Legalize Marijuana!!

[The Ceej]

I promote libertarianism, so even though I don't really like to smoke (anything), I support the notion that people who want to do this should be allowed to.

The sad thing is, most Americans are Libertarian. In fact, I'd estimate about 85-90% of Americans being Libertarian. And, with that being the case, how come they can't get more than two electoral college votes? They should be able to take the election every time with no contest. Problem is, they all assume their vote would be wasted if they voted for what they wanted. And that's why it is wasted. Vote Libertarian. They're the only party that would legalize your marijuana. That being said, I'm not Libertarian. I'm independent.

I hate you too. But I'm sure alcohol is ok with you right? I'd smoke a joint over drinking a beer any day. Alcohol kills people. How many people you know that've died form pot? Exactly.

Last time this conversation came up, I challenged the anti-marijuana crowd to produce one documented case of death by marijuana overdose. They tried so hard. The best they could come up with was some crazy bitch who died because she ate some very strong, and possibly poisoned, marijuana. It was originally called an overdose, but after doctors looked at it, they realized it was due to the fact she ate a lot of possibly poisoned marijuana. So yeah. It's killed one. But not by overdose. Marijuana is absolutely safe and illegal for political and religious reasons. I mean, seriously. If you're going to legalize the two most dangerous drugs in pharmaceutical history, why not legalize the safest? It makes absolutely no sense.

[TyphoonThaReapa]

Please, stop talking out of your ass. I'm sorry your father is a bum, but he would be anyways without pot. nothing is forcing him to do anything. He's choosing. I smoke pot everyday. I go to work 40 hours a week, I play with my animals all the time. I live a happy productive life. yet somehow by miricle I'm able to live a very normal life. Amazing then.

Damn. Don't you think that was just a little harsh. I mean it's one thing to be defensive against his "i hate everyone. no exceptions" statement but you didn't have to attack him personally, did you? Anyways. Pot for him is an archetypal image of evil. There are people who see alcohol and cigarettes the same way. I'm sorry that he hates me but truth is I've got a bit of experience in drug addiction. It's no fun. I hated that part of my life. But it was me doing it and saying you hate everyone because one person couldn't handle it is akin to saying " this muslim was a terrorist" "so if any of you are muslim, I hate you". It's emotional thinking. But I doubt his opinion can be changed. I had a problem. I have a problem. If I were to blame the alcohol or the nicotine I'd be saying "oh well, I couldn't help it." There are always exceptions. E.g. people with a high tendency for depression or schizophrenia. There have been studies that revealed that people with those tendencies had a higher chance of it getting worse when smoking pot. Buuuut... on the same hand so does alcohol, cocaine, meth, heroin and LSD. So every case made against marijuana can be essentially made against every substance known to man. If you drink Drain-o chances are your going to react very badly to it. If you eat too much food you may suffer a heart attack. In fact, some foods, *cough*McD*cough* have some studies on it showing that their food can increase your chances for certain cancers. Do we ban McD? No, because that person has to choose to eat it. Alcohol? 1. we tried it, didn't work 2. that person has to choose to drink it. Of all the drugs out there marijuana is the only one to be free of physical addiction. You can have psychological addiction but that translates to " I love that stuff!" And frankly as long as the drug doesn't change you into a cop-killing, high-intensity, soulless mass of drug-addicted woo-ha then you're safe. Meth, coke, heroin and even LSD do that. Marijuana doesn't.

YOU KNOW WHAT? I'm angry now! Here's my problem! Why is it that in this country drug addiction is treated like it's normal? Lindsay Lohan gets a DUI and the country goes, " oh man, her parents were so hard on her!" WELL smurf THAT! She's rich! She could have ordered a limo to pick her up! Yet she got behind the wheel. smurfing moron! Paris Hilton throws a hissy fit when she reaches her third strike and has to go to prison. What has this world come to? We aren't human anymore! We just whore, crave, care for nothing, nothing but that next fix of alcohol. We have effectively destroyed our humanity! We should be outraged! Here we have Lindsay Lohan driving drunk and snorting coke and the country goes oh, that is too bad. Poor Lindsay! Yet when a someone smokes pot people go, you're ruining your life! You're gonna turn into a lazy bum! Get a job! All of my pothead (an proud!) friends have jobs. They work their asses off! They come home. They smoke pot. What is the goddamn difference between having a glass of wine?! Who here can deny it! When it comes down to someone with a REAL, in the bucket ADDICTION! Whether it be coke or alcohol or any other damn addictive substance they are pitied and "oh, let me help you to the toilet" or " oh they can't help it. those poor things didn't stand a chance." Yet when someone happens to smoke pot at home the word goes around " man, what a lazy bum, he's no better than a corpse. He is ridiculous! And he needs to be stopped!" Well I have two words to say to that:......................................... IGNORANT MORON! I mean, here I applied for a job at target. They don't test for LSD, ecstacy, coke, heroin, crunk, mellow yellow, mad dog, love potion #9, kleenex, kangaroo or junk. They test for one drug: mary jane, leaf, grass, aunt mary, boom, skunk, reefer... TH of the C. What do they think? Users don't exist near target?! I train with cops at my combat studio. They tell it to me everyday! The REALLY bad drugs don't just happen in the ghetto. They're sold to upper class highschool kids. They are sold and used in highschool bathrooms of upscale towns. They're even sold and used in Montana. My cops (yes, they are mine... my precious!) have had to deal with meth-heads trying to get their gun and even crazier shizite!It is time the war on drugs turned its eye away from marijuana. Frankly, all it does is clog the courts up. I'm not saying there aren't bad drugs. There most definitely are. Marijuana is just not one of them.

