Why not decriminalize marijuana posession?

Question

There is an ballot measure in my state's upcoming election to do this, and there seems to be much ranting and little rationality on the subject. So, what good and what harm could come from this?

Answer 1

The only reason our draconian drug laws keep getting more and more ridiculous is that "cracking down on drugs" makes for an easy campaign promise that everybody wants to get behind - and by "everybody" I mean a lot of registered voters in the form of old ladies and suburban moms who have no real grasp of the situation. So politicians run on anti-drug platforms and get votes - or, if they don't, next time around their opponent calls them "weak on drugs" and scores points that way.

Then you go to a place like Amsterdam, where drugs are technically still illegal, but "tolerated," sold openly in coffee shops and taxed. Are the Dutch all a bunch of raving potheads? No. Is there more crime per capita than here in America? Far less, actually.

In short, it's all about politics and general ignorance. (And speaking of ignorance, check the girl below who says drugs are a fad like "being gay or a Bush-basher"...LOL.)

Listen to some of these answers. Apparently people are actually convinced that merely making weed legal will cause the entire population to go nuts and next thing you know, your grandma's selling herself on the street for junk money. As if the illegality of marijuana actually stops anybody from doing it. As if making it legal will sway people who otherwise would never have thought about getting high to run out and do it. You know, when I was in high school, it was easier to get weed than alcohol, so that's what we did. Face it - prohibition DOESN'T WORK. I thought we learned that lesson in the 20's.

Answer 2

State elections are good because it draws federal attention. The more states that support it the more senators that back it in congress. If cigarrettes can be legal, marijuana shouldn't be different. But what do I know? It just seems to be alot of money spent to catch some hippies. We have other things we should be spending money on. Like healthcare, erasing our dependancy on oil, education. An active kid stays away from pot, but my son's school doesn't have any sports because they don't have the funding. Does that make sense??? Our government will fund a DARE officer on school campus every day of the week, but they won't pay a coach for an extra 10 hours every week. We always got the best smoke from our track team. lol. NOBODY thinks crack is good for them. Boredom and a lack of self esteem is one of the main reasons people make bad choices. I say spend more money on fixing the problems that cause people to hide from reality. Dead end, no paying jobs. Insane gas prices and plenty of taxes. No health care even though there are plenty of doctors. But it's just my opinion.

Answer 3

confident, it may be, yet on condition that the government controls sale and has an alternate choice to unlawful marijuana so as that somebody desirous to smoke it ought to comprehend for optimistic it is not laced with some thing. they could purchase it and then use it in a plenty fit way. it might in line with risk no longer be thoroughly decriminalized whether it is not made criminal however the sentences would desire to be community service except it truly is a violence concern. this is my opinion, good question.

Answer 4

A good case study would be Amsterdam. For both sides of this argument. Take a look at their GNP and their crime stats before and after legalizing pot use and sale. It is pretty interesting. I am not going to say here what the results are because I don't want to show a bias, but I believe that these figures could be helpful in this debate.

Answer 5

The concern has always been that it would provide a legal precedent for other recreational drugs to be legalized as well. That people would say, "well, marijuana's legal now, so, why not make ecstasy legal"...

Apart from that though, everyone is always going to do it, so people say why not? Well, people are always going to shoot heroin, so does the same logic apply? People are always going to snort cocaine, etc., etc.....always going to kill each other....

Another problem is that other forms of hurting yourself remain legal, i.e. smoking, and drinking. This throws a huge monkey wrench into people's thinking on the matter...not an easy topic to approach because people will opine very strongly on either side.

Answer 6

It probably wouldn't do any harm. The good would be that cops have less work not worrying about small-time users. Most states today turn a blind eye to people who possess a very small amount for their own use. Employment drug screens keep people off of drugs - not the law.

Answer 7

Bad idea.
First I like folks working, driving, watching children, counting money with brains at 100%. Next, The stuff leads to other drugs. Last it's this stupid fad factor. Like being gay, or being a Bush basher, Taking drugs is hip to a lot of people. People who need a crutch..... When you have magazines & rapper gloryfing its use. You have a bad sign for society as a whole.

Answer 8

I hope your state passes this ballot measure. Just thinking about the number of people in prison because of simple possession is mind boggling. A tremendous waste of tax payer's money, for sure.

Answer 9

Well, to give a very brief answer, the good would be that sale of marijuana would be regulated so of a higher quality and harder for underage people to get their hands on. The bad being that it's an established gateway drugs, and people with addictive natures who start smoking marijuana because it's legal could end up taking much harder drugs and that's no good for anybody.....Personally I'm for it staying a criminal offence.

Answer 10

Open a can of worms? Where does it stop? Addiction is a sickness and needs treatment.

Just because something's use is prevalent it does not make it legal or decriminalizing is as a cause for justification.

It is a band-aid solution.
Nope. No decriminalization....!