Why is Marijuana illegal?

Question

I know that it's bad for your lungs or w/e, but its not as addicting or as bad as smoking cigarettes. And why is it legal in other places? Just wondering . . .

Answer 1

I have theories, but they're just theories. Cigarettes and alcohol are legal because they bring big dollars to the government. And they are entirely too common. Marijuana legalized would bring big bucks too, but they would rather use it for keeping the prisons full. The towns that have prisons, typically the prison is their primary source of income. More prisoners equals more free labor, and more jobs within the prison for town residents. There's also the race thing. Minorities are the ones caught with marijuana charges. After being imprisoned, they're lives are over. Possession of marijuana is grounds for denial of financial aid for college and for employment. Therefore usually after being released they are found doing the exact same thing all over again, or worse. And the cycle continues. There are deeper reasons why marijuana is kept illegal, your proof lies in the fact that cigarettes remain legal no matter what. Several cities are banning the indoor smoking in all public places because of the hazards of secondhand smoking but the thought of making it criminal to smoke at all never came up.

Answer 2

ilse78:

um those are the same effects alcohol has on the body. But I am sure no doctors, nurses, cops, emts, mechanics, daycare workers, etc are ever drinking on the job. Ever. Because it's a legal substance and therefore never abused.

Pot is illegal b/c it was a drug popular with poor minorities. JUst like opium was made illegal over fears of roaming hoards of raping/murdering chinese immigrants, pot was associated with hispanics and blacks by the prohibition movement in the 1920's and 30's. When Denmark legalized the use of marijuana crime rates did not increase. The number of users also remained fairly steady. The only real side effect was that the goverment now controls and regulates sales. Making the drugs not only safer (look at the bad herion hitting Detroit and Chicago) but the goverment benefits from the taxes.

So if your surgeons hands are shaking and his breath smells of Jack Daniels as they wheel you into the OR don't worry at least he didn't smoke weed!

Answer 3

Officially -- Marijuana (which is a schedule 1 drug) is illegal because it has "no commonly accepted medical usefulness."

Unofficially -- marijuana first became demonized in the late 1890's to early 1920's when the vast vast majority of smokers were either poor and black or poor and Hispanic.

The movie inaccurately referred to above was "Reefer Madness" which came out in 1936, and largely characterized early opinions towards marijuana.

But Pot didn't become the government's favorite drug of choice until Richard Nixon declared the "War on drugs' in 1971.

My personal (biased, although I do not use marijuana) view -- it's still illegal federally because a lot of tight-assed old white men in suits who smoked it at least once when they were in college don't like the possibility of their teenage daughters smoking up and then having sex with some random stoner. Which is more or less the reason that you have to wait till you're 21 to drink also.

Answer 4

Marijuana as well as all other "illicit drugs" came under prohibition because the religious right wing nutcases with moral authority issues and no respect for people to make their own decisions made it illegal just like they did with alcohol prohibition.

Marijuana has been medically proved non-addictive and less somaticly harmful than alcohol.

Also the government figured out that it could make more money thru property seizures than it could in taxation.

Just another example of the legislation of morality slowly eroding freedom in the USA.

Answer 5

Marijuana was made legal after a schizophrenic killed his mother in the '60's/'70's (Not sure of the date). They blamed it on the "marijuana cigarettes". Since then we have learned that marijuana does not cause you to go into a psychotic rage but now it is touted as a "gateway drug". No politician will ever endorse the legalization of marijuana-because of public opinion and because of that little thing called K Street.

Answer 6

Until 1937, the use of marijuana was legal in the United States. This was when the Marijuana Tax Act declared the drug a dangerous substance and banned it from use.

Answer 7

i am not sure, but i wish it was legal! and it isnt really bad for your lungs nexessarily, after all it is all natural??? and it is definately not as bad as smoking. NO WAY! I think they should sell it everywhere. make it 18 yrs old to buy and tax it. the cost would come down for sure. No more $300 an ounce!

Answer 8

The actual reason that marijuana is illegal is because back in the 1940's the hemp was also used to make a cheaper form of paper for newspapers. William R. Hearst lobbied the congress to make hemp illegal because it was costing him a lot of money lost due to the fact that he used trees for his paper and newpaper companies were buying the cheaper hemp paper instead of the tree paper.

Answer 9

Cigarette lobbyists have a great interest in keeping weed illegal since if it were legal, it'd be definteily slicing into their profits.

Also the government has no incentive to legalize it since it doesn't profit from it either.

Answer 10

its illegal because it can lead to people getting killed. some people would say that it doesnt cause problems. i am an EMT, and i have seen plenty of people on drugs that have led to the deaths of others. just the other day i had to pick up someone who was splattered all over the road because some person who was high ran into him. and i have seen many psychotic people that have ended up on lockdown because of excessive smoking of marijuana. its horrible.