I think that it should be because it would help the economy and kill the existing cartels since no one would go to a back alley to buy dope from a dealer if they could buy a jumbo box of it at wallmart along with their preferred snacks.

I refuse to vote in your poll, as I generally hate polls.

but yes, I generally think it should be legal, but I'm 20something and live in british columbia, so of COURSE I would think that.

This has been done before... many many times

Yeah, of course it should. I don't want to buy it from organized criminals and I'm not enough of a rebel (or gardener) to grow my own. Furthermore, that's a hell of a lot of tax revenue waiting there for a practice that isn't exactly marginalized or rare while it's illegal.

I honestly couldn't care less either way. I don't smoke, have never smoked, and don't really plan on smoking at any point.

it should be. the government could pull itself out of this recession with all that tax. plus its not even really bad for you. alcohol and tobacco are worse.

Yes because it could be taxed. Hell legalize prostitution at the same time. It'd protect the girls and could also be taxed. Instant solution to the budget crisis.

Also there really isn't much proof that Marijuana screws you up as the ads like to claim so it has that going for it...which is nice.

fish food carl:
Honestly? No. While it's not a dangerous drug, standards and rules ought to be set. Perhaps the lagalisation of cannabis itself would not be that bad, but it would reap serious repurcussions. Where next? People would clammer for LSD to be legal, then what? Heroin? See, none of these would be made legal (unless I'm to believe L4YER CAK3) and problems would arise politically.

A slippery slope argument is not a good argument. We start letting the blacks marry the whites, then what? We start letting people marry donkeys!

We can legalize marijuana easily without legalizing drugs that do cause tons and tons of damage. Though I'm generally of the opinion if you're old enough you've reached a point when you can be expected to be able to decide for yourself what does and doesn't go into your body.

Smokin some right now so, err what was the question again

Thank you orifice for proving the point I would've made.

To me, from what I know about it, and I'm not Professor of marijuana at Harvard University, but I've read a few things in my time, is that it should be legalised, and taxed extremely heavily, like alcohol and tobacco are in the UK (I believe tobacco tax stands at around 80% on a pack, having said that, it being legally farmed and produced etc will drop the street price to where it is no longer worth dealing it.

The taxes can then go to caring for the small minority who find they have a problem with it, such as psychological addiction, education on the risks, which can be done without the scaremongering tactics if it was made legal. The vast amount of excess tax the government make can go into anything else, lets face it all governments need more money to spend.

One idea I had was perhaps make it legal but allow a limit per month, but then that may just lead to people dealing again.

For me, when I'm walking home late at night, and they're throwing drunken idiots out of the pubs, I'd be far happier dealing with the guy eating a king size snickers and giggling at the wall to the guy that wants to punch me because he doesn't like what my ears said about his girlfriend.

i never understod why it wasn't legal in the first place.

TheDean:
i never understod why it wasn't legal in the first place.

Because we needed a drug to go to war with and we didn't want to ruin trade relations with Columbia.

Ok that's not the initial reason but it was probably one of the reasons recently.

fish food carl:
Honestly? No. While it's not a dangerous drug, standards and rules ought to be set. Perhaps the lagalisation of cannabis itself would not be that bad, but it would reap serious repurcussions. Where next? People would clammer for LSD to be legal, then what? Heroin? See, none of these would be made legal (unless I'm to believe L4YER CAK3) and problems would arise politically.

To argue against your point I would like to point out how much more dangerous drinking is in comparison to marijuana.
Alcohol is an addictive substance in exactly the same manner as Mary Jane is, a mental addiction.
Alcohol is bad for your liver, you can get alcohol poisoning and have to get your stomach pumped and it has happened to a lot of people "binge drinkers" especially, i've met a few people who have had to do that. I have never met anybody who has been hospitalised by weed.
Alcohol affects your ability to think properly a lot of petty vandalism and serious fights occur after the use of alcohol. I don't think i've ever seen 2 stoners fight unless you count "your mum" cuss fights.

I would conclude from this that alcohol is more dangerous than weed and i'd like to speak about the prohibition of weed and why it makes it more dangerous.
Much like the 1920s when alcohol was illegal, it certainly didn't make it impossible to get, however without proper quality control all sorts of things ended up in it, there were cases of blindness and a higher rate of alcohol poisoning.
The same goes for weed, it is illegal, people add things to bulk up weed and hash. In weed in England there have been reports of sand, lead and sugar in weed, and in Hash you could find pretty much anything but the most common addition is petrol as it makes you feel dizzy as you smoke it (for obvious reasons).
Without proper control there are people unknowingly poisoning themselves and paying criminals for the privelige.
Wouldn't it be better if the money went to taxed bussiness instead of gangsters who don't care about peoples welfare? Its gonna get smoked either way.

