Marijuana should be decriminalized, and subsequently legalized for several reasons. 1. If marijuana were made legal, then that lifts the restrictions on hemp, of which the benefits are enormous. Alternate fuel, cloth, manufacturing, the list goes on and on. 2. Marijuana is not a "gateway" drug; if anything, alcohol contributes to more people moving on to harder drugs than anything. Using marijuana as the scapegoat for the progression to other drugs is downright ludicrous. 3. I have yet to see aggression linked to marijuana in any way, shape or form. Want a bar fight? Add alcohol. Want to see everyone relaxed? Add marijuana. 4. Artists, philosophers and the like have used marijuana for centuries to aid in introspection and critical thinking. Yeah, I went there. Why would anyone want to stop you from examining yourself and your own reality? Either those who can't, those who are unwilling or those who want control.
I could go on and on regarding the benefits. With all that said, I do agree that operating machinery of any kind should not be tolerated as accidents can occur due to slower reaction times, less focus and inattention directly attributed to marijuana when under its influence. A "breathalyzer" or instant test would be imperative in order to determine if a user were under the influence simply due to marijuana's different morphology. I also believe that 100 grams is excessive. There is absolutely no reason why anyone should have almost 1/4 pound of marijuana. Even those who would use to medically. One ounce (28g) is plenty enough.

I'm all for it. It certainly would be a boost to our sagging economy.

It would certainly help rottenseed gamble at casinos.

For legalization. It's a joke -- it's virtually harmless, especially compared to the insanely dangerous legal stuff out there, and the government is missing out on big bucks (and spending billions on top of it).

I think they should decriminalize marijuana, but immediately afterward criminalize cookie dough ice cream, macaroni and cheese, and White Castle burgers. You know, just to fuck with the stoners.

Actually, I think they should make everybody do drugs at least once, just so they can see firsthand what they're like. No straight-edge Mormon missionary should be able to tell me why drugs are bad.

I support decriminalization.

One aspect I hate about the war on drugs is the undue focus on stoners over high targets like dealers of heroine and cocaine. Stoners are easier to catch, but they don't generate the same kind of profit, influence and political bribery the dealers of cocaine and heroine do.

That how you have the DEA declaring a drug bust on a bunch of kids a big coup in the Drug wars.

Legalisation is inevitable, so it becomes irrelevant. The real issue is the punishment of those responsible for prohibition.

Every single person who supported prohibition materially or ideologically should be executed for crimes against humanity.

Prohibition didn't work for alcohol and there's no reason to think it will work for low level drugs. Cigarettes are more dangerous than marijuana, so obviously it should be legalized.

War on drugs is a joke, just like war on terror.

If marijuana is legalized I'd like to see it restricted to homes or contained areas where it wont destroy pituitary glands of children (and adults for that matter), as well as damage developing brains. Also so those with high blood pressure and heart disease could be severely effected if it's inhaled. Plus I'd rather not have my sex drive and sperm count lowered. Also so pregnant women so that a fetus won't develop a deformity. Oh and also because there is twice as much tar in marijuana as there is in cigarettes, I don't want to get second hand smoke.

So if your willing to control it enough so that it's not out in public around me or my children, sure. But I know that's not going to happen. Oh yeah, Nay to legalization.

I agree. The woman that disgusts me more than anyone else I know is one who smokes mj with her boyfriend, in the house, around their NINE-MONTH OLD DAUGHTER. Because legalizing it will just make such occurrences more common, I say no.

>> ^gorgonheap:
If marijuana is legalized I'd like to see it restricted to homes or contained areas where it wont destroy pituitary glands of children (and adults for that matter), as well as damage developing brains. Also so those with high blood pressure and heart disease could be severely effected if it's inhaled. Plus I'd rather not have my sex drive and sperm count lowered. Also so pregnant women so that a fetus won't develop a deformity. Oh and also because there is twice as much tar in marijuana as there is in cigarettes, I don't want to get second hand smoke.
So if your willing to control it enough so that it's not out in public around me or my children, sure. But I know that's not going to happen. Oh yeah, Nay to legalization.

