# Marijuana legalisation **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 12, 2001, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569 "2001-06-12T17:24:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nickc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/47e85d/32.png) [@nickc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nickc)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2001, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/1 "2001-06-12T17:24:57Z")
I was wonder what the collective opinion of the enlightened members of this board was on the subject of marijuana legalisation… for or against? It would be helpful if you would also state your age. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2001, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/2 "2001-06-12T21:05:57Z")
I’m sure several threads have come and gone on this very subject. However, I don’t feel like researching them. And, you asked for my opinion here and now, so here it is. First of all, FTR, I don’t smoke pot and never have. I think pot should be legal, but for different reasons than you might think. I do not think that the fact that pot is illegal represents oppression by The Man, or a conservative government trying to take individual freedoms away, yada yada yada. Nor do I think that legalizing pot will begin an Age of Enlightenment where all people are allowed to freely share their ideas, yada yada yada. If pot is legal we can tax it. As a Republican, I’m not big on taxes, but I will _always_ favor a sales tax over an income tax. If we tax pot we can use the extra revenue for drug treatment, etc. Legalizing pot takes the power out of the dealers and puts it into the hands of retailers; therefore, the dealers have no incentive to try to introduce others to pot (and gain more customers). In other words, stop making it such a Big Deal and it will cease to be such a Big Deal. Also, I’m going to let you in on something that nobody likes to talk about: the War on Drugs is a **big** business. Billions of dollars flow through countless channels every year as long as we continue this War on Drugs. Many a career has been built around it, so don’t look for pot to become legal any time soon. My $.02. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2001, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/3 "2001-06-12T21:29:17Z")
I’m for legalization too. I’m 24 and haven’t smoked it for about 2 years. While I agree with the _rationale_ of the Supreme Court in their 8-0 decision a few weeks back, I think it’s absolutely insane to keep marijuana illegal for medicinal purposes. Here we have a drug that has unlimited potential and we refuse to give it to those in need because society as a whole is scared of the drug. We refuse to test it to even determine its potential because marijuana is evil. We refuse to let doctors handle it because codeine and morphine and amphetamines are soooo much better for the system and no one ever gets addicted to those. I think not legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes, if only to test its capabilities as a pain reliever, is as unconscionable as anything I can think of. And going further than that. Hell, smoke up if you want to! It’s less harmful than cigarettes and alcohol. I say as long as they’re legal, mary jane should be too. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2001, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/4 "2001-06-12T22:28:52Z")
Marijuana should be legal, period. If we could convert all the heavy drinkers in the world to being heavy pot smokers instead, the world would be a far, far better place. I never knew ANYONE who would get high and then get violent. I knew lots of alcohol drinkers who did, though. My father died from complications of alcoholism. My mother drinks too much. So does my brother. I rarely drink at all. Don’t get me wrong - alcohol should be legal as well. Free people have the right to their own bodies, and if that means slowly killing themselves with alcohol, so be it. But pot is one of the safest drugs we know of. I don’t believe there has been a single documented death solely due to the physical effects of pot, whereas tens of thousands of people a year die from the effects of alcohol and tobacco. And domestic violence highly correlates with drunkenness. So legalize pot. And if I were forced to make either pot or booze illegal, I’m afraid I’d choose booze. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2001, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/5 "2001-06-12T22:33:14Z")
For legalization, and have been for years. The war on drugs has been appropriately called our domestic VietNam. Enough! ---
**Author:** ![pink\_kitten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@pink\_kitten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pink_kitten)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2001, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/6 "2001-06-12T22:53:05Z")
I’m female, age 29. I smoked pot now and then from age 15 to 23, tho not very consistantly. I do not smoke any more because it never did much for me. No one has mentioned the fact that if we legalize marijuana, **Hemp** will also be legal. This would present a very big problem for all of the paper mills, the chemical companies, and all the big business associated with turning trees into toilet paper, etc. Because hemp would be so useful and cheap to produce, I don’t think it will ever be legal on any large scale. For more info on Hemp click [here](http://www.jackherer.com/) ---
