War on Drugs/Marijuana Legalization

[Kinokokao]

What say you?

I say stop imprisoning non-violent offenders because they choose to get their chemical fix not from nicotine or alcohol but from THC. They choose to smoke a harmless plant that's less addicting and dangerous than our legal substances -- caffeine is twice as addicting as marijuana but has no legal restrictions on sale or use.
We waste millions, BILLIONS of tax dollars on the futile efforts to curb the use of a harmless substance. Just like prohibition created crime, so has the war on drugs -- it's a stupid weed, for crying out loud. The moment it becomes legal the value will plummet, the criminal structure will collapse, and life will cease to be ruined.

I'm excited that California's voter proposition may get passed. It would legalize the sale of marijuana, not just decriminalize possession. I'm sure the extra revenue will do wonders for their budget, if it passes.

[Kitsunexus]

I don't smoke, so I don't give a damn.

[scy]

Marijuana is pretty harmless and, like you said, a lot of money is wasted trying to thwart something that won't be stopped; forcing something onto the black market doesn't eliminate it. I had no trouble finding sellers if I want some right now, though that largely comes from old contacts when I sold myself (hey, College is expensive) and I bet the same goes for ANYONE who's ever had the urge to smoke and knows people.

Honestly, the amount of money that can be made by taking the control of marijuana from the "unsavory" types and into the government's hands is fucking MIND BLOWING. Especially considering how relatively harmless--not totally harmless: relatively--this is. I hate to say it, since I'm an honest raging alcoholic, but as far as dangerous vices go, weed is NOWHERE near as bad as alcohol. Is there even a statistic for "weed related" deaths? I have no idea but, quite frankly, I can't imagine it being even remotely close to alcohol.

Really, the most dangerous aspect of weed is getting bad-quality street-made garbage. That and if you smoke daily for-fucking-ever or something. I may be naive but all I see happening from overall decriminalization of weed is that, in general, the cost would go down (no need to smuggle it in) and the general quality would go up (no more street-made garbage).

On a sort-of related note, I never did understand why you have to go through fucking hoops to get medicinal marijuana but man ... morphine is pretty common place. That stuff is amazing.

[Maxine MagicFox]

[ZetaBladeX13]

The war on drugs is a useless effort =\
a waste of money, and probably just a scapegoat/attention grabber for more important issues.

I know you've probably heard this before, but I'll say it anyway.
Drugs should be legal. Yes, It would get VERY bad at first, after a little while, I believe people would stop "abusing" drugs and we could get back to being the semi-normal and corrupt country I've almost learned to like.

I'd like to give an example using parts of Europe and Alcohol/underage drinking, but I'm worn out from lack of sleep and several RL events, later >_<

[Kinokokao]

@Marijuana and Death
As far as I'm aware, no one has ever died from smoking too much pot. Most experts agree it's pretty damn impossible to smoke yourself to death. You can get really high and do something stupid, but nowhere near to the same extent as alcohol. You can easily drink yourself to death, or drink and drive, or drink and think "Hey, I bet I can land in the pool from the roof!" Or black out and end up raped.
Chances are if you die while high, it's because you're doing something you KNOW you shouldn't be doing. Being high doesn't have anything to do with your own innate stupidity.

I, myself, am a pot smoker. Just throwing that out there for my bias. I've always supported decriminalization/legalization, however, even when I was a teenager and neither smoke nor drank.
I turned 21 and gave drinking a try... for all of about two months. Now I enjoy beer and wine sometimes -- but only to that fun-tipsy stage and never beyond. I'll smoke myself stupid and wake up the next day sleepy, with maybe a dry mouth. I don't wake up sick to my stomach, or wishing for death.

I'm sure a DARE campaigner could drag out some statistics on high drivers getting themselves killed but DUH! operating a 2-ton vehicle that's traveling at 45 or even 75 miles per hour while impaired -- you think you're not going to fuck up?
I'm sure old people get into more car wrecks than stoners.

[Pyrosmurfy]

Alcohol is much more dangerous than marijuana in just about every way.

Being drunk leads to violence MUCH MUCH MUCH more often than being high.

Driving drunk is MUCH MUCH MUCH more dangerous than driving high.

Drinking alcohol excessively has MUCH higher health risks than smoking pot excessively (though both are bad, obviously).

It's a no-brainer. In a society that allows us alcohol and the cancer stick (i.e. cigarettes), having marijuana be illegal makes absolutely no sense. And this is just in terms of over-arching societal concepts of health and risks. When you actually get into the pragmatic aspects of the war on drugs, especially marijuana, then it makes even MORE sense to decriminalize MJ.

But Big Tobacco and Big Alcohol have much more clout than the pot lobby, and so politicians have absolutely no incentive to to decriminalize pot. There are no votes in it, and no money in it.

So we'll continue to truck along, unless it can be shown that there ARE votes or money in pandering to the pot decrim. crowd.

[ZetaBladeX13]

[noodles]

If we learned anything from prohibition (1920's) it's that people who wanna get drunk GET DRUNK. In the same vein, people who wanna get high...get high. Making alcohol illegal only made criminals out of good people. All of those gang wars wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for prohibition. If we legalized marijuana, we'd have a lot less people doing criminal acts to get their hands on pot. I can't say the same about real drugs like meth, because that shit destroys you, crumples you up, and tosses you aside like a broken toy. That stuff should be and is illegal. It shouldn't exist at all.

[ZetaBladeX13]

[Kinokokao]

[ZetaBladeX13]

food for thought

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OP8JFKMTcQ&context=C4e14a49ADvjVQa1PpcFMY01L2W4C1i_5qulJlo8T5u4__O2t4UKo=[/youtube]

[fauxsquared]

I don't care if people want to do harmful things to themselves. However I believe I shouldn't be stuck paying taxes for their mistakes. If they want drugs legalize it, but don't let them have free health care or welfare.

[ZetaBladeX13]

Too bad. You already are.

[PLA]