Damn son! Calm down! Here, smoke this... *offers reefer*

[Old Manus]

To sum up this thread:

Americans want to legalise Marijuana

Brits (and rest of the world apart from colombia) don't care because they have easy access to alcohol instead

[cloud21zidane16]

To sum up this thread:

Americans want to legalise Marijuana

Brits (and rest of the world apart from colombia) don't care because they have easy access to alcohol instead

Gotta agree it really is so easy to get alcohol in Britain

[Iceglow]

It grows from the earth. The freakin' earth! Like basil.

Don't really understand why it's illegal.

Under what you say Miriel opiates which come from poppies should also be legal too because it is a plant that grows from the earth. I disagree with that because Opiates are addictive and overdoses will kill.

I promote libertarianism, so even though I don't really like to smoke (anything), I support the notion that people who want to do this should be allowed to.

The sad thing is, most Americans are Libertarian. In fact, I'd estimate about 85-90% of Americans being Libertarian. And, with that being the case, how come they can't get more than two electoral college votes? They should be able to take the election every time with no contest. Problem is, they all assume their vote would be wasted if they voted for what they wanted. And that's why it is wasted. Vote Libertarian. They're the only party that would legalize your marijuana. That being said, I'm not Libertarian. I'm independent.

I hate you too. But I'm sure alcohol is ok with you right? I'd smoke a joint over drinking a beer any day. Alcohol kills people. How many people you know that've died form pot? Exactly.

Last time this conversation came up, I challenged the anti-marijuana crowd to produce one documented case of death by marijuana overdose. They tried so hard. The best they could come up with was some crazy bitch who died because she ate some very strong, and possibly poisoned, marijuana. It was originally called an overdose, but after doctors looked at it, they realized it was due to the fact she ate a lot of possibly poisoned marijuana. So yeah. It's killed one. But not by overdose. Marijuana is absolutely safe and illegal for political and religious reasons. I mean, seriously. If you're going to legalize the two most dangerous drugs in pharmaceutical history, why not legalize the safest? It makes absolutely no sense.

I agree most people feel they will waste their vote because time honored traditional views state they will wate their vote since a Conservative or Labour (whatever they're called in America, Democrats and Republicans?) government candidate will win. It's the same over here really, they vote Conservative or Labour because they feel the Liberal Democrats have no chance. Then again the Liberal Democrats would do things too liberal in my opinion, I like their ideas but in moderation which their not too good at suggesting. This however is off topic so I won't continue.

The insert quote that Bert states about alcohol being ok I'll comment on. Personally I think alcohol is slightly better than weed for one reason: At least when someone CHOOSES to drink Alcohol they don't force others to do so with them. Smoking weed is like smoking a cigarette the smoke whilst highly diluted and weakened can get people high, hot boxing for an example. An alcoholic only kills/affects himself, a weed smoker will affect those around them too.

For weed killing people. I don't know the major problem here is that today a lot of the cheapest easily available weed on the market is Skunk and Skunk more often than not is cut with other drugs to enhance the trip that can be dangerous and in some cases can prove addictive for people. I know this from my own experiences I'm not just shooting weed down here. I suppose some badly cut skunk could POSSIBLY kill someone but would you count it as the weed killing them or as poisoned weed? In my opinion it would be the weed. I could also say that weed slows reaction times at a faster rate than alcohol therefore if you follow the law and have "a" drink and drive afterwards you are less likely to be drunk (or seriously affected by the drink) than if you smoke a joint (even some heavier smokers I know get high from one joint) if you smoked a joint and drove I'd say you were more likely to have an accident than if you had a single drink and drove that could kill you.