**Author:** ![skaffen\_amiskaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d26b3c/32.png) [@skaffen\_amiskaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skaffen_amiskaw)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2001, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/7 "2001-06-12T23:25:28Z")
legalise it. i’m 18, i smoke weed, regularly but not frequently, and i have to say its much more fun than alcohol. in the US each year more than 150 000 people die from alcohol abuse. (thats just the USA. if anyone knows the UK figures, i’d be interested. what are we, the third heaviest drinkers in Europe?) no-one has ever died as a direct result of marijuana use. sure, inhaling smoke is just plain unhealthy, but better than pounding your liver with alcohol. and it needn’t be legalised just for recreational use, either. it has commercial value, mainly for the manufacture of clothing and paper. and it has been shown to be an effective medical treatment for multiple sclerosis and AIDS. and, if it were legalised, as has been mentioned by rastahomie, if it were legal, it could be taxed. the government would make money and save cash by being able to scale down (slightly) its anti-drugs fight. although actually, to deviate from my course for a bit, the “war on drugs” doesn’t seem to be such a politically big thing here in the UK as it seems to be in the US. a guy got picked up a couple of streets away from where i live a few months back, carrying over 40 grams of marijuana, and only got a caution and a £200 fine. from what i hear, that would warrant a sizeable jail term in the US. can anyone help with this comparison? is there really such a difference in penalties for possession in the US and UK? anyway, thats my way-past-midnight thoughts upon the subject. apologies if i’m not making much sense. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/8 "2001-06-13T00:48:37Z")
Legalise the stuff. It’ll help your law enforcement in battling the _really_ scary stuff, like hard drugs (heroine, cocaine, crack, etc.). Would you believe there’s actually a country that acts as living proof of this theory? And would you believe that so far, only its southern neighbour Belgium has had the guts to try the same? Lemme tell you, it’s great fun living in a progressive country. Not that I smoke pot a lot: once or twice a year, tops. But in international discussions (like, hey, this message board!), it’s just cool to give a first hand perspective of what I see every day. It works. And there’s no reason it wouldn’t work in the US. ---
**Author:** ![MrO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@MrO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrO)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/9 "2001-06-13T01:03:02Z")
I’m 43, and I concur with those who say legalize it. Regulate it, keep it away from kids, tax it, but legalize it. As has been said, it’s a lot less harmful than alcohol. Alcohol usually makes me feel bad–sometimes right away, and usually later. Pot never once made me feel bad. Now I live in a country where it’s next to impossible to get, certainly not worth the trouble, expense, and risk. But in my college years I indulged. I was never one of those who got high and sat slack-jawed in front of the TV. I got high and went running, and cleaned the house, and studied. And I made very good grades. I maintained healthy relationships, worked every day, and then at night, I slept! (This is worth an exclamation point because before becoming a pot smoker, I always slept poorly, and now that I am no longer a pot smoker, I sleep poorly again.) I will admit that I had a brother-in-law once who became a complete moron when he smoked. Give him a beer and he was a lot of fun, but give him a joint and he became depressed and stupid. It isn’t for everyone. But it helped me immeasurably–it might well have saved my life. There’s a lot about government in general and that of my home country in particular that I dislike, but the criminalization of marijuana is one of the most idiotic things I can imagine. It doesn’t hurt people. It helps some people a lot. Of course it should be legalized. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/10 "2001-06-13T01:12:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pink kitten \* > \*\* > > No one has mentioned the fact that if we legalize marijuana, **Hemp** will also be legal. This would present a very big problem for all of the paper mills, the chemical companies, and all the big business associated with turning trees into toilet paper, etc\*\* Ok, see, I’ll let you do that. Buy hemp rope. Wear a hemp hat. Don a hemp tuxedo and take it to the Oscars. I don’t really care. But hemp toilet paper? ow ow ow ow ow! No thank you and no again. And the big business of paper wouldn’t be put out of business. They’ll just have to adapt to the times. Personally, I think they can make the switch to hemp quite easily and cost efficiently. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/11 "2001-06-13T02:30:14Z")
> [@](#): > > The Drug Warriors’ biggest argument against medical marijuana > is that it’s only the opening wedge in a movement toward total > legalization of drugs. So, supposedly, we have to “nip it in the > bud” ñ in the words of Deputy Barney Fife, the nation’s first > Drug Czar. > > ``` > What if the Drug Warriors are right? > > What if legalizing medical marijuana turned out to be the first > step on a journey that ended in the outright repeal of every drug > law? What would America be like? > > Understandably, many Americans fear that with no drug laws, > we would have hundreds of thousands of addicts, crack babies, > children trying drugs, and other evils. But that's what we have > now. > > Let's assume the worst > > If all drugs were legal, addicts would no longer pay > black-market prices to criminals for drugs of questionable and > dangerous origin. They would get drugs produced by legitimate > pharmaceutical companies and pay market prices. They would > no longer die from buying toxic drugs, and they would no longer > have to mug innocent people to support their habits. > > If all drugs were legal, addicts could seek help by going to > doctors ñ no longer afraid of being prosecuted for their medical > problems. > > If all drugs were legal, criminal drug dealers would no longer be > on our streets. They couldn't compete with the low, free-market > prices for drugs sold at pharmacies. > > If all drugs were legal, criminal drug dealers would no longer > prey upon our children ñ any more than distilleries and > breweries try to infiltrate schools to hook kids on alcohol. When > I grew up in Los Angeles in the 1940s, the worst schools were > safer than L.A.'s best schools are today. > > If all drugs were legal, our government would no longer be > dispensing propaganda that makes children want to try the > forbidden fruit. > > Reducing street violence > > If all drugs were legal, our prisons would be emptied of > hundreds of thousands of non-violent people who have never > done harm to anyone else. No longer would over-crowded > prisons cause truly violent criminals to be free on early release > and plea bargains to terrorize the rest of us. > > If all drugs were legal, law-enforcement resources would be > available to fight violent crime, instead of being used to chase > people who may harm themselves but are no threat to us. > > If all drugs were legal, much of the street violence would end ñ > as it did when Alcohol Prohibition ended ñ because gangs of > thugs would no longer be fighting over drug territories. > > If all drugs were legal, police corruption would diminish, > because criminals could no longer use black-market drug money > to gain immunity by subverting weak policemen. > > If all drugs were legal, the government could no longer use the > Drug War as an excuse to tear up the Bill of Rights and pry into > your bank account, strip-search you at an airport, tear your car > apart, monitor your e-mail, or seize your property without even > charging you with a crime. > > Why do we know this? > > Why do I think America would be like this if all drugs were > legal? > > Because that's the way it was before the drug laws were passed. > Yes, there were people whose lives were destroyed by drugs > then ñ just as some people today destroy their lives with drugs, > alcohol, financial mistakes, or various character weaknesses ñ > but far fewer people lost their lives to drugs when they were > legal. > > And America's streets were peaceful. > > Has America changed since then? Of course it has. But > cause-and-effect relationships don't change. Force still begets > force. Government programs still lead to unintended and > destructive consequences. > > Re-legalizing drugs would put a stop to those destructive > consequences ñ end the criminal black market, end the violence, > end the incentive to hook children, and end the production of > toxic drugs that kill people. > > We have to quit being afraid of the unknown, and instead > recognize what we do know ñ that the Drug War is doing > enormous harm to society. > > If we care about our children, if we care about our cities, if we > care about our country, we have to end the insane War on > Drugs. > > ``` ``` Harry Browne was the 2000 Libertarian presidential candidate. More of his articles can be read at HarryBrowne.org, and his books are available at HBBooks.com. ``` ---
**Author:** ![exchicagoan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@exchicagoan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/exchicagoan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/12 "2001-06-13T04:47:43Z")
Had originally bought into the thought that it led to the hearder stuff. I KNOW better now. LEGALIZE IT! Same restrictions as alcohol. Did “prohibition” not teach us ANYTHING? ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/13 "2001-06-13T04:50:23Z")
I figure, why not just legalize pot? There’s nothing you can say about pot you can’t already say about alcohol and tobacco. If pot were legal, more resources could be used against crack and heroin. Legalize it, tax it, and use the tax money to go after the REAL bad drugs. Besides, when’s the last time you heard of someone dying of a pot overdose? ---
**Author:** ![pink\_kitten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@pink\_kitten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pink_kitten)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/14 "2001-06-13T05:03:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enderw24 \* > > **Ok, see, I’ll let you do that. Buy hemp rope. Wear a hemp hat. Don a hemp tuxedo and take it to the Oscars. I don’t really care. But hemp toilet paper? ow ow ow ow ow! No thank you and no again.** No, really **Enderw24** , you should try hemp TP sometime. It can turn wiping your bum into a whole new experience. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/15 "2001-06-13T05:47:08Z")
White male, 40. Libertarian/Anarchist, but forced to vote Republican in most elections. I haven’t smoke weed for almost 20 years, but I would vote to make it legal if given the chance. The day it’s made legal I’m smoking a doobie in my bosses office! ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/16 "2001-06-13T06:29:01Z")
All of you who are whining about hemp toilet paper, can it. Regular toilet paper started out from wood, remember? Which is much more coarse than hemp could ever be. They(R.J. Reynolds) could grind it just as soft as Charmin in a heart beat. And to the girl who said that paper companies would be put out of business if hemp were legalized, [b/hemp is legal\*\*. Currently, most paper is produced from poplar trees, which grow extremely fast and are, correct me if I am wrong, are just as productive to paper manufacturers as hemp. Do I smoke weed? No, not since January. Do I think it should be legal? Sure, why not? Do I think it’s OK to partake in either the production, distribution, and consumption of marijuana even though it’s currently illegal? OK by me, but don’t act surprised if you end up in the slammer, it’s illegal you know? ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/17 "2001-06-13T07:14:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by skaffen\_amiskaw \* > \*\* > > although actually, to deviate from my course for a bit, the “war on drugs” doesn’t seem to be such a politically big thing here in the UK as it seems to be in the US. a guy got picked up a couple of streets away from where i live a few months back, carrying over 40 grams of marijuana, and only got a caution and a £200 fine. from what i hear, that would warrant a sizeable jail term in the US. can anyone help with this comparison? is there really such a difference in penalties for possession in the US and UK? > > \*\* It varies quite a bit from state to state, and though most states can sentence you to jail time for possession of that much, they usually don’t, especially on first offenses. ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/18 "2001-06-13T13:04:52Z")
Male, 39, NDP/Liberal/Whatever. I’d say legalize it, tax the snot out of it, and use the proceeds to pay down the debt and deficit and/or boost the health care system. Having said that, the idea that pot is harmless is erroneous, IMO. There’s a lot of tar in the smoke, and frankly, it makes people (read: me) stupid. I find it hard to believe that there are no long term deleterious effects from sucking **any** smoke deep into your lungs and holding it there as long as possible. I have also known people who have had to stop smoking because it made them so paranoid that they became violent (or at least, very aggressive,) especially when combined with alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Blackclaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Blackclaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackclaw)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/19 "2001-06-13T14:12:58Z")
My opinion is that most folks fighting for across the board legalization of pot (not just for medical use) spend a great deal of time fighting for the right to do something that is a complete waste of time. ---
**Author:** ![hypergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/49beb7/32.png) [@hypergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hypergirl)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2001, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/20 "2001-06-13T17:02:32Z")
I don’t think that pot smoking is a waste of time. At the very least, stoners are far more functional than drunks. When drunk, most of the night is forgotten, when stoned, everything is remembered in vivid detail. Pot is only a gateway drug **because** it is illegal. If it were not, then it would no more lead to heavy drug abuse than tobacco smoking does now. Legalization would allow for regulation as well. The tax money gained could be used for more important things such as balancing the budget, etc. Not to mention all the police force that goes to busting pot smokers which could be used to actually go after _real crime_…novel idea huh? Look at it this way…pot has less withdrawl than caffiene. Imagine this, a junkie with a major habit is soomehow unable to score one night. He will go insane and become extremely violent in order to get money or drugs. A stoner who smokes every night and is unable to get some one night will sit in his room thinking to himself “I would really like to be stoned right now.” and then will promptly fall asleep. Menace to society my ass! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569.md?page=2)