the dreaded marijuana thread
 

legalize or de-criminalize?

no flamin' please,but all are welcome to express their take on it.

i say de-crim.just so you don't end up in the slammer for a damn doobie.

pay a fine......send the pot head on his way.

Ok, I don't smoke it, never have, But my sister did it allot growing up. so I do have comments on it.

Legal for medical causes...YES

Legal for public use............NO

The threaded marijuana dread? Huh... Oh yeah dude... Decriminalize is right on man.

Seriously though. Blue laws suck. Vancouver does it right!

despite the fact that i smoke it occasioanlly, i'd say leave the laws as it is, and not decriminalize it. i just dont see why it should be.

I knew that someone would have to bring this back.

Give it the same kind of regulations as tobacco and alcohol

I agree.

However, being a pothead should still be illegal (I forget who said that originally).

Make it illiagal to sell it, unless you're the goverment, then legalise it, but with crazy penalaties for mis-use (driving under influence, if you commit the crime while high, more jail time, ect.) One step closer to communism, and good-bye to most pot-related crime. No-one's gonna buy illeagal pot if they can get it leagaly. Also, good-bye to nat'l debt.

sorry dude.had to do it.i wanna hear what everyones take is.:D

I think it should be legalized, but regulated.

Interesting side-note. In my speech class in college I was part of a debate and my partner and I took the "Don't legalize" side. The "winner" of the debate was determined by a class vote.

Needless to say, my group lost. :)

I think at the least it should be moved off the schedule I controlled drug list.. along with X...

but I think it needs to be decriminalized for personal/medical use.. our governemt spends way to much money every year fighting weed usage when they cant even fucking stop coke/crack and heroin... and the meth problem in this country is increasing dramatically every year...

Not to mention it's no more dangerous or addictive than alchol..

Decriminalise and sell in licensed shops with heavy taxation.
Possesion of small amounts should be legal, <1oz.

Agree with Genka about the penalties for DUI.

Too bad it destroys so much of one's mind and our social fabric.

Might as well regulate it heavily, tax it and penalize unregulated use.

I used to do it, but I gave up because it was fucking me up. I know of people who carried on, because they could handle it. I think that's a good argument in favour of informed choice.

I say partially legalize it , but keep it independent. If you fully legalise it, all the big corporations will start producing it by slave labour and make it more harmful by filling it with hormones and shit. Make it legal to grow and possess, but not to sell, keeping the dealers small and leaving more prison space for rapists, murderers and racist LA cops.

people wpuld still buy illegally simply because the govt will tax the bejesus out of it if they were to legalize it. I say it should be legalized though simply because everytime I spark a J or smoke a bowl I shouldn't have to worry about the damn po-po rolling up on me and taking my ass to jail. Pot is fun and it doesn't really hurt anyone so I don't see what the big goddamn deal about it is. But that is just the opinion of a pothead.

As a person who has only done it twice in his entire life, I say decriminalize. Its totally unfair to lock someone up just for having one or two joints on them.

Re: the dreaded marijuana thread
 

I see two problems with that, <b>Flyman</b>:

1. Just by the way you said it - <i>send the pot head on his way</i>, you're acknowledging that you don't see a problem with people smoking pot. In that case, why not just make it legal?

2. By assigning a "Get out of jail by paying a fine" option, you're polarizing the legal effect of getting caught between the haves and have-nots of society. In other words, just send the poor kids to jail - but if Mommy and Daddy can pay the fine, the kid can walk.

this will go for all of america if it is legalized:
"Them damned smoked themselves ratarded!"
i doubt we have enough self control, seeing all of the teenages who are already abusing it now......

i say, keep it illegal

legalize it, and all other recreational drugs.

put all those damn dealers outta buisness and let us get high in peace.

X and weed are like the best drugs out, noone causes any trouble when they on these.

when was the last time u got beaten up by a pot/pill head?

only drunk idiots do crap like that.

A popular opinion seems to be (not from this board, just from discussions I've had in person with friends) that if we legalize, all of America will turn into potheads, the economy will tumble because people are showing up high and giggling their way through the day.

