# Is there a good reason for NOT legalizing marijuana? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 14, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938 "2012-11-14T01:00:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/61 "2012-11-15T00:28:33Z")
This is not a good reason, but I think it’s as close as we’re going to get: So long as it’s a Class One Narcotic, nobody in the US is going to be able to perform large-scale testing as to whether or not it’s harmful and whether or not it’s helpful. Without that, it won’t get declassified. So, it’s in kind of a Catch-22 situation. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/62 "2012-11-15T02:09:21Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Yet you’ve failed to show any danger to society that will arise if marijuana is not illegal. > > You’ve raised the point that we don’t know if there will or will not be adverse effects, but surely you’re argument isn’t that we should make things illegal without solid evidence that the adverse effects outweigh and imbalance the net positives, is it? It’s already illegal. Demonstrate to me that a change in marijuana’s status will have a net neutral or beneficial effect on society. [QUOTE=ThelmaLou] The Danger to Society argument hardly seems cogent as many things that we have proof are a danger to society are legal and partaking in them is not a criminal activity. [/QUOTE] Two wrongs do not make a right. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/63 "2012-11-15T03:02:35Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > It’s already illegal. Demonstrate to me that a change in marijuana’s status will have a net neutral or beneficial effect on society. Well, you can look at the way Washington is already going, if it isn’t already common sense and self evident. By taking the product out of the black market, you have many benefits. The most obvious is that production is regulated and subject to inspection. This helps to prevent product from reaching the public that might have deleterious health effects - inappropriate use of pesticides or fungicides, mold, fungus, etc. Also, legalizing marijuana’s production necessarily reduces violent crime. Unscrupulous people naturally see a high value, outlaw crop as an attractive target, because its tenders have no recourse under the law. Home invasions are a risk, and even the most pacific growers’ only have two choices: cross your fingers or arm yourself to plan a defense. When your crop is legal, you can use video surveillance and alarm systems, just like anyone else. How about the advantage of control that comes with a regulated market? With prohibition, marijuana is much easier for high-schoolers to obtain than beer is, because the people who sell beer have a vested interest in keeping their licenses. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/64 "2012-11-15T03:31:59Z")
Thank you, **Larry Mudd** , for an argument that doesn’t fall back on “alcohol is legal, so marijuana should be” or “I live in Libertaria so don’t tell me what I can smoke.” ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/65 "2012-11-15T04:41:36Z")
I really hate the way marijuana laws punish minority citizens at a rate disproportionate to their share of the population. I suspect marijuana enforcement of being a kind of concession to groups opposed to things like the end of Jim Crow &etc. Really really bugs me a lot. Ending pot prohibition decreases structural racism in the official United States of America. Another upside: will of the voters in certain states. The downsides are… not much. The real rebels will quit smoking pot and move on to the next thing, which will surely piss off the establishment eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/66 "2012-11-15T05:29:25Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > It’s already illegal. Demonstrate to me that a change in marijuana’s status will have a net neutral or beneficial effect on society. I see that **Larry** already responded to this asinine position; perhaps you didn’t read the OP or the rite of the thread? “It’s already illegal” isn’t a cogent reason for continuing it’s illegality, it’s just a statement of fact. ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/67 "2012-11-15T05:53:12Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I have a small one. I don’t think anyone should be allowed to smoke anything in public, and that includes skunkweed. I hate the smell. > > Now, in your own home- stay loaded my friends. But what if you _smell it through your vents!_ ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2012, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/68 "2012-11-15T10:29:44Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Is there a good reason for NOT legalizing marijuana? I work the night shift in a service industry. Drunks are a pain in the neck. I see no evidence that stoners would be any less annoying. That said, I think we should legalize ALL drugs. Those who practice self-indulgence would die. Those who practice self-discipline would live. After they buried a lot of their elders, and a few of their friends, the next generation of teenagers would grow up sadder but wiser. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/69 "2012-11-18T02:17:58Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Yeah, that’s part of the point I was trying to make: none of **jtgain** ’s sort-of arguments is very strong in favor of continued illegality, and currently there are no other (to my knowledge) actual cogent reasons given for it’s continued illegality. But your side is trying to change the law. It is up to you to present arguments in favor of the change. And, as was said, the thread title is not “Should marijuana be legal?” It is “Is there a good reason for NOT legalizing marijuana?” Your side seems to be convinced of the fact that if marijuana were legal, then the usage of marijuana among the population would remain exactly the same with no more harmful effects and people could simply smoke it without being subject to penalties. Unintended consequences is a perfectly legitimate answer to the OP because nobody knows what in the hell will happen if you can go to your local gas station and buy weed. No studies have been done, and all that legalizing will do, that we know for sure, is to make some posters’ habit legal with an unknown side effect to society. Maybe it’s better to keep minor penalties for possession in case Something Bad might happen with legalization? People can live happy lives without marijuana, and if criminal penalties are worried about, just stop smoking weed. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/70 "2012-11-18T03:33:30Z")
