Talking about legalizing Marijuana in the United States is like wringing out a dish towel after washing your Thanksgiving Cookware. It’s gross, it doesn’t need to be talked about, everyone knows the ilk being brought up by conservatives and the age old reasons pot was made illegal in 1937. We know the science and the reasons…what I’d like to talk about is the “…what if…” it became legal in the states.
How would it change the culture? Be as bland or as acute as you like. Would there be outcrys from anyone? Who?
How do you personally think it would change the US of A? Do you care?
It’s not so much a matter of marijuana legalization changing the USA as it is the USA would have to have a major attitude shift for legalization to happen. Our nation would have to become more open minded, more willing to examine the way we do things instead of letting inertia maintain the status quo.
A country where we’ve finally “legalized it” would probably have a lot more critical thinking going on.
That is exactly correct in my opinion. Do you think the inertia is too much for this to ever happen? I know we’d never be a nation of tree hugg’in dirt worshippers, but would it really change us all that much? I would think there are enough people who smoke it, that would continue to do so if it became legal, to offset the group who doesn’t because it is illegal now.
If marijuana was legalized, then all drugs would soon be legalized. Not a slippery slope, really, but since the illicits are always lumped together legal challenges to the banning of opioids and cocaine would have more weight.
Let’s just assume that all drugs were legal- I think our nation would almost immediately become better policed. A good potion of the resources that are currently spent on the thankless pursuit of drug entrepreneurs would be able to go toward other areas. At the same time, general drug-related street crime would decrease as a result of the profit motive being bled out of the drug market.
There would be a temporary huge spike in marijuana use at first (people who previously abstained due to respect/fear of the law would try it to see what all the fuss is about).
The number one complaint about weed is that it makes you “lazy”. One anti-drug commercial I saw said (and I’m paraphrasing) “All we did is sit on bob’s couch and watch TV for 11 hours” then the commercial suggested doing a laundry list of other things (which I noticed all seemed to involve spending money).
If there’s anything cannabis inspires it’s a more relaxed work ethic. Perhaps that’s why the establishment views it as a threat. It certainly threatens the consumer culture we’ve built for ourselves. Fewer people would see the need to work, work, work and spend, spend, spend like crazy. Maybe it’s ok to just chill out and listen to music and not have to constantly be “doing something” to make your life worthwhile. This is all wild speculation on my part, but maybe we’d see shorter workweeks and more vacation days.
If cannabis were made legal to possess and cultivate, it would change the face of American agriculture. Based on a medical marijuana report I researched and wrote when I lived in California, pot is ridiculously easy to grow, clone, hybridize and cultivate. The per-acre value of fibre, seed and forage alone would make my prized acres of tomatoes and chiles look nearly worthless in comparison.
The following is anecdotal: my friends in Canada are convinced that cannabis is indeed a gateway product. It is so easy to grow and so resilient that they are now confident enough to jump into their own vegetable farms.
One thing I cannot stand are the ads with the stick people; the one that was really disturbing. Was Where the stick guy was smoking a joint with his girlfriend, and a dog came up to him…it appeared to wince at the sight of the joint then a UFO came and scooped up his girlfriend. And as it was leaving, a flag went up as if to signify victory.
Now what were the advertizers smoking when they wrote that piece of filth.
If weed (or any other illicit drug for that matter) were legal I’d assume that there would be an age limit similar to alcohol. So one change would be that children could no longer buy it directly (I’m sure they’ll still get there grubby little hands on it like I did with alcohol). Also, there will be some standards for purity so people who just want to smoke a little pot won’t accidentally ingest pcp, cocaine or the like.
I have yet to hear a compelling argument as to why Marijuana is illegal and Alcohol is legal. Not to mention cigarettes. Ya ya I know politics, inertia, etc. but seriously, if you want your citizens to buy into a program, it should make sense in a big picture way, and our current policy makes absolutely no sense. It feels like someone threw darts to determine which drugs should be legal and which should not be.
I think someone trying to change policy in the US would have bettern luck holding back the tide. It really frustrates me that good policy change makes no sense to some policy makers. Perhaps with a Dem president in the next decade we will see more decriminalization on the state level. But with feds busting cancer patients in California, I don’t see it coming any time soon.
Same here. I started a different type of drug war thread, a few months ago, that encompasses this aspect as well. Feel free to resurrect it at the link below.
I don’t really think that much would change. 10 yrs ago cali got the nation’s 1st medical mj law, and people have benefited from it, but a lot of people have skammed it. I’ve read doctors have been recommending pot for hiccups and depression. point is, did the state go through some great metamorphisis? no and here’s probably why.
some people have a draw to hard drugs, or to excessive drinking. we all know of someone who drinks way too much, and we know someone who drinks occasionally. most of us are somewhere in there. haha
a person who drinks excessively is often jokingly said to be ‘on a mission’, but that is kind of true. it’s like their happy place is a lot farther than the person who seldom drinks. that kind of person, or a person who uses hard drugs are very unlikely to trade in for pot, we should be so lucky. keep in mind for those who don’t know: pot is generally less of everything than alcohol. you can’t get as innebriated, as addicted, or cause the harm to your body with pot that you can with alcohol. one person posted a good answer, there would probably be an initial spike in use simply because lots of people didn’t want to try pot for fear of arrest. but as far as real pot smokers, people who are drawn to it and say it keeps them balanced, I believe most of them smoke now! I don’t see any radical changes in the country.
