Marijuana

[SynaNara]

ok dont hate me for this.
but.
i dont think it should be leagal.
even if it doesnt hurt your physically it will still hurt you mentally. how much so depends on the circumstances. and also being high can put you into situations that can be dangerous. and being addicted to something doesnt always take an addictive substance. i mean, pot didnt become illegal for no reason.

[Tatterdemalion]

I don't hate you, but does the fact that something can potentially be harmful to an individual if used irresponsibly mean that it should automatically made illegal? I mean, if I consume too much sodium, then I can easily be put at risk for hypertension. Does that mean the government should put a ban on sodium, or only allow it to be used in foods under special circumstances? And if I watch television too much, I can potentially become lethargic, and lose ambition and interest in the world and life. I'd consider that to be very harmful indeed, but does that mean the government should outlaw television?

And being high doesn't put you into dangerous situations, it's just that normal situations can be made dangerous if attempted while high. Like driving. But at the same time, drinking and driving is just as, if not more dangerous, and yet anti-drunk driving laws are enough to deal with this, as opposed to outlawing alcohol. And alcohol presents even more of a threat, because if someone has to think about whether or not they're going to drive somewhere, if they're under the influence of alcohol their judgement will be pretty impaired, whereas if they're high, they probably won't want to go anywhere anyway.

And yes, it didn't become illegal for no reason. It became illegal due to a combination of sensationalized propaganda/media, racism, and a general lack of understanding of the substance. If people had understood back then what they understand now about marijuana, I seriously doubt it would have become illegal.

[Sophie]

Think of how much gang violence would be decreased? No one would be shooting anyone over dealer's territories if the Supermarket sells a pack of 20 joints.

[darkarcher]

That's hardly a good point. Gang violence would continue over something else; marijuana is not the only thing they fight over.

Also, if marijuana were legalized, it would not be a good idea to make it over the counter, as that would lead to increasingly easy abuse. If it were made available, it would most likely need to be through prescription.

[Chidori]

You can already get it in some forms through prescription.. If it became legalised making it only available through prescription would be foolish as first you'd need a reason for it to be prescribed to you.. Just going into a health centre and saying YOOO MAAAN I WANNA GET HIGGHHH wouldn't end up with you being given free weed by the NHS.

But alas over the counter in supermarkets wouldn't work either unless they compeltely anhialated the potency. You can already get headshops and the like that sell legal highs and salvia and stuff so it's just more than likely you'll get mroe of those cropping up selling it and perhaps coffee shops and that kind of thing like in amsterdam. Also.. as for the gang culture thing i highly doubt it would have any effect on it whatsoever.. It's usually just down to their own stupidity and lack of being able to get a job.

[darkarcher]

If it became legalised making it only available through prescription would be foolish as first you'd need a reason for it to be prescribed to you

How would that be foolish, now? Why should mind-altering drugs be given out unless someone has shown that they actually need whatever positive effect it would bring?

[Zairak]

I think Chidori meant that it would be pointless to make it legal if you would still need a medical reason to get it. It would be fairly pointless then to change it as our current system already works like that. Only, you know, not through the local pharmacy.

[killshot]

If it became legalised making it only available through prescription would be foolish as first you'd need a reason for it to be prescribed to you.

You talk as if there is no one who could medically benefit from marijuana. Getting high isn't the only reason someone would try to get a prescription.

You can already get headshops and the like that sell legal highs and salvia and stuff so it's just more than likely you'll get mroe of those cropping up selling it and perhaps coffee shops and that kind of thing like in amsterdam.

I have been to Amsterdam and shops that sell marijuana do so in a tasteful manner. If your concern is how marijuana should be distributed, then you should see how it is done there. There shouldn't be any need for the drugstore to be involved if marijuana was truly legal.

[Tatterdemalion]

How would that be foolish, now? Why should mind-altering drugs be given out unless someone has shown that they actually need whatever positive effect it would bring?

Um...for recreational purposes? Because people find the euphoric experience they encounter when they consume it to be pleasurable? I think the real question is what good reason there is to make such a substance illegal in the first place.

That's hardly a good point. ang violence would continue over something else; marijuana is not the only thing they fight over.