Except for the places where you can walk into a coffee shop and buy it, yes, no one knows what will happen! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/71 "2012-11-18T03:42:21Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Maybe it’s better to keep minor penalties for possession in case Something Bad might happen with legalization? People can live happy lives without marijuana, and if criminal penalties are worried about, just stop smoking weed. Because… you’re my mom? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/72 "2012-11-18T21:29:01Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Except for the places where you can walk into a coffee shop and buy it, yes, no one knows what will happen! :rolleyes: As I said, I’m playing devil’s advocate. For personal freedom reasons, I believe what you and the other posters believe. However, the opposition has a valid point. Just because in Amsterdam you can buy weed in coffee shops and have legal prostitution doesn’t mean that the same things would happen in the same way in Anytown, U.S.A. My example with gambling is instructive. With full legalization, a known intoxicant would be added to the other legal harmful things in society and likely create new problems. Surely you can’t argue that there is a non-zero portion of the population who would either smoke more, or smoke period because it is available through legal channels. As such, there will be more missed days of work, more auto accidents, more addiction and the like. That, IMHO, is a “good” reason for not legalizing it, even if I might ultimately think that other reasons are better for legalizing it. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/73 "2012-11-18T21:54:01Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Your side seems to be convinced of the fact that if marijuana were legal, then the usage of marijuana among the population would remain exactly the same with no more harmful effects and people could simply smoke it without being subject to penalties. > > . I wouldn’t say exactly the same. It might go up, and it might go down. I know a lot of people who smoke marijuana, and a lot of people who don’t. I don’t know anyone, however, who isn’t smoking because it’s illegal. I’m not saying such people don’t exist, but I doubt there are very many of them. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/74 "2012-11-18T21:59:50Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I wouldn’t say exactly the same. It might go up, and it might go down. I know a lot of people who smoke marijuana, and a lot of people who don’t. I don’t know anyone, however, who isn’t smoking because it’s illegal. I’m not saying such people don’t exist, but I doubt there are very many of them. I disagree. There must be a non-zero portion of the population that stops in the gas station to buy gas and a Gatorade, sees the selection of weed behind the counter, looks to his wife and says, “Honey, remember when we got high in 1988? Let’s buy some and try it tonight, just for old times sake.” And I can’t possibly see how it would go down. Would any of the people illegally smoking now stop for some reason solely because it is legal? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/75 "2012-11-18T22:02:40Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I disagree. There must be a non-zero portion of the population that stops in the gas station to buy gas and a Gatorade, sees the selection of weed behind the counter, looks to his wife and says, “Honey, remember when we got high in 1988? Let’s buy some and try it tonight, just for old times sake.” > > And I can’t possibly see how it would go down. Would any of the people illegally smoking now stop for some reason solely because it is legal? It could go down because access the minors would decrease. Pot is easier to get in high school than beer because of the black market. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/76 "2012-11-18T22:22:05Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > It could go down because access the minors would decrease. Pot is easier to get in high school than beer because of the black market. Really? I’m not trying to be snarky. High school kids have problems getting booze today because of drinking age laws? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/77 "2012-11-18T22:50:16Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Really? I’m not trying to be snarky. High school kids have problems getting booze today because of drinking age laws? [Yep.](http://http://blog.norml.org/2009/08/28/study-says-its-easier-for-teens-to-buy-marijuana-than-beer/) Yes, it’s a NORML site, but I’ve seen plenty of similar studies ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/78 "2012-11-18T22:53:59Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > This may sound completely, utterly, horribly bizarre, but…I sometimes wonder how it will hit the economy. Not the mainstream Good Law Abiding economy, but the ugly underbelly economy. The inner city, there are no jobs here economy. For some percentage of people, dealing weed (and other things) is, or is believed to be, the best way to make a living. What’s going to happen when we make their livelihood suddenly less lively because people are openly growing in their backyard, or buying Marlbudo spliffs? More jobs won’t magically appear there to fulfill the suddenly un- or underemployed drug dealers. From what I understand, most low level dealers are basically at minimum wage levels - even drugs with higher markup than MJ. So yes, it might eliminate some of that but I have a feeling that it would concurrently open up legal minimum wage jobs. So ISTM that it’s a wash economically (at least at the bottom of the pay pyramid) but less chance of ending up in jail for a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/79 "2012-11-18T23:08:46Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I wouldn’t say exactly the same. It might go up, and it might go down. I know a lot of people who smoke marijuana, and a lot of people who don’t. I don’t know anyone, however, who isn’t smoking because it’s illegal. I’m not saying such people don’t exist, but I doubt there are very many of them. I do. Nurses, cops…people who would be in Big Trouble if they got a positive pee test. Now, it’s questionable whether or not drug testing would go away if it were made legal, so it’s possible they might not be able to smoke on their days off even if it were made legal. But assuming employment drug testing was put into place as part of the War on Drugs mentality, I think it’s fair to say that there are people who don’t smoke because it’s illegal. If you only knew how many of your nurses have become winos 'cause they had to give up weed… > [@jtgain](#): > > Really? I’m not trying to be snarky. High school kids have problems getting booze today because of drinking age laws? Oh, yes. My teen says he can get you weed, hash and meth with very little trouble from his delinquent schoolmates. Beer is much harder. They take carding very seriously these days. (We had a hypothetical conversation about this the other night over dinner; I’m not actually asking my kid to buy me drugs!) ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938/80 "2012-11-18T23:39:26Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Except for the places where you can walk into a coffee shop and buy it, yes, no one knows what will happen! :rolleyes: Again, though, the Netherlands has more of a decriminalization scheme. It’s still officially illegal, with only some limited official tolerance for “coffee shops” that follow a rather long list of rules. It’s hardly the same thing as full legalization. I think the big issue is whether it allows for legal mass-production and distribution, which currently Dutch policy does not-- the shops have to either grow on-site or buy from illegal channels. [QUOTE=Procrustus] I wouldn’t say exactly the same. It might go up, and it might go down. I know a lot of people who smoke marijuana, and a lot of people who don’t. I don’t know anyone, however, who isn’t smoking because it’s illegal. I’m not saying such people don’t exist, but I doubt there are very many of them. [/QUOTE] I’m one. I don’t like pot enough to deal with the hassles associated with the illegality, but would definitely partake occasionally if you could buy it anywhere. I am also one of those pee-test workers at the moment, but who knows if that would change even with legalization. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-good-reason-for-not-legalizing-marijuana/640938.md?page=5)