Seriously: should marijuana be legalized for medical and or personal use?

Question

by personal use I mean within controlled environment - like any legal controlled substance like alcohol, tobacco, prescription barbituates etc. (of all of which mj is far safer)

Answer 1

marijuana is the most commonly uses illegal substance in the United States. it is used by many people, most of which aren't your stereotypical "druggie", with no life agead of them. Many of them hapen to be very successful, good people. Think about it almost if not every person who reads this paper will know (even if they don't realize it) at least one if not several regular users of marijuana. Its often made out to be much more harmful htan it really is, unfortunatly not every one realizes this.

What many people don't realize is marijuana is much less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. Yet it's the one of the three that gets a bad rap and is illegal. Marijuana isn't even physicaly addicting. You certanly don't see meetings for marijuana like you do with alcohol and AA. Unfortunatly due to American culture the less harmful of the three is illegal.

The most common reason why marijuana can be harmful is that people can often come across laced marijuana without realizing it. Marijuana can easily be mixed with other more harmful drugs with out the buyer realizing it, until they have already used it. This is a dangerous thing that causes many people to do more harmful, hard core drugs without realizing it. If it were to be legalized the government could provide guide lines, like it does with alchol to insure that people knew what they were putting into their bodies.

Marijuana actually has many helpful benefits toward diseases / sicknesses. Marijuana can reduce nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by AIDS. It can Reduce interlobular pressure, which alleviates the pain and slowing and sometimes even stopping the progress of glaucoma. Common side effects of chemotherapy are nausea, loss of appetite, and vomiting, all of which marijuana would help. It can limit muscle pain and relieve tremor nad unsteadiness of gait for multiple sclerosis patients. Marijuana can help prevent epileptic seizures in some patients. It can also alleviate chronic, often debilitating pain caused by myriad disorders and injuries. Each one of these applications have been deemed legitimate by at least one United States court, legislature, and/or government agency.

Due to these reasons and many others many people are going to jail/prison on a daily basis due to simply smoking a little pot These aren't dangerous criminals that would kill or rape someone. Many of them are teachers, lawyers and respected members of their communities. But yet we still pay thousands of dollars of tax payers money to lock up non dangerous "criminals" yearly even though most aren't going to stop after they get out of jail. Don't you think the money spent here is a waste? Couldn't it be going to more useful things such as hospitals, disease research, or better schools? These are the things that would benifit the people of this country. Certanily you would rather benefit the people more than throwing a non violent pot head in jail who was only trying to smoke a joint and relax after a long days work in jail. There is up to forty million regular (note thats just the regular not occasional users) drug users in the United states. If we were to throw all of them in jail it would cost $500,000 per million people, plus the cost and space of building many more prisons. Couldm't that money be spent on building hospitals? There's already about 1.5 million people tax payers are paying to keep in jail over drugs. From 1990 to 2003, nearly 5.9 million people had been arrested for smoking marijuana. Thats a greater number than the entire population of Alaska, Delaware, The District of Columbia, Montania, North and South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming combined. This country simply can't afford to put 40 million more in jail.

Marijuana should be legalized. It has many uses such as helping sick patients. People are going to smoke it no matter what the government sais, and with out govenment guidelines this can be dangerous. Not to mention the fact that we have no way we can afford to throw all those people in jail. Its much less harmful than alcohol and tobacco, which are legal, so doesn't it make sense that it would be also?

Answer 2

Yes for medical and yes for personal use. I say yes to medical because of the cancer patients who are suffering and using marijuana gives them relief at least for awhile from their suffering. I say yes for personal use because why is it so different from alcohol? You have never heard of anyone who is on marijuana killing somebody in a stoned rage, but you read it all the time in the newspaper that somebody just mucked out another person while they were driving intoxicated in their car. If they legalized it, then they could tax it. If people want to do it then they will have to pay highly for it, because they already do regardless if it is legal or not. They say marijuana is a gateway drug. How do they know that? Science and facts are adjusted to make people believe what they want them to believe.

Answer 3

Most definately! And before I even start, people who are answering this question not even having tried the drug, get lost! You've never tried it so you should have no opinion on it. There now I can start, Personally, I think it should be legalized just for the fact that it has multiple uses, medical as well as just for fun. Its prescribed for people with different types of cancer to help them with the chemotherapy they have to go thru, plus by personal experience, you have a nasty stomach ache, or you feel nausious, just smoke a bowl or a joint and you will feel ten times better. Girls when we go thru our monthly cycle and have those shitty cramps you just smoke and they go away, at least for me they do. So you can say that marajuana does have some positive parts to it being legalized. Now recreational use is just the icing on the cake. You have a crappy day at work or whatever you smoke a little and you feel a lot better, your crappy day at work doesn't even phase you anymore. You go out on a boat and your out in the middle of the ocean, chillin, with a nice blunt. Somebody tell me that doesnt sound so relaxed? It just makes things better! Just like Steph_pete1329 said it's an "Aromatherapy". It makes people feel better, it's a natural herb for god's sakes! So I think it should DEFINATELY be legalized! Everybody in this world wouldnt be so damn uptight all the damn time!

