Should Marijuana Be Legalized?

I voted for medicinal purposes only because it does have it's applications for nausea and chronic pain management.

I do not agree to legalize/decriminalize it, but that was based on smoking it. If you think smoking weed is not harmful, you are wrong. However, for the same reason, I don't agree with smoking tobacco being legal. Smoking serves no value whatsoever, is unhealthful, and adds to the burden of the healthcare system. less

But, prohibition of such things as alcohol or tobacco only serve to make criminals of normal law abiding people. Prohibition in the 1920s was one of the worst mistakes the USA made. It gave Organized Crime it's ability to run everything it still runs to this day.

I HATE cigarette smoke and of course the smoke from weed isn't necessarily good for you, but not only can marijuana be used in other ways besides smoking, adults should be LEGALLY allowed to use substances as they see fit and judge their own risk, without the Government interfering. less

But, prohibition of such things as alcohol or tobacco only serve to make criminals of normal law abiding people. Prohibition in the 1920s was one of the worst mistakes the USA made. It gave Organized Crime it's ability to run everything it still runs to this day.

I HATE cigarette smoke and of course the smoke from weed isn't necessarily good for you, but not only can marijuana be used in other ways besides smoking, adults should be LEGALLY allowed to use substances as they see fit and judge their own risk, without the Government interfering. less

But, prohibition of such things as alcohol or tobacco only serve to make criminals of normal law abiding people. Prohibition in the 1920s was one of the worst mistakes the USA made. It gave Organized Crime it's ability to run everything it still runs to this day.

I HATE cigarette smoke and of course the smoke from weed isn't necessarily good for you, but not only can marijuana be used in other ways besides smoking, adults should be LEGALLY allowed to use substances as they see fit and judge their own risk, without the Government interfering. less

After reading through this I just wanted clarify: I am not a fan of pot. I hate being that mellow! I wouldn't smoke it if it was legal. I am just saying that throughout my travels pot is really not a big deal. Aside from maybe the whole drug dealer aspect, it is not worse for you that smoking or drinking. Not to mention, that if pot was legal and regulated it could probably become cheap enough that the government could exploit it as whole new taxable opportunity. More money could go back into the communities and it would pretty much eliminate the petty drug dealers.

I don't know if it is true, but I saw on a news special that is harder to remove and FDA approval than to get an FDA approval. less

I did not say marijuana should be illegal. I'm fine with medicinal purposes. And you can't call "normal law abiding people" if they violate the law. I agree, prohibition was a bad idea, but I think tobacco would be a different situation. You can't simply distill a batch, you have to grow and harvest it, which would be difficult to do on a large scale basis.

And the problem I have with people using substances as they see fit, is that tobacco smoking has a greater impact on everyone else, again not only by second hand smoke, but the impact on the health care system. I could argue that it would be acceptable if there was any redeeming quality for tobacco smoking, but I can't think of any. less

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to be argumentative; I'm just hoping you could clarify something.
"I agree, prohibition was a bad idea, but I think tobacco would be a different situation. You can't simply distill a batch, you have to grow and harvest it, which would be difficult to do on a large scale basis."

I'm just not really sure what you mean by this. Yes you can distill alcohol, and you grow and harvest both tobacco and marijuana.. the only difference between those two being that marijuana is a weed and is extremely easy to grow on a large scale.. hence why I know a guy who has 4 MASSIVE plants in his attic. less

Don't worry, I did not take what you said as being argumentative. I'm happy to have a healthy debate.

The point I was trying to make is that you can set up a still and make alcohol very easily, in a basement, and produce very large quantities. With tobacco/marijuana, it would be more difficult to match the volume/amount that a still can produce versus growing plants. Additionally, plants take time to grow and harvest, not so with distilling alcohol. Can you do it? Of course, people currently do it (with marijuana at least). But I personally don't think it would be able to reach the same scale as with alcohol during prohibition, but maybe that's just my naive view. less

I did not say marijuana should be illegal. I'm fine with medicinal purposes. And you can't call "normal law abiding people" if they violate the law. I agree, prohibition was a bad idea, but I think tobacco would be a different situation. You can't simply distill a batch, you have to grow and harvest it, which would be difficult to do on a large scale basis.

And the problem I have with people using substances as they see fit, is that tobacco smoking has a greater impact on everyone else, again not only by second hand smoke, but the impact on the health care system. I could argue that it would be acceptable if there was any redeeming quality for tobacco smoking, but I can't think of any. less

Yes, prior to getting an approval, the burden to demonstrate that a drug is safe and effective is on the drug company. Once the drug is approved, it's much more difficult to have a drug removed from the market. Much of the burden falls on the FDA to demonstrate it is no longer safe, which is difficult given that they previously said it was safe and effective. less

Yea, that's my thought on it. I'd never heard of NORML, but I have lots of friends who were part of Students for Sensible Drug Policy when it was in existence on my campus (president graduated and the group kinda fell apart).

I just recently watched the documentary "The Union" and it's completely eye-opening (albeit totally biased). link less

I agree that yes, cigarette smoke is bad for people around those who use it. So is the fallout about abuse of alcohol for those who love alcoholics etc.

But, I do, in all respect and love, have to disagree that any substance that adults use in moderation should be outlawed. I can't imagine outlawing tobacco would make one single person quit, it would just drive it underground and an entire group of Organized Criminals would take up the growing, selling and regulation of it.

Tobacco is EASY to grow. My Man and I are intermediate gardeners, (not "Master" level, but we have most of an acre planted with our stuff, food, flowers, experimental things)

We grew smoking tobacco this year, just to see how it was done, and because I was interested in the flowers it would produce. The stuff grows like a weed, NO insects I know of touch it (they may, but our plants were untouched, even by bugs and diseases which got our tomatoes, peppers and petunias all related plants.) You could plant a couple of acres and give it nearly NO attention and make a mint IF it were illegal. It's actually easier to make than alcohol. (We've made beer and wine and growing tobacco was virtually maintainece free, compared to the producing alcohol safely)

I understand that tobacco is dangerous, I hate to smell the stuff burning and do not allow it in my house, but we can't make criminals of millions of otherwise innocent people.

I'm just presenting my view. All respect and love intended. less

I just had a thought, not a comforting thought at that. So cigarettes didn't always used to contain terrible, harsh chemicals. Then they started being mass-produced and look where they are now. I had this thought that if marijuana became legalized and started being mass-produced, they'd contaminate it with all sorts of shit. I dunno, does anyone else think that would ever happen? less

Ok I see what you're saying now. I can't find the actual numbers of people who use marijuana now compared to how many people drank during the alcohol prohibition, so I dunno.

At this point the marijuana prohibition has been going on for so long and there's so much propaganda around it, that I think medicinal use will be the only way it becomes legalized. There's no way the government's gonna back down on everything it's been throwing at people for decades. less