What If Marijuana Was Legal? What would happen? Should it be made legal?

[Stricken 0]

Recently I did a school report on Marijuana, in my paper I'm supporting the fact that Marijuana should be made legal. I thought "some" people would like to read my work, and maybe talk about it some.

 

Please, tell me what you think!

Also, sorry if there's some typos and misspellings. For I am really tired, and this isn't fully done yet.

 

Also, you should know I spend some time comparing weed to tobacco, that's all I'll say =)

 

 

Marijuana

1 out of 100 American adults are in jail. When you see that figure, what comes to mind? You may ask yourself, “Why are so much people in jail?” One of the big answers is: Marijuana. In the year 2006, 43.9 percent of the 1,889,810 total arrests for drug violations were for marijuana- a total of 829,627. Out of that 829k, 738,916 people were arrested for just marijuana possession alone. Think of how much it would have risen since then? In the recent news report about the jail rates it said on average a state spends 25k per inmate. That’s around 18,472,900 dollars- If they where arrested all in the same state, since some sates spend even more, or less per inmates. Oh, yes. Don’t forget the cost of fighting Marijuana “States spent $42.89 billion on Corrections in 2005 alone. To compare, states only spent $24.69 billion on public assistance.” So, in 2006 to around 2005, if you add all that up, the cost of jailing the inmates, and the correction costs: it all adds up to more then 42,908,472.900 being spent! Those 829,627 people did nothing wrong, they did no violent act. If free they’d be any normal working tax payer in the US. The point of this article is to show you that Marijuana isn’t the work of a bad force. Rather the work of a good force but clouded by the government and its drug laws. If we stopped spending all that money, we could put it into something that’d help the economy. Give it to schools, or help feed some poor people. This war on drugs has done nothing to stop the flood of drugs entering the US. “Did alcohol use decrease during the Alcohol Prohibition? No.” in fact “Consumption by women and children increased dramatically” Today we’re seeing the exact same thing when it comes to the drug war. “Every hour spent investigating a drug user or seller is an hour that could have been used to find a missing child…”

 

"I'm in favor of legalizing drugs. According to my value system, if people want to kill themselves, they have every right to do so. Most of the harm that comes from drugs is because they are illegal."

- Milton Friedman

 

 

Every year tons of people die from overdose of sedatives and prescription painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin eather accidental or on purpose. “OxyContin has been blamed for hundreds of deaths across the country in recent years” And to think these are the drugs that we look up to these day. But you know what you never see? Someone dying from overdose of marijuana.

 

 

“In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.” http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/54 : Source: US Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency, "In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition," [Docket #86-22], (September 6, 1988), p. 57.

 

 

Every 6.5 seconds a current or former smoker of tobacco dies, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Around 5.4 million deaths a year are caused by tobacco. “Over 438,000 Americans (18.1 percent of all deaths) die because of smoking each year. Secondhand smoke kills about 50,000 of them.” India has the highest rate -“900,000 Indians a year die from smoking-related diseases, that's nearly one in 10 of all deaths in India. Half of Indian males use tobacco and it is becoming more popular with younger people.“ It is also a huge cause of lung cancer. Yet you still see nothing about deaths from Marijuana. If anything should be illegal, it should be Tobacco. When addicted to tobacco, it’s one of the hardest things to quit. Even people that are close to death from smoking tobacco keep smocking it! According to a study I read about in a college report done on Marijuana: “Studies tend to suggest that weed is less addictive then chocolate and more addictive then sardines” With Tobacco it’s really easy to become physically addicted. Yet, “there has never been any evidence to suggest cannabis (Marijuana) is physically addictive” But, as with anything in the world you can mentally get addicted to Marijuana, just as you would become mentally addicted to watching T.V. When you’re physically addicted, it’s a lot harder to quit, and you can easily become “sick”, or be in great pain. With a mental addiction, it’s pretty much just a habit. But those are easy to quit compared to quitting when you’re physically addicted.

