The carcinogens I’m not too sure about, but the risk probably isn’t as high as with tobacco for the simple reason that very few people smoke 20-40 or more joints a day. Except maybe the OP. 
Peace,
mangeorge
Check your local news source. The best I could come up with was Kathleen Parker. A new study revealed what some of you already know.
[sub]Damn drug Nazis.[/sub]
For the same reasons mentioned earlier: Basic Microeconomics 101. I used to have peppermint growing in my backyard. In abundance. I think I used it twice to make tea. Other than that, it was Celestial Seasonings Peppermint for my mug.
Plus, you over-simplify…There is daily care involved- water, proper nutrients (pot is not immune to lack of nitrates or ???), plus, you have cut it, dry it, cure it, seperate it from stems and seeds, and then finally roll it. And that only after 3 to 6 months, depending on the type grown!
Why not just pick up 2 joints of the type you like on the way home from work? I’d personally pay, hmmm…$5 for that service. Now, if someone can provide that service for me and make a profit, well then…let 'em. I’m happy and so are they.
And a final argument against your position: In Amsterdam, they offer pre-made joints for more than it costs to buy it and roll your own. People are lazy. Just accept it.
The ‘war on some drugs’ (which I suggest everyone start using as a term, cuz it’s true) is far more dangerous than the drugs themselves. How can throwing an occasional user into jail be beneficial to society? This person had a job (they had to buy the drugs somehow, right?), took care of themselves and possibly a family, and now they are in jail (paid for by you and me) and their family is on welfare cuz the bread-winner is gone (also paid for by you and me). Wow, what a great system! I’m so happy that that damn druggie is off the streets and learning how to rob, rape and steal in prison while I pay for it!
The thing that gets me is the idiocy of excuses about not wanting to legalize it because of crime. Excuse me, but even if drugs were legalized, stealing is still a crime that can be punished. Driving while intoxicated would still be punished. You can legalize drugs and STILL INCARCERATE PEOPLE FOR BREAKING THE LAW. Just because drugs are legal does not mean that other laws are now no longer enforced.
Legalize it. It’s the right thing to do.
-Tcat
I’m weighing in a little late with this info, but here it goes anyway.
Someone on the first page of this thread (yes, I’m too lazy to push the “Back” button to see who) asked how many people thought marijuana should be legal. The poster in question said that it seems like public opinion, in general, is swaying towards our side on the issue. S/he was right. An official survey that made the news a couple of months ago showed that 33%(or was it 35%? - one of the two) think it should be legalized. This is the highest percentage in favor of legalization ever recorded in the U.S. Last time they took a survey, I think it was 27%. Various unofficial online surveys range in the 75-90% range. I’m talking about CNN.com polls and the like, not surveys from pro-legalization sites.
This fits in well with my theory that most people who think pot should be illegal are so stupid that they can’t even operate a computer.
Also, not to beat this issue into the ground, but another reason that selling legal marijuana would be a viable business venture is the potency issue. Potheads like me salivate over beauiful, fluffy nugs grown under expensive lights that mimic more closely the sun’s spectrum than cheap fluorescents. There are also different hydroponic tecniques and other complicated arrangments that the average pothead doesn’t have the time, money (we’re talking lamps that cost several hundred dollars apiece here), or inclination to set up and maintain. But he still wants those bright-green nugs, sticky with resin crystals. They truly taste wonderful when smoked. I think your average pothead would rather pay money for that than grow his own ditchweed.
There is a huge black market right now for the good stuff. People actually pay 3-6 times more for it (depending on where they live) than they pay for regular pot.
It should also be noted that the effects of marijuana on driving are negligible. I’ve driven stoned literally hundreds (maybe even a thousand) times. Not once was I in an accident of any kind, nor was I ever pulled over. But don’t take my word for it. Numerous studies have proven it. Here’s one article that states, among other things, that :
People who point to high incidences of accident-causing drivers with THC in their systems always seem forget to mention that invariably the drivers were drunk, too. They also forget that THC stays in your system a while and someone testing postive after a wreck may not have smoked in several days.
I forgot to add that inexperienced tokers should never drive under any circumstances. Depending on how many times you’ve used, pot is almost like two entirely different drugs.
The first dozen or so times I smoked, it was out-of-this-world. I couldn’t stop giggling at everything no matter how hard I tried and the whole world seemed warped and silly.
Nowadays, it just relaxes me. It calms me down. It makes me less likely to lean on my horn and chuck the finger when someone cuts me off in traffic.
Come to think of it, I just remembered something. I have been pulled over while driving stoned. It was for driving 10 mph over the speed limit, though, not for driving erratically. My friend and I had smoked a joint moments before we got pulled over. I had a friendly conversation with the cop, who never suspected for a second that I was under the influence of anything. He gave me a ticket and let me go.
I’ve also been able to go to work, school, and everywhere else stoned and nobody can tell. I once had a computer teacher tell my class (while I was attending that particular class stoned) that he couldn’t understand why people would come to class high. He felt they were wasting their time and his time and not learning anything.
The funny thing is that this same teacher has also told me several times that I’m his smartest student. He (and a couple other computer teachers) often came to me with questions they had about material related to the very subjects they were teaching me. Virtually all of the material I had learned was while studying stoned. I’m not saying everyone should go out and do this, but it works for me.
I also tried studying drunk one time. Ha! Not a chance. I mean it was just pathetic. I gave up after less than a page.