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

[Ho-oh'sRealm 0]

It's fine for medical purposes, but for teenagers to get high? Definitely not.

[iGuest 3]

Dont Make It Leagal ! Why Do You ThinkWhat If Marijuana Was Legal?

Why Do that?

Making it Legal Would Kill People And Brain Cells!

&& You see people walking round selling it illegally alreadyy! Soo Makin it Legal Would Make it easier for them To sell weed.

&& Yeah We Know Tobacco is Bad, but they alreadyy Sell it in Stores now. & thats already bad enough.

-reply by Albert Quintios

[DodgyPhil 1]

It's fine for medical purposes, but for teenagers to get high? Definitely not.

But the teenage years are the best time to get high!Seriously though, I'm for Marijuana legalization but am completely skeptical towards medical marijuana. Let's face it, there are far more effective painkillers designed to 'kill' 'pain' without giving you the munchies and making you listen to three hours of Phish (true story).
Also, if it were legalized I'd like to see it controlled in the same fashion as alcohol- making it difficult for teenagers to purchase (I'm going to kick myself for this later, I'd kill for the drinking age to be lowered to 16).

Cannabis is a lifestyle choice. People say that all weed smokers are hapless layabouts, but cannabis is far less debilitating than alcohol. Weed wears off after two-three hours, but drinking alcohol before 1PM will turn the rest of your day into a groggy pisstake. It's only because the majority of weed smokers are people stupid enough to break the law for their release, without ever truly appreciating the plant- making it a part of their daily lives, rather than an after dinner mint to relax with.

For example: I have a Scottish friend who swears by smoking two joints on the way to school, one after, and "three bowls" before bedtime. To be fair, this sounds awesome, if not excessive to the extreme.

[iGuest 3]

legalize marijuanaWhat If Marijuana Was Legal?

my only argument is that alcohol is much more addicting and hurts your body in ways that marijuana never would lots of people put alcohol before real life important decisions. Marijuana is harmless. You cant stereotype all potsmokers because of one lazy stoner. Smoking pot is not an addiction. Its a habit maybe in some peoples eye's it a bad habit but so is biting your nails and thats not illegal... 

-reply by Stakker

[rabidrabbit 0]

About 100 years ago it was legal and main countries depended on it for production, but that was its weaker cousin Hemp. This crop was so important that they callled it the big cash crop ever and then it was legal lol, this was as the hemp plant produced rope, fabric, used in cooking etc. Hemp oil was supposed tob the fuel that the deseil engine was supposed to be powered with.Then the fad ended, although hemp is still widely used mainly in the bio chemical industry. So in a way Hemp is a legal product what is not legal is when its cultivated for recreational purposes.Now if we look at the netherlands the legality of resale has its limits and although coffee shops are popular they are only limited to Amsterdam. The way that drug use is not spirialing is a strong eductional program.If marijuana does become legal, there will be fears of it will lead to other harder drugs, so one way to keep the doom sayers pacified would be via the implmentantion of various rules on where to buy and smoke.But even if marijuan is legalised we have to remeber that various companies still have some strong anti drug policies.

[dangerdan 0]

I do smoke marijuana, I am currently smoking marijuana, and therefore I definitely think that it should be legal. I enjoy nothing more than a relaxing smoke and a current affairs program, online debate or creative/entrepreneurial project. I rarely drink alcohol as I generally dislike the taste of it, which exceptions of cider and heavily mixed spirits, so I never go out to clubs or whatever, occasionally the pub for a pints (for example this Saturday for England vs Wales in the Six Nations Rugby Union tournament ) and from my point of view as an "outsider" to alcohol I seriously think that if it is legal, as I believe it should be, then should marijuana be. Both tobacco and alcohol create greater externalities (that is, negative external social cost i.e health services, lost productivity) than marijuana. The decriminalization of marijuana would easily raise hundreds of millions of pounds in taxation revenue, (one estimate says the US market is worth $12bn dollars, thus a 12.5% tax rate would generate $1bn dollar tax revenue) which would more than cover the negative external social cost. Whereas alcohol costs millions and millions of pounds/dollars more than it generates for Governments or even private individuals.

[iGuest 3]

How much do you people know about addictions.What If Marijuana Was Legal?