The reason I quoted fish food carl is because I kind of wanted to say this: If weed was properly controlled there would not be major health issues for the majority that choose to smoke it and it is a personal choice. Those with health issues should be advised to stay away from it much like doctors advise some to stay away from alcohol.
You cannot compare weed to some other drugs which are proven to be on a totally different level of danger to Mary Jane.

Sorry for the longness.

SenseOfTumour:
I'm not Professor of marijuana at Harvard University

I wish I had that job.

Fuck up your life or not as you choose.
And I know way too many people who could be helped by medical usage to swallow that fatuous big brother twaddle.

It's sure as hell better for you than beer, so go for it.

I am torn on this subject. Personally I dont think it should be legal because yes. It does have long term effects. Dont give me any crap that it doesn't. Also if it was legal then we whould have a bunch of fuckheads who can barely doing their jobs as it is come in baked off their asses and screwing up even more.
However since it is illegal we have (especialyl in NZ) huge drug squads whos only job is to deal with it. This is a major waste of money and manpower that could be being used to stop real crimes.
The only reason it is not legal is because the govt cannot tax it. It grows anywhere and everywhere so ya.

avykins:
Also if it was legal then we whould have a bunch of fuckheads who can barely doing their jobs as it is come in baked off their asses and screwing up even more.

I used to live in Holland where it is legal, everything seems to work pretty smoothly over there.

TheDean:
i never understod why it wasn't legal in the first place.

It was! It was lobbyists from the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries that pressurized governments into outlawing it. Marijuana was competing with both! So it wasn't even owlawed for moral reasons.

Alcohol can make you violent stupid, and lacking control of your now body.
Marijuana makes hungry and sleepy.

Yes I think Marijuana should be legal but many other drugs should not.

avykins:
Also if it was legal then we would have a bunch of fuckheads who can barely doing their jobs as it is come in baked off their asses and screwing up even more.

Do people come to work drunk off their asses because beer is legal? No, they would get fired.
Even if it has long term effects, so does every other drug that is legal today.

Tobacco- Cancer and lung disease
Alcohol- Sclerosis and loss of brain cells
EDIT:Prescription and over-the counter drugs can have far worse effects

People have the right to do what they want with themselves, even if it isn't in their best interests

I'll start off by saying that I do not smoke weed. I used to. When I was a teenager I would smoke weed as much as I'd smoke cigarettes. I don't do it now because I prefer to be productive. However, I am an advocate for the legalization of marijuana. First of all there is the tax money. Just like with alcohol and tobacco the government could get there kickback (though I do worry that this could muddy the unique strains of the species). Look at Chicago. They have a tax system for it currently and if you get caught selling without the taxes paid you will get a heavier sentence. Secondly it would free up a lot of room in our overcrowded prison system and make it less likely that a molester gets released for "good behavior" because Paco got caught with a pound hidden in his spare tire. In case you didn't guess I live in the U.S.

Surely if you legalise and heavily tax marijuana then that will ramp up the price? I can't see people buying the more expensive government stuff if they can get it cheaper on the street. Possibly even cheaper than it is now becase it will be easier to smuggle... Correct me if I'm being a moron, but if i were in power i would be all sneaky and set myself up as some kind of shadowy drug lord. That way I safely control the drug trade without all the uprooting that a proper legalisation would cause.

Sewblon:
I think that it should be because it would help the economy and kill the existing cartels since no one would go to a back alley to buy dope from a dealer if they could buy a jumbo box of it at wallmart along with their preferred snacks.

I live in the Netherlands where technically this stuff is legal already.
(it's not legal to grow it, but legal to be sold in small quantities)
Some cities are even going to start an experiment with growing the weed sold in shops themselves soon.

Others are calling for a withdrawal of the "allowance policy" on these shops because dutch weed is now a LOT stronger than it used to be and is starting to hit hard-drug potency levels.

BlindTom:
Surely if you legalise and heavily tax marijuana then that will ramp up the price? I can't see people buying the more expensive government stuff if they can get it cheaper on the street. Possibly even cheaper than it is now becase it will be easier to smuggle... Correct me if I'm being a moron, but if i were in power i would be all sneaky and set myself up as some kind of shadowy drug lord. That way I safely control the drug trade without all the uprooting that a proper legalisation would cause.

