Scissorman

^well,, a lot of people smoke marijuana now that it is illegal and they have no problems whatsoever. It would be practically better if they could just go to a shop and buy marijuana than to sneak in some dark corner waiting for the dealer. At least that is how it's done here. And if a harmful substance (alcohol) is legal, why should a less harmful substance (marijuana) be illegal?

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Guybrush

http://www.musicbanter.com/lounge/47...ic-attack.html

Does it really have to be written down?

Because whether or not it will have a negative effect on society does not fully depend on the effects of another drug. Marijuana can still have negative effects on society, regardless of whether or not alcohol is legal. Obviously when deciding yes or no to legalization, you should look at the effects the legalization will have, not how it compares to other drugs with other effects and whether or not they are allowed.

edit :

Also remember that negative effects of marijuana on society doesn't only mean what effect pot has on physical health of it's users. What about international relations? For Netherlands, drug tourism is a problem. What about supporting illegal narcotics industries? What about a potential increase in traffic accidents? What about children who neglect schoolwork because they'd rather smoke? There are tons of potential negative effects, some smaller and some larger. I think a lot of people should expand their thinking a bit on this subject.

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Scissorman

I finished medical school and I have learned a lot about this. It is probably not just marijuana related. The other factors probably played a major role.


that is just like saying that something isn't true just because it is secret

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ElephantSack

I find it funny how people that live outside the US can have such insightful opinions as to what's best for the US.

In the states, marijuana decriminalization is building momentum. Alaska has already legalized it, states like Colorado, California and Oregon already have widespread distribution of medical marijuana, and the way I see it, marijuana has a good chance of being completely decriminalized in the United States within my lifetime. Maybe not in places like the Southeast and Midwest, but that's to be expected with the traditions that still cling to societal norms in those regions.

That being said, I'm not a pot smoker. I used to smoke at every opportunity, but not anymore. But my experience with it has shown me that it's one of the most harmless drugs in the world. Much less than alcohol and tobacco. So if it works for you, have at it.

In my opinion, I think ecstasy, LSD and cocaine should be legalized and taxed as well. If something like alcohol is readily available to the masses 21+, I don't see why any of these others shouldn't be. And the funny thing is, they were all legal in this country within the past century.

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Guybrush

Well, a lot of the pros and cons would go for any nation really. Besides, I don't think it should surprise americans people outside their nation might take an interest in american politics. USA is a huge, influential nation and has a strong influence on the rest of the world. It's not like you're completely isolated over there. Finally, you have to remember that this is a thread on a international public forum called "Should US legalize marijuana"?

I'm not fanatically against legalization. It's a stance I've come to take after weighing some of the what I think are pros and cons against eachother. I think the reason I got interested in the discussion in the first place is there are so many people who have opinions about this who don't really think much further than their own usage. They think marijuana is nice so it should be legal. They think "what's best for me?" and go from there instead of thinking for everyone. Not everyone who's pro-legalization think like that of course, but it seems a fair amount do.

That's fine to base an opinion on, but perhaps a bit short-sighted perspective to base something that's gonna change a whole nation with hundreds of millions of people on. At least, that's what I think and it makes me take an interest.

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ElephantSack

^ I can respect that. I understand that the world at large is very critical of the decisions that are made by our government, which has become very fast and loose. But the issues that are effecting most Americans these days are
A) having our troops over in the Middle East, blowing the shit out of people and getting the shit blown out of them,
B) a financial crisis that doesn't seem to have an end and has probably been piloted by world banking interests, and
C) a runaway Supreme Court which is trying to legalize unlimited corporate funding in our presidential elections.

But in my opinion, everybody in the world gets lied to everyday. We get lied to about the reality of things like drugs, sex, politics, war, life, death and religion. And it goes without saying that our government will only legalize and distribute drugs that will keep people happy and producing from inside of a cubicle. They don't want people to have drugs available to them that might expand their mind beyond the idea of the Puritan work ethic.

