Well, after reading Fit's info the other day(http://fitsugar.com/997104) about the cancer connection I really don't see why we would then make it legal. I know cigarettes have a cancer link and are legal, but why put more of the population at risk if we know BEFORE it's legal that there is that risk?

(I so never thought I would be against it! I am a reformed avid user. )

the whole moral thing is interesting. in the Catholic religion, which is the one that my parents are, abortion is morally wrong. but yet, their religion and morals shouldnt dictate those of the rest of the world. you could argue im wrong and say killing people is morally wrong and its religiously wrong too; and thus my abortion point is moot; but the drug thing...its really not up to one person to decide everyone else's opinions.

and if you see drug problems as morally wrong or medically harmful; decriminalize it and instead of putting users in jail, and the jails are overpopulated mostly with people who were carrying illegal drugs such as marijuana; then make it a medical issue and not one of jail. that holds more true with heroin and such though. i mean there are some bad drugs out there and dependence on them is a medical problem not one for the jails.

but with marijuana...its like dr. dre said: heyyyy smoke weed everyday.

I just don't know. lol I go back and forth on this issue so often. I'm against drugs on a whole, but another part of me knows it's probably prohibition in the 20's. It doesn't stop anybody and other crimes build up around it. *sigh* It's an issue. It really is. I honestly don't know what the answer should be.

I don't think you should legislate morality.

I think that the pros and cons should be clearly stated, and if adults chose to partake I think that should be their choice. Making it illegal really clogs up our justice system with no benefit to society.

I think this is hysterical, "Drug-related arrests get dangerous people off the streets." The majority of Americans have used pot. Are they all "dangerous'?

If you watch "The History of Drugs: Marijuana" on the History channel, it tells the story of the drug's illegalization. Basically, alcohol and cigarette companies didn't want extra competition when prohibition ended, and created racist theories as to why it should be illegal. They have the diaries of the Drug czar of the US, and he literally says something like, "what reason can I make up to deem this harmless plant illegal?"

The whole series of The History of Drugs is very interesting. They go over a different drug every episode (Meth, Heroin, Opium, Pot, Cocaine). There are some drugs where it is very obvious that there is a public benefit to keep it illegal. Then there are other drugs where it is just nonesense.

I firmly believe it should be legal. The whole "gateway drug" concept seems absurdly antiquated. Every single argument against marijuana could have been said about alcohol during prohibition, and that was ridiculous, too. The people who get into trouble with drugs and end up doing real harm to themselves and other have issues that not smoking pot is not going to solve, just like with alcohol. This is simply another case of a few bad apples spoiling the party for the rest of us and authorities getting too involved with our private lives.

legalize it

It's probably a good time to point out that there are significant differences between legalization (process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is not currently legal) and decriminalization (removes criminal charges from an action, but leaves intact associated laws and regulations). Decriminalization would, theoretically, enable federal and state governments to continue to prosecute people for some crimes related to possession (for instance, people who are running large-scale operations or possess amounts that are obviously too large to be for 'personal consumption')

That being said, Obama is the only Presidential candidate who supports decriminalization -- although I'm not sure if the campaign has released specific parameters as to what degree of decriminalization he supports.

I do believe that marijuana should be legal. You should not lock people up in jail on the sole basis that they smoke pot. A lot of very responsible people smoke a joint every once in a while, and they are hardly dangerous. Also, I think it is terrible that anyone is denied a drug that helps them. I watched "In Pot We Trust," and there was a story about a young woman with a SEVERE stutter. It would take her 10 minutes to get through a small sentence. She also had a condition that caused the muscles in her hands to tense up very baldy. However, after she took a drag off of a joint, the stutter was IMMEDIATELY GONE, and she had free movement of her hands. How was she getting her miracle-drug? Well, because it's illegal in her state, she was forced to go downtown, and search for someone selling. Also, a MS patient can benefit greatly from marijuana use. After the first inhale they are able to move more freely, with less pain. I've never heard of alcohol being beneficial to anyone to this degree.
Also to the argument that it causes cancer: There are ways around smoking it. Of course smoking a piece of paper isn't healthy, and there are carcinogens in burning paper. But, you can make butter and cook with it, and thereby totally bypass the lungs. You can also buy vaporizers which set at the exact correct temp as to get the vapor from the THC rather than the smoke. Either way, if you wanna make everything that causes cancer illegal, you better stop drinking the milk in your fridge, the water from your faucet, tanning (duh!), walking down the street in a city, inhaling the fumes from the back of your car or your neighbor's ungodly SUV. Stop talking on your damn cell phone, don't microwave anything, don't set food on your granite countertops, stop dying your hair that perfect shade, stop drinking all that alcohol on Friday nights, and drop the diet soda.
Puh-lease!

