rrf

check out this link:

DNA database of marijuana created

is this not ridiculous... think of the millions of dollars they are wasting to map the genetic profile of marijuana. they could be funding schools or doing other worthwhile things... what a waste of time, money, and effort.

i guess what im getting at is: ... they should legalize marijuana :\ and not just for the reason above... but im sure thats been discussed before

any comments?

CSflim

Definately. Legalise.

Me, I wouldn't touch the shit, but if you want to go and zonk out, that's your business, nothing to do with me.

This thread would probably be more suited to the Politics Forum, where the issue has been debated over ond over!

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Fibrosa

I totally agree. My weed smoking days are behind me, and I still fail to see why it is anybody's business what I do to my body-especially when dealing with such a relatively benign entity as weed.

Katyblu

Doing drugs causes no harm to others.... therefore why should it be any concern of other people how you treat your own body? Marijuana should be legalized not only for the reason above but also because it would bring in somemuch money to the government and with it education could have all the money they need to better their programs and undate their equipment. Then people can learn to make educated decisions on their own about what happens to their body.

butthead

I predict people using hit and run tactics in this thread.

wilywampa

well... it isn't entirely true that doing drugs causes no harm to others.. the obvious examples are drunk driving and second-hand smoke. in the case of marijuana, if half of americans smoke them self stupid it could make the economy even worse. then again, i don't know anything about politics/economics, and 90% of people are dumbasses anyway

i say legalize it, but i'm not gonna try it

Moonduck

Prohibition is inane. It's a money pit.

Prosecuting vicitmless crimes (and what the heck is a victimless crime, anyway?) is inane.

Drugs are also inane though, so legalise them all you want. I'll stay on the straight and sober side of the fence.

marshall26

Legalise it. Help the economy.

Pellaz

Legalisation, all the way.

I don't think a week goes by that I don't read about a truckload of pot being intercepted. On the other hand, I don't hear hardly anything about large shipments of cocaine and heroin. The war on drugs has always seemed backward to me. It's like outlawing weapons of all kinds, and then spending the majority of your funding tracking down and teaching the evil's of a pen knife, while someone runs down the street waving an uzi.

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CSflim

Well....therein lies the hypocracy of it all. There are MAJOR social problems with alcohol abuse. I can't speak for the U.S. but certaintly over here in Ireland.
People drink:...get roudy and get violent. Walking through streets and parks at night is dangerous because of drink. Vandalism and brawling are all hallmarks of alcohol abuse.
People smoke hash:.....and get a bit sleepy!
Which is going to contribute more to social degredation? hmmmm?
The fact is that alcohol abuse is a scourge. Yet the substance is completely legal. Weed is (relatively) harmless, causes no real social probelms, and is ilegal!?
Something doesn't make sense there!

Now, I'm not anti-drink at all. I do myself drink. The problem with alcohol is alcohol abuse and public disorderlyness.
Nor am I pro-weed. An occasional joint is fine, but when you start to spend 24-7 stoned off your face you know that you've got a problem! There have been a few reports that weed causes brain damage. These are VERY tentative, imho, and seem to be based on very sketchy evidence, however, it is certainly backed up from my own experience.
I've seen a number of highly intelligent people take up smoking weed, and a mere five years later they are absolutely moronic losers with nothing but mush for brains and don't have the ability to hold down the simplest of jobs.

Like I said, people should be able to make up their own damn minds. What right does the government have to say what I can and cannot do to my own body!?

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water_boy1999

Bones? Where are you when I need a good Snoop quote?

I say legalize it. I smoke weed and I....um....uhhhh.....sorry lost my train of thought. Oh yeah......I am very active in sports, working out, my business, education, politics, finances, and I take care of the important things in life first. Getting stoned is a little relief from the day-to-day antics I go through. Plus, I am not addicted. I can go for as long as I want without smoking it....I don't get in a bad mood, I don't have the shakes, I don't look for that next fix any way I can. If I have it, I CHOOSE to smoke it. I don't NEED to smoke it. Peace!

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Doh!!!!


-Homer Simpson

BBtB

Legalizing marijuana would help the economy in SO many ways. I doubt it would generate ALOT of money from sales tax and such however we are spending billions of dollars on scare campaigns now. Not to mention all of the gangs it funds. Plus all the people in jail. Get all the criminals who havn't commited a real crime out of there and watch any concerns about prision overpopulation disapear. I'm just saying is all.

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Meridae'n once played "death" at a game of chess that lasted for over two years. He finally beat death in a best 34 out of 67 match. At that time he could ask for any one thing and he could wish for the hope of all mankind... he looked death right in the eye and said ...

"I would like about three fiddy"

sexymama

Definitely legalize! Marijuana can be abused just as alcohol can be abused -- and it can be used "just to relax" as Water_boy1999 uses it. Legalizing will end the needless spending such as that mentioned in the article AND it will bring about a taxable resource which will create more income for important issues -- such as educating our children.

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bermuDa

as of 1996, about 60% of the inmates in american prisons were incarcerated for non-violent drug charges, that percentage is probably higher as of today. Weed is one of the most harmless drugs out there, and it's a waste of resources to go after small timers anyways... I mean yeah cops have quotas to meet and stuff, but how about spending those precious resources going after people doing real harm, like cooking meth in a hotel bathtub, or the guy in the next room killing his crack-addicted prostitute.

But I guess it's easier to hate than to regulate.

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hobo

In Canada, they have made it so that if you are caught with possession of 10grams or less of weed, you only get a small fine. There is no criminal record or arrest because that wastes government money. The fine generates cash though. I think the fine is either $20 or $70 but I know its not very big.

butthead

I lose my federal financial student aid if I'm convicted of marijuana possession.

The.Lunatic

That statement could be the most ignorant thing i've ever heard.

Open your eyes dude you have no idea how many people are hurt by drugs. I have friends who have brothers sisters loved ones who have been killed by drugs. It matters thats debatable that they should be able to make that choice and that they are dumbasses for doing it or whatever, but there are countless other deaths and prison sentences that are all because of the massive controversy surrounding drugs.

There are people in tailand that are being killed by the thousands over the drug war. Participating in the drug trafficing network is like playing russian roulete with 5 bullets in the six shooter. The overwelming majority of the people that get seriously involved with drugs, and or tafficing drugs live very pitiful lifes of crime/prison/crime/prison. Have you ever seen blow or requim for a dream. Those are toned down mass media consumable versions of how the drug world works.

The problem doesn't lie in drugs however. The problem lies in people many people who don't understand that drugs don't solve problems. Drugs aren't a way of getting away from it all.

I wishs i lived in a world where everybody was as responsible and as well off as the people in my circle of friends, however they arn't and the world is slowly paying for it.

I'm not trying to solve the world problems here i'm just trying to educate myself about them, I don't claim to have all the answers or any for that matter. I don't claim to know everything, I just like to stay edcuated about issues that might concern me.

True wisdom is realizing that you know nothing.

[/rant]

alpha phi

I think you might be missing the point here.
these problems you mention are NOT caused by drugs, but by prohibition!
If people wanted milk, and milk was baned by law. A network of thugs would form to sell that milk to the people who will pay top dollar to drink it!

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Katyblu

Exactly and I really didn't mean all drugs... I specifically meant pot, sorry if I didn't clarify that. Pot has yet to kill anybody and the reasons for all the deaths connected to it is because of the prohibition. If pot was legalized than there would be less turf wars, people wouldn't have to smuggle it into the country. Plus when a thing is legalized I think there would be a drop off in its use because many people do it because its forbidden.

sportsrule101

milk is helpful for your body. weed is not usually. Weed allows you to lose control of your body and mind, which in turns allows you to do not so smart things. Do you want your already crazy neighbor smoking weed and losing complete control of his mind and doing something to harm you or your family.

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losing isn't anything

alpha phi

In a word YES I wish that crazy would get so stoned he would sit in a corner and giggle to himself

Pot dosen't make you crazy.
How is someone who is stoned gonna fight?

pot as a medicine is very helpful in many ways.
without the side effects of many other pescription drugs!

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rrf

look at alcohol... it fucks you up 10 times worse than pot does
look at all the alcoholics, people that are actually addicted to alcohol... you dont really get addicted to weed, you just do it because its good, its like if you discovered hamburgers for the first time, you would want to keep eating them because they are so good- your body does not chemically crave hamburgers

people get drunk and beat their wives, kill people, and run around naked... people smoke weed and mellow out, generally.

legalize marijuana, and then maybe, they could make it illegal to smoke while driving, like drinking and driving.
thats my 2 cents

CSflim

are you suggesting that we should ban alcohol?

