What’s up with the government being against marijuana? They’ve made it ilegal, despite the fact that it helps some people, and it’s not nearly as dangerous as cigarettes or alcohol. So why aren’t alcohol and cigarettes ilegal? I mean, alcohol is alot worse then marijuana. Weed just makes you hungry and gives you the giggles, but alcohol can make you violent, rude, obnoxious, and many other unpleasant things. So what’s the deal? And I bet about half the senate smokes it anyways. And now we have a president that used to do crack! WTF?!
[Devil’s Advocate]
Something about it resulting in lowered brain functions in people, AND more people reacting less negatively to it’s illegality than they did to Prohibition.
Because they’ve long been an acceptable part of casual use. People are less willing to ban things that they enjoy/are addicted to.
In some ways yes, in others no. I think the big thing right now is that there’s still a lot of myths about pot circulating the populace.
Those are both entirely beside the point.
[/Devil’s Advocate]
The main thing to remember is that pot has been illegal for some time, and I imagine that there’s a reluctance to legalize something after it’s been outlawed for so long. The other thing is that pot, like many drugs, is still a relative mystery to some people (“Pot leads to other drug use”, for example).
Bringing up the possibility that half the Senate smokes pot is most likely fallacious (the press would have a field day bringing that to light… imagine the ratings boost they’d get!), and Bush’s cocaine use (I don’t think it was “crack”, though… but correct me if I’m wrong) twenty years ago is also completely irrelevant. You can argue the issue without those particular topics.
The government has no real good reason for keeping marijuana illegal, other than trying to force their own moral code upon the populace. I think Cecil discussed the dangers associated with it(about as dangerous as cigarettes? Can’t remember exactly) and it indeed seems to be better for you than alcohol. It calms more, while alcohol can make some people quite violent. If you remember, the government did try to ban alcohol, resulting in making some people very wealthy. If our government was more open minded they would subsidize farmers to grow it, then tax it like tobacco or liquor. It would end this extremely wasteful war on drugs, and help pay off the national debt too. Because it would be easier to get the drugs, there would be less crime associated with them, and it wouldn’t be as taboo anymore. And try and tell me some of those tight-asses in washington couldn’t use a bowl or two.
The populace IS the Government, Prince.
Illegally, yes.
You’re mistaking cause and effect here. It’s already taboo… because it’s taboo, it’s hard to get… and because it’s hard to get, there’s crime associated with it.
The reasonable solution is NOT an immediate legalization. The reasonable solution is education about the product, instead of this fear-mongering among people who want to get into office.
Do you truly believe the government is the populace?
Anyway, of course it would take time to legalize it. Few things can be done instantaneously with a group of people as large as the United States.
If we are against things that lower brain functions then why do we allow some pharmaceutical drugs, or alcohol? Hell, I’m prescribed Adderall(sp?) which is a methamphetamine product. Where do we draw the line between ‘this can harm you, so don’t use it’, and ‘this can harm you, but does good(or makes enough money), so use it’?
'Twould be illegal otherwise.
I suppose you’re now going to tell me that the Illuminati has been in control of everything, everywhere, for the past twelve-hundred years? 
SPOOFE:
Every time I’ve heard something like that, it’s either been from a DARE officer or from McGruff, The Crime Dog. Cite?
Mr2001, do you want to argue whether or not marijuana is a depressant?
I’ve never seen it classified as a “depressant” in the sense that includes alcohol and heroin - this Excite/WebMD page has four categories: stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, and cannabis products.
But what I meant was that your phrase “lowered brain functions” implies a permanent degradation, as in “I bet that guy is a pothead, he seemed to have lowered brain functions.” And that sounds a little too much like “POT KILLS BRAIN CELLS AND TURNS BOY SCOUTS INTO RAPISTS”.
If you were just referring to drowsiness/laziness/stupidity as a symptom of being high, the same can be said of alcohol, morphine, Valium, or even Thanksgiving dinner.
The whole ‘pot kills brain cells’ is the result of government propaganda. If you’ve known any person that has smoked weed for more than a few years, then you’ll realize that pot does nothing of the kind.
The reason cannabis is illegal is that people still believe what the government tells them. I’m not interested in the medical properties of marijuana, but if the legalization of marijuana will help people, then that’s good too. Mainly, I would like everyone to be able to do, legally, what they enjoy. Marijuana hurts no one, and is much safer than alcohol or tobacco. So let’s legalize it already!
