should pot be legal?

please answer after ya thought about it! alchol is legal. ask any dr whats is worst for you. i never seen a person go violent after smokeing a joint but every day i see a idiot who drank to much cause trouble.but pot is still ilegal to smoke they can put ya in jail for smokeing a plant!i dont smoke no more and when i did it was only every other week or so .but i sure dont seserve to go to jail for that. well waht do you think?

YES, YES, YES.

I meant to shout.

Let's see, marijuana is not physically addictive, it is not poisonous at all, is less intoxicating than alcohol, and has been scientifically proven not to have a long-term impact on memory or mental ability (Johns Hopkins study 1998). Additionally, marijuana is useful as an herbal remedy for many conditions, it can be used to make high-quality fiber for clothing and paper, and is a better crop (in terms of environmental impacts) than cotton.

Besides, we spend billions on drug enforcement and incarceration of offenders. We have imprisoned about 3/4 of a million Americans over the last decade for marijuana possession, cultivation, or distribution....all the while we could be utilizing the plant as a source of tax revenue by licensing the production and distribution through state operated stores (similar to state operated liquor stores).

Seems like a no-brainer to me.

BTW, I have been a daily smoker for nearly thirty years. Just acquired my AA at age 46 with a 3.45 GPA and am continuing my education at the University level. My wife and I live in a large, newer home and we carry almost no debt. We have never been arrested for any crime, we pay our taxes and are productive citizens. We are great anecdotal evidence for a lack of long-term or permanent harm from smoking marijuana.

At great cost we wage a war on our own citizens, and we are no safer or more protected from the perceived negative impact of the plant. What a shame.

Actually there is scientific evidence that links marijuana to harmful effects in the brain. I find that most people who do it ignore the evidence completely. Is it worse than alcohol?...not sure about that. I do know that there have been many car accidents related to marijuana use. I definitely don't think a person should go to jail or have such a severe punishment. There are people who do worse crimes who get out of jail sooner than someone who is in there for marijuana. But let's be honest here. It IS linked to problems in the brain...and that crap can't be good for your lungs. My g/f mom is an old hippy and has done that stuff for years... and she's all dingy in the head forgets things... her motor skills seem impaired... I think long term use is the problem.

No.
The fact that one drug that is harmful is legal does not justify another. I won't argue the degree of harm either does, but my answer is NO.

Jerry

so alchol should be ilegal

How ironic . . .

Some states are trying to make tobacco smoking illegal, and others want even more stuff to smoke!

OK some thoughts . . .

For me personally, I do not care. Just do not do it around me, and dont't GET STONED AND DRIVE! I never smoked a cigarrette, so pot would be out of the question. No desire at all!

Now I would like to try some ABSINTHE at least once in my life . . .!

I think that the main difference between pot and alcohol, is that the sole purpose of pot is to get high, whereas, while you CAN get drunk on alcohol, millions of people enjoy wines, beer, and spirits without the need to get drunk.

Also, alcohol is already in our lives, and has been for a long while. While there are health risks associated with alcohol, there are also benefits, and it is also part of our culture, and I would believe that it should fall under a "grandfather" clause if you were to try to outlaw alcohol because of health risks. There is also lots of proof that moderate alcohol comsumption may be good for you.

There are no health benefits of Pot, that cannot be duplicated, even more effectively than Pot, with other drugs, that do not have the haluganic side effect.

Opps, gotta finish this later, work calls . . .
OK, Back,

There is lots of strong evidence that says that Pot is a gateway drug.

Now the pluses, are:

US can regulate, and tax and control and industry, that they had no control over.

The millions of people that do want to do pot, can do so legally.

My personal feeling, is to keep it illegal. Yes there are benefits, but overall, I think the problems outweigh the benefits.

But, where would be be in this world without POT?

No Cheech and Chong!
No Bevis and Buthead!
No Hippy Dippy Weatherman
No Rock and Roll!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif

I say yes but expect that powerful lobbys would keep this from ever happening! Way too much $ in the sales end of it which would upset the commerce of the "status quo". Of course these lobbys would not identify themselves for what they are but rest assured that a classic example of big business looking after itself; at the expense and freedom of the population is right here! I could see a champion of legalizing MJ end up doing time with Jimmy Hoffa! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

raggie33.
Your question involved pot. I answered that.
If every time one thing that was bad was accepted it led to others about as bad, we would have an even worse society than we have.

Jerry

Jerry

jerry understood

AND NO AFROMAN EITHER!

