Should marijuana be legal? [Archive]

badberry

06-15-2004, 11:34 PM

Hell yes. If anything, doing this will put some of the high school drug dealers out of business. And when was the last time you heard of someone stirring shit up while stoned? Booze is much more harmful to society, imo. Obviously not so much for the person using, but smoking tobacco is legal, so why not?

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_984778.html?menu=

Canada was gonna put a decriminalization thing through, but then it kinda died out when Chretien got booted...if Harper and the Conservatives get elected though, it'll never happen :(

Morgana

06-16-2004, 12:40 AM

I'm for legalizing it. Granted, it's been a few years since I've toked, but pot is no worse than alcohol. Alcohol brings out the aggression in people, whereas pot mellows people out... as long as people do either on their own time and don't endanger others, I don't give a flying fuck.

JohnTheHenchman

06-16-2004, 12:47 AM

I'm not sure if I'm up for legalizing it, the last thing I want to be around is more potheads. However, I do believe it should be decriminalized.

ANavissi500

06-16-2004, 12:50 AM

I am more for decriminalization but something does need to be done.

I don't do it and I never will, btw.

Grim H.

06-16-2004, 01:49 AM

IT'S A FUCKING LANDSLIDE!

I knew it the moment I saw it on an internet discussion board of all places. Even though I've never smoked weed (or done any other drug, for that matter) I think it should be legalized. It's just a waste of money lockin' up all these potheads and hemp growers. Hell, beer is worse than pot, they sell that mass market in neatly packaged boxes. :D

TheDeadWalk

06-16-2004, 01:54 AM

Originally posted by Raymond Babbit
First, let me emphasize that I, personally, don't use drugs. But if other people want to, more power to them. Besides, if we legallized pot, taxed it, and sold it like cigarrettes, think about how much the deficit would go down. Think about how much money the government would make.

In the short term yes, the government would get shitloads of money, but eventually the market would find its equilibrium, and it'd be just another good to be consumed on the market, and we'd be back in a deficit.

Governments also tend to approve of having deficits, because that way they are doing everything they can for the economy. With extra money from a surplus, they tend to scratch their heads on what to do with it.

SLAW

06-16-2004, 01:55 AM

Our taxpayer money goes to police trying to capture pot heads and entrapping hookers all day long. :(

Unicron

06-16-2004, 02:03 AM

True - its not as harmful as other hard core drugs and doesn’t cause as much death as smokes or alcohol.

Im all for Legalising Mull if there is strict rules regulations to the amount people can have. So you don’t have these people with properties in remote areas producing huge amounts of pot to sell.

But if they leave it at, yeah its legal, grow as much as you want and float home in a bubble everyday. Then NO. Let it remain illegal

Plus medical prescription of weed should be 100% ok everywhere

Annie Hall

06-16-2004, 07:30 AM

I'm a terrifying cliche. A sarcastic teenager who drinks and smokes occasionally, watches too many movies and listens to weird indie rock from the 80s really loudly.

Frankly, I think pot should be legal. I haven't smoked in awhile, and I don't really like it, but I think that it's absurd to make something so common and not truly unhealthy illegal.

Fisting Ackbar

06-16-2004, 09:16 AM

As someone who grew up in a country where it's decriminalized, I'm all for smoking weed everyday http://members.lycos.nl/anonymousjohn/emot-weed.gif

quoth_the_raven

06-16-2004, 11:52 AM

I don't smoke, don't do drugs, but I do think it should be legal...especially for medical purposes. Personally I can't stand the smell, and if someone smokes near my girlfriend, it seems to bugger up her asthma...

On a side note, not everyone gets mellow. I did read somewhere about a very tiny (we're taking major tiny) number of people who get violent when they've had a smoke. Tiny though, especially compared to alcohol related violence...I really must try and find out where I read that...

Grebdron

06-16-2004, 12:18 PM

Of course it should be legal.

Jerk Shapiro

06-16-2004, 01:21 PM

A friend with weed, is a friend indeed.

notchreturns

06-16-2004, 02:29 PM

Ummmm, yeah.

