Call me crazy, but I really dont understand why pot is illegal. Studies show that alchohol impairs a human being as much as or more than pot… and if it is long term effects that you are concered about, then you should start a thread to illegalize cigarettes… See Here Ironic, seeing as how a whopping 70 plus percent of people who smoke cigarettes started while smoking pot.
Not only is it illegal, but in America, it is viewed as an evil. If you travel to Spain or Canada or the Domincan Republic marijuana is illegal but is viewed similar to speeding (a minor offense). I know this 1st hand as I have traveled to each of these countries and seen people in the streets smoking marijauana. In some states, on the other hand, you can be locked up for smoking a joint … That is ludacris.
It is IMHO that many countries are warming up to the idea of leagalizing pot (a la Mexico )
The only problem I have with marijuana is figuring out where to eat after I light up…
I really, really doubt that. I know smokers, and I know pot heads, and the vast majority of smokers I know either don’t smoke pot, or started smoking pot after smoking tobacco.
I’m hoping that you’re trying to make a clever reference to rapper ludacris, and not simply misspelling the word ludicrous.
As to your OP; I am against legalizing drugs, but I will freely admit that as long as alcohol and tobacco are legal, there is a pretty strong argument for marijuana cigarettes being legalized. And in the interests of full disclosure, I’m something of a teetotaler; I don’t drink alcohol, smoke anything, or do any kind of drug.
Nevertheless, the number of intelligent, privileged, kids I knew in high school who became unthinking burnouts in a mere 4-year span leaves me pretty strongly opposed to legalizing it. I realize it’s ineffectual, and I realize that many people can lead productive lives while occasionally lighting up, but you cannot convince that there aren’t people who would smoke and/or smoke more if it was street-legal.
I would. The fact that marijuana is currently illegal is what stops me from smoking it. As a teen, back when legalities didn’t bother me, it was my intoxicant of choice. I was never a “pothead” or a “stoner” but I could definitely see smoking a joint the way other people have a beer. I’m not much of a drinker still, and though I haven’t smoked pot for years, I preferred the high I got from it to the feeling I get when I overindulge in liquor.
On the other hand, my consumption of BBQ potato chips has gone way down, and that’s a good thing no matter how you look at it!
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Originally Posted by H3Knuckles
but you cannot convince that there aren’t people who would smoke and/or smoke more if it was street-legal.
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I disagree… I might not be able to convince you but the truth is that many people get high because it is illegal. Perhaps it will boom in the generation in which it its legalized, but as with Alchohol, limits will be tought to children and such and a few generations after, it will not be a big deal.
As for people becoming burnouts… I am a junior in high school carrying a 3.6 and my grades have risen since I started smoking marijuana. I am currently taking 4 classes at a college level, including Physics, Calculus, Language and Composition and World History… yep its all good here…
I’m all for legalization. I know productive otherwise law-abiding people who smoke, and it seems silly to make them criminals for such a relatively harmless vice. While I’d like to share the road with unimpaired drivers, If I had to share it with impaired drivers I’d rather share it with nervous potheads than out of control drunks. Pot seems less likely to lead to violent behavior and I am unaware of anyone being hospitalized for THC poisoning. I oppose legalizing harder drugs like PCP or Meth, but pot seems reasonably benign, just as benign as gambling or other legal vices. It’s not good for you, of course, and it can be at least psychologically addictive–I’ve know people who were smoking way too much, were aware of it, but had a difficult time quitting. However its social costs don’t seem to merit prohibition, IMO.
Eh, probably a little of both. I’m not much of a law-breaker - I generally obey speed limits and such. It annoys me that the legal consequences of smoking marijuana are as harsh as they are, but even if they were less so, it’d still be illegal “enough” to keep me from indulging. Plus, I have a daughter, and I’d rather set a good example where this is concerned. Now, in the interest of full disclosure and non-hypocrisy, I will say that I do smoke cigarettes, which is definitely not good example behavior… but is legal.
I think another doper, in a previous thread, explained that one of the holdups to pot being legalized is because there is currently no way to measure pot impairment. We can see how high a person’s blood alcohol level is, and judge a certain level of impairment at that level for most people. But not yet for pot.
