Thread: Marijuana Illegal

Should Marijuana be legalized in California per proposition 19?

What are the pros and cons of legalization?

If you look up the history of marijuana in the United States, it makes perfect sense that it should be legal. It's the legislation against it, that was a political move to push paper over hemp, that is questionable. The previous legislation and propaganda is so ridiculous (ever see Reefer Madness?) that I believe it's the other side that should have to justify the laws, not the legalization folks. Hemp is an incredibly useful material, and ingesting marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol, but I think that both sides in the debate made up their minds already and wouldn't listen to the other side so the debates were silly.

why is marijuana a scheduel 1 and cocaine a scheduel 2? that means pot is far more dangeriuos and addictive then coke.that is a perfect example of the wonderful logic of the government.and as far as a gateway drug,people overlook the fact that the first "drugs"they ever took was alcohol because it is "socailly acceptable".i speak from experience,alcohol is much deadlier and destructive than pot could ever be.

I would tend to agree with you guys. The way I see it is this: it is effectively near impossible to die because of smoking weed, but people die every day from alcohol. Now, I don't smoke pot and never have, but ultimately I have to say that it seems rather ridiculous to put down something that is natural and shouldn't even count as a drug for another drug that is more "socially workable". As Ross said, people have already made up their minds, and that's the issue.

Question: Should pot be legal?

Remember why the drug laws were passed. After the repeal of Prohibition we had prisons and thousands of law enforcement personnel and agencies with nothing to do. The Government needed a scape goat and they needed one fast. At the time addiction in the US hovered around 2%. With proper promotion and advertisement they thought that they could double that and and maintain efforts to turn the US into a police state while promoting the illusion that they were protecting American citizens and at the same time keep the jails packed with innocent nonviolent Americans. It was a major success, well beyond their wildest hopes. Today we have the highest per capita rate of prison inmates in the world. Addiction is up to a whopping 12%. And crime is rampant. We have more people employed in security (24%) then any other country in the world. Russia is second with 17%. The politically engineered crime wave in America was a smashing success. But the role of drugs in all of this is now becoming obsolete.

With the terrorist phobia created during the Bush administration, the war on drugs will soon become impractical. As the focus of law enforcement turns to arresting and imprisoning citizens for not liking politicians or administrative policies, drugs will be forced into the background. Instead of severely beating protesters and dragging them through the streets by the hair, like they did when I was in high school, they will be able to just arrest them and put them in jail without a trial for the rest of their lives. As the jails fill, the druggies will be have to be released to make more room and the drug laws will eventually be repealed to free up law enforcement for true police work, supporting political agendas.

The addiction rate will drop to pre-WWII levels and this politically created artificial prop for the police state of today will fade into the sunset, like the whiskey runners and the boot leggers of bygone days. Why it would not surprise me if before long we would have a President, Attorney General, and Senator who are the sons of one of the richest drug running lords in the history of the country. Just like we did with the Kennedy's.

Originally Posted by tom

Should Marijuana be legalized in California per proposition 19?

What are the pros and cons of legalization?

As a dedicated libertarian, yes. Alcohol is the REAL gateway drug. Plus, its a lot easier to understand most of what is posted here when partaking.

Pros: Taxation profitability, elimination of a black market, elimination of some terrorist and drug lord funding, gives the people back some freedom of choice
Cons: I literally can't think of a single one.

I think all drugs should be legal for all ages. Before you say I am crazy I would like to state my case. My goal is to remove the money factor from making it a crime, law enforcement, prisons, and move this money into education, prevention, and detox those that truly need. I usually admit that problems could get worse in the short term but after the age restriction is gone the peer pressure factor should disappear after several years (how many big question). I also like to ask parents when they think their child would show signs of dependency. Most parents would say never because they think their child is perfect. So I would ask it this way, When would you like to know your child has a problem? and now the answer becomes as soon as possible. So now I ask at what age will your child start abusing their favorite drug, keep in mind that they had complete freedom to use any drug they chose since they were born. 1 year old, 2, 3. Maybe when they start pre-school? But all their friends will have always had the right. Will they as a group say lets try so and so? So if a problem does show up, aid can be given. Now the older of us who have had this right taken away from could have a short or long term problem. How do we keep from contaminating the younger generation??????

Or does that just shift the money streem to corporations who are not always much better than the criminals. Look at the tobaco industry.

Originally Posted by Wolf50

I think all drugs should be legal for all ages. Before you say I am crazy I would like to state my case. My goal is to remove the money factor from making it a crime, law enforcement, prisons, and move this money into education, prevention, and detox those that truly need. I usually admit that problems could get worse in the short term but after the age restriction is gone the peer pressure factor should disappear after several years (how many big question). I also like to ask parents when they think their child would show signs of dependency. Most parents would say never because they think their child is perfect. So I would ask it this way, When would you like to know your child has a problem? and now the answer becomes as soon as possible. So now I ask at what age will your child start abusing their favorite drug, keep in mind that they had complete freedom to use any drug they chose since they were born. 1 year old, 2, 3. Maybe when they start pre-school? But all their friends will have always had the right. Will they as a group say lets try so and so? So if a problem does show up, aid can be given. Now the older of us who have had this right taken away from could have a short or long term problem. How do we keep from contaminating the younger generation??????

Originally Posted by hcatbadat

Cons: I literally can't think of a single one.

I can. It stinks, and I'd rather not smell it.

Originally Posted by mugaliens

I can. It stinks, and I'd rather not smell it.

You have a good point, mugaliens, but it doesn't smell as bad as the overpowering smell of perfumes that some people (mostly women but men are getting into the act) wear. I mean when you can smell someone approaching 10 minutes before they get to you....