Weed is good. Makes notch happy.

Scarface98.9

06-16-2004, 06:47 PM

Originally posted by quoth_the_raven
Tiny though, especially compared to alcohol related violence...I really must try and find out where I read that...
I believe the evidence was Reefer Madness ;)

Tom Samborski

06-16-2004, 07:31 PM

I say it should be legalized. The police and any other figures of authority have much more serious matters to deal with than some random person lighting up some crumbled-up leaves.

Even though there is the risk of having a nation full of potheads, but I doubt that would happen.

BubbaStrangelove

06-16-2004, 07:44 PM

Originally posted by quoth_the_raven
On a side note, not everyone gets mellow. I did read somewhere about a very tiny (we're taking major tiny) number of people who get violent when they've had a smoke.

I've only around more than a few people who have whigged out smoking strong stuff like it's the not so strong stuff. Only one time have I ever thought someone was going to get violent, and that dude looked like someone who would get violent high or not.

One time I saw someone whig out smoking angel dust, not realizing it -- He got kind of scary, but not particularly violent.

Anyway - my two points in these personal anecdotes are as followed:

1 - I do see any proof the pot would make a non-violent person violent.

2 - All of the incidents I've seen where people have whigged out (on pot alone) could have been avoided if it was more regulated -- Everyone when they start drinking knows that whiskey and the lot is stronger than most beers -- and that if they are used to drinking beer, the other stuff is stronger. Pot heads usually learn by suprise after thinking they just paid too much, even though the weed looks nice.

I've said too much.

bmain77

06-16-2004, 09:42 PM

I'm glad to see that no one brought up the horrible gateway drug argument. Anyone with half a brain realizes that cigarettes and alcohol are the true gateway drugs and not pot.

But here's some experts views on marijuana:

Cocaine Addict: Marijuana is not a drug. I used to suck dick for coke. Now that's an addiction. You ever suck some dick for marijuana?

Enhancement Smoker: You ever see the back of a twenty dollar bill... on weed? Oh, there's some crazy shit, man. There's a dude in the bushes. Has he got a gun? I dunno! RED TEAM GO, RED TEAM GO.

Grim H.

06-16-2004, 10:25 PM

Originally posted by bmain77

Cocaine Addict: Marijuana is not a drug. I used to suck dick for coke. Now that's an addiction. You ever suck some dick for marijuana?

[I]I]

No, no, I can't say I have...

PS: You ever look at the stars.....on weed?:D

blankpage

06-16-2004, 10:29 PM

At first, my answer was "No", for the fact that I hate pot and everything to do with it. I've had many friends do it, and have seen them high, etc. But, I was thinking today, and my answer is "yes."

Why? you ask.

I hate the crime that goes on because of pot. Selling on the streets, people killing each other over it, etc. I've seen of this, it's horrible. I hate it. But, why are they doing this?

Because it is illegal.

They can't go in and just ask for pot. They have to illegally get it. If it were legal, they could just ask for it. Where's the crime? It's gone.

People can just buy it at the store, or at a special centre.

quoth_the_raven

06-17-2004, 09:55 AM

Originally posted by Scarface98.9
I believe the evidence was Reefer Madness ;)

Never seen it.

I read it somewhere but I am absolutely buggered if I can remember where... Anyway its such a tiny number, its barely relevant.

Like bubba says, with proper regulation...s'all good :)

Nate6

06-17-2004, 03:14 PM

Yes, of course it should be legalized, regulated, and taxed. It would end the endless fights that tie up the legal system and could be a great source of revenue. And it would end the darkness, the backstreets, the alleys, and dealers lacing it with other materials. Plus, alcohol is legal, and there is a ton of evidence that says that alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana.

I'm also a bit of a libertarian, in that I believe people should have the right to decide what they put in their own body. BUT, like cigarettes, I think it should be off-limits to smoke it in public places.

