Legalize Marijuana? Stimulate the economy?

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I'm in favor of legalizing, not to stimulate the economy (though it would do that), but because keeping it illegal is ridiculous and costs billions of dollars a year, not to mention ruining millions of lives for no good reason. When you figure in the compound costs of keeping people incarcerated, interdiction, lost earnings because people are in jail and virtually unemployable once they have a record, it could run into the hundreds of billions in just a few years. Not to mention the positive effect on the crime rate that taking the money out of trafficking would cause, why kill each other to sell something that's available legally and cheaply elsewhere? There really isn't a valid argument for keeping it illegal, it's all moralistic BS or bureaucratic inertia, neither of which should hold any weight in a true argument.

Pot can definatly be bad for you. But allcohol is far far worse.

My best friend has had to live his entire life with alcoholics, first his mothere (now recovered) then her boyfriend and now his brother. Apart from the physical damage they do to themselves alcoholics tend to be violent nasty people (when their drunk). And having to constantly deal with people like that has almost ruined my friends life, last week his brother put a knife to his throat and threatend to kill him (whilst drunk).

So should alcohol be made illegal? No of course not because the fact that some people will abuse something doesn't mean we should take one of the simple pleasures in life away from everyone else.

This logic apllies to so many things. What about cheap fatty fast food? bad for you're health if you overdo it, and plenty do, but then rest of us might just like a bloddy burger now and then. Same for gambling.

The amount of things it's possible for a person to abuse is almost limetless, but that does not mean the goverment has a right to treat the population like silly little children who need to be tolled what they can and can't do. Treat people like adults, tell them the dangers of overdoing things but then leave them to make their own decisions.

Thats what annoys me, people think pot is some friendly little plant that makes them laugh, and thats it. Alchohol is bad, but because binge drinkers have abused it. The way sensible people in Italy etc drink it, thats the way. Sitting outside relaxing, while enjoying a glass of wine. Ok, you could do that with a joint, but pot f**k's people's heads up!

Only for some people and only if they do too much. I spoke maybe once every two weeks and my heads fine thanks.

Well you'd probably say that, even if it wasn't

Well, you have to think also about how the whole narco traffic wars that are being fueled by all this, i saw a documentary last Friday about the whole issue going on in Mexico (it's called "one hour on Earth" it's in french though ^^; but lots of interesting showcases about international stuff, this week is about Germany trying to settle up ecofriendly living spaces and the changes in lifestyle it brings) ... police being corrupted, murders left and right, they mentionned Cancùn, where the chief of police was taking bribes from cartels to leave them alone... (Have to mention only the National police is paid well enough there to be immune to corruption...The local ones aren't). What else.... They were saying even the government has problems dealing with this, they were showing some footage of the current president at some celebration, and he innocently pulled something which did nothing immediately , but some ways farther a bomb had exploded. =/

They were also saying that Mexico is now a turning point for cartels, since they can draw in the drugs from South america (Rio de Janeiro suffers a lot from this, so i've heard in the episode from the week prior to this one) and sell it in the US where it takes some real value... They then use that money to buy top notch american equipment.... (anti bullet suits, guns, etc...)

Meh, i guess the issue here would be to also figure out which is more important... Human lives or some drugs that Eff up the body and mind? =/

Why would you think that? If pot was messing me up and making my life harder I'd be speaking out against it, it isn't. It's just something that helps me to relax now and then and be a little more sociable. But you seem to think that because you've had some bad experiences with it that you have a right to deny me and others like me this little pleasure in life. If you didn't like it by all means don't smoke it, but don't just assume that everyone is going to have the same reaction/experiences as you did.

Another valid point of contention is whether or not pot being illegal stops anyone from using it. I can make a phone call and have some delivered to me within the hour, I imagine I'm far from the only one who can do that. I know that when I got curious about it, I went out and got some, it wasn't hard to find. The only effect that prohibition has had is to make two groups of people money, the prison industry and the drug cartels, and frankly I think we'd all be better off with both of those groups being poorer.

Man, people are slow. I'm not really talking about while you're smoking it. But the long term affects.

...on what factual basis do you derive this? One could make the same arguments that the sensationalist garbage of Anslinger and others took a relatively harmless plant and demonized it. Your picturesque notion of European drinking is rather quaint, but is no more the rule there than elsewhere. And in cultures where it is banned, it still appears and is imbibed and enjoyed by members of that non-alcohol culture. Anything can be abused; peanut butter causes cancer in large enough doses. Worry about your own self management and consider investing less time in dictating the actions of others, that would be my general suggestion to those who continue to fight the legalization of marijuana and hemp.


M.

Ok since I'm so slow and you so enlightend perhaps you could present me with some scientific evidence that proves that smoking about 4 or 5 joints every couple of weeks has serious long term effects.

And also perhaps you could explain about what terrible long term effects pot has had upon yourself.

Marijuana Boosts Brain Cell Growth http://www.aphroditewomenshealth.com/ne ... news.shtml

OK - so we tend to believe what we want...but I heard about this study and I can't help but wonder. I know a lot of smart, creative, successful people who have smoked since the 60's and they are all sharp as tacks. (A lot of people in academia smoke).

They may be kind of obtuse but that doesn't mean they have brain damage.

On the other hand, there's my whacko, senile father-in-law - Southern Baptist - never drank - let alone smoked pot.

His brain's so fried they can't even diagnose him. In the meantime, he's a danger to himself and others.

If it does become legal here, I might just have to try some.

I'm not fighting it. Its not gonna happen in the UK.

We've been down that road. I'm pretty sure, that soon enough with the research continuing, that there will be links found between pot and some kind of mental illness.

Without evidence?

Which is a round about way of saying you don't have any evidence cause there isn't any and you're entire aurgument is based on a presonal Prejudice you can't actually justify with any kind of ratinol aurgument.