Should Cannabis be Legal?

Question

If cigarettes and alcohol are legal, I believe cannabis should be. Alcohol, makes people more prone to accidents, and violence, while cannabis does quite the opposite. More people die from Alcohol than any other drug. And it's proven that tobacco(nicotine) is the most addictive drug. Cannabis relates to mental health issues, bu the amount of people recieving care at present because of alcohol abuse is phenomenal!

Answer 1

There are risks associated with legalisation, such as possible mental health problems for some people who use it, particularly young people.

But on the other hand if it were legal it would be taxed, and the amount the treasury would get in tax would be more than the costs of treating people with problems (this is the case with cigarettes).

Also, people would not have to buy their puff from dodgy blokes who are also selling more dangerous drugs, so would be less likely to have access to e.g. heroin.

Another benefit is that it would decriminalise huge numbers of young people who would never dream of breaking the law in any other way.

I used to be a warden in a student hall of residence. The students who were into their puff were absolutely fine - they just giggled a lot and ate Twixes and played Pink Floyd records (OK - the Pink Floyd bit was a bit of a pain!)

The people who caused trouble were the drinkers - fighting, making a lot of noise, setting off the fire alarm (I was on first name terms with most of our local fire brigade, they got called out on so many hoax calls because of drunken idiots).

At the end of the day I think we should have the right to decide for ourselves what drugs we take, whether it be the taxed drugs like alcohol and tobacco or the untaxed ones like cannabis.

Answer 2

Sure it should be legal. The problem they have with it is it will be hard to tax because of all the seeds. If one person grows and sells a lot of it, and they pay taxes on it, than the people they sell it to will have the seeds and be able to grow it without being taxed. Maybe if they found a way to genetically alter it so it doesn't have seeds, and the on;y way you can grow it is to buy the seeds from the government, than maybe it will work. But it is all about the money. What harm does it actually do? The only problems I have ever seen, was when someone was smoking some laced crap, and he went into convulsions and passed out for a few hours. Bad experience that was for him. He never used laced cannabis again. If it is all natural, it is actually kind of good for your body. It helps to relieve stress, headaches, stomachaches, and a few other aches and pains. I see no problem with it at all. I am not a user, and didn't use in high school, but everyone I knew from my best friends, to my own mother were all users.

Answer 3

I think it should be decriminalised for recreational purposes and legalised for medicinal purposes, its a wonder drug that america have slammed because of "the war on drugs" despite it being a war that was lost from day one.
America will never fully legalise it because theyve built up such an infrastructure around it and to throw the towel in now would leave them with a huge deficit by admitting alot of the propaganda surrounding it is flawed. It may be decriminalised nationwide eventually but not for a long time. Thankfully people are starting to understand the benefits of it so maybe things will change. The reason cigs and alcohol are legal despite related health problems is because if nobody done either of them things, the medical industry would suffer.

Answer 4

Yes, Marijuana should be legal for recreational and medical reasons. Taxpayers spend 1 billion yearly to "fight" marijuana, a drug that is less addictive than caffeine and according to a FDA funded study, does not kill brain cells or cause cancer (unlike cigarettes). The only side effect that has been found in long term marijuana use is occasional head rushes, experienced by people who have been smoking the equivalent of 7-10 joints for ten or more years. Its also virtually impossible to overdose on Marijuana. You would have to smoke about 40,000 joints. Does that even seem possible? Also, unlike alcohol, total DUI arrests for 2004 were only 18% marijuana related, and in most of those cases there were other factors involved (such as being drunk or high, or distributing). The question should be, Why SHOULDN'T marijuana be legal? There is no legitimate reason!

Answer 5

All drugs should be made legal. This would immediately cut the crime rate by 90%, thus protecting a lot of innocent people. Drug users will never be stopped, whether it is alcohol or heroin. If they do become addicted there should be no help for them. They chose to use drugs knowing there was a very high likely hood they would become addicted. No one can say they didn't know the consequences.

Answer 6

No, it should definately not be legalized..and the case you are using as an argument to legalize it..the fact that alcohol is legal..does nothing more than prove that it would be absolutely dangerous and irresponsible to legalize it. If what you say is correct..that alcohol has such a profound effect on accidents and violence..then what could possibly be a good reason for legalizing another agent that would only lead to more of the same?

Cannabis certainly does lead to accidents..it distorts the mind..and a person that drives a vehicle under the influence of it..or many other illegal types of drugs..are far more likely to have an accident than someone that is not. The use of Cannabis has also been strongly linked to a persons further use of stronger and more dangerous drugs..drugs that have the potential to end a life on the first use. People that smoke cannabis (and studies have been done on this) are far less likely to be productive members of society than their non-smoking counterparts. Alcohol, however, does not have the same overall effect..in fact people that drink responsibly are more likely to have a greater success in life than those tee-totallers that choose not to participate. Cigarettes do not do this..highly addictive they may be..but they don't have a literal effect on the mind..or your ability to function on a daily basis. It is up to each of us to decide whether or not we wish to participate in something as deadly as smoking cigarettes..fully knowing the risks..thats a personal decision we should all make..and it doesn't affect other people in anything more than a medical sense (second hand smoke)..I don't advocate the smoking of cigarettes, the drinking of alcohols..and definately not the use of illegal drugs.

It's the blatant inability of people to show that they can use such substances with responsibility that partially disallows it slegalization. If, as a nation, we had showed that we knew how and when to correctly drink alcohol..and we didn't drive after drinking it, we didn't make it a daily thing..then perhaps it would have made your argument for the legalization of cannabis stronger. We're being punished for our own behavior..and rightly so.

Answer 7

when alcohol was legalized it caused a problem because people started using it a lot more and that is not just the people that were using it before. If cannabis was legalized then it would do the same thing, a lot of other people would start to use it and other badder drugs. We should not legalize things just because we can then force people to pay taxes on them that is just greedy, the human element is far more important especially the mass of deaths that might result from it.

Answer 8

To precis the comments above, Puff is NOT legal in Holland, it is officially tolerated. It IS legal in Spain, as are all drugs, it is just illegal to take them in public and to have more than a prescribed amount. I do not see the Spanish and Dutch societies collapsing under the effects of all the amotivated stoners munching their way through their fridges. Neither do I see hordes of psychotic junkies beating 7 bells out of mummyhubby tourists to get loaded in these countries. Two's up on that.

Answer 9

Yes, in my opinion if alcohol is legal, cannabis should be legal too... In Holland is legal and nothing has changed, in fact in Spain it isn't legal but it's so easy to buy that most of us smoked it more or less regularly during high school and university...

Answer 10

Absolutely yes, it should. The government should tax and regulate it, they would recieve a lot of revenue, and save millions in criminal cases. The buyers would also be assured of purity, quality, and it would stop them from putting themselves at the mercy of dealers who take the money & run, or cut it with other sometimes dangerous stuff. You're right about the violence factor, stoners don't go around fighting, they smile a lot instead. About the worst thing about stoners is they might space on the scenery and drive past the house..........
The bible says "behold I have given you every green herb", and the US calls itself "one nation under God" and the money says "In God we trust"........ the government isn't smarter than God!