Why is marajuana illegal? It is scientifically quite harmless?

Question

Don't mistake me for a weed addict, ive done it once in my life and just a taste so i wasn't even high.

I just wondered why it was made illegal however, for it does not have any worse long term effects than alcohol does. Sure it MIGHT create schizophrenia but that is only after huge prolonged use over decades. Alcohol is much more likely to kill and yet it is fine for sale.

Even some countries like holland have i legalized. So what's the deal?

It's not even a real drug, ecstasy for example i am glad is illegal.

You cannot actually overdose on weed or die from weed itself.

Answer 1

Holland legalizes soft drugs but prohibits hard drugs. but they also provide needles for people that want to do hard drugs so that they won't transmit diseases. Did you know that Marijuana has technically never been found to cause accidents. The only reason that marijuana is not legal is because they don't know how to tax it. At least thats what my political science teacher said. It is a good point your bring out about alcohol. Alcohol messes up your liver and kills brain cells. But remember Marijuana kills brain cells and makes you slower over time. Technically speaking smoking 1 joint is like smoking 2 1/2 packs of cigarates. and 1 cigarete takes away 5 1/2 minutes of your life. But your right it should be legal.

Answer 2

There was a guy named anslinger that testified before the supreme court and said that it was the main cause of black men raping white women. The court would not listen to the scientific side of it because black people were a shock factor and were thought of as animals in 1934. There is a book named The Emperor Wears No Clothes. It has the story. Or go to the reference section at the library and look the supreme court records under marijuana and aslingers testimony was in 1934 I think.
Pot is not as harmful as alcohol by far. Look that up in toxicology of drugs on line. Alcohol is the most harmful of them all.
The big deal is; there is a witch hunt in this country. Other countries have made it illegal because the US will cut off aid to those countries that do not comply with the demands to make pot illegal. Most countries outside the US don't really enforce the law but keep it on the books to appease the US.

I think if pot and all other drugs were as legal as alcohol, there would be less violence in our country. Let those that do drugs do them. They do anyway and the law enforcement community would be able to do real work, the courts would not be flooded nor the prisons. That is a lot of money that could be freed up to do real criminal detention. The criminals that rape and kill are getting less time than drug offenders and being released earlier than drug offenders because of overcrowding in the prisons. Shameful that our country did not learn the lessons of prohibition in the twenties.
Opium was made illegal because, at the turn of the century in 1900's the Chinese people were using it and there were white women going to the opium dens and that was not acceptable to mainstream america at the time. The Chinese had long ponytails and the government also made it illegal for men to have ponytails then. The prejudice in this country has a grip on society to this day. Look at the % of blacks in our country then compare it to the population in prison. Again shameful.
When the propaganda of the government is brainwashing the public and polarizing the population toward hatred of people that use drugs, the masses do not do the research and realize they are being mislead with misinformation on the topic of drugs.
BUT pot is stupifing and causes long term loss of short term memory, and does not cause schizophrenia no matter how long one uses it. Many people that have the affliction are not drug users. Just another myth probably started by the government. Why ruin peoples lives over a drug anyway? Taking property and jobs----Where does the government get off?
Seriously, DON'T START USING ANY DRUGS. They will impede the decision making process and worse. Alcohol is the worst all you have to do is read the research. Tissue damage is severe; brain, liver, esophageal gastric, intestinal, fetal alchol syndrome, and finally (there are more but that is enough to get the point across) physical and mental addiction of the worse kind. Death can result from alcohol withdrawal. The leading cause of college age death is alcohol related. AND YOU SEE IT ADVERTISED EACH AND EVERY DAY. It ruins families and causes automobile accidents. Geeez
I have not done drugs or alcohol for over six years and you can tell the damage it has done by looking at this sililoquy. I can't get the words in proper syntax.
So if you are thinking of ruining your life with drugs and no body can talk you out of it;:: pot is the way to go.
Look at the movie Reefer Madness and believe it all of you that disagree. Your brain needs a little more washing.

