Originally Posted by Stompy

I think a big problem is the fact that people try to demonize it by giving examples and saying, "These people failed in life because of it." It's simply not true. Did those people fail? Yes, but they didn't fail because of the drug. They failed because they weren't responsible.

In boo's example of people not moving forward in life - that's strictly will and ambition. A drug won't change that unless you make the conscious choice to sit around all day doing it. Considering weed is NOT addictive, that's like saying, "Video games ruined these people's lives. All they do is sit around and play Halo 2 all day." Yeah, it CAN be bad (I know people who've failed classes because of video games), but it's not a reason to put it down.

Some of the most successful and responsible people I know use it on a fairly regular basis, and I've also learned to use (when I was doing it) responsibly, so that's why my opinions on this matter are how they are. Of all the people I've ever known in my life, only TWO have been "failures", but their personalities were like that before they even smoked, so I really shouldn't even be counting them.

I think a lot of people need to lighten up in how they view it and unlearn a lot of the uninformed crap they've picked up over the years from the government and media. Either that or people need to take a consistent stance. If you're against weed, then be just as against caffeine, smoking, and drinking. No hovering in between with the "yeah, but those are legal."

We all know that there are plenty of laws that make no sense, so just because it's illegal doesn't make it wrong.

It really boils down to this (and I've said it before elsewhere): there's no difference between the already legal substances and marijuana, yet when people reply, they make it seem like it's the most horrible thing on this planet. They'll say things like, "It's too expensive, I have better things to do with my time, it's pointless, people are dumb, etc", yet, they'll go out to a bar, spend $20 and get drunk for a few hours and see absolutely no problems with it - or they smoke... or they'll be incredibly obese and drop $20 a week on fast food. As if those are any better, ya know?

That just strikes me as very odd. It's quite disturbing that people don't question these things more often. I believe we'd be better off as a society if they did.