(someone post an MP3 link to the Afroman song, I cannot search MP3's at work!)

no.

just because alcohol is legal doesn't make it right. many people can drink alcohol without harmful effects in their lives but alcohol tears up some other peoples lives and not necessarily those who are drinking the alcohol. I work at the trauma center in las vegas and you probably don't know the destruction until you see what comes into the trauma center that is drug and alcohol related.

yes. alcohol is legal and at a great price. i don't think the benefits of legalizing pot would justify the cost.

as an asthmatic, i say no.. tobacco shouldn't be legal either..

or maybe it should be legalized but only in your own home.. and special smoking bars. or something.

i will admit we spend way too much damn money on a losing battle for such an unimportant piece of human history.

I am unconvinced it would be good for all of us to be stoned all the time.
I did partake when I was in HIGH school and even before. I have not
In many years. As for stepping stones to harder drugs? Give me a break!
You want addictive?? Flashlights are far more of a problem. I started with
An E2e then got A G2. Then stumbled upon the CPF and with gleeful encouragement
Slipped deep into the abyss of flashacholism M6 M4's L6 L5 Turbo heads Mr.Bulk
Electrolumens Lambda Pilas SL's and Pelican's OH MY! The infamous Thor 10mill CP
Glow sticks and yes even inkpens with leds . Arc's I got 6 3 are the same. MagChrg w/UCL/WAbulb I got one.Not enough I got the Super battery pack hand made by one of CPF's finest. I almost forgot the Pelican,Otter & Storm cases to store some of them in.
I even got mini mags just so I could buy drop in leds AfTER I had 6 ARC's L6 & L5
Where does it end??? And Who's gonna pay for all this??edit
Topper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif

Laws affect behaviour in many ways.

I believe a higher percentage of the population uses marijuana now than at any time when it was legal. Making it illegal drives the profit motive behind the whole industry. (supply & demand)

I'm sick of Public Service Announcements that proclaim:

When you buy drugs you are supporting terrorism.

I would like to see a PSA that said:

When you pass laws that artificially raise the profits involved in buying drugs you are supporting terrorism.

Since the sixties our constitutional rights have been constantly eroded in the name of fighting illegal drugs. It would be one thing if it had a positive effect. That has not been demonstrated.

In the city I live in cops have been arrested in drug deals and then murdered the witnesses before they could testify in court. They were convicted anyway.

The corruption caused by illegal drugs does not stop at law inforcement. Many who lived through the 80s will be familiar with the term narco-militarism. That maniac from Panama was a good example, but no military is immune from it. Within the last two years an Admiral's wife was arrested with 2 pounds of cocaine while rotating back to the States.

We should evaluate the cost of these laws to our society and not just look at it from the drug side of the equation.

If I suggested that we summarily shot anyone caught with drugs most would say that that would be exterme. Many of the same people have never given a thought to the fact that our drug laws continue to erode our privacy, our property rights, and due process itself.

I think that's extreme. And it has never worked.

I think that the drugs are actually the lesser issue, here. The laws that have been uninforcible for the past 40 years are creating a monolithic federalized law inforcement that can increasingly do anything that they want to whoever they want, without the need to worry about mistakes.

One definition of insanity is when someone does the same thing over and over and keeps expecting a different result. By that definition what we are doing with drugs is insane.

To put it another way, on one hand we are looking at the cost to society of drug use -- and on the other we must consider the cost to society of the drug laws themselves.

Laws affect behaviour in many ways.

What the heck are you guys smoking? Oh wait, I know...it's pot.

POT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!

It is an addictive drug that has very harmful effects on the body. I can't believe that anybody can think otherwise. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/whoopin.gif

Cigarettes are legal and addictive, like alcohol, so it is very hard to make them illegal.

C'mon you guys. I thought you were smarter than that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif

Yeah, that's billiant, It's the governments job to keep us from bad habits. They're doing a wonderful job aren't they... In the meantime I really would like to thank the wife of the cop who died because he pulled over a weed smuggler who didn't want to get busted. Thanks for your donation to the cause m'am.

We ARE smarter than that. Smart enough to deal with reality.

No.

[ QUOTE ]
IlluminatingBikr:
What the heck are you guys smoking? Oh wait, I know...it's pot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not me.

[ QUOTE ]
Sub_Umbra said:
[ QUOTE ]
IlluminatingBikr:
What the heck are you guys smoking? Oh wait, I know...it's pot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not me.

[/ QUOTE ]

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