Make Marijuana Legal?

I think Drugs are REALLY Bad. ( Would never take them myself )But the Current system is Just funding Criminal Activity. I believe if the Government distributed drugs to those who really wanted them. They could make sure its properly refined to be more safe for the Human Body. THC in Illegal Drug Labs is through the roof and causes lots of Bodily harm.

Personally I do not advocate the use of drugs like marijuana, but ultimately what people do with their bodies is up to them. It's not my decision to control other's habits. However, I do believe that maintaining weed as an illegal substance is detrimental and a waste of time for police. It's pretty evident to me that weed isn't really that bad of a drug (unless of course your life begins to revolve around it to the point of uncontrollable addiction, but hey, anything can do that to a person) and people don't need to keep busting people for having it. If anything, because it's "unhealthy" then police should just as well bust open the doors to a Mcdonalds and yell "Freeze dirtbags!" Allowing it to be legalized not only removes one thing the police have to do, but you can also tax it just like cigarettes. But most beneficial of all, I think, is the elimination of drug trafficking. If anyone can pick it up at a general goods store, there would be no incentive to risk buying illegally from some shady character.

Just my two cents.

And why is that ? (i'm asking for marijuana particularly)

My thoughts exactly. It's no more harmful than tobacco or alcohol, so I don't see the point in it's status as an illicit drug. Making it legal and regulating it would be the smartest move the government can do right now. It doesn't take a pothead to realize that.

I can't remember why pot was illegalize in the first place but I'm pretty sure it was for a stupid reason. Weed is WAY better than cigerettes but those are of course legal (since they make so much money). I think Chris rock said it best, "the reason weed and crack are illegal in America is because the best weed and crack isn't made in America"

What these guys said. Alcohol is alot more dangerous than weed. Well i live in Cali so Lol.

Everything's more dangerous in Cali, lol.

Cali is the chillest place in the US, you can walk almost everywhere and dont need a car, the place is colurful and it depends where you live, everyone is young so dont believe everything you see on TV kid lol, every city has their fair share of crime. Could be worse though...it could be Texas.

It should remain illegal. If it were legal it would be just like cigarettes were in the early 20th century, only a lot worse. Believe me I've been to Amsterdam in Holland and the streets are littered with people strung out on pot.

well, i've only ever lived in one place in Cali, so i guess that's skewed my overall image...

i'd still take Texas over Mexico, though lol.

No dude, like 90% of the people living there are jackasses. Everyone is a liberal fool and stuck in the 60's. Live in Texas over Mexico? Sure the place is overpoulated and you cant breath without gaging but Texas...damn

Woah, what's your beef with Texas? Where in Texas have you been? I have lived in the Dallas area all my life and literally every person I have met out of state around here has commented on how much nicer Texans are than the people are where they live.

Texas is a large state, so you can't judge the whole state by one area you've been. From my experience most people like everything about Texas except for one key factor, the heat. Really though Texas has a few areas that I would categorize separate from each other. You have the DFW Metroplex in the North East. Houston, Austin, and San Antonio more to the south/south east. And then you have the barren wasteland that is west Texas. I've only really been to Austin once and don't really have a good idea what the people there are like. As for the DFW area, it really is an awesome place to live and the people really are nice. Also, everyone is a liberal fool? You realize that Texas is mostly a red state and California is mostly a blue state? I am a constitutional conservative / libertarian myself. To be honest the only thing I like about Cali better than Texas is the marijuana legislation over there. Anyway this is off topic but this must be said. DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!

Back on topic.



I think it had something to do with lumber companies losing a bunch of money since hemp was a more practical and efficient source of paper than wood. I could be wrong though.



Firstly I would like to say that I have personally done extensive research into the matter of marijuana both for personal enrichment and for college assignments. Sources of information are indeed nice to have but they take significant time to find and while I do not expect you to take everything I say with complete confidence in its legitimacy, I do ask that you try and even look into the matter yourself.

Secondly, I don't think I believe you. Would you really never take anything to treat a headache, heartburn, back pain, cold, flu, or anything a doctor prescribes to you? If that is the case then you have a whole other set of problems that I can't help you with. I will continue under the assumption that this is not the case.

Let's assume you meant illegal drugs. If that's the case, why would you take any legal drug over any illegal drug? Because the government told you it was okay to take these drugs but not those drugs? Because the FDA told you it was okay or because you took something before and decided it was okay? People usually don't do illegal drugs for one of two reasons. Either they think it is harmful to them or they do not want to break the law, or both. If your ONLY reason is because you don't want to break the law and risk going to prison, that is understandable and you may stop reading here. HOWEVER if you actually avoid illegal drugs because you believe they will do harm to you or something to that effect, please continue reading. I do believe that is your reasoning based on contextual information.

