should marijuana be legalized?

[UpsideDownFlag]

i've been giving this a lot of thought lately- if weed is legalized, then all those ads saying that money for drugs goes to terrorists would be moot, right? anyway, there's lots of arguments for either side, so let's see how i set this up.

[Kierkegaard]

1. If you can drink 151 legally

you should be able to smoke a joint. Period.

[Skuk]

2. war on drugs is bullshit

only reason drug related violence exists is because of the money available in the black market. Cocaine is worth 8x the amount of gold.

[UpsideDownFlag]

3. actually this is another interesting point- the war on drugs is looking

to me like a great big scheme for continued welfare ghettoes and poverty, a convenient excuse to police those areas and keep folks in jail.

additionally, the 151 remark is right, too...if people can binge drink and "just be boys"...what the hell is a joint gonna do?

[Skuk]

6. if they are high

they wont need liquor, and the liquor lobby CANT HAVE THAT NOW CAN WE? hint: say YES (or else)

[miss_kitty]

11. well you are 100% correct, about the war on drugs

it helps keep the prison population 60% black, while black americans make up 12% of the population in the US. it's a war alright, but it's not really about drugs

[Kierkegaard]

14. As well,

you can't smoke enough dope to kill yourself. You can't say that about 151...

[Jack_DeLeon]

10. I agree...

the war on drugs is bullshit, the only reason we still fight it is because the police want to keep the money rolling in.

[The Traveler]

4. How can we be said to be free

if we do not have the freedom to alter our brain chemistry. Liberty being a two edged sword, one is still responsible for what one does while that chemistry is altered. One is responsible for "handling it".

[jpgray]

5. How else are we going to sustain the world's largest prison population?

We're number one!

[Radical Activist]

7. You people are a bunch of pot smoking hippies!

cool

[UpsideDownFlag]

8. it's like one of Cartman's nightmares.

"hippies...everywhere...they wanna save the earth, but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad..."

[AntiCoup2K4]

16. Like Cartman's got any room to talk... he hangs out with stoner TOWELS!!

[Chovexani]

20. Wanna get hiiigh?

:smoke:

[Seldona]

9. Voted yes unconditionally.

But I agree people need to be held accountable for their actions.

Just like is done with alcohol.

I don't want some stoned person slamming into me and my family.

But if we can accept alcohol use, there is no logical reason not to legalize marijuana.

At least in my opinion.

[Jack_DeLeon]

12. IMO...

you punish people for comitting crimes, not because they have the potential to commit crimes which is what many anti-drug proponents are supporting.

They say that drug users might commit crimes, well then if thats the way they want to do it I guess they really want to arrest everyone because we have the potential to commit crimes.

[Seldona]

15. Agreed.

Hence the holding people accountable aspect.

To me the drug war is probably the largest abomination committed by our government on its own people.

I think it is pretty safe to say that drugs are here to stay.

It is simply ludicrous to continue destroying peoples lives for smoking a joint.

I mean you cannot receive federal student aid or live in federally subsidized housing if caught with one joint.

And the housing ban goes even if it is a family member that gets caught.

If a kid gets busted they can kick out the whole family!

Yet you can receive the above after a conviction for rape and murder.

Absolutely insane.

[amerikat]

13. absolutely not....we should continue to accept the facts

that illigal drugs can be stopped.......it's only been sixty years since pot has been illegal.....I think we should give it a few more years.

damn I can't find the bong smiley.

[IMOK_UROK2]

17. I would rather be on the road with a stoner than a drunk.

Pot is fairly safe. In my state, it can be grown with ease and its strength is better then 90 percent of what you can by on the "black market" which wouldn't exist if it were legal. It will be in time and I think the time is now. I think they should have a law where you can grow so many plants. Maybe not sell it, but just grow it and be alowed to have your own supply. That would stop the crime from this herb and no crimes, or prison times.

[Swamp Rat]

18. It can cure headaches instantly and make you forget Bush for hours

:smoke:

[Nikia]

19. Yes, it is safer than alcohol

In everyway healthwise. An inexperienced user isn't going to accidently smoke so much that they end up hospitalized or even die, which can happen from alcohol. Pot rarely makes people violent. Chronic pot use causes much fewer health problems than chronic alcohol use too. There are also many medical conditions which pot can help.
I do think that it should only be sold to adults in reasonable amounts and taxed.
In addition, marijuana tests that measure anything except intoxication for the purpose of employment should be banned. Off the job pot use, provided it does not occurr shortly before coming to work, has nothing to do with suitability for employment.

[ibegurpard]

21. I think so but

it's not very high on my list of priorities.
(no pun intended)