What do you think about legalizing marijuana?

Minority opinion here! It is an insanely bad idea.
I am convinced it is a gateway drug.
Having had a daughter go thru drug addiction, I would never support the idea of legalization.

Cannabis is actually far less devastating on the user and those around them than drugs or alcohol. It’s still illegal for a lot of reasons, inertia being one. Corporations being another, and then there’s politicians. Among a plethora of others, you may want to look into the history of how it became illegal.

I smoke cannabis to treat migraines and anxiety issues. Usually, only a few times a month – or less. Depends on my symptoms.

My mom, the person in my life who has always drilled into me that drugs are bad even asked me to help her find some to help her through chemotherapy and try it out.

There’s also the massive amounts of cash the government could get a hold of by legalizing it and taxing it like cigarettes. Sup, deficit?

@filmfann: The idea that cannabis is a gateway drug is absolutely false. That’s propaganda.

Studies have shown that tobacco smoking is a better predictor of concurrent illicit hard drug use than smoking cannabis… No widely accepted study has ever demonstrated a cause-and-effect relationship between the use of cannabis and the later use of harder drugs like heroin and cocaine.”

I support it being legal as far as the medical benefits that it provides. Where you would be able to draw the line on that is anyone’s guess.

I feel like it would keep many people from doing “harder” drugs. If you were buying marijuana at the drug store instead of from dealers that sell other drugs, you get much less exposure to them.

Marijuana is no more damaging than alcohol or cigarettes.

My opinion? Legalize it, and then tax the EVER. LOVING. FUCK. out of it.

@filmfann, your anecdotal “evidence” should not dictate actual social policy, especially one that incarcerates thousands of people and ruins their lives for possession of a drug less harmful than alcohol.

Right on, poof & Q. <3

I’m all for it. I don’t smoke it myself, but if alcohol is legal, weed should be too.

I am right there for legalizing medical marijuana. I lived in California when a proposition was on the ballot and I voted yes. My boyfriend has a spinal cord injury, smoking marijuana settles his central nervous system like nothing else and stops muscle spasms in their tracks. He should have easy access to high grade medicinal hemp. For the record I have no problem with legalization in general and I’m with @poofandmook tax it, tax it, then tax it again.

Do it. Definitely.

Keep in mind that hemp and marijuana are two separate things. Hemp production is limited because of it’s close relationship to and similar appearance to pot.

While I am not fond of pot, I think legalized tobacco products and legalized alcohol are the height of hypocrisy when marijuana is demonized. Also, it seems pretty clear that we are unable to control the production, transportation, sale, or use of it, so we might as well legalize, control, and tax it.

It would be super awesomeeee!!!

Grown for personal use only.

I support legalization. I just wish we didn’t use everything for the wrong reasons.

Do it. Tax it like alcohol. Solve the government deficit problem. Make people happy.

Of course. I resent having to sneak around just to ease pain and relax.

it should be a controlled substance, available for medicinal purposes by Rx only.

@DrBill well that’s no fun…

@Facade
The question asked for an opinion, and that is mine.

It would be different if there were not so many ready, and already abusing it.

@DrBill I agree with you 100%. for what it’s worth

Right on!

I think that it would be great, new tickets for “DUI’s” new jobs, it would regulate the people who grow marijuana and if they are terrorists itd make it easier to track them down, medical uses=GOOD, everyone does it anyways so why not??

@DrBill Lighten up. I wasn’t being serious.

My opinion is this. It isn’t a gateway drug, it’s just a common drug. It should be legal. It would stimulate the economy. I think that a large number of (but definitely not all) people who oppose it don’t know much about all the good things it can do simply because the positives of it aren’t talked about as much as the “negatives”...or it being a gateway drug, which isn’t true anyhow. And, so many people smoke it and are going to smoke it regardless of legality so why not at least make some money on it? It would reduce some crime associated with shady drug dealing too, I’m sure.

@pterodactylover808, I have a feeling that the Venn diagram of “terrorists” and “marijuana growers” overlaps pretty narrowly…

@Qingu marijuana funds terroristsss… google that shit up

When people say that legalizing pot would help fund government, it drives me nuts.
First, we should decide whether or not such action would be harmful. Making money from it should not be the first thing on our minds.

@filmfann The government makes money off of things far more harmful than marijuana which isn’t harmful, but I won’t get into that.

I don’t think it is anymore harmful or any more addictive or anymore of a gateway drug than alcohol is, so I say legalize it, control its distribution (as much as possible) control its quality and as everyone else said tax it and alcohol to high heaven. Put the guy on the street corner (where your kid probably now buying their stuff, the guy who is egging them to try harder and harder drugs) out of business!

But since the moral majority is funded by drug cartels who have a vested interest in keeping it illegal, it will probably never happen. ;-o

Legalizing would not help the taxpayers (government). A few years ago the IRS took over a brothel in Nevada (for back taxes), and went bankrupt, if you can’t make a profit selling whiskey and sex, you can’t make profit anywhere.