Good response, it is also a drug where people can grow in their back yard. It would not eliminate the underground trade completely, but If it was mass produce and redistributed effectively you could sell it pretty damn low. Its a the same issue with moon shine, how many times have you bought yourself alcohol in the store over the moonshine your great uncle makes? Personally none.

BlindTom:
Surely if you legalise and heavily tax marijuana then that will ramp up the price? I can't see people buying the more expensive government stuff if they can get it cheaper on the street. Possibly even cheaper than it is now becase it will be easier to smuggle...

Which is why no one buys legal tobacco and alcohol because of the huge problem with cheap bootleggers...

I'd much sooner give up alcohol than cannabis.

Alcohol is a much more dangerous substance, whereas Cannabis (While still dangerous) is much more tame. At least you have a bigger degree of control with weed.

Rankao:

BlindTom:
Surely if you legalise and heavily tax marijuana then that will ramp up the price? I can't see people buying the more expensive government stuff if they can get it cheaper on the street. Possibly even cheaper than it is now becase it will be easier to smuggle... Correct me if I'm being a moron, but if i were in power i would be all sneaky and set myself up as some kind of shadowy drug lord. That way I safely control the drug trade without all the uprooting that a proper legalisation would cause.

Good response, it is also a drug where people can grow in their back yard. It would not eliminate the underground trade completely, but If it was mass produce and redistributed effectively you could sell it pretty damn low. Its a the same issue with moon shine, how many times have you bought yourself alcohol in the store over the moonshine your great uncle makes? Personally none.

Hmm, I see what your getting at. All in all it's very much like the auld prohibition ain't it? I'm just wondering about the repercussions of uprooting a 'business' that's been growing and doing rather well for itself for a decent while now. I don't know much about what bootleggers and the like got up to when prohibition ended. The guys responsible for the pot supplies will want to defend their business... Hell, maybe they'll all just go legit...

latenightapplepie:

SenseOfTumour:
I'm not Professor of marijuana at Harvard University

I wish I had that job.

It's not bad. Good hours, nice pay. Can't complain.

AceDiamond:

TheDean:
i never understod why it wasn't legal in the first place.

Because we needed a drug to go to war with and we didn't want to ruin trade relations with Columbia.

Ok that's not the initial reason but it was probably one of the reasons recently.

to be honest i really can't think of any good reaosn fro marijuana to not be legal.

orifice:

TheDean:
i never understod why it wasn't legal in the first place.

It was! It was lobbyists from the tobacco and pharmaceutical industries that pressurized governments into outlawing it. Marijuana was competing with both! So it wasn't even owlawed for moral reasons.

WHAT?!?!? It WAS legal already? Then why on earth isn't it made legal agian? It is clear that people want it to be legal, and i see no reason for it not to be if it is what people want.

Besides, i heard it is less harmful than alcohol and has no long term side effects.

fish food carl:
Honestly? No. While it's not a dangerous drug, standards and rules ought to be set. Perhaps the lagalisation of cannabis itself would not be that bad, but it would reap serious repurcussions. Where next? People would clammer for LSD to be legal, then what? Heroin? See, none of these would be made legal (unless I'm to believe L4YER CAK3) and problems would arise politically.

Plenty of people have already commented on everyone's favorite logical fallacy, the Slippery Slope, but I'm going to take a different tack and comment on why I think other drugs should be legalized, too.

Despite what D.A.R.E. told you, most drugs do not have lasting adverse effects, and for those that do, the effects are quite minor. LSD, for instance, only leaves behind flashbacks, which are usually triggered by some sort of stimulus, so if you do too much LSD and get flashbacks, you really only need to learn which sort of stimuli to avoid. The problem comes when dealers mix things into the drugs to decrease production cost - it costs a lot more to make a pure ecstasy tablet than it does to make a half-ecstasy-half-laundry-soap tablet. Drugs like LSD and cocaine would not be a severe health risk if it weren't for the fact that they're often mixed with clearly poisonous substances - and if these drugs were legal, would governments really be okay with allowing Cocaine Avec Bleach to be sold in head shops?

That said, there are a few drugs that simply can't be allowed. Crystal meth and heroin are the two that immediately come to mind - those two are simply way too damaging even just on their own.