I have more then one friend who works for my local government in treating addiction councilling. After 8 years of working these position they has seen the worst of the worst, and has first hand knowledge and world statistcs on addiction. When it comes to marijuana there a few very important problems with making it illegal. One problem I have with current illegal classification of the drug is that it actually puts it in the hands of children more so then if it was legal. When you were a kid, if you didn't have a alcoholic father how hard was it to get alcohol from the store, you had to fake a id, or find a dumb teller, and if they got caught they would be fined, and anyone who valued there jobs wouldn't dare give a kid booze, plus some places even had cops their working the counters. Unlike a illegal scenario where people are selling it to whoever will buy it including outside the schools. So making it legal keeps it out of kids hands. The other thing people don't realize is the reason people sell it is for MONEY, if marijuana was sold on a fair market system it would not be worth as much and would be less appealing to sell it behind close doors. Why would you go to a shady guys house who may have other illegal drugs and guns in the home when you can go to the local valu mart.  In short, the problem with making marijuana illegal is that you pull relatively nice people who just want to enjoy themselves into the world of crime and violence, which changes there attitudes for the rest of the lifes, instead of letting good people enjoy there lives without fear from crimanals and officers, most of the PARINIOA of smoking pot comes from the fact its illegal.

-reply by educated smoker

[iGuest 3]

Know the facts 1stWhat If Marijuana Was Legal?

Hi all,

I think its is good to have these discussions regarding weed as it can give some knowledge to those who don't know the truth. It can be a shame when some people do make comments on what they have read and not what they have found out through research or from there own experience. I live in England UK and have been smoking weed for 17 years, I have regular health checks (twice a year) due to my job  and I am told every time by various doctors that I have no health problems and this mainly due to me not smoking tobacco or drinking alchol. I work with medical staff off aprox 35 staff and at least half of them smoke weed on a regular basis, none of us have mental problems, eating problems and probably have never been late for work. This is the type of research goverments should be concentrating on and not lie about weed they are paid to lie it seems. I have an IQ of 147, never had depression and regualy play sport. I feel weed should be legal for medical purpuses but for public use there would have to be restrictions like aplying for a license to grow personal amounts, It should still be ilegal to deal and definatly ilegal to supply to anyone under 18, I have tried other drugs but its only yourself to blame if you carry on doing these drugs you cant blame weed for trying other drugs just yourself. Growing your own weed would make sure you knew what was in in unlike bying of the street where dealers will spray in with all kinds of rubish that will kill you (crushed down glass). If governments cared so much they would know this but they don't care, and if they realy knew anything they would know how much money they could make on tax, how many jobs they could start, how much money they could put in to the economy. Its all very simple if you take the time to listen and not judge on what you hear or some mate who had a bad experience, is now on heroin, won't do anything with there life. We only get 1 shot at life so enjoy it, be safe, and know the facts, think for yourselves don't let someone else do that for you. Any other factes you would like to know just ask. 9000 people died in the UK in 2009 from alchol (not long term diseases). 0 people died in the world from smoking weed - FACT

-reply by Professor Greenthumb

[SinceUrUp 0]

I have never touched the stuff in my life. That being said, it's been legal longer in the US than it has been illegal. If I read correctly, the reason it was made illegal in the first place was a timber company lobbyist that didn't want to lose business to the non recreational uses of hemp. I definitely agree with people that say it should be legalized and taxed just like cigarettes and alcohol (Sin tax if you will).The only set back that I have heard when debating this topic with individuals that I am unable to counter is. There is currently no technology available that can discern whether or not a person has smoked a few minutes ago or a few days ago. This makes it difficult to monitor and make laws governing driving while under the influence of marijuana. Someone will just state that they aren't high, and that they just smoked a few days ago and there are still traces in their system.

[fabiola7386 0]

Thanks for sharing!!!

Drug Rehab

[webishqiptar 0]

Smoking marijuana causes human condition, similar to schizophrenia. By repeating this procedure marijuana is fast becoming a real one. A person loses the ability to adequately percept the reality, loosing the moral and ethical guidance, it becomes pathological liar, talkative, unscrupulous, and prone to futile imaginations. He disappears libido, increased appetite, and repeatedly disappears ability to creative work. In short, a man turns into a real pig, while continually rejoices own dirty trick, because no longer can look at himself. Gradually, he increasingly falls into childhood, losing memory and learning ability, it will soon cease to recognize family and friends, learned to read, write and write down the toilet. However, such a state reaches a very few, since most marijuana users reach itself in just three or four years of regular use. These were some symptoms of marijuana addiction. So if it became legal, more and more people will get these symptoms and our society will get lots of people who will have freedom to use it.