Myself, I used to smoke weed and a lot of it. I'd occassionally take a quick toke from a joint now or a hit from a bong if it was on offer but I won't pay for my occasional whims. I am pro legalisation so long as the weed is properly maintained and the strength is monitored, there is an extension to the smoking ban meaning it could only be smoked at home or in designated "weed cafe's" (much like Amsterdam is supposed to be if the police weren't so relaxed), the weed is taxed properly and the taxes from that were to pay for better healthcare services. However I think the problem will then be similar to the stuff we've got now, smokers would grow "used" or "ressistant" to the hit they get from it after a while and they'd seek a "harder hit" which means an illegal market of skunk would flourish again but with higher prices without controls or policing which would be bad.


And yes I'm addicted to Jojee too :P

[MKusanagi]

The insert quote that Bert states about alcohol being ok I'll comment on. Personally I think alcohol is slightly better than weed for one reason: At least when someone CHOOSES to drink Alcohol they don't force others to do so with them. Smoking weed is like smoking a cigarette the smoke whilst highly diluted and weakened can get people high, hot boxing for an example. An alcoholic only kills/affects himself, a weed smoker will affect those around them too.

Obviously you've never been drinking with my friends. It goes something this:
Me: *pours shot*
Friend: *takes shot*
Me: *pours shot*
Friend2: *takes shot*
Friend: *pours shot*
Me: *takes shot*
Friend3: *pours shot*
Me: *takes shot*
Friend4: *pours shot*
Me: *takes shot*
Friend: *pours shot*
Me: *takes shot*
Friend5: *pours shot*
Me: *takes shot*

And this maybe goes on for 20 minutes with maybe 2 smoke breaks in between. And this is pretty much how my first semester in college went.
Kinda proves. You're smurfed no matter which drug you're rooting for. Oh and while alcohol doesn't get people drunk through air it certainly does kill people other than the alcoholic.

[Shiny]

Legalize it or ban nicotine and alcohol.

Agreed. Nicotine and alcohol are pretty bad too. In fact, I think nicotine may be worse than marijuana. But, I'm not too sure of that. Statistically speaking, alcohol seems to lead to a barrage of death due to drunkards. Whereas with pot, you don't really get many statistics saying that smoking it has caused death.

[MKusanagi]

Legalize it or ban nicotine and alcohol.

Agreed. Nicotine and alcohol are pretty bad too. In fact, I think nicotine may be worse than marijuana. But, I'm not too sure of that. Statistically speaking, alcohol seems to lead to a barrage of death due to drunkards. Whereas with pot, you don't really get many statistics saying that smoking it has caused death.

NEWSFLASH: We already tried banning alcohol. Remember, bootlegger isn't a type of shoe. Banning nicotine would fail too.

[Araciel]

The Britons invented liver disease, it's true.

[Shiny]

NEWSFLASH: We already tried banning alcohol. Remember, bootlegger isn't a type of shoe. Banning nicotine would fail too.

NEWSFLASH: I know. Did I saw we didn't try banning alcohol? No. Banning nicotine would actually benefit both smokers and the people who have to suffer the unfair circumstance of having to smell that harmful crap and the foul stench on the people who do it.

[Iceglow]

Deaths through drink driving have fallen significantly of late (source being a friend in the police force) or at least they have in my area. and I was speaking about someone who knows they're an alcoholic but has no problem with the situation...."I'm an addict, yes..thats true. Yet I don't want to do anything because my addiction is not a problem." kind of thing, these people rarely drive knowing that drink driving CAN carry prison time (no alcohol in prison it does no good to get locked away)

The reason why nicotine banning would probably fail for the next 4 generations is that the nicotine addiction is already there but as the world becomes more self concious of how short their lives are due to the emmissions of cars ect the number of smokers is falling in 4 generations I would predict that you could safely ban nicotine. However it won't happen because the taxation on them is EXTORTIONAL an estimate would probably put about 30% of all tax income of the UK from cigs and booze. They're complaining about not enough cash as it stands why then will they ban the two most taxed things in the country? I'm not rooting or defending any drug I drink, I used to smoke (cigs and weed) but I only do the one now but I see it as; I don't drive, I'm not an aggressive drunk, I'm in control and know my limits and drink responsibly...why therefore should I be banned from drinking alcohol?

[Mirage]

Legalize it or ban nicotine and alcohol.

Agreed. Nicotine and alcohol are pretty bad too. In fact, I think nicotine may be worse than marijuana. But, I'm not too sure of that. Statistically speaking, alcohol seems to lead to a barrage of death due to drunkards. Whereas with pot, you don't really get many statistics saying that smoking it has caused death.