 

A lot of people now these days aren’t aware of the health facts about Marijuana. Because all of the facts we get from school and papers, where written in such a way to get a drug free America. How can you trust facts that are written JUST to stop people from doing it? You need facts from a source that’s not influenced, as I bet you know from doing school reports. What the government said all those years ago, that Marijuana caused cancer, and killed brain cells, couldn’t be farther from the truth. To this day, there has been no reported case of lung caner from weed, and in fact, some studies show that weed protects some brain cells if used right. Of curse, as with anything if used too much can have harmful effects. Just as with TV, or video games. The healthiest choose would be to smoke nothing at all. Since tar can get in your lungs. But there’s ways to smoke marijuana, get the effects, but no tar, rather then the normal way of smoking anything. Marijuana works as an anti depressant; it works better and is healthier for you then the standard of medication out in the market that you get from your doctor. Not only does weed help with depression, it can also bring up creative energy, reduces nausea, and make you hungry. If you have an eating disorder that makes you not eat as much, Marijuana would have a really good effect for you, making you eat more then you might in a day. It can also just help you with relaxation, and make you more tuned into sound. There may be a drug on the market that contains the main active chemical in weed (THC) but it doesn’t give you the full benefits of the plant. It’s the THC mixed with the thounds of chemicals witch makes it work to its fullest extant.

 

Tons of people believe that Marijuana would lead to other and bad drugs. This may be true to some people. But, if it where true, you’d think that if legal, everyone would start smoking weed, and tons of people would move on to harder drugs, right? Wrong. If you look at the country of Holland, where Marijuana is legal, their rates of Marijuana is much less then our rates, and Holland has amongst the lowest rates in the world of hard drug use, overdoses, drug crime, murders, and anything else horrible that relates to drugs. Tons of studies show that a non-criminal approach is the best for lowering the drug rates, and lowering the rates of Marijuana use. Humans work wonders under as much freedom as they can get, we become smart. America was built under the idea of freedom, and everyday I see something that shows me we’re slowly losing it. This article was not made to encourage you all to smoke. This was made to tell you that it’s not as bad as people think. Just because someone breaths in something doesn’t make them a low life. It just means they’re being free to themselves: they’re having fun. Most of us have 70 to 80 years, might as well learn to not worry, right? Might as well be happy.

 

“American needs fewer laws, not more prisons.”

-James Bovard

 

“More laws, less justice”

-Marcus Tullius Cicero (42 BC)

If you wish to learn more you can watch this video. It has tons of facts, and has inspired me to write this:

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

[tricky77puzzle 0]

Where I am, in Ontario, marijuana is "illegal" (more like extremely frowned upon), but the laws concerning it are very lax and possibly even nonexistent. Medicinal marijuana should definitely be legalized, or stay legalized, in North America. The only thing I don't like about marijuana is smoking it. That can produce very bad effects as well. You could use marijuana for other productive purposes as well, such as using it as hemp, to make paper and clothing, or to bake it in brownies.* (* That last one was a joke. Some people did that before and they ended up callign the police because they thought they were dying. [No emphasis. The red means it's an edit.])

 

Of course, cannabis is not nearly as bad as tobacco (the LD-50 of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, according to Wikipedia, is 1.27 g/kg of body weight for men, and 0.73 g/kg of body weight for women, when consumed orally.) but it can have negative effects as well. If you start experiencing any of those effects, STOP! Marijuana is not nearly as addictive as tobacco, so it should be easier to stop.

Edited March 24, 2008 by tricky77puzzle (see edit history)

[MrSandMan 0]

I'm not too keen on the "legalize marijuana" myself. I tried it before, didn't like it. I have friends who put the grass before life responsibility and it's sad. I've dated a girl who used. After I found out, it was a deal breaker.I do believe that the US people should have freedom to do what they want with their body and live the life they chose. But when it affects other people (mostly children) then I tend not go along with it. And statistic say grass is a stepping stone to harder drugs, like cocaine, heroin, crack, and etc... Drugs that destroy the mind, body, spirit, and worse of all... families.

[arnz 0]

Also have to agree that i'm not a fan of "legalize marijuana" either. Considering knowing a few people who has done the "grass" before life as well, has to be up there with problem gamblers that waste their earnings on machines imo.

[OpaQue 15]

What If Marijuana Was Legal?

 

1. We would have a Xisto Forum for Marijuana

2. It could be one the biggest Traffic forum here.

 

 

What would happen?

 

1. I would be the official moderator of this forum. (hehe)

2. I would abuse myself answering people's questions and doubts. Because I practice trial & error approach for problems.

3. No more Credit System Upgrade/mods at Xisto.

4. My members will get MaryJane instead of Support Tickets and solutions to their Queries.

5. I might be a millionare due to my Support System. I might even lose customers due to it. (I rather stick to +ve side)

 

Should it be made legal?