Edited March 9, 2010 by webishqiptar (see edit history)

[SinceUrUp 0]

I would love to see the peer reviewed case study that backs up your accusations. Marijuana is no worse than Alcohol. If you poll most cops (I've only polled a few), they state they would much rather deal with a person that is "high" than drunk. Drunk people have a tendency of being belligerent and violent, where-as most people that are "high" are mellow and calm. You have alcoholics that do nothing but sit on their but and leech of the government, reproduce, get drunk, pass out, and repeat. That doesn't mean that there are MANY that drink alcohol responsibly and function perfectly fine in society. The same can be said about marijuana users. We will free up so many of our prisons, we will diminish a lot of marijuana related crimes, we will not spend so much on enforcing drug related laws. Not to mention we will be able to tax it, so the high amount of people that already smoke it illegally will be giving money to us. People won't have to worry about stuff being laced that they purchase, the government will regulate and the stuff will be purer (perhaps?). Even when/if it is legalized I personally won't smoke it as I have no desire to do so. I say we eliminate some of our debt with the loads of money that would be going to the criminals instead.

[networker 0]

Yes, it should be legalized, fully sanctioned and sold in liquor stores.Think of all the tax dollars the government is missing out on. Not only that,but weed would no longer be grouped together with "real" drugs likeCocaine and Heroin.It would move us one step closer to a sane world.

[princeofvegas 0]

Now this is a debate that I can get involved in. I am a LEGAL medical user of marijuana and proud of it. Before I was prescribed medical marijuana I had never tried it before in my life. I had suffered from severe insomnia and was unable to sleep even with trying large doses of various different types of medication. The first night that I tried marijuana I got the first full night sleep I had gotten in years and woke up the next morning not feeling groggy, but refreshed. I feel that it can help with ailments and as a recreational drug in my opinion is waaayyyyy better than alcohol. When is the last time that someone died from smoking too much weed?Not to mention that with the state of our economy the full legalization and regulation of marijuana could lead to a new stream of tax revenues that we have not yet before seen. In California alone several major think tanks have already been posed this question. It has been determined that the regulation and taxation of legalized marijuana could completely bail california out of it's economical downward spiral.There are also many environmental uses for marijuana that people usually forget about, i.e. hemp. The production of industrial hemp could help stimulate a greener economy. are any of you aware that 1 acre of hemp can produce the same amount of resources as 4 acres of forrest? Then why is it still illegal? I would love to hear your inputs and thoughts on this matter.

[iGuest 3]

1st off street weed is never altered in any way the way it's grown is the way it's smoked. People make it seem like smoking weed changes person as a whole, and that it doesn't. Most of the people who believe this are the those very people who got the drug out-lawed to begin with. Let's be honest the other reason why the drug was banned to begin with was just a corp. Scheme for the government to make money. If you don't believe me do the research starting with the Harrison act and the story on the Marijuana Act. Also tho a person can feel as if they're addicted to weed, they aren't. Being a person who smokes weed on a everyday basis I can honestly say it never got in the way on school or work. Actually me and a lot of my friends who uses the herb found we were more focused due to the fact that we were more relaxed. I was depressed before I started using weed and the doctors were trying to offer me antidepressantes, which had a lot of harmful side effects. Where as with weed it didn't have those side effects. Cigarettes are very harmful , but yet are legal and are used for recreational purposes. I feel weather health care or recreational use it should be legal again like is was b4 the 19th century. And I'm not tryin to take shots at anyone but don't blame the use of weed for bad choices someone else made. It wasn't the weed that caused it, it was whatever cause that person to start smoking weed in the 1st place. Remember one of the main reasons people start drinking and smoking is/ was because they needed to relieve stress. If you find that a person seems different after picking up the habit how about you talk to the person first to see what's on their mind, because most likely the weed aint the reason for them to feel depressed or unmotivated the way they do its just the crutch they're using at the time.