Okay, so let's assume that you've decided that you want to avoid the potential for bodily harm as much as possible when it comes to drugs. This would hopefully be a reasonable assumption since most people tend to avoid personal harm as much as possible. I would then ask you to discontinue usage of any over the counter drug, prescription drug, and caffeine, ALL of which have documented cases of death attributed to their use each year. Please note that the deaths reported do not include the many cases of injury or harm induced by the side effects of said drugs. I would assume you to think that a preposterous request as I find it to be so. That being the case, clearly there is a certain level of compromise we all agree to when it comes to drug use.

This compromise sacrifices the certainty of non-harm for the possibility of a cure for an ailment. Let me repeat that, you are sacrificing the certainty of non-harm for a mere possibility that you will be cured! I find that in itself to be a fascinating notion. Now of course most people do make this compromise simply because they are under the impression that probability is on their side and they will not suffer any ill effects, which is indeed the case most of the time.

Now I will point out the fact that any information regarding the possible side effects of any and all legal drugs is readily available to you. This information exists because such side effects were observed in testing trials. I will ask you to keep this in mind as you read on.

Information regarding the side effects of marijuana is actually inconclusive. The is primarily due to a number of conflicting results and a less than preferable number of studies done on the subject. This can lead to some significant speculation as to why this is. The U.S. government has strict control over what studies can been done on the matter and who can do them, which can be considered problematic. Despite this, there are some studies that I have come across which have had conclusive results.

The first study was done by the Institute of Saskatchewan. They used synthetic form of THC(HU210), which is stated to be approximately 400 times more potent than average marijuana, on a group of rats. They were given high doses twice a day for a period of ten days. The results showed an increase in brain cell formation by approximately 40 percent and the rats also appeared to be less susceptible to observable symptoms of anxiety and depression.

The second study is known as the Heath/Tulane University study, which was conducted around 1974. Supposedly monkeys were given approximately 30 joints a day and their brains began to atrophy and die after 90 days. This study became the foundation for the government and other pro-prohibition groups for their argument that marijuana kills brain cells. After 6 years of requests into how the study was conducted, the information was finally released. It was revealed that Dr.Heath actually used a method of pumping approximately 63 columbian strength joints directly into the monkeys via gas masks within 5 minutes over the course of 3 months. There was no additional oxygen pumped through the masks.

Studies since have not been able to show ANY signs of brain cell damage from cannabis use.

Finally I would like to reiterate that ALL over the counter drugs and prescription drugs have cases of side effects and death attributed to them. Marijuana, on the other hand, has not had one single case of death or even cancer attributed to it. So if your motivation to avoid illegal drugs is personal harm, then I ask you to look at what you have been willing to take in the past and look at the information I have presented to you.

Please I encourage you and everyone to pursue further education and enrichment into this matter. Knowledge is our strongest tool but ignorance can be a powerful weapon against you.

Well, I was talking about the fact that the violence in Mexico is at the point where people fear to step outside their own houses in broad daylight. I have family there and from what they've told me, any place sounds better than Mexico right now. Even Texas and its crazy constituents.

Texas Republicans(like everyone) wants to wants to bad out critical thinking in schools. They even stated in their 2012 State Republican Party platform preamble that "The Embodiment of the conservative dream is America in Texas". There one of the top poorest states America.....yeah alot better in Cali lol. I can go on an on about Texas but that's gonna take to long. Im not even Cali im from Angelino Heights, Los Angeles and just staying there this summer. Texas....*smh* although your probably right that i have been everywhere there to really jugde the people but then again your a conservative(nothing wrong with that of course)but enough about that.

The reason it's like that isn't because pot is legal in Amsterdam, it's because it's illegal in most other places. There's an unreasonably high concentration of people who smoke pot there because they can't do it elsewhere. If it were legal in most places, then they would be spread across several countries and Amsterdam would simply be another city in Holland, instead of the Marijuana Mecca it is today.

I'd just like to clarify, because many people seem to misunderstand: cannabis isn't legal in Holland, or Amsterdam, it's decriminalized. Meaning that it is still illegal, but it's generally accepted.

Ah, I didn't know that. The point remains, however, that it is widely considered a "haven" for people who avail themselves of the drug, and it would not be if marijuana were "decriminalized" throughout most of the world.

And thats because people from all over the world go to Amsterdam to smoke. But if everyone could smoke in their own countries as freely as they can in Amsterdam you wouldnt see that many potheads in Amsterdam anymore.

Hey i dont do the shit, But by all means im up for making it legal.