Legalize marijuana

[rock rash]

Do you think thta marijuana should be legalized for recreational use for people over the age of 21? 18? There would still be a punishment for people with over an ounce of marijuana in possesion not matter what age.

Please explain why.
I am writing a persuasive speech about this topic and would like to see different sides of it.

 

[WB9YZU]

Please explain why.
I am writing a persuasive speech about this topic and would like to see different sides of it.

I'm glad you clarified that, I almost figured you for one of those "Rocky Mountain HIGH" folks

Seriously though...
I have seen the affects of it by being in the company of those who partake in the Herb. The short term changes are fairly dramatic, change in mood, coodination, speach patterns which wear off just like alcohol. And just like alcohol, the long term is a bit more difficult to see.

Should it be legal? Sure. See what kind of baggage Prohabition brought with it. We are experiencing the same thing with pot.

 

[rock rash]

I'm glad you clarified that, I almost figured you for one of those "Rocky Mountain HIGH" folks

Nah, I am for the legalization as of right now, so I am waiting to see if anyone brings up a point that makes me reconsider...

 

[Ralph]

Should it be legal? Sure. See what kind of baggage Prohabition brought with it. We are experiencing the same thing with pot.

I'll back you on that. The effects of prohibition are more damaging to our society than the effects of pot.

 

[rock rash]

I'll back you on that. The effects of prohibition are more damaging to our society than the effects of pot.

again that will be my main argument. very well put...

 

[Wil Badger]

the flaw in your thinking is that it should not stop at pot.the problems that are associated with all drug use is the black market and the violence that surrounds it.

kids get high on spray cans does that mean spray cans should be made illegal.coffee is addictive does that mean that should be outlawed as well.cigarettes are bad for you as well as addictive so those should go to.the goverment is flawed in its thinking and always has been .its the few that seem to make the laws anymore not the many.

 

[casm]

You forgot option 4: "don't care". I don't smoke the stuff, but really don't have a problem with others doing so. Tax it, allow it to be smoked only in private residences or establishments that explicitly allow it (i.e., coffee houses with a sign on the patio reading 'smoking section, pot OK'), and add it in to the list of things that you can be DUI for. As for the age... 18, and lower the drinking age to that as well at the same time.

 

[westsacxj]

You forgot option 4: "don't care". I don't smoke the stuff, but really don't have a problem with others doing so. Tax it, allow it to be smoked only in private residences or establishments that explicitly allow it (i.e., coffee houses with a sign on the patio reading 'smoking section, pot OK'), and add it in to the list of things that you can be DUI for. As for the age... 18, and lower the drinking age to that as well at the same time.

x2 except the age part. 21

 

[Menzenski]

You forgot option 4: "don't care". I don't smoke the stuff, but really don't have a problem with others doing so. Tax it, allow it to be smoked only in private residences or establishments that explicitly allow it (i.e., coffee houses with a sign on the patio reading 'smoking section, pot OK'), and add it in to the list of things that you can be DUI for. As for the age... 18, and lower the drinking age to that as well at the same time.

Exactly. If instead of spending millions on prohibition, pot were legal and taxed like cigarettes (here in NY, tax on a pack is ~$1.50), the government would make a killing.

 

[Dirt]

x2 except the age part. 21

why 21? You know the saying... If you're old enough to die for your country....

 

[0313]

why 21? You know the saying... If you're old enough to die for your country....

Doesnt mean you are responsible enough to act like an adult. Its easy to die, not to act like an adult.

 

[5-90]

Yes, on the theory that what we've been doing isn't working, so it's time to try something else.

Legalisation can help to reduce/eliminate the street crime associated with drugs, and reduce the number of deaths we end up paying for due to "bad cuts" (cutting with arsenic, strychnine, and other poisons.) Also, we've got far too many users in jail - while I don't personally condone the use of illicit drugs, I've got a problem with putting people in lockup for "looking for a good time."

Similarly, the taxes without would be generated from drug sales (which would be purely voluntary) would go toward drug education and treatment of people who want to get off the dope, and would hopefully help to lower taxes we all have to pay (yes, it's a pipe dream. It's my pipe dream - let me have it!:loveu: )

Prohibition didn't work in the 1920's, and it isn't working now. Lower the "age of consent" for pretty much everything to 18 (which I still don't understand - maturity is an indivudal thing, not tied to a "magic number." But oh, well...) and place similar controls for driving, equipment operation, professional services, and public behaviour while on drugs as we have on alcohol ("Driing while Intoxicated" would simple have its meaning expanded. So would "Public Intoxication.")