No, I didn’t mean it like that. I apologize. I meant it much in the same way that people have “lowered brain functions” right when they wake up in the morning, or when they listen to a Britney Spears album.
I should introduce you to my friend Adam…
The illegalization of marijauna and drugs in general does a great deal for the public at large.
It keeps our prisons packed with non-violent drug offenders that we get to feed and shelter with our tax dollars.
It gives politicians that have no other platform to run on a topic for their speeches.
It is a great way to ruin a person’s life if they are drug tested at work and found positive for drugs, even if they did it a month ago and on their own time in their own home.
It keeps the price of drugs high (no pun intended) and the profit margin so great that even normally law abiding citizens sometimes find dealing too tempting to pass up.
It keeps the violent gangs in business.
It keeps the mob in business.
It keeps killing young and old alike since noone knows what is in these unregulated drugs.
It spawned the invention of Crack.
It gives people a great reason to kill each other in botched up drug deals.
It is the simplest way to do away with EVERYONES 4th and 5th amendment rights.
It is the perfect excuse for the police not being able to take care of problems that actually do harm to others. They are too busy with the War on Drugs to start a War on Rape, a War on Child Molestors or to even have sufficient police on our roadways.
It is a way to spend billions of dollars without actually helping anyone. With the money that we spend on this 'War", imagine what kind of schools we could have. Or, if you want to save Social Security, stop spending so much money trying to tell me what to do with my private life.
It isn’t a depressant - it’s an enhancer. If you’re in a great mood before, you’ll be flying on air after. If you’re off your game before smoking, you’ll spiral down into a funk after. Food tastes more alive when you’re high, and the things in life you’d ordinarily consider “somewhat fallacious” become “truly fucking stupid.”
And actually, depression is less likely to lead to an intense depression - more often, depression becomes paranoia. Will Burroughs covered this in the appendix to Naked Lunch: one of his friends who was slightly depressed smoked with him, and after about an hour, his friend bolted up from his chair, screamed “I got the FEAR!”, and ran clear from the house.
-J-
I have known several people who were long-term pot smokers, and many of them were lazy, stupid, unable to hold steady employment, and otherwise useless. Indeed, some seemed promising in high school, but got nowhere as adults.
If you truly believe the validity of an argument couched in “…If you’ve known any person that has smoked weed for more than a few years…” terms, then I have successfully refuted your claim that pot is harmless.
- Rick
Perhaps it is the other way around: laziness, stupidity, and apathy are what make people decide to smoke.
I think it’s absolutely idiotic for the legal system to make no distinction between pot and hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine.
If it were up to me, I’d decriminalize all drugs. But given that we have chosen to outlaw some drugs and not others, surely pot belongs in the “not illegal” column.
If you’ve truly known pot smokers for any number of years…
Then you know the effects the drug has on the user are varied with each case.
I’ve seen many friends who are literally “burnt.” They have smoked so much, for so long that it has changed them. I’ve also had friends who continue to smoke casually and show no noticable signs of using pot.
With time, the distinction between the two groups has grown. One group tends to be broke and working at dead-end jobs, while the other group tends to have a higher degree of education and monetary sucess in life.
Of course…YMMV…
I see it as very similiar to alcohol. Some people are alcoholics, and it literally changes them, and others can drink here and there without much effect.
Jay…
This site disagrees with you. It lists “cannabis” (other names: dope, blow, grass, spliff, ganja, draw, hash, weed, pot, joint, shit, sensi, skunk… their words, not mine).
From the site:
Also note that it doesn’t even include a classification for “enhancers”. I would like a cite for that particular category of drugs… not because I don’t believe you, but because I’ve never heard of ANY drug described with that term.
Also note that the term “depressant” doesn’t mean “makes you feel depressed”.
Hazel…
I think it makes sense. A definition for what substances are legal and what substances aren’t was derived some time ago, to keep legal proceedings as simple as possible. Coincidently, marijuana falls under those guidelines.
So the only way to legalize marijuana would be to change the guidelines.
SPOOFE:
Battle of the cites? I think I’d trust WebMD more than a personal homepage.
From http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/abuse/chap1/control/sched1.htm:[ul]
[li]The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.[/li][li]The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.[/li][li]There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.[/li][/ul]The classification would hinge on the definition of “currently accepted medical use”, and further research.
In other words, some people succeed in life, and other people are failures, and pot use doesn’t seem to affect it one way or the other.