NEWSFLASH: We already tried banning alcohol. Remember, bootlegger isn't a type of shoe. Banning nicotine would fail too.

Newsflash again: I know. That's sort of the point, among other things.

[MKusanagi]

NEWSFLASH: We already tried banning alcohol. Remember, bootlegger isn't a type of shoe. Banning nicotine would fail too.

NEWSFLASH: I know. Did I saw we didn't try banning alcohol? No. Banning nicotine would actually benefit both smokers and the people who have to suffer the unfair circumstance of having to smell that harmful crap and the foul stench on the people who do it.

My humble opinion: It would breed resentment and rebellion. Although, this country is deteriorating rather fast. Safety, safety, safety... even if it means sacrificing your rights. Unless nicotine starts causing people to become a danger to society (other than their odor) it should never be banned. Despite my drinking problem alcohol should remain. What would you say to all the wine connesieurs? I think if either or both of these got banned you would see mass migration to europe. And very angry europeans.

[Shiny]

My humble opinion: It would breed resentment and rebellion. Although, this country is deteriorating rather fast. Safety, safety, safety... even if it means sacrificing your rights. Unless nicotine starts causing people to become a danger to society (other than their odor) it should never be banned. Despite my drinking problem alcohol should remain. What would you say to all the wine connesieurs? I think if either or both of these got banned you would see mass migration to europe. And very angry europeans.

It's not just the odor I was referring to; it's second hand smoke and air pollution. Nicotine smokers are a danger to society for those reasons.

Well yes, the ban on any drug will inevitably cause a rebellion. But, it's the government's fault for allowing things such as drugs and even weapons to be distributed to the general public. Now, people have become addicted to things that they cannot control and it's hard to ban something like that when it is originally legal. That's why it's easier to ban marijuana because it isn't legal everywhere. The government was able to control it (in some cases) before it was made extremely accessible. Unfortunately, that isn't the case for nicotine, or what have you.

[MKusanagi]

My humble opinion: It would breed resentment and rebellion. Although, this country is deteriorating rather fast. Safety, safety, safety... even if it means sacrificing your rights. Unless nicotine starts causing people to become a danger to society (other than their odor) it should never be banned. Despite my drinking problem alcohol should remain. What would you say to all the wine connesieurs? I think if either or both of these got banned you would see mass migration to europe. And very angry europeans.

It's not just the odor I was referring to; it's second hand smoke and air pollution. Nicotine smokers are a danger to society for those reasons.

Solution: avoid smokers like me.

Well yes, the ban on any drug will inevitably cause a rebellion. But, it's the government's fault for allowing things such as drugs and even weapons to be distributed to the general public. Now, people have become addicted to things that they cannot control and it's hard to ban something like that when it is originally legal. That's why it's easier to ban marijuana because it isn't legal everywhere. The government was able to control it (in some cases) before it was made extremely accessible. Unfortunately, that isn't the case for nicotine, or what have you.

I recite:

this country is deteriorating rather fast. Safety, safety, safety... even if it means sacrificing your rights.

And you forgot to mention the angry europeans when lots of americans (smoker and nonsmoker, drinker nondrinker) migrate to europe. We're already on the verge of moving to canada. It's just asking for a "Diaspora of Americans".
We're better off keeping alcohol and nicotine legal. And we're much better off including marijuana on the list. You can cite reason after reason why marijuana should stay illegal. But there are much worse things to fight. Actual dangerous drugs whether they be smoked, snorted, injected or swallowed (cocaine, meth, yada yada ya...da) are extremely dangerous. They're extremely dangerous in that the chances of overdose are extremely high, plus the dangers of meth labs to neighborhoods, real and deep addiction (that if you use, you will abuse) that threatens the lives of not only themselves but others. Drug addicts like these will do anything for the next hit. And drugs aren't cheap. Now, correct me if I'm wrong but I have yet to see a smoker pulling a gun on someone for a smoke. These concerns are valid and need to dealt with. But as long as we continue to prosecute people caught with marijuana we aren't helping the fight but putting it behind. Clogging up (I'm repeating myself now) the courts over a pot smoker taking a drag in a park is no where as bad as someone handing over X to a young teen who later died from dehydration. (Ecstasy effects body temperature especially when combined with alcohol. Deaths attributed to X frequently are the result of overheating, overhydrating and overdose.) Marijuana has none of these effects unless you combine it with another illicit drug and even then the bad effects are majority because of the second drug. Legalize Marijuana. And win the war on drugs!

!!!VIVA LA MARIJUANA!!!