Either way, legal or not, people will continue to procure these substances, and our government, behind the guise of the ultimate benefactors, allow these drugs to hit every street in every city in my country. It's a win/win situation for them: control the flow of drugs onto the streets, and arrest people when they catch them with it. A sick joke, yes, but also a grim reality.

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Freebase Dali

First of all, Panic attacks (and whatever other anxiety based psychological disorder) are not CAUSED by smoking pot. Does it exacerbate the effects of people who suffer from anxiety? Yes, of course it does. A lot of other things do as well, even caffeine. But the point is, is that it's the duty of the person afflicted with an illness to not partake of a substance that will make their condition worse. It is not the duty of the government to outlaw every substance that is able to be abused by a group of people.
Everyone knows that eating junk food will probably cause you big problems later on, but you have the choice to eat what you want regardless, and many people do. Do you want that choice to be stripped away from you? Of course not. We live in a society that allows food that statistically causes more conditions and deaths than most other things you can even think about besides cigarettes (which we all know is legal) and still, we choose to eat that crap. Why? because we should be allowed to decide what substances we enjoy and what we can put in our own bodies. Anti-pot activists somehow don't have a problem with junk food, cigarettes, alcohol, and all the other crap that really falls in the same category... they just have a problem with pot. Why? I have no idea.

Ultimately, when you strip away the years and years of propaganda bullcrap that has been pinned on pot for political and racist reasons over these many many years, you simply have a substance that people enjoy, and BY COMPARISON, does not create as many problems as A LOT of other things do.

You keep harping on the fact that pot should be treated independently of comparison of other things and their effects on society... but it's absolutely DEPENDENT on comparison, because otherwise all you're doing is ignoring the fact that nothing we do is completely perfect and good for us... and that we can't simply ban every freakin' thing that isn't perfectly good for us...
If we did that, we would have nothing. No freedoms, no commodities, nothing... all because the big dark entity wants us to be so goddamned healthy and perfect that we no longer have the capacity to decide anything for ourselves at all.
And when you THINK you can try and decide for yourself, you'll most likely end up becoming a criminal for the rest of your life.
(And we all know how great THAT is for the economy...)

Think about it.


P.S. "Children that neglect schoolwork because they smoked pot"??? Are you serious? You have to be kidding me....
Please don't tell me you took that "Because I got High" song seriously.
Instead of banning pot, how about we ban TV. Education will improve, I guarantee you.

Guybrush

That's very nice, FB. I don't think it's a good idea for the US to legalize marijuana and you immediately connect that with extremist super-commy thinking about the government having to remove all freedoms of american citizens and the man not having a duty to prohibit everything which is not good. Do you know how incredibly exaggerating and paranoid your post comes across to me?

Not legalizing does not equal the US government stripping away all commodities and freedoms from US citizens. How are you even supposed to be able to feasibly discuss politics if you jump the gun like that every time someone makes an argument for prohibition? You'd think I was supporting concentration camps. If I was to use your way of arguing, I could say that legalizing pot will eventually lead to legalization of all other freedoms like rape and murder. Oh wait, that wouldn't really make sense, would it?

Maybe you should learn how to read between the lines. The example was merely meant to illustrate that negative effects of marijuana on society doesn't just come in the shape of things that reduce physical and/or mental health. It can be many small and even trivial things.

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storymilo

gaiz if weed isn't illegal it won't be like so totally hArDcooore to smoke!!!

Janszoon

I have to admit I've been skimming this thread at best, but based on this post it sounds like you're missing half the equation here, Tore. What about the all the negative consequences of illegality on society? For one thing, as the US experienced during the 1920s, prohibition can lead directly to an increase in organized crime. It also, in the case of marijuana, has lead to a whole bunch of people people being thrown in jail, something which causes huge unpleasant ripples throughout society: children growing up without parents, minor offenders being turned into hardcore criminals by their prison experience, the resources of the police and courts being squandered when they could be focusing their attention on violent crime, prison overcrowding, etc.

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