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MacGnG

my friend's stuff got confiscated, he told us then they tested it and it was 3 different strands, good stuff, but...

anyway, they will legalize it eventually cause the billions of $ spent on anti pot programs have NOT worked. a while after its legal in canada, the US will crack and eventually go for it

butthead

If that is the price of stopping the imprisonment and jailing of people for possession and sale, stopping millions annually on useless anti-drug campaigns, and wider acceptance for marijuana users, then it is the price I am willing to pay.

EDIT: Oh yeah, weak ass hypothetical situations are pretty funny when someone takes them seriously.

mestizo

i think you should talk if you know whut you are talking about. if you dont smoke the shit you dont know whut it is like or whut it does to you... anyone can tell you whut thay think.but the people who smoke know.. and you know who you are...c-ya

kurty[B]

I feel the same as you water_boy. I study, take care of my daily shit, and to relax at the end of the day if I have some I say smoke it. The only reason I seem "anti-social" with strangers while high is cause I don't want to get busted for something I consider practically harmless. Although, I've come to realize that no one even seems to care anymore, if you seem a little giggly, or what not they just pass it off, and go about their daily lives.

Sure, you'd have those people who'd start smoking 24/7, and would become unproductive whatsoever, but we have those people sitting around not using substances too. There's those people who can smoke 24/7, go about their daily lives and still accomplish everything they would've sober, they just laugh a lot more throughout the day. Personally, I can't do that. It's all a personal judgement call.

I say legalize it, sure place the same bans on it as smoking cigarettes, sure make it illegal to smoke herb and drive, that's fine, I can handle all that. I just don't like the idea that I could possibly end up in jail for something so ridiculous.

-Anders

I say legalise the shit!Half of my competition for jobs would fade away and i would be much better off.
Ha.

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Signature 101

CSflim

Am I to take it that you were too high to spell correctly, let alone form a coherent argument?

I don't smoke weed. never have, never will. True, I don't know what it feels like to experience being stoned, but I don't need to. I see what it does to people long term. I've seen people go from being absolutely full of potential to being strung out wasters. But like I said already, usage isn't the problem, it's abuse.

It's funny this is the first time I've seen a stoner try and pull "intellectual superiority" on me!
I've never had homosexual sex, but that doesn't mean that I don't know that it's not for me! But just because it's "not for me" doesn't mean that I think it should be banned. Mature independant adults should be able to make thair own choices without having the government "babysit" them.

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Contami22

Yeah legalizing sounds good to me. I do indulge in it occasionally and i dont think making it illegal does anything but cause confusion.

orange monkeyee

legalize all drugs. Let the people that want to fry their minds go for it. So in 2 years we have thousands of useless people dead. gang bangers and crackhouses are gone. rap music dissapears. snoop dogg dissapears. What is so wrong with that? your stupid kid that you didnt eduacate OD's from smoking crack? personally, a darwinistic society interests me...

Johnny Rotten

Heck, even legalizing hemp would be a huge economic (and ecological) boost. How about being able to buy a hardcover novel for $2.00 or a magazine for twenty-five cents? Hemp grows quickly, lasts a long time, and is cheap to maintain. It also has no physical resemblance to cannabis sativa and has much different agricultural requirements, so you couldn't hide pot in a hemp field.

As for marijuana legalization, I don't want to step into that wicket at the moment. Everyone knows the arguments and counter-arguments at this point.

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MacGnG

hemp is a cheaper source of paper, but the paper lobby would never let that happen because they would loose hundreds of millions of dollars

orange monkeyee

oh, in regards to the hemp issue. I forgot to mention we could have cars running on fuel that would stay at less than 75 cents a gallon, would be more fuel efficient, and is less harmful to the environment.

Johnny Rotten

Here's the latest list from Fortune on the largest corporations in the world, ranked by total revenue:
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/globa...17689,,00.html

1. Wal-Mart
2. General Motors
3. Exxon Mobil
4. Royal Dutch/Shell Group
5. BP (British Petroleum)
6. Ford Motor
7. DaimlerChrysler
8. Toyota Motor
9. General Electric
10. Mistubishi

See a pattern?

Chevron is #15 and the US Postal Service, believe it or not, is #27.

What your looking at is a royal shitload of gasoline and diesel consumption, and a combined total of $1,652,036,000 in revenue. This year.

