Should marijuana be legalized?

Question

Personally, I am not a drinker nor a smoker (of either drugs or cigarettes) but I believe the benefits of legalizing marijuana are HUGE. First and foremost, we are losing TONS of money trying to curb the drugs that come from central and latin America...If we make such drugs readily available these drug lords' profits will be cut OVERNIGHT. Secondly, marijuana has some medical benefits and helps in the ease of pain of many patients. Lastly, to those of you who say this will destroy our future generations...All i can say is...LET THEM BE DESTROYED...They should realize and recognize the consequences of their actions and if they become addicted and hooked...thats their problem...They shoud be smarter than to try drugs.

In response to some who may say that my children would be negatively affected as a result of the legalization of marijuana (or any drug for that matter) all I can say is that hopefully I raise my future sons or daughters to be smarter than to try such harmful substances.

P.S. Ironically im the supposed "age" where one experiments with such substances...Im 19 :D

In the end it is the parent's responsibility to make sure his or her child is raised in an appropriate manner. That is not the job of the government.

In response to treefrog_32 all i can say is that we should let the collateral damage roll and let the smart ones (the cream so to speak) rise to the top!

In response to quatt47, while you do make a valid point in regards to having a conflicting message (i.e. support the legalization of drugs yet tell your kids NOT to do it...) My only answer would be is that I am a realist and recognize that there will be those who will engage in such activities and I believe our tax dollars are better spent on something other than cracking down on drugs. Furthermore, i wholeheartedly DISAGREE with you on the tobbacco and alcohol issue. Tobbaco and alcohol are substances as well...many who have done pot and drink frequently comment that alcohol is far more dangerous (especially endangering other individuals) than marijuana ever is.

Well people the tally as of now (22 answers) is that 17 are in favor of legalizing and 5 against.

Answer 1

I don't think cigarettes should be legal, yet I do agree that the government should control the drug trade. If we have clinics that ca help you get out of a addiction by weaning you off of whatever you take addiction doesn't have to take or ruin lives. People that willingly smoke pot aren't the best of the future generation, aren't the scientists or the doctors or the teachers. They are the dregs of society, and I don't much care if they privately self destruct.

Answer 2

There is a three-pronged answer to this question. First, legalization takes the underground out of the equation. Dealers will be replaced by quality distributors. The drug will be cleaner with less chance of it being laced. And people will have no need to kill one another over the drug. Second, Economics. It cannot cost very much to produce marijuana because it is a weed and can grow just about everywhere. Therefore if companies were to sell it at prices anywhere near those of today, they would make money hand over fist. This could also help pharmaceutical companies in the cost of research and development of new drugs that people might actually need such as a cure for cancer or AIDS. Also, the government could tax the holy hell out of it and make a killing themselves: enough to lower the overall tax rate if not get rid of income taxes completely. Finally, since marijuana is neither addictive nor deadly, its effects on the population at large would be minimal. Millions of people already smoke it, so the government might as well make some money off these people by taxing instead of ticketing those who have it now. It just makes since. Marijuana is not crack or cocaine or speed. It is less harmful than tobacco and alcohol. And the only worry you have to have of people that smoke is sometimes they become extremely lazy and do not work, which we appear to not have too big of a problem with in this country. Look at welfare and those many of those who are on it. We reward laziness in some circles, why not all.

Answer 3

I agree with you to some extent. Yes it is costly to house the prisoners but look at where prisons are. Those small towns are dependent on those jobs. That doesn't make it okay though. I believe there are some dangers to smoking, but no more than those of cigarettes or alcohol. If weed is illegal because it's not healthy then the other two should be banned as well. If not then legalize weed. As far as the influence on children, i seriously don't think peer pressure will change. It's already there, for all drugs and sex. If you're a strong parent it really shouldn't make a difference.

Answer 4

You know, I have seen this question asked more times then I can count on all my fingers and toes, and everytime I look at the answers I am stunned as to how many people are ignorant or misinformed to the benefits and harms caused by marijuana use. One person was so stupid as to say that "marijuana is a plant unlike cigarettes". Come on use your brain!

First, I think that marijuana should be legal for both medical and recreational uses. However, as I stated before people are too stupid to know their limits and when they should or should not do things. So the idea of it being used for recreational purposes is out the window.

Here are some proven facts for you to ponder:

1. By the beginning of the 20th century, physicians had published more than 100 papers in western medical literature recommending its use for a variety of disorders.