 

Looking at Q2, No!

[Inhuman 0]

I only support legalization of weed in medicinal purposes only. I mean if the scientists can prove that it can aid in the treatment of something like cancer or glaucoma, then I'm all for it. Put full on legalization I'm against because my best friend got into it....and well.....about 5 or 6 years later and we barely hang out now. Though he did quit, he definitely changed. He was one of those who felt peer pressure to be cool and what not...I was never like that; my will is too strong to dive into that BS for recreational purposes. I mean, if I was given that as an option for treatment if I had some debilitating disease, then I'd consider it as if it were just another option.....but yea, gettin a little side tracked here. Medicinal legalization I'm for, full on legalization I'm against.

[mrdee 1]

I must agree with Inhuman here. For medicinal purposes (ie. prescribed by a doctor) I agree, after all, morphine and cocaine are also used in hospitals, where it happens under medical supervision, where they use the proper substance without God knows what added to it and where they use the non-addictive kind.As for pure 100% unconditional legalisation, it would have to be a strong 'NO!' for me as well.People sometimes argue: if it became legal, that would take a lot of crime off the streets, as drug dealers would no longer be able to offer it, as people would be able to buy it over the counter much cheaper, WRONG! They will most probably adjust what they charge and sell cannabis of even worse quality than before. Or they will just start pushing different drugs then, even more dangerous ones.Someone also argued, if cannabis were available over the counter, people would be able to buy decent quality stuff from the chemist or coffeeshop or wherever, maybe so, but then the dealers will find something which will make their stuff more attractive to the prospective buyer.As for the substance itself, recent research has shown that smoking cannbis is even about 80% more dangerous than smoking cigarettes.Also, all alcoholics started with 'having the odd glass of beer', how many cannabis users have not moved on to hard drugs after using weed for a while?(So much for the claim about cannabis not being addictive, even if it is not, after a while, when the body gets used to it, some users will want something stronger).I think it is best left alone, and put to good use under medical supervision, some MS patients seem to have benefited from the use of cannabis, or elderly people with very painful rheumatism or arthritis, in that case it may be treated as an ordinary painkiller as far as I am concerned, but only on prescription and under medical supervision.

[Archangel_Baw 0]

if mj was legal there would be world peace, and I don't even smoke the stuff

[haberjj01 0]

I strongly support full legalization of marijuana. Marijuana is not a dangerous drug and while I do believe that it is a gateway drug, other things can be considered gateway as well. First, you can't die from injesting to much marijuana. If you smoke too much you will probably just fall asleep. Of course, smoking anything is harmfull to your lungs, but that is no reason to single out marijuana.Second, Alcohol is legal but thousands of people die from it each year. Why is this not illegal? It can also be very addicting.Lastly, the whole gateway thing is crap. Alcohol can be a gateway drug as well. And what about all those pills in your kitchen cabinet? As for those studies supporting the gateway theory, who was conducting and sponsoring those studies. Alot of these studies that trash marijuana are government supported.Alot has been said about people who put marijana before life. It is true that the sterotypical "stoner" only cares about smoking, but this is a bad representation of marijuana smokers. My friends all smoke pot and none of them are idiots or lazy or obsessed with only getting high. In fact, my friends are some of the most intelligent and talented people I have ever met, (ex. my friend Tim is majoring in Quantum Electrodynamics and has smoked weed regularly since 8th grade and has "somehow" managed to graduate with over a 3.8 gpa). Many people put things ahead of life and are complete failures but have never touched drugs. People are obsessed with T.V, video games, shopping, and put those "ahead of life" should we criminalize those things as well? Like everyone else, marijuana smokers have to learn how to manage thier time and priorities. If they or anyone else dont do this, they probably won't be very successfull in life.As far as what will happen if marijuana is legalized, nothing will really happen. Just like some people don't smoke cigarettes or drink alchohol, some people won't smoke pot. However, new economic opportunities will open up. The government will probably tax pot like cigarettes.

Notice from rvalkass:

Merged accidental duplicate post.

Edited March 26, 2008 by haberjj01 (see edit history)

[dre 0]

if mj was legal there would be world peace, and I don't even smoke the stuff

Wont be any peace coming from my side about it.