Not really. No, gang violence wouldn't go away entirely, but I don't think anyone's suggesting that it would. The fact of the matter is that as long as there is a strong demand for something that is illegal, it's not going to go away, but instead its distribution is going to go underground, into the criminal world. Once it enters the criminal spectrum, then not only are you providing gangs and organized crime alike with a source of revenue, but you're giving them an incentive to do business, and giving people a reason to support them.

Now, I'm not saying that the solution is to make everything legal, but when you're dealing with something for which there is no reason to make it illegal, why would you give gangs and criminals that much more to work with (which would then also lead to the need do divert things like law enforcement away from more pressing issues to locate, arrest, and prosecute said criminals.

[PersianSpice]

Increasingly easy abuse? It's already abused. So is alcohol, cigarettes, and any prescribed, legal drugs. Anyone who would smoke weed is already doing it so it's not like the whole country would be turned into potheads.

Anyways, I found some more interesting stuff. But since it's all basically from one site, I'll just link y'all there:

http://abovetheignorance.org/

THC actually has a protective effect on your lungs, so if you consume it without smoking it, it can actually help filter tar out of your lungs. Not sure if this is on Above The Ignorance, but oh well.

[Sophie]

Kinda like cigarettes and alcohol?
Welcome to America. The land of the free!
In American I should be allowed to choose how I kill myself. If I want to smoke weed, I should be allowed, it's not like it hurts any one. Surely no more the alcohol and cigarettes do.

I just don't get it ._.

[darkarcher]

I don't think cigarettes and alcohol should really be legal either, especially alcohol, but that's just me.

In general, you can't always point at something that's already allowed as proof that something else should be allowed, since the opposing party may not think that the original things should be allowed in the first place.

[Tatterdemalion]

Well, as far as I see it, there's a much better case to be made against cigarettes than against marijuana.

[darkarcher]

Go ahead, then. Comparing things is a good way of seeing them from different angles.

[Tatterdemalion]

Well, what I'm saying is this: I'd say that it's silly to make something illegal just because it can be harmful to the person who uses it. But nonwithstanding the fact that nicotine is indeed more dangerous than marijuana (which we've pretty much established, right?), the problem is that nicotine, and anything that uses nicotine in such concentration as cigarettes, is indeed a physically addictive substance. And the problem with that is that the entire concept of a free market (if you believe in that sort of thing) is that the consumer ultimately has the choice whether to consume or not to consume a particular product. Now, if a product is indeed chemically addictive, and has additives in many cases that make it even more addictive, then what you end up with is a product that, through the intended use of the product, makes the consumer physically dependent on the product, and therefore dependent on the supplier...which completely screws up the whole supply and demand business.

And you could say that marijuana, and any drug, really, can also be addictive, and that's true, but the thing is that marijuana is addictive the way that hot dogs and hamburgers can be addictive, and not so much the way nicotine and crack cause addiction, and places more responsibility on the consumer, which can still be assumed to be reasonable.

Anyway, that's just one way of looking at it. A strange way, though.

But still, what is the supposed reason that marijuana-like subsances should be made illegal? That much I still don't get.

[darkarcher]

The typical reason is that it's a mind-altering drug, which, even if it is not very potent, can pose a severe risk to others in the same environment as the person taking it.

Honestly, I don't know enough about it to form an accurate statement for or against it.

[metagaia]

I would like it to be legal, simply because I believe that people should be free to do to their own body as they choose (this includes suicide).

I have no interest personally, since I don't like the drug's damage to short term memory, but I do agree it's less harmful than tobacco.

With reagrds to HeavyDDR's suicde example, I think holding a gun to your head would consitite a breach of the peace. Killing yourself otherwise depends on the country that you are in.

[magick]

No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.

[Tatterdemalion]

The typical reason is that it's a mind-altering drug, which, even if it is not very potent, can pose a severe risk to others in the same environment as the person taking it.

Yeah, but marijuana is a depressant...it doesn't cause people to behave differently than they normally would, it doesn't cause people to become violent, it really doesn't cause people to do anything. You know what most people do when they get high from marijuana? They sit around. Yep, that's it. So unless you're smoking marijuana on a busy highway while driving a truck on 2 hours' sleep, I don't see how marijuana does anything to put others in the same environment as the person taking it at any sort of a "severe risk."