Absofuckinglutely not. It's bad enough that I have to choke on cigarette smoke all around town. I sure as shit don't want to choke on any that smells like fat man sweat that's dripping out of his ass.

no offense to anyone who hates mj users, but I sincerely wish more people would take up the practice of educating themselves personally instead of repeating propaganda given to them as facts.
I wish that everyone shared the view that government should not exist to protect people from themselves.
If we are to make assumptions as people, why not make positive assumptions (i.e. that adults in general are mostly capable of taking care of/making decisions for themselves) and make laws that deal with people who deviate from that positive assumption, not laws that deal with people who deviate from negatively derived ideals?
That way, should someone chose to neglect their child/injure another person/steal from someone, etc. (whether on drugs or not) they would be punished for those deviations from acceptable behavior towards others.
I say to people like LittleRed that right now, somewhere, someone is at home so drunk that they will not remember what they did tomorrow and abusing/neglecting small children. Someone is stone cold sober and abusing children. Someone is tipsy and playing games and having fun with their children. Right now, someone is also at home stoned, taking care of small children and relating to them on their level, having a great time. Someone out there is hormonal as hell and having a hard time taking care of their kids, being a meanie and such.
I believe we focus on substances too much and like to blame things as a society when we have really generally speaking fallen out of a true community mindset where we genuinely care for and are alert to the lives of others. Compassion goes a long way, as does interaction with other humans. We need to take care of eachother and stop hating. It's not about substances. It's about people.
I want my government to protect me from my abusive ex husband who bashed my face in and still threatens me. I don't want my government telling me how to think and telling me what is good for me personally. Arrest me if I hurt someone or don't feed my kids. The basics.
I am for legalization for those reazns.

lets just legalize opium. Thats the drug I really want to try. And opium dens could really bring back some character to the inner cities, pushing out crack houses as a more romantic alternative.

To hell with marijuana, the most suburban drug in the world!

Marijuana has been responsible for all that great music. You know the Greatful Dead? Real fucking high. Pinky Floyd? Real fucking high. Beatles? Real fucking high.

For those who say legalization will lead to chaos please direct your views towards the nation of Netherlands and Canada. Legalization in one and near total tolerance in another. Clearly despotic states.

I suport leaglisation and decriminalisation, and i dont use it. aint interested. But im even less interested in "collectively sending to jail" thoes who do wish to.

Of course, it should not be completely legalized for everyone. There should be an age limit like with alcohol: ~16-18 could be the limit. Marijuana and cigarettes should be equals, such that both have to be picked up at a pharmacy (jump through a few hoops to get it) and like with alcohol, you should not be able to operate a vehicle while intoxicated, obviously.

I have no interest in doing marijuana (my mind is slow enough as it is, thank you), but the witch hunt that's going on is just foolish. Cigarettes are equally dangerous to your health if not more so, because of the much higher amount that is smoked.

That is the best answer to this question that I've ever heard. Take a two-sided issue and look at the third side that everybody is ignoring. Awesome!

>> ^laura:
no offense to anyone who hates mj users, but I sincerely wish more people would take up the practice of educating themselves personally instead of repeating propaganda given to them as facts.
I wish that everyone shared the view that government should not exist to protect people from themselves.
If we are to make assumptions as people, why not make positive assumptions (i.e. that adults in general are mostly capable of taking care of/making decisions for themselves) and make laws that deal with people who deviate from that positive assumption, not laws that deal with people who deviate from negatively derived ideals?
That way, should someone chose to neglect their child/injure another person/steal from someone, etc. (whether on drugs or not) they would be punished for those deviations from acceptable behavior towards others.
I say to people like LittleRed that right now, somewhere, someone is at home so drunk that they will not remember what they did tomorrow and abusing/neglecting small children. Someone is stone cold sober and abusing children. Someone is tipsy and playing games and having fun with their children. Right now, someone is also at home stoned, taking care of small children and relating to them on their level, having a great time. Someone out there is hormonal as hell and having a hard time taking care of their kids, being a meanie and such.
I believe we focus on substances too much and like to blame things as a society when we have really generally speaking fallen out of a true community mindset where we genuinely care for and are alert to the lives of others. Compassion goes a long way, as does interaction with other humans. We need to take care of eachother and stop hating. It's not about substances. It's about people.
I want my government to protect me from my abusive ex husband who bashed my face in and still threatens me. I don't want my government telling me how to think and telling me what is good for me personally. Arrest me if I hurt someone or don't feed my kids. The basics.
I am for legalization for those reazns.

