Legalization of Marijuana

Everybody is saying that marijuana should be legal and the only reason it isn't is because the government can tax the people who sell it. Do you think this will ever happen or is this simply an imaginary idea that a bunch of stoners came up with?

I'm hoping it happens soon. It is a shame what this government will do in an attempt to uphold standard morality.

Presumably you meant that some people think that Marijuana hasn't been legalized because the government can't tax it. Surely they could tax it, I think the actual argument is that it is not legalized because if the state were to manufacture it then the seeds they provide could last consumers a life time and so they would miss out on profits. This is ridiculous- what about the range of seeds that are sold for every other plant and vegetable? It is much more likely that it has not been legalized due to the state's reactionary nature- it is too much of liberal idea to gel with the conventions of the states where it is not legal.

[Scott]

I'm not sure if it will ever happen. The war on drugs costs taxpayers a lot of money, but that means a lot of people are making a lot of money through the war on drugs. Those people are going to work very hard to keep the racket going. The war on drugs helps the government excuse spending so much taxpayer money.

For the most part, it is in the interest of the people in power to keep marijuana illegal and wage a war on drugs. So I wouldn't count on drugs such as marijuana being legalizing.

For the the most part, I believe the people in society would be better off if drugs were legalized. Mainly, legalizing marijuana would reduce violent crime. Also, the saved taxes (and the potential extra taxes made by taxing marijuana) could be used to alleviate other social problems such as poverty.

In conclusion, I support marijuana legalization because I believe it would greatly benefit most people in society, but I doubt it will be legalized anytime soon because the ruling class benefits from prohibition.

[Scott]

A new thread about legalizing marijuana was created which I locked since we already have this one. Here are the posts from that thread:

This is a very popular topic with politics today. But I want your opinion. Should people be able to purchase marijuana if they are 18, know the addiction effect on there lives, know this may cause brain damage, and will only smoke it in there homes? In my opinion if they are going to smoke it indoors and out of minors sight its fine with me if they are okay with the side effects. But the schools and goverment should still do PSAs and programs like D.A.R.E.

In the sense that MJ is just like cigarettes and drinking, --with all of the ill-effects known,--yes.

But in terms of mj being more hallucinatory and etc, it shd be kept illegal, like propofol is kept out of reach.

Of course, as long as the real illegality and crime of self-Hate is allowed as legal and uncriminalised, then there is no solution no matter how many psa's there are and how many programs like DARE there are nor if mj is kept as illegal.

I never thought about it like that, but your right. If the stuff wasn't illegal then there would be no point for any of the PSAs and programs. And society would collapse.

Legality will just lower the price so people can get more and smoke more and realize how boring it is and stop even quicker. Either way people will smoke it though so at this point it hardly matters. Getting some tax dollars off the sale of it could be nice though.

What business is it of the government what substance an adult puts into her body?

I never thought about it like that, but your right. If the stuff wasn't illegal then there would be no point for any of the PSAs and programs. And society would collapse.

What do you mean by, "society would collapse"? I don't see how the lack of anti-drug programs would cause a collapse of society (especially being that society worked just fine before any of these programs were first implemented.)

all drugs should be legal!. kids should be taught of there dangers and there blessings and should refrain from their use until they are mature enough(they decide, yes that can be fallacious, but only they know for sure).

To add to my previous comments, I believe marijuana usage could be more effectively lowered using a public health campaign like that used against cigarettes. Additionally, the massive savings (from not having to pay for the expensive war on drugs) and the new revenue (from heavily taxing marijuana) would allow us to fund more drug rehabilitation and drug education programs, other important social programs or just give tax breaks to the working folks.

Having previously used drugs [as a teenager], I say we should do as Amsterdam has done, but in a more severe fashion.

We should create a centralized location and wall/fence it off. Check every individual heading in. Mandatory strip searches for all people exiting and re-entering the 'drug-free' world.

If we did this, all who wished to use so-called 'illicit substances' could do so in peace, and so could kill themselves in a controlled and taxed environment.

I think this is a sensible solution.

Part of the question includes if a user is responsible for their actions while using? Now it is fashionable to be compassionate towards the addict as societal victims and go after the pushers. Are you willing to hold an addict responsible for their crimes and equal under the law at least theoretically with anyone else regardless of race, color, religion etc.?

Of course someone is responsible for what they do, drugs or not. Addicts that want help should readily be able to receive help.

Having previously used drugs [as a teenager], I say we should do as Amsterdam has done, but in a more severe fashion.

We should create a centralized location and wall/fence it off. Check every individual heading in. Mandatory strip searches for all people exiting and re-entering the 'drug-free' world.

If we did this, all who wished to use so-called 'illicit substances' could do so in peace, and so could kill themselves in a controlled and taxed environment.

I think this is a sensible solution.