We could have said the same thing about alcohol during prohibition. That if we re-legalized it, America would go to hell. People would show up to work drunk all the time, American society would drown itself in booze. This didn't happen, and I doubt it would with marijuana.

Marijuana is still an intoxicant, and would be treated as such. If you showed up to work high, you're fired. Simple as that. Just because it's legalized, doesn't mean bosses will just ignore it and everyone will turn into potheads.

I think marijuana should be legalized, the same way tobacco is. The only problem is that the government can't really make money on taxes with it, because it is so easy to grow. The stuff literally grows like weeds. The government would have to make growing it without a license illegal, in order to make taxing it profitable.

"Experts" say it's a gateway drug, but if we get rid of the dealers that removes most of the problem. If it becomes too expensive, the dealers will still sell their stuff cheaper and the problem will not go away.

Marijuana is a complex issue, but I don't see why it should not be legalized in the same vein as tobacco and alcohol.

Let me tell ya something about "x". One of my best friends died on that shit, because some effin shadey piece of shit rave kid cut his shit with heroin...I don't condone the use of it and will never do it. So you can't really say that it doesn't cause any trouble.

As far as weed goes, decriminalize it and mind your own business, simple as that.

legalized but regulated

Hmm, like those fully legal substances tobacco and ethanol? You need to prove that it "destroys so much of one's mind" and also do well for social fabric. Bummer not everything can be peachy keen, but it doesn't justify prohibition, if anyone's thinking that.

How does this justify prohibition? You're afraid that if it is legalized, pot-use will grow out of control? Drug abuse will always be around with recreational drugs, but last I checked, it was easier for a teen to get a bag of weed than a packet of cigarettes. I don't doubt an inititial increase in the numbers of marijuana-use reports, but I think it would likely be amongst adults and would have an overall positive effect on society. I think marijuana should have minimum age restrictions, perhaps around 16. I think 16 would be the most effective at reducing underaged pot smoking. I do think we should do _something_ to present obstacles to underaged drug use, but straight out illegalizing substances will have the opposite effect, I think.

All right, I'm only aware of one pill on ecstasydata that recently tested positive for heroin and a lethal heroin dose would be much more than what is likely to be found in a pill. Your friend probably died because of other reasons, but MDMA has been extremely safe in therapeutic settings with professional supervision.

I say it should be legal. The basis for the prohibition of marijuana is racist and the substance itself is incredibly safe and less addictive than tobacco and ethanol.

-zzzzzz

OK I don't want to start any shit with anyone, but here is the deal...The kid ate 3 pills from the same dude....he never did heroin in his lifetime...when the autopsy results came back...there was traces of heroin in his system. He wasn't drinking on it or doing any other kind of drugs. The mix of the two...ecstasy and heroin...killed him. What I'm trying to say is, you've got to be a scientist to know whats inside that shit, or have access to one of those test kits.

Hell, sounds like a good way to kickstart the economy at this point. Regulated like alcohol, though.

Too bad not many people send in pills for analysis. The Ecstasy market is really fucked up.

I'm not really going to get much further into the Ecstasy thing (unless someone wants to start up a thread about that), as it would be hijacking the thread, but assuming the kid did die from heroin, it still doesn't justify why MDMA is "bad".

Even the test kits won't tell you everything. :(

Weed is just a plant, never in history has killed anyone, nor made anyone go insane and start shooting up post offices. Herion, X, Coke, barbituaties, LSD, Shrooms, none of those should be legal, I think they should legalize weed, tax the hell out of it (even with taxes it still wouldn't touch street prices $350-400 an oz is kicking my ass and my wallet) and get out country out of debt. Less people in jail, less stress on the legal system, and profits would be astronomical.
Let the Weed Be Free.
LE

Here in Belgium we have a law that says you can smoke it, provided you are over 18, and don't smoke in public or around any minors. You're allowed to carry 5 grams on you, but you're not allowed to sell it.

We'll probably move on to the Dutch system in a while - where it can be sold and bought legally in certain designated "coffee shops". Which is fine by me, I wouldn't want it being sold everywhere and to everyone.