Of course the other doper had much better and more scientific info and even a cite IIRC. At any rate, I’d support legalizing pot. Alaska didn’t make it a misdemeanor until 80 something, and in my teens we were allowed to own a certain amount (4 oz I think?) for our own personal use. I haven’t smoked any since my very early 20s, and haven’t kept up on the state laws.
I do know that growers in “the Valley” are constantly getting busted (though again, the media of course never follows up with their sentences and such) for marijuana growing operations. From what I’ve heard (and again, I apologize for the memory lapse, but I think it was a doper), the pot grown in the Matsu has some of the highest THC levels of pot grown today.
Which is funny because in my wild younger days, it was considered “rag weed”.
PS, to answer Blaron’s question. I currently don’t smoke it because my industry tests. I don’t care a bit that it’s illegal. But I would care not to face charges, so if I were retired, if and until it became legal, I’d stay away.
It’s not that important a recreation. But like some here, I remember it as being as casual and as infrequent as an occasional margarita or martini. Not the killer weed of “Reefer Madness” and its ilk.
I completley agree and that statement supports legalization because, as with alcohol, people can teach their children how to smoke responsibly. I eagerly await the day that I can calmly (legally) smoke a bowl with my father and only need to worry about what food I have the munchies for
as for JACKELOPE… Well said… that sums up my opinion on the subject…
I personally would love it if it was legalized. I am not, nor have I ever been a pothead. I know folks that are/were.
I have chronic migraines and am not persistent or whiny enough to do what it takes for a doctor to prescribe me anything other than imitrex which makes me vomit and hurt worse. The few times I have persued treatment I get told they don’t want to give me anything stronger because I might get addicted.
Guess what? I did my own little informal study years ago after reading about it on the internet. I took one hit of pot a night and ended up not having a migraine for over 3 months. I hadn’t thought much about it while it was happening what jolted me was realizing that I still had my bottle of 375 extra strength exedrine, a bottle I typically go through in that amount of time. The day will come when I still have migraines and have no stomach left I am certain.
And I cry when I think of my grandfather in law who was dying of cancer, going through chemo, who had lost his appetite and was given Marinol (synthetic marijuana) that really helped, but stopped taking it because it was $70 a pill. For $70 I could have had him gain 100 lbs on cheetos alone.
To answer a question upthread. I don’t smoke because it is illegal and the means of getting it and risks associated are not an option for me. If it was legal, I would use it as a migraine prophylactic. I do not use drugs or alcohol recreationally.
The problem with that objection is that it ignores the fact that there is a multitude of prescription and over the counter medications that affect your reaction time and abilities, most of which are roadside testable. There is also the conspicuous fact that reaction times are not specifically tested when giving out a driver’s license. If a cautious and physically fit 30 year old drives after 3 beers over 2 hours is he really more of a hazard than a sober slow-witted 75 year old that managed to hold it together for the whole 30 minute road test?
I don’t know if more, or less people would smoke if marijuana was legalised, but my guess would be more. There might be a somewhat different crowd than smokes now. Years ago, when I was in an afluant suburban high school, I found that it was easier to get almost any illegal drug, from marijuana to heroin, than it was to get alcohol. My students tell me that has not changed. I suspect that if it was legalised a large part of the younger generation would not use it as often. I think that there would be more people like Auntbeast or Larry Borgia who would partake. I also suspect that the romantic halo would come off the bloom for teenagers when it became the drug of choice for Granny’s cataracs and Uncle Bob’s AIDs.
There are several things I believe legalising marijuana could do. [ul]It could free up a whole lot of jail space
There could be a lot of tax revenue which is currently supporting foreign drug lords
It would be available for medical treatment
It would be less available for students
[/ul]
The one downside I do see to legalisation is second hand smoke. Contact high does exist, and there are as many carcinogens in pot as there are in ciggarettes. We haven’t got research on what it does to children, and what happens to small children in households where the weed becomes the recreation.
… That is ludacris.