None of us are hating mj users. Well, except for the ones that smoke it right in the face of their 9 month old child. And yes, it's just as bad as smoking a cigarette, which I also believe should be outlawed on the basis of negative health effects.

If you smoke or drink anything in front of your kid you are unfit to be a parent. That exists even without MJ legalization. Marine your argument is weak founded.

Fucking excellent comment laura, couldn't have said it better myself. No matter what issue it is we're talking about, it really is all about the individuals way of managing things. I'm a smoker of both but I wouldn't even dream of smoking around my children OR spending money on cigarettes or pot if I haven't got money to spend on their recreation/clothes/etc. There are some real dicks out there that ruin it for the rest of us, but then that's only cos people are endlessly narrow minded. In the UK they reduced the classing of the drug to a C on the same level as prescription drugs. Then that fucknut Gordon Brown came along and had had it changed back, bastard

>> ^Farhad2000:
If you smoke or drink anything in front of your kid you are unfit to be a parent. That exists even without MJ legalization. Marine your argument is weak founded.


So if I drink a glass of wine at the dinner table while my wife and kids eat with me, my kids should be taken to a foster home?

I wouldn't want to turn this thread into a parenting discussion, but I too drink a glass of red wine with my meals, in front of my kids. I am honest with them (to a certain extent), because I believe that if you raise your kids in a protected rose-colored world (like my parents raised me) then when they inevitably discover all the things you didn't tell them you have ZERO credibility as an advisor to a teen. Just sayin'.

Big brother government or any other person or entity has no business telling me what I can do in my bedroom, put into or do with my body, think about, believe, or enjoy as long as I am not invading the privacy of or endangering someone else. Government should take care of government business only, which is collecting fair taxes and insuring that they are spent in the best interests of every citizen. Invading privacy, enforcing personal morals, and creating "Mind Police" is NOT in the best interests of citizens, and is the opposite of a country of freedom.

Obviously I meant drinking to an extent where your kids are scared about your state. Or when you do something like smack them or something.

I agree with you to a point, but first I am in no way a "mj hater." I spent much of my high school career being tattled on to honors teachers and school security officers by my "friends" who thought I was wasting my brain. My first year away from school, I took vacations every weekend to Eugene, OR. I never classified myself as a stoner. But just because I hate people that abuse it doesn't mean I hate the drug or necessarily casual users. [To clarify, I don't smoke anymore.]

Yes, there will always be people that abuse children and substances. My aunt has nine kids, six of whom were adopted and severely abused by their biological parents - physically, emotionally, sexually, the whole gamut. I didn't say everyone that smokes abuses children. I said it's likely that legalizing it will lead to more instances of child abuse, the warrant being that smoking mj in front of small children is a bad thing, and I think most people would agree with me.

If use is restricted to homes or "contained areas" as GH said, I believe that will only exacerbate the smoking in front of children problem. If you are proposing to legalize it completely, so that you can walk down the street smoking a joint, I am most definitely against that. I have severe asthma, and walking by someone with a lit cigarette bothers me. Marijuana, even more so.

Do I agree that smokers/stoners should be punished with jail time? Not for casual use. For growing, selling, selling to minors yeah. But do I think it should be legalized? No.