How can these physicians write more than 100 papers about the benefits of marijuana and be wrong?

2. Cannabis was in the United States list of medicinal drugs until 1941, and was then removed only after Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act which severely stopped physicians from prescribing it.

Doctors in the past would prescribe it to help patients with a wide variety of ailments... Can you name one drug that has less side effects of marijuana? Most prescription drugs of this time cause liver failure, heart damage, muscle cramps, sleeplessness, you name it!

3. The American Medical Association was one of the most vocal organizations to testify against the ban, arguing that it would deprive patients of past, present and future medicine.

By this fact, would you not assume that the government believes that they (not having a degree in medicine) are more educated about the benefits and harms of marijuana than the people have have spent YEARS mastering the art of medicine! This is almost as crazy as the person saying that cigarettes arent a plant!

So yes, I do think that Marijuana should be legalized, but I do NOT think that it should be allowed for recreational use. People have constantly proven that they are not responsible so how can we consciously add another legal drug when people are just getting more and more stupid by the moment?

Answer 5

If we look at all the illicit money made from alcohol during the years of prohibition, then one would think that the legalization of marijuana would eliminate the criminal element. The Government would also stand to gain by the huge tax implications and the control over the strength of the product sold. How often does it happen that someone drinks too much and goes home and beats up the wife? Who ever heard of someone smoking too much marijuana and doing the same thing? If anything, they'll go home and fall asleep, or munch down a big bag of chips.

Maybe a better question would be "Should alcohol be made illegal?"

Answer 6

there are already a lot of good points being made to support legalization, so i don't want to repeat them.... here is my response to the question "What can we do to end violence?":

first, lobby to legalize marijuana. many law enforcement agents are killed every year trying to stop dimebag dealers (i'm only referring to pot here). i hate hearing about a cop who died while busting a streetcorner pot dealer leaving behind a wife and two young kids. eliminate the streetcorner pot dealers - they may start selling other drugs but that's a different subject. let the state govern it's growth, harvest, and distribution. make pot "safer" so a violence-prone idiot doesn't unknowingly smoke some laced pot which then causes him to commit a violent crime (the average potsmoker is pretty laid back and non-violent). sell it like alcohol and tax it hard like cigarettes. put those tax dollars into educational, housing and anti-violence programs.

and finally, have all the world leaders meet once a month in a different country each time for a "smoke summit". they would roll big fatties and smoke until they worked their s**t out. no one is allowed to leave until they all agree to another month of peace. and if Fidel or Saddam (whomever) get stubborn, they don't get any munchies until they fall in line.

by the way, host country supplies the munchies each month. Clinton is allowed to come because he's really funny when he's stoned and everybody likes him. George Dubya can come, but only if he brings enough beer for everyone.

will this end the violence? it's a good start.

Answer 7

If you intend bringing up children properly which excludes the use of drugs, how can you support legalising it. Marijuana causes brain damage and lung cancer amongst other things. Don't compare it to tobacco and alcohol, they're different issues.

In my experience those who seek to have it legalised for medical use are the very ones who want to use it themselves but not for medical purposes. There are far more effective legal drugs and medicines available that are far more efficacious than marijuana could ever be.

Also something like 95% of all hard drug users started on marijuana so it just shows how the habit and dependency starts.

If you want to see the mess that free use of marijuana makes of you take a trip (no pun intended) to Amsterdam and look at the sad cases in the 'coffee shops' there. They're a disaster. Despite popular belief marijuana is NOT legal in Holland,. but in Amsterdam the police 'tolerate' it. Smoke it outside Amsterdam at your peril.

So, in answer to your question. No!

Answer 8

It's a matter of national defense that we re-legalize marijuana.

5 years after the 9/11 attacks and we still spend more on the War on Drugs than we do on homeland security. If the DEA devoted it $$$&resources towards terrorism rather than victimless crimes, we probably would have found Bin Ladin by now.

Answer 9

Yes. Prohibition was a failure, so the government repealed it. We already have two addictive legal drugs in this country that cause far more damage: Alcohol and tobacco.

Answer 10

Definitely not!!! Do you want everyone to turn into pot and crack heads? People should be smarter than to try drugs, but they're not. People are stupid, and we need laws to try to keep them somewhat normal. Humanity is going down the drain already, we don't need legalized drugs to help them get there faster.