Answer 4

meetings for marijuana like you do with alcohol and AA. Unfortunatly due to American culture the less harmful of the three is illegal.

The most common reason why marijuana can be harmful is that people can often come across laced marijuana without realizing it. Marijuana can easily be mixed with other more harmful drugs with out the buyer realizing it, until they have already used it. This is a dangerous thing that causes many people to do more harmful, hard core drugs without realizing it. If it were to be legalized the government could provide guide lines, like it does with alchol to insure that people knew what they were putting into their bodies.

Marijuana actually has many helpful benefits toward diseases / sicknesses. Marijuana can reduce nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by

Answer 5

I absolutely think that it should be legalized for medical purposes. as for personal, I am not a smoker at all, but think that marijuana should be legal where cigarettes should not. But i also think that there should be limits, like you cannot drive or work under the influence.
The fact is that if it was legal, the government wouldn't make as much money off of it as it does now.

Answer 6

I say yes to medical because of the cancer patients who are suffering and using marijuana gives them relief at least for awhile from their suffering. I say yes for personal use because why is it so different from alcohol? You have never heard of anyone who is on marijuana killing somebody in a stoned rage, but you read it all the time in the newspaper that somebody just mucked out another person while they were driving intoxicated in their car. If they legalized it, then they could tax it. If people want to do it then they will have to pay highly for it, because they already do regardless if it is legal or not. They say marijuana is a gateway drug. How do they know that? Science and facts are adjusted

Answer 7

I think most laws should be abolished...it's getting a bit crazy now, everyday there are new laws, new rules. At some point things have to stop, life is meant to be free, but this government, as well as most industrialized nations are getting out of hand with making people live a certain way.
Sure, legalize marijuana, but there really isn't any use for it...besides an escape from reality

Answer 8

MJ should be legalized! It is so much better then alcohol and you have never heard of anyone dying from marijuana... MJ won't become legalized because the government is greedy and they know they cannot make money off of it because it is too easy to grow at home unlike tobacco

Answer 9

Pot should be legalized. There are a lot of people in jail that all they did was either have pot on them or they sold it, when really and truly the murderers, the terrorists, and all those other type of people should be in there. And for those that don't do pot, don't write anything down about how bad pot is because you haven't tried it yourself. Pot has a totally different affect on you other than other drugs and alcohol. Its more like an aroma therapy. And as for me, I haven't gotten to any other drug. So its also a mental thing. You have to be in control. And to me, it doesn't affect me when I'm driving. In fact, it makes me more attentive to what I'm doing. And no it doesnt make you not care about your family and friends.

Answer 10

ABSOLUTELY. Look how much money is WASTED putting small time, non-violent drug users in jail. They have to be housed, fed, clothed, the medical needs taken care of.... because they chose to use some substance that hurt no one but themselves?

The number of deaths from TOBACCO every year is LARGER EVERY YEAR than the total number of deaths in HISTORY attributed to heroin, cocaine, crystal meth and all other drugs COMBINED.

Why aren't we locking up tobacco farmers? THEIR product DIRECTLY kills a million Americans every two years, and probably about the same every five through indirect contact.

Ever read about a guy smoking a couple joints then going out and killing his family? No? Why? Because it NEVER HAPPENS. Yeah, like someone's going to smoke pot, and then say "hey man.... let's go get AGGRESSIVE!" ... Every see someone smoke a joint then start driving double the speed limit? NEVER HAPPEN. My wife knows when I smoke because I'm driving BELOW the speed limit, not feeling stressed to get anywhere in any particular hurry.

Alcohol, meanwhile, is the cause of almost 100% of women being beaten up by men. Alcohol is always implicated in the very worse driving fatalities. Alcohol is always implicated when some guy goes and kills his family and himself. Why aren't we implicating ALCOHOL MANUFACTURERS in all these ABSOLUTELY harmful events caused directly by their product?

The answer is MONEY. Poor drug users have very few people to stand up for them when they are arrested and put in prison. The prisons are an INDUSTRY that must be fed to keep prison towns alive and prison-serving CORPORATIONS profitable, and they feed them almost 60% with non-violent low level drug offenders, who almost no one will miss.

Meanwhile, the REAL killers get to make their profits. Sick world we live in.

Answer 11

The'll legalize it someday, then they'll tax it, at the rate of about $3-$4 a gram. Adding $100 or more to the already high price of an ounce...

I do think they should legalize because I don't think the government should have the right to tell me what I can or cannot do to my body while I am on my property.