Thanks for the info, Sugarbean! I never knew there was a difference between decriminalization and legalization. Thank you for sharing!

Legalize it! It doesn't really matter though, even though it's illegal everyone still smokes it I live in Hawaii and it's practically legal already, everyone burning on the beaches every day. & about it being a gateway drug? I've smoked marijuana for years, started when I was around 15, and I haven't touched any other drugs. I'm very anti-cigarettes and anti-hard drugs because of what they do to people & families. Also, other drugs are extremely addictive. I've been able to stop smoking pot at any time I wanted to. F drugs, legalize what is natural! And how is it morally wrong if "God" or the "creator" put it on this earth? Whateva!

I think it should be legal. The gateway drug thing cracks me up. I drank alcohol before I tried pot. I know people who smoke on a pretty regular basis and manage to hold down a good job, have no criminal history, just a serious case of the munchies. Regardless, it should be your choice to use marijuana or not. Some even view it is a natural plant from the earth.
Its a hard call because there are people out there who would use it strictly for medicinal purposes and others who would take advantage of it as a recreational drug. Either way, I still think it should be legal. Maybe set an age limit like there is for tobacco and alcohol but I'm not sure that would even help b/c those age limits don't stop kids now from smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol.

Against legalization:

* Marijuana is a gateway drug.
It is no more a gateway drug than caffeine is. You could say that music is a gateway to cocaine since the two often go together. There is little strong evidence supporting this claim. The only truth to it is that since it is illegal, those who are interested in doing "bad" things might start here. But it is precisely because it is illegal that causes this. AND even if the entire claim of "gateway" is true, that is still not a sufficient argument.

* Marijuana causes physical damage.
Evidence on this differs. Some evidence suggests that the act of smoking itself causes physical problems. Smoking through a water bong helps decrease this. Or not smoking it at all does as well. Additionally, while there is evidence that smoking it will lead to some lesions on the lung, there's no proof that this has then caused cancer. Tobacco is far worse. Steak causes physical damage, but I don't see laws banning sirloins. AND even if the entire claim of "physical damage" is true, that is still not a sufficient argument.

* Drugs are morally wrong.
Huh? How? Where? (and while we're at it, what, when, and why?) I don't understand this without more information. AND even if the entire claim of "morally wrong" is true, that is still not a sufficient argument. We should not be legislating morality.

* Drug-related arrests get dangerous people off the streets.
Yes, there is a huge problem with people getting stoned off their minds and going on mass shooting sprees. This is just a ridiculous claim. If we are separating out marijuana (which other args were), there is absolutely no validity to a claim that marijuana users are more dangerous than non-marijuana users. When people get stoned, they sit around, listen to music, watch movies, play games. If we arrested all politicians, that would get a lot of dangerous people off the streets too, but that doesn't mean we should do it without anything more. (Hmm.. let me rethink that.) The dangerous action is what should be penalized. Poverty might cause people to steal too but we don't criminalize poverty (well, not exactly anyway).

i'm all for decriminalization and, hopefully, eventual legalization. i was never an obama supporter until i heard his views on this and abortion. "i'm in love with mary jane, gonna make her my wife" - kottonmouth kings

Me to Kellie...I'm all for decriminalizing it, but not so much making it legal. I think if you decriminalize it, the need for it to be legal will eventually become unnecessary and the fact that it is 'taboo' and risky will have less of an effect on kids. Look at how many drugs over the course of history were perfectly legal, then illegal, and some have even made their way back to being legal (alcohol) while others (cigs) are still going strong. Point is we as society and even researcher's don't know the effects as well as we would hope of the drugs out there, and are discovering new things every day...like how marijuana helps with cancer treatment while the drug to help heroine addicts are just as addictive and sometimes even more fatal. We need more research and information and need to keep doing studies, and keep in mind that we don't know all what is out there...and the more we restrict and condemn, the more appealing it seems to be.

