What's really dangerous to the future of our species is ready availability and widespread commercial usage of antibiotics

Oh but they need those antibiotics, Sey! How else would they be able to keep all their chickens overcrowded in a shed and have something you can eat at the age when it should be a scrawny little birdy still?:sarcastic

 

[Quoth The Raven]

I don't think the potency is quite the same. You can abuse anything, but the point is why make it ok.

So are you saying that alcohol abuse is ok because it's legal for adults over a certain age to drink? Allowing legal use of something does not automatically tell everyone that abusing said substance is ok.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I don't think the potency is quite the same. You can abuse anything, but the point is why make it ok.

Thier have been a few deaths from dextromethorphan (the active ingredient in Robotussin DM, which causes the trip) overdoses, and dozens of hospitilazations.

 

[NuGnostic]

While I have no objections to the full legalization of pot/hashish, I have great objections about legalizing other recreational drugs. I am a bit hard pressed to think of any medicinal uses of crack or crystal meth or heroin.

I believe Heroin or diamorphine already is used in hospitals.

 

[NuGnostic]

The drug laws are a joke,mescaline and shrooms are illegal and they cause no addiction or problems as long as you are mentally stable even if they can be intense and should be treated with respect(as all drugs.), they can even be beneficial to many people helping to sort out their thoughts and issues.