I could go on, but you probably don't want to hear it all - and I've made nmy opinion known. As far as the "age of consent," it really has to do with how an individual was raised - frankly, I'm beginning to think people should be tested for intellect and maturity before they have children of their own anymore - but I don't yet know how that test would be written, or the punishments for "unlicensed breeding..." Call me a eugenicist - but if any idiot can have kids, you'll end up with every idiot having idiots of his own...

5-90

 

[WB9YZU]

the flaw in your thinking is that it should not stop at pot.the problems that are associated with all drug use is the black market and the violence that surrounds it.

OK educate me.

The US tried prohabition on alcohol once and the criminal element had a hayday.
We legalized it again and the problems caused by the black market dissapeared, to be replaced at a much lesser extent with the social issues which existed before probabition and are less damaging to society as a whole.

Now, if you legalize pot, and tax it, you not only have dissmantled the black market, but now have revenue to address enforcement and the lesser social issues associated with use.

An ongoing social experiment is, I believe, Sweden. Drugs are legal, Prostitutes are legal.

 

[creeperjeep]

phreaking hippie

 

[rock rash]

I believe that if marijuana was offered as a taxed alternate to alcohol, there would be less death from alcohol poisoning. It is also proven that there is nothing in "pure" marijuana that can cause a physical addiction like nicotine does with cigs.

People also say that it is a bad idea becuase marijuana is a "gateway drug", leading to harder stuff. This is only because as of right now, it is illegal. If it was legal, it would be sold in places where other things such as heroin and cocain would not be available. it would distance itself from the black market an harder drugs instead of bringing more people closer to the harder drugs.

It is not working how the system is run now. There needs to be a change. I think that people who are publically intoxicated or driving under the influence of marijuana should be punished the same as with alcohol. I also believe that there should be a punishment for people who posses more than an ounce or so, with the intent to sell it illegally, just as if someone was trying to sell alcohol without a liscence.

Plus the tax would help the economy, producing millions, if not billions of dollars each year.

It is less harmful than alcohol or cigarettes, so why is it still illegal?

 

[5-90]

It is less harmful than alcohol or cigarettes, so why is it still illegal?

Because penal insitutions are a growth industry. States make money from the Feds each day they have a "bed" occupied in their local jails, and the contractors that build them are also making a killing from the states and the feds. Most of the actual work in the jail ends up being done by the inmates - the jail gets paid for their workers, but the workers themselves don't make anything. Figure that out? I can't.

What we could us is a "top-down" reform in our system of "justice" - which is becoming decreasingly so. But, first things first - let's work on the lower end of things.

5-90

 

[xray]

It should be legal but treated just like alcohol as far as age, driving, public intoxacation, taxing, ect. It is not only used for smoking there are many other uses. Hemp has been used for thousand of years for cloth, rope, oil, and many other things. Sails have been made from hemp as well as the material for the covered wagons that transversed this country. How often do you here about a person that is high on pot going out and killing some old lady because he needs money so he can buy joynt? Its not like crack or meth. Our jails and prisons are filled with people that were caught with small amounts of weed and guess who is paying for that. After they get out of jail and go on parole or probation we pay for that. We pay for the piss tests that they are forced to take and they are not cheap. That money could be better spent either keeping the real criminals in prison or keeping a better watch on them when they get tossed back into the real world. The government could make money from taxing it rather than spending our money trying to stop it. It is safer than tobbaco. It can be used for medical reasons. I could rant about this for quite some time but I wont. If anyone would like to learn more about this subject go to the NORML site and get some facts. I am not a young person but I would rather fire up a blunt instead of getting shitfaced drunk and hung over the next morning. I will have a glass of jack on the rocks to wash that blunt down. Does that make me a bad person? I dont think so but if you dissagree lets here your point of view. I dont tell people how to live thier lives unless it affects me in a negative way and I would like the same in return. Good Luck!

 

[Starscream]

Legalize it and tax it. Like everyone says, the gov't would make a killing on it. The war on drugs is a joke; it's a waste of time and money.

 

[WB9YZU]

It is less harmful than alcohol or cigarettes, so why is it still illegal?

More harmful that alhohol would be a better comparison as both drugs are depresents.

Nicotine acts both as depresent and a stimulant (depending on mood), and is actually a toxic nerve agent. Heck they use it in insecticide.

"Why did it became illegal?" would be the question that will lead you to why it is still illegal. Hemp was actually cash crop in the US untill the 50's. You made clothes, ropes, etc out of the fibers of the plant. IIRC my history it wasn't untill the mid 50's that social concerns over the use of the leaves by youths caused the Government to make it illegal.

 

[rock rash]

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm