# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2001, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/61 "2001-06-15T22:45:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cykrider \* > But should the government stop someone from smoking crack or shooting up? > > If a person can smoke crack without it causing them to do something illegal, is it ok? If pot is legal and crack is illegal, I think you’re holding a double standard. Very good question, and one I struggle with a bit. Generally, I’m in favor of legalization of all drugs, but I’m begging someone to give me a reason to exclude coke, heroin, etc. The most obvious distinction is risk of addiction, but this doesn’t really fly. Nicotine and alcohol are both highly addictive, but legal. (Side note - just try to find stats on the addiction rates of coke, heroin, etc. I’ve done numerous web searches and haven’t been able to find them. To my mind, that’s suspicious.) Another possibility is that they are much more dangerous, as in one dose of heroin is more likely to kill you than one dose of alcohol. Again, not good enough - you have to drink more, but alcohol can kill you just as dead in one sitting. In fact, the danger of heroin, coke, etc., is possibly an argument in _favor_ of legalization - if they were legal and regulated, problems of purity, OD’s, etc., may be eliminated or reduced by regulations. Legal booze is a lot safer than moonshine. Because they are stronger, you are more likely to harm others, by DUI, etc. Not really, ya just gotta drink more beer or smoke more pot to get to the same level of dangerousness to others, and that’s easy enough to do. I could go on, but you get the idea. Sua ---
**Author:** ![Blackclaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Blackclaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackclaw)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2001, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/62 "2001-06-15T22:56:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cykrider \* > If a person can smoke crack without it causing them to do something illegal, is it ok? I dunno, crack is hideously addictive. I know plenty of pot smokers who manage to get through life okay, but how many crack smokers manage to keep it together? I think we need to draw the line somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/63 "2001-06-16T00:12:42Z")
The specific debate is nicely being handled by others, so just add my vote: Lee Guh Lye Zit. ---
**Author:** ![cykrider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f19dbf/32.png) [@cykrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cykrider)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/64 "2001-06-16T01:01:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blackclaw \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by cykrider \* > > If a person can smoke crack without it causing them to do something illegal, is it ok? > > I dunno, crack is hideously addictive. I know plenty of pot smokers who manage to get through life okay, but how many crack smokers manage to keep it together? I think we need to draw the line somewhere. > \*\* Right, the line needs to be drawn somewhere. And currently we’ve stopped at cigarettes. It would seem then that legalizing pot is then next step to legalizing crack, speed and etc. Although pot may not be as bad as everyone thinks, (I still think pot’s stupid, bad for you, and a waste of time and money) we must look at the consequences of legalizing the drug. If we legalize pot now, we could be having a thread about legalizing crack in less than 5 years. Arguements will still have the for and againsts: Crack helps you lose weight, some doctors have used crack to keep working, and if you want to be productive well hell, here ya go! And I’m sure we can all think of a few reasons why the legalization of crack is bad. Does the government have the right to keep me from shooting up or toking up? No, I don’t think so, but I think if we legalize pot we’re gonna have alot more problems on our hands down the road. ---
**Author:** ![Blackclaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e68b1a/32.png) [@Blackclaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackclaw)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/65 "2001-06-16T15:19:39Z")
But the downsides to crack are a lot more obvious. Using crack will deteoriate your health at a pretty steady rate and the addictive cravings are so bad that it is difficult to lead a productive life at all. In short, crack will almost certaily destroy your life and probably will kill you. With pot we end up saying things like “contributes to listlessness, errectile difficulty, and is a possible risk factor in lung cancer.” Sure it’s not healthy, but I can’t seriously look a pot smoker in the eye and say… “you’ll be dead in ten years.” I can do that with someone on crack. Crack usage actually ebbs and flows as one age group starts usage, dies off or manages to break free, and another age group begins. Link to statistics that lends a tiny bit of credence to my ramblings: [http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/du.htm](http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/du.htm) Crack is a giant step away from pot. It’s the difference between shooting yourself with a paintball gun and a 38 special. Besides, crack addicts will be too busy getting more crack to start any threads here. ---
**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 16, 2001, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/66 "2001-06-16T19:48:05Z")
The earlier comment about criminalizing the working class was bang on the money. The fact is, if you are a person who works heavy labor all day, and you’re not an intellectual who reads, writes, or surfs the net, then Marijuana can be your form of recreation and make life a little bit more pleasant. The same goes for having a couple of brews after work with your buddies. I have a good friend who works hard every day in a labor-intensive job. His sole recreation is to come home to his family (he’s a great dad), have supper, play with the kids, and after they are in bed he smokes a joint (with his wife, usually), breaks out his guitar, and they sing and play music for a couple of hours. I think he’s found an absolutely wonderful way to live, given his desires and abilities. And I’ll hang my head in shame at my government if this guy ever goes to jail for doing what he’s doing. I detest the argument that society has a right to ban things that make us less productive. What are we, worker drones for the state? That attitude makes me sick. And anyway, if you want to ban things that disrupt work and lead to less productivity, my top candidates would be computer solitaire and the web. Judging by how busy this place gets during business hours, let’s start by having the government shut down the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Mambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@Mambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mambo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2001, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/67 "2001-06-20T14:33:33Z")
Male, Libertarian Since marijuana is a gateway drug leading to criminal behavior and escalating drug use, I say we should lock up all our congressmen who have admitted to smoking pot (read: Bob Barr) for their own protection. ---
**Author:** ![Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c67d28/32.png) [@Weird\_AL\_Einstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weird_AL_Einstein)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569/68 "2001-06-21T01:12:15Z")
Male, 30, Independant, I vote Republican and Libertarian. I said this in another thread, about another issue, but it applies equally here: In a free society, citizens are not required to justify themselves or their actions to the state. Rather, the state must justify it’s actions to it’s citizens. I do **not** consider “for your own good” to be anywhere near sufficient justification. There is no excuse for the government’s war on drugs. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enderw24 \* > \*\*I’m for legalization too…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. > \*\* Just wanted to say, I totally agree. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marijuana-legalisation/68569.md?page=3)