@DrBill

I disagree with you there. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Super High Me, but I just watched it recently, and some of the information in it is pretty staggering. I don’t remember the numbers exactly, but it’s estimated that current marijuana sales in the US outweigh both paper and cotton, and ⅓ of those profits come out of California. The dispensaries system that California has created is already a major outlet in the economy, and if the DEA would just relax their laws a bit and start taxing the legal movement of marijuana that already exists, I believe they could make a very significant profit.

Legalize it.

Also, I realize that it’s not the most factual of sources, but I really enjoy the song The Irony of It All by The Streets for the point it’s trying to make.

@Foolaholic

I believe that anything that alters your ability to think needs to be regulated as a controlled substance. Just because some people have found a way to profit from it, is not justification to legalize it.

@DrBill

No, I agree with you there. The current laws concocted by proposition 215 requires individuals to have Cannabis use recommended by their physician in order to purchase it. I’m just saying that the federal government needs to recognize the potential here.

@pterodactylover808, no, I’m not going to do your research for you. Show me evidence to support your claim that terrorists grow marijuana.

Also, FYI, not everything you read on the Internet is true.

I would legalize all drugs, but hard drugs must be prescription only. Prohibition didn’t work. Education works.

Black markets can dry up. The Taliban would be finished, if western drug users get their stuff from pharmacies supplied by Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, Hoffmann–La Roche, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co and all the rest.

@DrBill: In my experience, most people aren’t as useless as they appear to be while high. I for one can function mentally on the same level as when I’m sober. Some people play into it, some don’t. And besides that, it’s not like you become dangerous or unpredictable from smoking cannabis. You relax, and become more likely to laugh.

It sure sounds dangerous.~

Now, if you’d said ‘alters your ability to think rationally’ then we could talk. But it still wouldn’t apply to a little weed.

Do you guys think that maybe we should put people before money? It’s all money money money. This is why we are moving so slowly just like it says in the question. Instead do you think that maybe we can use hemp for something other than poisoning ourselves? It has so many benefits that are never talked about because of money. We only use one tenth of our medical resources. Why do you think this is? We have all the tools, it just makes me so sad.

@TheCreative: What, we can’t do both? Cannabis is excellent medicine for a huge amount of people. It’s also something that a lot of people want – and will pay for. And the benefits of hemp have been mentioned on this thread. :)

@TheCreative when it comes to medical marijuana I think we are putting paranoia before people. AIDS patients can benefit from smoking marijuana, people living with spinal cord injury benefit, it has been said to help alleviate the side effects of chemo therapy, help patients with MS, and patients with ALS.

@SuperMouse I am aware of the many benefits. I was talking about people who just smoke for kicks. People who certainly don’t need it.

@TheCreative: Do you ever have a glass of wine? A vodka cranberry on a night out? Judgy McJudgerson.

@asmonet

Agreed. @TheCreative, you call it “poisoning ourselves”, but it really isn’t all that different from the drugs already present in society. Yes, it can cause cancer from smoke irritation in the lungs, but no more than cigarettes do, and it’s not nearly as addictive as nicotine. Smoking marijuana has also never produced a direct fatality, where alcohol consumption not only kills on a regular basis, but makes a significant difference in the taxes we pay due to enforcement and rehabilitation facilities. And you’re right that there are many other uses for hemp, but industries such as paper are more worried about it as potential competitor. So while it would be nice to get away from the issue of money, it is unfortunately one of the most influential factors in the debate.

@asmonet I have tried it but I honestly don’t drink or smoke and I hope I never do again.

@Foolaholic Sorry if I wasn’t clear enough. I agree, it’s no better than the drugs we already have today and this is one of the reasons I think marijuana should be legalized.

What I meant to say was that I think it is sad that all we think of when we think of hemp is to “poison ourselves” instead of thinking of the great benefits hemp has to offer (it’s different for cigarettes or other drugs). I’m not saying I am innocent or looking down at you all by the way. I was just angry that some said they want it legalized so they could smoke it or because it would boost our economy instead of wanting it legalized because of great advantages hemp has. Yes our economy is important but look what shape our world is in because it was always put first. Do you know why our cars have been using gasoline for so long for example? Because a shit load of money is made from oil. And now look and what shape we’re in, what we’ve caused. Enjoy living underwater.

I hope I was more clear. I was just a bit upset that people didn’t want it legalized for its great advantages but instead to boost our economy or to smoke it themselves. We could be living like the Jetsons by now, we just don’t want to. Imagine what a difference it would make if we actually used hemp to make paper without cutting down a single tree (it can be grown pretty much everywhere), or to make the longest lasting clothes. It conflicts with the interests of greedy business men. This is why we are advancing so slowly and that is what makes me sad.

@TheCreative

Oh, wow. Sorry for going off like that. Completely misinterpreted you…

Legalize it! Tax it! its a good idea.

hells to the yea