That said, I have never smoked marijuana and I doubt I ever will. I'm a bit of a control freak and I like to be fully in charge of my faculties at all times.

jeo4

06-17-2004, 03:47 PM

I'm on medications that prevent me from drinking, but would not have any adverse reactions to marijuana. I say smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Jerk Shapiro

06-17-2004, 05:33 PM

The next Schmoe Convention?...

I'm thinking Amsterdam.

jeo4

06-17-2004, 05:36 PM

Originally posted by Jerk Shapiro
The next Schmoe Convention?...

I'm thinking Amsterdam.

Maybe the airlines would float us a group discount?

:D

someguy

06-18-2004, 12:34 AM

I used to be for it but now I am against it. Remember when Tobacco came out? There was some info on it and it was all good. Then people found out how bad it was and it was too late. The government was making big bucks off of it and decided to keep it. We don't know much about marijuana yet we do know it's good. What if it's legalized and everyone loves it but then we find out it has something bad in it that can cause something? The government doesn't want to make the same mistake therefore it won't be legalized in North America.

Plus I talked to a guy who is now in his late 30s and has been smoking marijuana since he was in his teens. You can't keep a conversation up with him. He is so out of it. He literally forgets the stuff he says 10 seconds ago. It's just sad to watch. So I am not for decriminalizing it. Medically I say yes.

TheDeadWalk

06-18-2004, 01:22 AM

Given from what I've heard and have read about marijuana, it should be legalized, same with Ephedra on account that it should be the consumer's choice.

However government seems to pretend that most people don't drink to become drunk, they have their simple serving and all is well. Reality is that when people have one drink, they tend to have two, or even three or more. Thus creates a fuckered up sensation, the same sensation marijuana causes only in a matter of seconds.

It'd be easier if Marijuana came in serving sizes.

But the major proponent against Marijuana is now stemming to be lung cancer, moreso than tobacco. You wouldn't think that, but watch the average marijuana smoker. When he inhales, he inhales like a motherfucker and tries to control it in his lungs as long as he can in order to enhance the effect, ala the old phrase "If you don't cough, you don't get off." Cigarettes are more casual, in and out like air, no need to hold it in for a period.

TheDeadWalk

06-18-2004, 01:26 AM

Originally posted by Grim H.
IT'S A FUCKING LANDSLIDE!

Medication time, Mr. McMurphy...

Thrizzle

06-18-2004, 01:51 AM

1. Pot is not nearly as dangerous as Alchohol and cigarettes.

2. It's most likely a "gateway" drug because it's illegal.

3. Pot promotes peace, and peace ain't profitable man.

**Number 3 is may or may not be a wild and unsubstantiated theory.

Benny

06-18-2004, 02:00 AM

I am one of the scant few who voted no. The tobacco industry has marketed cigarettes, a product known to be hazardous for your health, to people for many years, showing the "pleasure" and "coolness" that you get from smoking. Kids see these ads, and think that it's fun and cool to smoke, so they get hooked and could end up getting lung cancer. This has spawned stories like the one in the film The Insider.

But anyway, my point is that if marijuana is legalized, the same thing might happen. Legalization would just lead to more rapid production of the drug, making it more easily available to anyone. It's a dangerous drug that can alter people's minds, and I don't want more people around me getting stoned all the time. Plus, once pot is legal, some company will become the Phillip Morris or the Brown & Williamson of the marijuana industry, and become another American big-business conglomerate, and we have enough of those already. People will smoke marijuana whether or not it's legal, but making it legal just makes it more readily available. For now, we should retain the status quo on legalized drugs.

As for medical weed, we need to be sure of how well it works before letting it be used for medical conditions. If there is no other possible treatment, and it might save someone's life, then I would not be opposed to using it at all.

By the way, Half-Baked is a hilarious movie.

TheDeadWalk

06-18-2004, 04:09 PM

Originally posted by Thrizzle
1. Pot is not nearly as dangerous as Alchohol and cigarettes.

2. It's most likely a "gateway" drug because it's illegal.

3. Pot promotes peace, and peace ain't profitable man.

**Number 3 is may or may not be a wild and unsubstantiated theory.

Alcohol I agree, but a Marijuana high has been said to rival that of a good drunk. Some people can contain it, but some people can contain their alcohol too. It could perhaps lead to more highway deaths.

The gateway drug is basically because a lot of stoners get used to the buzz and want something bigger and better. Also, many dealers and smokers lace their marijuana with wicked shit like cocaine and embalming fluid. Its the other shit that untrustworthy people put into the weed that forms some of those gateways. Fucking embalming fluid and vicadin. What the fuck.

As for cigarettes, its been said to be worse than cigarettes, by six times. Basically because your average pot smoker as I said above, holds the shit in his lungs in about the amount of time a cigarette smoker could have three hits in and out.

BubbaStrangelove

06-18-2004, 04:27 PM

Originally posted by TheDeadWalk
As for cigarettes, its been said to be worse than cigarettes, by six times. Basically because your average pot smoker as I said above, holds the shit in his lungs in about the amount of time a cigarette smoker could have three hits in and out.

Yeah, but an average smoker hits 20 - 40 cigarettes a day.

A pot smoker would have to smoke over an ounce per day to match that. (an ounce can last me two weeks - and that includes sharing.)

Do you know how fucking bombed I would get trying to smoke as many joints as a smoker smokes cigarettes?

Damn.....

Also, cigarettes have additives - where pot has none.

And my assertion is that there are no gateway drugs, only gateway people who introduce you to bad drugs. You have to be cool, and not go crazy -- same goes with anything. I can either drive my car, or I can act like I'm in the fucking Fast and the Furious.

Also, you can't smoke vicodin. And you would have to be a moron to not realize your weed was laced with embalming fluid. That stuff smells really, really bad, and wrong, and chemical as fuck. I can see someone being tricked on their first time, maybe.... but embalming fluid isn't all that common. You would have to already be in some crazy company to even get offered it. I mean, that's like some hardcore shit, and the only way you would smoke it is if you knew what was going on. I've never heard, or could imagine of someone smoking that shit on accident.

Also - weren't there 8 people against yesterday? Now there is only 6.

I am one of the scant few who voted no. The tobacco industry has marketed cigarettes, a product known to be hazardous for your health, to people for many years, showing the "pleasure" and "coolness" that you get from smoking. Kids see these ads, and think that it's fun and cool to smoke, so they get hooked and could end up getting lung cancer. This has spawned stories like the one in the film The Insider.

You're one of the few detractors who've stepped up against us weed heads.

I agree for the most part, but pot is hardly as casual as cigarettes. From what I understand, even in places where it is legal, it is considered rude to light up whenever you want.

To me, it's not on the same level as cigarettes -- I'd place it more as:

Pot is to cigarettes what tequila shots are to beer.

Where in, it is physically impossible to do tequilla shots all day every day, but you could drink beer all day every day.

I know people smoke weed all day, but not consistently all day, like with cigarettes.

Still a good concern, because companies are evil! I'd imagine, though, the fact that pot is easier to grow and harvest than tobacco - that the companies wouldn't have as much power as tobacco companies.

This is also a theory of mine as to who is lobbying against it's legality.

TheDeadWalk

06-18-2004, 04:37 PM

Originally posted by BubbaStrangelove
Yeah, but an average smoker hits 20 - 40 cigarettes a day.

A pot smoker would have to smoke over an ounce per day to match that. (an ounce can last me two weeks - and that includes sharing.)

Do you know how fucking bombed I would get trying to smoke as many joints as a smoker smokes cigarettes?

Damn.....

The embalming fluid has been picking up and is actually pretty popular in Cleveland, and a lot of the drug areas in Northern Ohio, and one of Ohio's major drug cities: Zanesville.

As for the cigarettes to weed ratio, I was merely talking quality of hits, not quantity of joints to actual cigarettes. Its hard to compare a pack of cigarettes to two joints smoked I feel. Cigarettes are casual, breathe in, breathe out. Rinse and repeat. The weedameyer tends to be held in like you're all of a sudden some hot air balloon about to burst for every hit.

BubbaStrangelove

06-18-2004, 05:44 PM

The embalming fluid has been picking up and is actually pretty popular in Cleveland, and a lot of the drug areas in Northern Ohio, and one of Ohio's major drug cities: Zanesville.

Trust me, embalming fluid isn't a new thing. It was really big here in Tampa in the early-90s and really big with the wannabe gangsters.

I think it's like how oxycontin was, where it filtered through the larger coast cities first, then ended up in the heartland tearing apart communities.

Trust me, I in no way advocate destruction. However, my point in all of that is that there is no way in hell a pot smoker could be "slipped" embalming fluid. It would be like being in a room with one other person, farting, and trying to convince the other person it wasn't you. It's too obvious to fool people with.

As for the cigarettes to weed ratio, I was merely talking quality of hits, not quantity of joints to actual cigarettes. Its hard to compare a pack of cigarettes to two joints smoked I feel. Cigarettes are casual, breathe in, breathe out. Rinse and repeat. The weedameyer tends to be held in like you're all of a sudden some hot air balloon about to burst for every hit.

That's why I compared it to tequilla shots.

That was my point there. No way in hell can someone smoke weed as casually as people smoke cigarettes. All for the very reason you state above.

Now don't think I'm all for having a nation of Cheech and Chongs - hell no. I actually despise much of what is represented by the weed stigma - lazy, goofy, generally worthless.

The thing is that I doubt these stigmas would run as deep with legal pot. I'm sure that it would actually dimminish the amount of abusers -- it's psychology 101 that most people want less what is readily available. Hell, look at the people in Holland. Not by any means a stupid population. As Eddie Izzard points out - In America, where weed is illegal, most people complain about having a bilinqual country - saying the shouldn't have to work to learn two languages. In Holland, they speak 5 on average.

Morgana

06-18-2004, 06:09 PM

Originally posted by BubbaStrangelove

Now don't think I'm all for having a nation of Cheech and Chongs - hell no. I actually despise much of what is represented by the weed stigma - lazy, goofy, generally worthless.

Not that I ever put this on my resume, but I used to work in a headshop when I was in college. (Hey it paid the bills!:p) And people would be surprised as to who buys paraphernalia. The largest chunk of our customers were college students. Might have had to do with the location, we were located right by the University of Washington. But we also had businessmen, and just generally decent looking people.

I think there is a stereotype of the lazy, unproductive pot smoker, and I think people would be greatly surprised to learn who actually does light up in the afterhours.

KcMsterpce

06-19-2004, 12:55 AM

I agree with what the majority says, and for the same reasons that they have stated.

Marijuana is no worse for you than smoking cigarettes. Hell, cigars haven't even been mentioned. There will be people who abuse the use of pot, but it's just like anything else in this world; you can't stop that minority from doing what they want irresponsibly no matter what laws you inflict on them.
I believe that pot smoking laws should be enforced in much the same way as alcohol; don't smoke and drive, only off business hours, be responsible, etc...
I also feel that people should only smoke in designated areas - just like with cigarettes. I don't want weed smoke in my face just as much as I don't want cigarettes being smoked around me. It makes me sick to my stomach.

IMO, alcohol is a more dangerous drug to have legalized than Mary Jay any day of the week.
Plus, if companies start packaging legal buds, you're going to get a more 'controlled' manufactured substance. But this isn't always good. The big companies will probably do the same thing to pot as they do with cigs. They're going to add shit to it to make it more addictive (and more dangerous). The problem with this is that many anti-potsmokers will use that evidence as proof of the invalidity of legalizing marijuana.
However, a pure, 100% natural-grown herb is probably not even as bad for you as your over-the-counter cigarette. Or home-grown moonshine.

bob

06-22-2004, 04:53 PM

Ahem...yes, yes it should.

bob's ass must be saved!

Mick

06-24-2004, 03:15 PM

It's been decriminalised here for a while, and I think that's the way to go.