>> ^laura:
I say to people like LittleRed that right now, somewhere, someone is at home so drunk that they will not remember what they did tomorrow and abusing/neglecting small children. Someone is stone cold sober and abusing children. Someone is tipsy and playing games and having fun with their children. Right now, someone is also at home stoned, taking care of small children and relating to them on their level, having a great time. Someone out there is hormonal as hell and having a hard time taking care of their kids, being a meanie and such.

The people who smoke now who choose not to smoke around their kids, very seldom do it because it's illegal, they do it because of the health implications. This isn't going to change someones smoking habit to, "ohh well it's legal now, passive smoking must be alright after all". The ignorant humans who smoke around their kids will always smoke around their kids, and the ones who don't, won't. Legality has nothing to do with it as far as I can see. You can't drink alcohol on the streets, why would they allow smoking weed on the streets? You can't make and sell your own alcohol without a license, why would it change for marijuana?

I sure as shit don't want to choke any that smells like fat man sweat that's dripping out of his ass.

Haha I think that's my biggest problem with pot (okay maybe not biggest). I don't particularly care for cigarette smoke, but egads pot smoke is like 100x worse. I occasional smell it wafting in through whatever when some of my neighbors smoke it. I guess I'm all for it just so long as nobody minds if I drape my jogging shorts over their AC intake vent, you know, helps 'em dry faster.

i think you can guess my answer.
starting with the same reason ^laura mentioned, "government should not exist to protect people from themselves." a fairly fundamental principle you'll find among libertarians.

most stoners i know don't care much whether or not it's ever legalized, though, as the fact is you can grow or buy it, cheap, anywhere, anyway.

^He makes a good point.

Most people this would help are the ones that get busted for selling it.

actually, Mg, the most people this would help would be everyone because if it were legal the gov could collect taxes on it and benefit from its many many uses instead of spending billions of dollars fighting its use. Look it up. Even George Washington (yes, our first president) was a grower/user. He writes about it in his diaries. I know, it's old news to some, but everyone should know it:
http://www.marijuanalibrary.org/7_presidents.html
http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_history2.shtml
http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/stories/2003/12/22/whyIsMarijuanaIllegal.html
http://www.videosift.com/video/Super-High-Me-Full-Doc
http://www.videosift.com/video/The-Color-Green
http://www.videosift.com/video/The-Plant-that-Could-Save-the-World-audio
http://www.videosift.com/video/TimeShift-The-Cannabis-Years
http://www.videosift.com/video/Former-Narcotics-Officers-NORML-Speech

I care not that G.W. used it.

I am not in favor of legalizing the use of any substance that has immediate detrimental effects on our health.

if it were immediate I would definitely not be in great shape,
http://www.videosift.com/video/Burn-One-Down-Ben-Harper
you know I love 'ya mg...

Oh, I know it's not insta-cancer.

I worded it like that as opposed to "I'm opposed to legalizing any substance that has detrimental effects on our health" - which could be taken and returned to me as "Well, you drink booze. That can be bad for your health -


Yes. If you drink a lot of it, it can hurt your liver. If you drink it in moderation (less than your liver's maximum oxidation rate) then you won't suffer negative effects.
(correct me if I'm wrong, but that's my understanding.)

The legalization proposal has everything to do with preventing otherwise law abiding citizens from going to jail for an offense, that if done responsibly, has no impact on the people around them.

Heart disease kills over 450,000 people per year in the US alone of which alcohol and diet definately play a role. I would suggest it is more detrimental for me to consume the majority of food a grocery store due to high-fructose corn syrup rather than to smoke marijuana. There is an incredibly larger list of things currently legal to be more concerned with if you are arguing against it for health reasons.

It's very simple. The government should not be able criminalize an action you take upon your own body. If I want to grow in my home, for personal use inside my home I should have the right to not get arrested because of it.

http://www.videosift.com/video/The-Plant-that-Could-Save-the-World-audio

Decriminalisation? Yes, please! And free seeds for all!