I absolutely agree here and think this could be applied to all drugs, from alchohol to crack. Wall them off, set a limit on the amount of time they will have had to abstain from using so that they won't be entering the 'drug-free world' intoxicated. In the past weren't opium dens like that? In a way? I'm sure you could probably leave when you wanted though.

Doing this, though, would have some problems. Such as, when a drug is being used for medicinal purposes and such.

[Scott]

I want to add a note about conditional releases. There are many activities that we may agree we want to be legal but that would still want to disallow some or all convicts from doing as a condition of their release. For instance, while it is legal to walk past a school, I think prohibiting--as a condition of release--a convicted child rapist from ever going near one would be supported by almost everyone and make society safer. An alcoholic abuser could be prohibited from drinking alcohol or going to a bar as a condition of his release. One who commits violent crime that may be associated with an addiction such as gambling or internet porn or a relatively non-addictive habit like smoking marijuana could similarly be disallowed from engaging in such activities. A guy who gets convicted of recklessly driving his car way over the speed limit could have his right to drive his car safely under the speed limit revoked.

***

whitetrshsoldier,

I like the idea of prohibiting weapon possession in places where alcohol drinking, drug doing, gambling and other similar activities occur.

***

Nick_A,

Are you willing to hold an addict responsible for their crimes and equal under the law at least theoretically with anyone else regardless of race, color, religion etc.?

Of course, Nick_A, nobody is proposing allowing offensively violent crime, such as murder, rape, battery, muggings, vandalism and so forth. If someone commits an act like murder or rape, I think all us want them detained regardless of whether or not they happen to smoke marijuana, drink alcohol, gamble, watch internet porn or perform some other arguably self-destructive, intoxicating or addictive activity. And as explained above, those convicted of a violent crime can be prohibited from engaging in this activities as a condition of their release.

Anyway, Nick_A, I think you make an important point. Even when drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana or doing some other addictive, intoxicating or self-destructive activity is legal, we cannot allow that to be a defense for committing other violent crimes. "I was drunk at the time," is not an excuse for abusing one's children. "I wanted buy drugs to get high," is not an excuse for mugging someone.

I think weed should definetly be legal. I think it is pretty damn stupid that it is not. If you smoke it out of a vaporizor you won't get cancer from it. It is a leisure drug. I find it dumb that oxycodone is legal(medically) and weed isn't. I mean that's a opiate. People are dying from opiate overdoses all the time. Alchohol is killing people left and right but BIG BAD WEED, oh no. Ridiculous.

Besides the potential to help the economy, the drug is extremely effective for a lot of epileptics. Some epileptics have to take a range of drugs to reduce their seizures. The meds are basically mood stabilizers that are normally used for people with mental problems. For a lot of epileptics, regular meds don't work and they are suffering through multiple seizures a week. I haven't the slightest clue why it is not at least medically legal.

Also, people that are terminally ill should have the right to smoke or vaporize a little weed before they die. I mean come on, they're dying. A lot of cancer patients don't want to use poppy plant derived meds for pain(for obvious reasons). I mean, who wants to be a slave with the little time they have? Offered opiates and denied weed????? Am I in the freakin Twilight Zone?

Is medical grade cannabis synthethic now? Is it safe to buy any medications off the internet? Is the whole weed better for not causing adverse effects, as is sometimes claimed by herbalists?

Visit breaking the taboo period commercial (I am new and cannot post links, come on Scott!) if you are interested in more information on the war on drugs and accurate unbiased statistics. You can also support the campaign to end the war on drugs by visiting wear the taboo period commercial. I hope this post doesn't go against some sort of advertising/spam rule, do people actually read the rules? As far as my opinion goes I believe that all drugs should be decriminalized, as an addiction to heroine is a psychological problem, not a criminal one.

The last thing Al Capone would have wanted was the prohibition on alcohol to end. The last thing cartels and the like would want is, the average American growing a cash crop like marijuana. Notice we could grow marijuana and export it, but that’s not happening at all is it? But its happening somewhere else quite successfully. Even much of what is grown here is sponsored from out of country. Back in the day when we were nothing, tobacco was our greatest crop and was exported to Europe. I was watching a program last night on the subject, there getting $400 a ounce for the stuff. WOW.

Even in states where its half-ass legal like California they “the law enforcement” constantly harass and shake down legal operations in the name of federal law.

Its all about the production and distribution, as in some states now its perfectly legal to consume marijuana, but I wonder if its legal to grow and sell in significant quantities.

On the other side of the coin, if anyone knows the result of using marijuana, then they know that they wouldn’t want their army smoking the stuff, when they are supposed to be combat ready. As far as social ramifications those who would drink and drive drink and drive law or no law, those who would consume marijuana and drive consume marijuana and drive law or no law.

All drugs should be legal for adults to take. A person is not violating anyone else's rights simply by taking a drug. Now, if they commit other crimes or neglect their children while on drugs, obviously that should be prosecuted.