First, and foremost, this should be a state issue, not a federal issue.

If we ever can actually get to this point (and just because California has said F**** the federal government, we're doing what we want, doesn't actually mean its a state issue yet) I would say that marijuana should be legal, but regulated, similarly to how alcohol is regulate and controlled.

"' i was never an obama supporter until i heard his views on this and abortion."

Shocking, a democrat who is ok with letting a woman decide whether it is ok to murder an unborn child........

wtf?

Agreed mymellowman. This is a state issue, as is most of the issues that the federal government is controlling in society today. I wish people would realize that we give the Federal government to much freaking power.

I'd be ok with it being a state by state thing.

Most countries that "allow" marijuana (the Netherlands, Canada, ZA, etc) haven't really legalized it, they just decriminalize the use/possession of it (decriminalization v. legalization was explained earlier by sugarbean). This seems like a sufficient way to deal with the issue, especially since I think there are times when drug cartels should be prosecuted under anti-drug laws.

As for cons to decriminalization/legalization, I am living testament that marijuana is NOT a gateway drug. I've never understood that argument. If people want to do heroin or coke or meth, they're going to do it, and not because they smoked marijuana a few times when they were 18.

And there are ways that marijuana can actually be BENEFICIAL. It's simply no different than alcohol, steroids, or many over-the-counter drugs, if it's ABUSED, sure, it can have health implications. Should we criminalize all that stuff too (I mean we saw how the alcohol prohibition went)? If you prepare it in food or use a vaporizer you don't have to worry about hurting your lungs either.

The "morally wrong" argument is particularly faulty, especially in this case. For instance, some religions have openly denounced marijuana as "morally wrong", but some religious orgs (ie--Rastafarian, some Native American tries) actually view cannabis/peyote use as a spiritual act. Who are any of us to say which religion we should impose on others and which one to ignore? In my opinion, I'd rather leave religion out of anything dealing with governmentally-imposed law, thank you very much.

And finally, the drug related arrests getting dangerous people off the streets is a little over the top. Again, drug cartels are a legit problem/should be dealt with (under the distribution laws, not mere possession), but as for most of the "potheads" I know, they wouldn't harm a fly.

Sorry for the long post, I just really think our country should focus its time/money on things like improving the education system instead of prosecuting marijuana possession cases.

I'm not for legalizing it. I think that there are too many drug taking welfare recipients as it is. If you legalize it, then there goes my hope of ever seeing drug testing made mandatory for welfare recipients. I don't want my tax dollars buying anyone's dope. Period.

Piper23, maybe you should be more worried about how much of your taxpayer money is spent in dealing with marijuana laws (and how much mandatory drug testing would cost) each year and less time worrying about if a small amount of people on welfare could hypothetically governmentally fund their "dope" addictions.

(continued), "dope" addictions those welfare recipients would probably have regardless of whether or not marijuana was legalized or decriminalized or not.

I don't know what country you live in but here in American I wouldn't classify the number of people that collect welfare as being small. And I'm not knocking welfare, but if you collect money then in my humble opinion you hould have to take a drug test in order to collect a check. Not a big thing to ask. I had to take a drug test to get my job. If I had been a potsmoker, then I wouldn't have gotten my job. And as for money being thrown away on marijuana laws, that argument could be made for any small time crime.

Just to clarify, my opposition is at the state and federal level. I don't think either (any) level should be allowed to regulate what I put into my body. No state govt should have this power either.

Morality should not be dictated by government. People need to govern and protect their own, personal and private sense of value by promoting it at the family level and leave government out of it. To give government more excuses to intervene in your life you do two things; first, let government dictate culture and second, give them another excuse to raise taxes. An emphasis on personal responsiblity, starting at the family level, will help to assure that while possible health hazards like alcohol and marijuana are available, they might not be a wise choice. To simply remove temptation from people to ensure they do not succumb to such does more harm than good for a society.

So you think people should be able to shoot up on street corners, in grocery stores, in the mall, etc.?

