Long-time pot-head here, although at the same time its been quite a while since the last time I’ve indulged – at my age, its simply not worth the potential trouble. As in “don’t do the crime if you’re not ready…etc.”
Now, I normally don’t get involved in these discussions at all, for they are pretty much always the same: an overwhelming majority on this board favor legalization. And as well they should. For without having bothered to read the rest of the thread I just wanted to chime in with an answer to the OP.
There’s NO doubt in my mind – and the FACTS back me up on this – that MJ is a hell of lot less harmful than alcohol. Simply no comparison between the two in terms of addiction and corrosiveness to the body. So, the answer is rather simple to me. You either legalize marijuana or make alcohol illegal as well.
Anything else is just plain bullshit. And let’s not forget, lots of money to be made by keeping it illegal. That’s the key point to this whole issue.
Yes, SOME legal and illegal drugs cause SOME problems for SOME people SOME of the time. But the criminalization of certain drugs and drug users causes HUGE problems for ALL OF SOCIETY, ALL OF THE TIME.
You’ve all explained it – and explained it well – and explained it again and again. And of course it makes no difference. The nay-sayers “know”. To them it is a moral issue (though they do not recognize that fact), not a practical one. That is why they are unable to argue in any way other than by grand generalities – drugs are bad, drugs are evil, drugs cause harm, etc. And it is the reason they cannot separate any one drug from the rest, even for the sake of discussion.
Even if they allow a slight crack in that wall of condemnation (“Well, marijuana may not be as bad as heroin…”) they immediately plaster it over with some spackling compound ("…but marijuana is a gateway drug, and/or its legalization is a slippery slope…") and return themselves to square one ("…so marijuana must remain illegal.").
As in so many discussions where moral issues are involved, “facts shall not sway them in the light of a higher truth”. They **believe ** the higher truth, often with an almost religious fervor, and no amount of reasoning can change that belief.
I guess to me the biggest annoyance is the propensity of people to ban things that they themselves would never do. Ever see a cigarette smoker calling for a ban on tobacco? Or an alcoholic begging for the return of ‘Prohibition’? “Please, society, stop me before I harm myself!”. Naahhh. Never happen. It’s always about stopping *other people * from doing something.
“I would never have a gun in the house. I’m afraid of guns. So that means that no one should have a gun in the house.”
Now substitute [any item or action] for “gun” and you have the typical argument. Same drill here. Too bad. Rational analysis would be a far better way to decide any issue. But it just isn’t going to happen. Most peoples’ belief systems are far more powerful than their analytical abilities.