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Originally Posted by willravel
But by the same right shouldn't we re-criminalize alcohol? If a substance that can be dangerous and can modify one's mental state to the point where they have slow or different reactions to stimuli, and can be dangerous, should be outlawed and banned, then why stop at marijuana? What's the point of outlawing a substance that's kind of unsafe, but keep a very unsafe substance legal? I see these two topics as being fundamentally linked.
I'm not sure if alcohol should be legal or not, but at the end of the day people need to be responsible for their own actions. Some people make bad decisions with alcohol, but most make reasonable and safe decisions. Not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic. Likewise, if marijuana were legal, not all people who smoked would be potheads.
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The problem with making alcohol illegal was the cultural acceptance of it. In most cultures that have come to the US, alcohol is a big part of ritual. Weddings, celebrations, even mass all had alcohol as a part of it. Banning alcohol was doomed to fail because of this.
MJ does not have this cultural link. One does not toast the bride and groom with a joint, one does not turn the blood of christ into weed, one does not celebrate a good harvest with a roach.
So perhaps MJ is less of a problem than alcohol (and I'm not so sure of that) that doesn't mean its use should be sanctioned or increased.
If you want to argue from a libertarian view then you are right, they should both be legal, but for a libertarian view to work then you would have to be a libertarian government. Meaning, we don't pay for your recovery, we don't give you welfare, we don't give a shit what you do but if you get in trouble then die in the streets starving, but try not to make a mess while you do so.