why NOT legalize weed?

Question

If you don't like it, don't use it. Its not any more harmful than cigars, cigarettes, alcohol, it has health benefits, and makes you happy. I've yet to see any bad come from it.

Answer 1

BECAUSE my dear...the gov can not CHARGE taxes for something they CAN NOT control.
You can grow your own. How can THEY make money???

BOOZE causes liver damage and you can buy it anywhere. This is a HEALTH risk so insurance goes up.
WEED is a medicine to help people but can be easily gotten or grown.
Gov'ment can't TAX what they can't control.

Answer 2

In fact, it's quite true that Cannabis is not nearly as harmful as Tobacco and Alcohol. Never in recorded history has there been an overdose of marijuana.

However, there are reasons why no one in government wants to legalize it. Money. The black market has such a clear and massive income in the marijuana industry, it would be extremely hard for government to tax it or put sanctions on it. The government makes millions off of alcohol and cigarette taxes, and at any point can fluctuate prices in shortages or in wild card cases of policy change. Marijuana is extremely hard to traffic and control because of it's firmly established street market, and there's nothing a government hates more than lack of control.

In reality, there is little distinction between cigarettes and alcohol versus marijuana. If anything, according to the Lancet medical journal, marijuana is far healthier and safer than both. However because of it's inability to control illegal substances in todays day and age, the best we can do is decriminalization.

My suggestion? Move to California or wait for Glaucoma.

P.S. Don't let anyone tell you that it's a gateway drug. It's a logic fallacy, summed up by the saying "Post hoc ergo propter hoc" meaning, 'after this, therefore because of this'. Essentially it's a false statement that a large percent of crack addicts started with Marijuana, therefore marijuana must be bad. I guarantee a higher percentage of Crack addicts started drinking milk before crack, is milk a gateway? It's nonsense.

P.P.S. Although I make the aforementioned statements with complete sincerity, please don't find it as an excuse to abuse drugs. I have nothing against drugs, just remeber to be responsible.

Answer 3

Well, happiness and cigars aside for the moment, addiction has a tendency to cause problems for the rest of us. Most people do eventually have the experience of seeing something bad come from it, whether or not their drug of choice is legal.

Answer 4

It's an immigration question,if you legalized cannabis,our borders would be inundated by out of work pot growers and smugglers from Mexico and South America. Since it would be easy to produce,it would be very difficult to tax,so the government would have to actually work at collecting their share. It's much easier to take the money in the form of bribes,and just look the other way.
Come to think of it,if I were trying to smuggle in a terrorist weapon of some sort I'd disguise it as a big honkin' bale of pot.

Answer 5

I love the beatles too, and well the only thing i can really tell you is the government is NOT doing it because it hurts our bodies. Why the hell do they care what we do to ourselves? i mean, they let us eat trans fat, consume flu an cold medication that god knows what does to your body, use cell phones and electronics that cause cancer, hell they even accept checks on the senate floor to influence their ways of helping tobacco companies. And pot is not nearly as dangerous as tobacco or alcohol. the only one bad thing about it, is that the large amount of thc stays in your brain for up to 3 months which kills your brain cells and inevitably makes you stupider after prolonged usage, but as long as you do it moderately it can't hurt you. like everyone else said about, it really has to do with the taxing and the fact that it is strongly situated in the black market. So just be careful while breaking the law, or move to holland.

Answer 6

Honestly I think you should be allowed to do anything you want as long as you don't violate anyone's right to Life, Liberty, or Property.

If you want to drink, do weed and crack while watching porn.

Cool with me.

If you want the government to pay for your rehab or your medical bills after you OD.

Not Cool with me you have just infringed on my right to property by using the police power of the state to take away my money with taxation and give it to your doctor because you can't take responsibility for your actions.

If we legalize drugs, drug prices will drop and there will be much less money for criminal gangs. Until they come up with a new business plan.

Answer 7

Healthwise, it's safer than beer, but the so called 'war on drugs' earns too much money for corrupt law enforcement officials and politicians. Marijuana was made illegal in the first place because of some complicated issue over taxes and hemp growers. Demonizing the use of it grew out of proportion in the 1930s so that today its almost like a 'white whale' for puritans, preachers and politicos. America...what a country...millions of lives destroyed by ridiculous laws over some dried weeds. Land of the Free? Nonsense.

Answer 8

The difference is, with tobacco and alcohol, you hurt yourself. That's perfectly legal. Cannabis has a tendency to make you hurt other people by accident.

The same reason as you can be drunk but you can't drive drunk.

Answer 9

I agree with you. They should legalize it and treat it like Alcohol or tobacco. You would have to show ID to buy it etc. And to all those bozos who say things like, well weed just leads to harder drugs, obviously never smoked weed.

Answer 10

The judicial system in this country makes a boatload of money from fines, attorney fees, treatment centers.