Oh yeah,,,if drugs were legal it would take the money and power out of the criminals hands. The government introduced crack to our country in the seventies to raise money for their covert activities. SHAMEFUL

Answer 3

Nemo got it wrong -- within the past week I read, or saw on TV, that one marijuana cigarette is worth 5 regular cigarettes altho obviously that isn't why its illegal.

Unlike alcohol where a relatively few # of people becomes addictive, marijuana is addictive for the majority of smokers -- just like regular cigarettes.

It is a drug which has been shown to cause memory loss & there are many who go on to more harmful drugs.

All in all I think it should remain illegal. Holland legalizes just about everything -- it would be interesting to know what the long term effects on society are.

Answer 4

Yes I agree with you 100%.
The trouble is not with marajuana but actually it is with the ego that man carries. Let me put it this way governments justify the use of alcohol by leving taxes on its sale and end up saying that it is a social commodity which is economically priced. While all along governements bring in there "so called experts" who profess that alcohol can cause many diseases when consumed in high quantity and over a long period.
The harm that alcohol causes is well known, seen and recorded over the past decades. With use of alcohol people also turn out (sometimes) to be social trouble makers ...well the list is very long.
Marajuana on the other hand, may cause many problems but these have far less wieghtage against the stack of issues with alcohol.
To put it simply it is an ego matter, which is so easily called a TABOO in the global society

Answer 5

Smoking marijuana is VERY bad for you. Much worse than smoking cigarettes. All science agrees on that fact. It is indisputable. Marijuana is psychologically addictive. That can be just as hard or harder than drugs that are addictive in the physical sense. Don't give me crap about what's legal in Holland! Heroine is given out free with clean needles there. Not much of an example on how to handle addictive substances. This tired old stoner's lament of "It's not addictive, it won't hurt you" is based on wishful thinking NOT research. Do some research then come back.

I can't believe how many idiots on here are saying the government makes money in the war on drugs! Have any of you stoners done any research other than lighting up? Come on, the government MAKES money in the war on drugs? I know for a fact that the "drug war" is a constant drain on public funds. Anyone with half a brain cell left knows that! I don't care if you want to rott your brain with your worthless drugs, but why do you have to come on here where there are children and try to convince them how right you are? I hope you all get busted. Which of course will only cost me more tax money to build more jail space. What a waste of life! Snuff it out, get up off the couch go out and do something for somebody.

Answer 6

some years ago people said there MIGHT be a correlation between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. The situation with marijuana and mental illness (not just schizophrenia) is beyond that stage but as yet there is no complete certainty. There IS a correlation between marijuana and increased susceptibility to a pre-existing weakness to mental illness, I know a psychologist who visits a hospital where there are wards full of patients with severe depression all of whom smoked pot from a young age. Dont risk it - its just not worth the short time high for long term risk of illness.

Answer 7

Well you anti extacy man you are bad bad bad! lol As far as marijuana it is illegal to make profit. A very notable amount of the system takes in cold hard cash from simple MJ dealers and supposed 'traffekers'. An MJ user/seller gets busted and pays 10 Grand over time to get himself out of the system. Didn't you know that grass makes you take advantage of girls!? And go Crazy!? not really. Personally I moved on from smoking an ounce or so per day among other things to the capitalized world I live in, but from experience I will sign any form legalizing supporting God given substance using choices.

Answer 8

First of all, it is untrue that marijuana cigarettes are worse for you than tobacco cigarettes. Not only do you not smoke them nearly as frequently as tobacco cigarettes, but you inhale less tar per cigarette. There have been zero reported cases of cancer as a direct result of heavy marijuana use. Marijuana should be legalized in order for the government to reap the tax benefits from the sales. If weed were legal, it would not only be significantly cheaper, but it would be safer, higher quality, and economically beneficial. Legalize it!

Answer 9

It was a quasi racist move on the part of the United States government during the time of the depression. In an effort to curb Mexican immigrants who were perceived to be taking American jobs during a time of great national consternation, congress essentially outlawed marijuana because it was percieved to effect mainly Mexicans, and hardly any other population group. Wikipedia has a good article on this.

Answer 10

I do not think marajuana is scientifically harmless. If it's long term effects are as harmful as alcohol, that is bad enough and a good reason not to legalize it.