Sorry about your friend, yet another victim of the war on drugs. If it was legal you wouldn't have shit like this happening.

Back to weed. I'm in favor of de-criminalizing or full legalizing. Making criminals out of pot users is over the top. I have no problem giving out fines for possesion, but locking someone away won't solve anything.
I don't think legalizing will happen in my life, but it will be de-crim soon in Canada, and that is all I care about:D

Now I know I should of read all posts to make sure my comment isnt already said, but I feel very strongly towards the idea of legalizing marijuana. This indeed is a hard statement to back-up as are most drugs to back up. But I do indeed smoke so my opinion is extreemly biased.

1: I've found that smoking helps me relax most nights (I have a chronic anxiety etc etc, not gunna get into it). And sleeping is a big issue for me.

a: Without weed It takes normally 3-4 hours of lying down until I finally clear my brain of questions that are keeping me up.
b: With weed it SEEMS (seems being a key word because i'm not completely certain), that I do indeed sleep faster.

2: Weed slows down your time frame. Now this can lead to good AND bad things.

a: Being able to get the most out of your day.
b: Short attention span.

3: Weed disorients you. This can lead to switching projects to be done fast without finishing, or having a fun time because you really worry about nothing. This is one of the main reasons why it is illegal, because it changes the way your interpret things, which when driving could completely screw your perception.

4: Dry mouth. Don't see how much this could affect every day life. Maybe you drink a bit more, maybe this is the cure to not having enough vitamens (that is only if you keep orange juice and other juices in your house, forcing you to only drink good stuff.)

5: Munchies. Again as above this could also be to your benefit only if you keep healthy food in your house, noone has ever actually tried this, might be worth a try though =).


I could think of more, but again I'm not looking at it the way an anti-marijuana person would, so again these statements are from what my brain is telling me to say, and in no way are any of these 100% true.

-Gotenks

After these things have been said, we'll need to help those folks who were destroyed by this supposedly harmless drug.
There is more damage to self and society than anyone who defends its use is able to imagine.

I smoke pot on a regular basis. I also hold down a job, and have a normal social life. It hasn't lead me to harder drugs, wreck My car or get 14 year olds pregnant..Like the commercials recently point out.

Alcohol is much harder to give up cold turkey, it does cause more accidents, deaths and social misbehavior. Im not saying legalize it. I just think the TV world should stop flinging mud.

People dont die from over dosing on weed, they die from jackasses cutting it with harder drugs. Ive never smoked a joint and thought I could fly.

No one is saying it's harmless. And also, this STILL does not justify marijuana prohibition.

Yeah, well, you've yet to prove anything.

Yeah, definitely, considering the possible seizures or possible death.

There are risks with marijuana use, minimal as they may be, but they do not justify legalization.

dont para-quote me :(

Im not saying legalize it. I just think the TV world should stop flinging mud.

was my point

I wasn't responding to that.

marijuana is no more dangerous/harmful than a pencil. you can use a pencil to stab someone in the neck just as easily as smoking pot and getting into a car accident. if someone's life is fucked up because of pot then it is their own damn fault

butthead
I've said my piece on this subject.
I wish you the best.

I'm definitely with ART on this one...
Anything that distorts your senses can potentially be hazardous. Just because alcohol and cigarettes are legal does not justify the legalization of marijuana.

People seem to think that if marijuana was legal, then everyone would be happy, the pot would be cheaper, and there would be less of a problem with it than there is now. I don't think that would be the case. If it was legal, then I suspect more people would try it. It might be cheaper, but that again would lead more people to smoke it. I've had to work with some people who were stoned in class, and it isn't fun. I don't see how any good can come of legalizing marijuana, except maybe making it safer for those using it. Not worth it in my opinion.

decriminalize it. if you don't want to smoke it, and hate it, that's fine. then don't smoke it. but some people out there do use it responsibly, and the punishment right now is way to severe.

I say smoke it if you got it.By the time the government get's there hands on it,they'll fuck things up so bad we'll all wish they didn't do anything(de-crim that is).Nothing will change.