[maplestory 0]

If it was legal wont u say that like around 10000 people will die a day? in your province or city? see cigarette is liter then marijuana but if the marijuana was public then what would you think? i think that MOST 75% of cigarette user will switch to marijuana and that will cause death a lot of death i say that it should stay the way it is because first it wold cut more plant and marijuana is rare a little so people would be fighting over it and that will cause more death in my opinion marijuana SHOULD BE ILEGAL

[acburst 0]

Marijuana is a thing that MANY people who are ages 13 - ??? are smoking. I think that this drug SHOULD become legal because there are people who are smoking this badly. They should make it so they CAN, because its better to have them smoking it while they can then while they cant.

[Dagoth Nereviar 0]

First of all let's look at the health qualities in comparison to legal drugs. It is much much safer to ingest/smoke/other than tobacco. Now I'm not saying it's not bad for you, any smoke in your lungs is bad for you of course, but it's not AS bad for you as tobacco smoke. Not to mention all the other stuff you get in cigarettes ie tar; thousands of different types of poison; fatty substances... the list goes on and on. Marijuana is usually smoked straight although is sometimes added with straight tobacco as marijauna has difficulty burning by itself. Marijuana does not have to be smoked though, it can be eaten or if you feel like being super drugtastic you can crush it all up, put it in alcohol, heat the mixture, insert a cotton ball and then extract any liquid on the cotton ball via a needle. This can be injected but I don't think I've ever heard of anyone doing that... s'just a thought.

 

Alcohol is one of the biggest killers in the UK and is very very addictive. To this day there has not been a single death related directly to the usage of marijuana. The drug is also not physically addictive, yes there can be a mental addiction to it, but think about what that mental addiction is. It is a drive to gain the drug and obtain the release. People go to many extreme lengths in order to get that fix. But think about them being insane on getting the hit then just about to kill someone dear to them *or something a bit less extreme, I use this only as a hyperbole * They retreat in a fit of hysterics slamming the door as they leave - marching straight into the local shop they buy a pack of 20 green label cigarettes. Noone has been torn apart. Nothing bad has happened. In fact - the initial part of my anecdote wouldn't have taken place. Marijuana is difficult to obtain (well harder than it is to obtain such things as alcoholic drinks and cigarettes.)

 

Most of the problem in weed is that very young people are smoking it - aged about 16-18. If there was a law permitting that you could smoke it at 16 then it wouldn't be "cool" to be smoking it anymore. It's now legal. That isn't very rebellious. People often have a hissy fit because grades start to slip and minds are deteriorated. Indeed this is a big factor and should be considered when making the legalisation. After all you can't just make a law that says - yes you can smoke marijuana, any age, any place, go for it.

 

There will have to be an age limit which I think should be 16, same as it is for tobacco. Speaking of age limits, I also believe that drinking in USA should be lowered to 18 like the rest of us. Twenty-one is absolutely ridiculous!

 

Other things will have to be taken into consideration. It should be law that they will be allowed to inside their own homes or completely away from other people. Absolutely no smoking in cars or driving whilst under the influence. This should be dealt with at the same tolerance drink driving is, it's more or less the same effect on the candidate. Marijuana can be used in cooking in restraunts but a disclaimer must be very clearly visible.

 

In conclusion I add this. Think of a man on the street. Drunk out of his mind. What is he likely to do? Start a fight - maybe. Urinate on someting - possibly. Do something bad - almost definately... especially if they're with their mates. Now think of the same man but high. What is he likely to do?? Give someone a hug - maybe. Tell someone a horrible joke and laugh himself to tears - possibly. Do something bad - almost definately not.

 

Yet the first man is out on the streets assaulting people and the second man is inside jail rotting.

 

Is this fair?

[adrianator 0]

You all should read up on the articles, etc that have been written over the research of marijuana. Marijuana was made illegal over racism and yellow journalism. I am writing a paper for school concerning this very subject. Maybe I'll post a few excerpts later.

 

Here's an image of what may occur if marijuana was legalized, lol!

 

[arnz 0]

Personally I rather have it illegal as well as Cigarettes, but IF they ever make it legal, there would obviously need to be a age limit to obtaining Marijuana, in the same way as Alcohol and Ciggies. I've gotta laugh at the picture posted by the poster above, scary but something similar could happen in a small town picture