Don't ask me about corporate welfare.

musaicmon

in a free country, citizens are free to do as they wish, given that they don't adversely affect others.

Xell101

I think of laws as being a set of guidelines so good, that no one should not adhere to them. Any law that doesn't fit into that catagory needs a damn good reason to exist. Any law that infringes on basic human rights, needs a damn good reason to exist.

I'm owed a lot of good reasons.

ObieX

Legalize.

I've talked to many people, on the subject, that have the "keep it illegal" standpoint, and many are VERY uneducated on it. They pull out old "facts" that have been proven to be blatantly false for decades, yet are still being circulated - such as the long-term effects, and the effect of the drug itself. Many even use points that SUPPORT its legalization and don't realize it, such as the way "gangs" use it as a source of income.

Marijuana should not be compaired to alcohol. The two are very different, from effect to toxicity. People do not "go crazy" on weed. You wont see a "stoner" picking a bar fight while high as you may see a "drunk" do while drunk. Chances are good that you wont see a "stoner" driving 90 down a highway - infact they may be going 40.... I have yet to see someone overdose on weed, its *VERY* easy to do so on alcohol. Chances are, when you're high, you'll relax.. get the "giggles".. or the "munchies". It won't stimulate agressive tendencies.

The money that the government could make off the legalization of marijuana is insane. The reason it may not be legalized, however, is because they feel they may lose money if the country all of a sudden converts to a land of "stoners". This wont happen - there will still be the people who will fly strait as an arrow, because they dont see the drug as "right for them" (as some have said here). There will still be those that prefer alcohol instead, or cigarettes. Not everyone smokes or drinks now - not everyone will smoke marijuana. I see a vast majority of the people experimenting with it when it is first legalized.. they'll take a toke and say "what the fuck was the big deal about this???". At which point they'll either move on, or find a way to fit it into their lives like was done with cigarettes or alcohol (to various degrees, or couse).

I know many a marijuana user that would say that marijuana brings people together. And this is true.. I see many people who normally wouldnt assiciate with one another for various reasons (race.. wealth level.. age.. etc) get together and enjoy one another's company due to marijuana. Marijuana gets people thinking about enjoying life. Makes them focus more on the important things. Some dont see money as one of those important things anymore, and they see it for what it is: a means to an end.

People become content on marijuana. That frightens some people. Personally, i dont see a problem with being content - people strive their whole lives for contentment. If one little plant can bring happiness to so many people.. by all means LEGALIZE.



...and damn it, dont even get me started on hemp. I can sit here for days pulling facts and figures out of my ass to show why its still illegal, and the corruption involved, but it wouldnt make a lick of difference. Until the *people* take this country back for the *people*, and give a firm middle-finger to the companies that think they can control it, hemp will remain illegal.

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skinbag

Amen bruthas & sistas on taking our country back from the moneyed interests! ( As I wait for a student loan that guarantees servitude to the corporate tit ) Fucked poor & sucked in by promises of a better life of service to the businessman. Damn! Or I could grow and smoke dope in the wild until I get a tooth abcess that tunnels into my brain and I die from lack of dentistry. I digress..
Aren't we forgetting that plenty of money is generated by the war on drugs? Maybe cause the only people to see it are the people in the public service sector and especially the politicians getting campaign finance kickbacks from institutional service corporations like Sysco Foods and Fort Howard Paper that are awarded ongoing contracts. Don't forget that cops and criminals both make their livings off of the inflated costs of the drug war through taxes and outrageous street value.
I've smoked for years, and when I abuse I do get foggy and dumb. That's what it feels like to have one's synapses insulated with plaque and THC until the neural network has difficulty routing around bad pathways. You who think it is benign are inexperienced and/ or still in the early stages. Addiction has a "critical mass" in that suddenly it's hard to quit, and soon after that the damage becomes apparent. I believe my synapses have cleared out now, but I'll never really know. The half-assed life I lived has left me with many regrets and karma that's no fun, let me tell ya. Looking back over the years and the corresponding coulda/ woulda/ shoulda's would be less painful if I had the ability to remember the steps along the way. Do you sober folks have the ability to trace back over the years and remember what you were thinking as you passed milestones and made decisions? I mostly followed my gut and intellect, which have changed significantly with less use.
Legalize it, but people gotta be developed enough to handle it. ( Same thing for gun laws.)

krwlz

Im willing to bet nearly half americans have or still do smoke anyway...