If you legalise it and allow companies to mass produce and market it, I think it would cause more bother than it's worth.

Nobody gets arrested here just for smoking weed, and I don't know what the police really do about dealers and what not, but my guess is they're not all that bothered. So it's easy enough to get a hold of, you can smoke it all you like in your own home - which would probably the only sensible way to do it even if it was legal - yarbles to going to a bar, having a few joints, then finding out it's £10 for a plate of chips and you're too lazy to leave.

The only real benefits of legalising it would be the taxation (they'd just waste it anyway) and taking money out of the dealer's pocket - but you're never going to stop 'em.

The big companies will probably do the same thing to pot as they do with cigs. They're going to add shit to it to make it more addictive (and more dangerous). The problem with this is that many anti-potsmokers will use that evidence as proof of the invalidity of legalizing marijuana.
However, a pure, 100% natural-grown herb is probably not even as bad for you as your over-the-counter cigarette.

There's probably nothing they can bung in there that they've not already put in cigarettes anyway. While smoking cigarettes is more harmful for the lungs etc. than joints or taking bongs (does anyone JUST take bongs, etc?) the latter is much worse for messing with the brain. Depression, mood swings, completely bollocksed up short-term memory can all occur as a result of smoking it too heavily. Make it legal, start selling it everywhere, advertising it etc, and you're opening it up to more and more people and disguising the dangers (unless they use the warnings like they do with cigarettes.. :rolleyes:)

I was fed a lot of bullshit about it when I was younger - it clears your lungs out (What. The. Fuck?), it's not addictive (again, total nonsense). Factor in big soulless corporations and the bullshit count goes up and up.

I smoke it, and that's my choice, I know what it is/can doing/do to me, and I do it anyway. I drink alcohol because it's readily available and I can drink it pretty much where and when I want without anyone giving a damn; liver damage and god knows what else never really came into it.

As it is, people can make up their own minds about it, it's not exactly hard to come across, but legalise it and it's not just your friendly neighbourhood dealer-man who's trying to coerce you into lighting up.

So yeah, decriminalise it, everyone can do as they please, but don't actively encourage it - which legalising it surely would - I can't afford to put on any more damn weight.

Lynn7

06-25-2004, 12:43 PM

I think it should be able to be perscribed for medical conditions but not legalized for recreation. We have enough problems with drugs and alcohol as it is, IMO.

Neesh

06-26-2004, 03:35 AM

I'm one of the few that voted NO for legalising it, but I am certainly not "down with dope". I get the PRemo smokeage dude. :cool:

It just doesnt need to be legalised. It DOES need to be DECRIMINALISED. The penalties for posession, even a REALLY small amount, are ridiculous. I could bore you all night with stories.... but this one friend in particular, he's gotten the shaft quite a few times. Once he was going through airport security, and they were searching through his bag, and the security officer found, literally, a tiny bag that had, literally, 2 seeds and a stem. Well, this gung-ho security officer calls it in, and the next thing you know, cops came rushing to the scene like it was the fucking French Connection 4. He misses his flight (of course) has to spend a night in jail, and it cost him over $1000 in fines and legal fees. That is just BULLSHIT. America is definitely retarded in this regard. I've known guys who've gotten busted smoking a joint on the street in NYC, and same basic thing happens. Directly to jail, do not pass Go.

Anyone who has half a brain and is resourceful can get the stuff anyways. Legalise it, and now all the JACKASSES out there who SHOULDNT be smoking it, CAN. People say "well if its legal it can be taxed"... Yeah, thats it - make joints available in some slick & hip packaging, market it to dumbass mass consumers, because we need ONE MORE THING TO BE TAXED. Please. Theres no need for me to get into the detriments/benefits of smoking pot, cuz that information is not hard to come by. But there are different strains of pot that have different effects on different people. And I am not advocating its use - especially not to teens or young adults. I didnt really start smokin' the sheit until I was about 26 and had a decent career going and could afford it. Did I mention that some pot can make you talk all night? I think I need to shut up now.