A great place to get info on this kind of this is mpp.org -- The Marijuana Policy Project. They mostly are fighting for medical marijuana, but it is similar to the situation of decriminalization.
Piper23, it is not a small amount of money that's being thrown away on marijuana prohibition: If marijuana was decriminalized it would save approximately $7.7 billion in enforcement costs. People with no other illegal activity who are otherwise good citizens are being locked up and punished for something less harmful than alcohol. Did you know that it is virtually impossible to overdose on pot? And it's only harmful to the lungs if you are a frequent smoker--a joint now and then won't hurt you.
I could go on and on, but there are tons of decrim sites out there. Obviously, I think laws should do us more good than harm, and punishing people for pot is a mistake.

Also, since when did having the freedom to smoke a little weed in the privacy of your own home become the same as shooting up on the street corner? That's way besides the point.

I never said the number of people who are unable for whatever reason to work (and in turn collect welfare) isn't small, but I'm not about to assume (as you seem to) that all welfare recipients are "dope" users.

Moreover mandatory drug testing is invasive and not cost-effective (which was my argument earlier...you can much more easily implement questionnaires, etc, which focuses on more prevalent problems in welfare like psychological disorders).

Criminalization of marijuana use can be distinguished from other petty crime because it doesn't usually impose harm to society (as opposed to petty theft, simple assault assault, etc).

It's interesting that both of us think taxpayer money is being spent on frivolous things (me with petty drug laws and you with the government giving money to potential "dope" users), but from a polar opposite perspective.

legalize! we should poll on this one, i'd be interested

I believe it should be a state-by-state decision, and I know GREAT, SMART, SUCCESSFUL people who smoke it often. Studies have shown it does less damage than alcohol, and certainly "morality" should not be a factor.

Legalize it...Alcohol is much more harmful and can kill you if you drink too much....I've never heard of someone smoking so much weed they died...Alcohol causes so many deaths to those who drink it and those who don't ....I just don't understand how anyone could honestly feel that given the choice, alcohol is the drug that should be legal, out of the two. They both have their drawbacks but it is just ridiculous to think that marijuana is the more dangerous drug. IMO
The whole morality thing I don't get either. It's morally correct to get slobbering drunk, but morally incorrect to get high? I'd love to read that debate.....lol!

tax dollars and other government spending on the drug war is just ridiculous. its really not doing anything and the "above the influence" commercials arent doing anything to stop anything because so many kids realize how irrelevant they are. why is there so much money being spent on this war on drugs and not other things? why are drug dealers/users in jails but yet some murderers get off scot free? i think theres something wrong here.

Decriminalize, it seems to be the best option. Thanks to Sugarbean for info and insight. I think we should have rules as we have with alcohol and sigarettes though, but those who want it or need it should be able to get it without being endangered trying to get it.

I don't think moral is an exact science, and I wouldn't want those who think abortion is the Devil's work to make any sort of legislation, or in charge of the country for that matter. Only in America do we choose to use cartoonesque terms like pro-life and pro-choice, and I think it brings the discussion to an emotional but shallow level without any rational communication. This is certainly a matter in other countries as well, but the discussion usually covers more than just sugar coated terms or murder charges.

Sorry for ranting on about this, there was just a comment above that really made me itch.

BrandyNicole: I agree with you on all of your points. We do so many unhealthy things it's easy to blame bad health and cancer on poor lil marijuana lol.

Alcohol causes terrible things everyday like drunk driving related accidents, alcohol addicts, and angry drunks who beat up their wives and girlfriends.

I've never smoked pot, but a lot of my friends have and do. And I've never heard of an ANGRY POT HEAD who beats up his wife/gf.

So I would argue alcohol is worse and more dangerous than marijuana.

I dont want to worry about my surgeon smoking a dube before he operates god forbid I ever have to have surgery ... thats not to say its not happening already. Also who is to say that all drug dealers are dangerous people ... Have you seen WEEDS, I think this show depicts a great majority of people who sell weed, just trying to make a living. I dont agree with it being a gateway drug, I know plenty of people that smoke weed and never experiment with other drugs. Furthermore, alcohol cause more damage then a joint ... In my opinion the only reason why it is not legalized or decriminalised is because drug laws and enforcement generates a lot a cash for our government. In regards to morals, let the individual decide on whats right and whats wrong, everyone has the right. Government should never dictate morals. Neither should organized religions. Free will.

People are going to go to the grocery store to shoot up? Why would they do that? People don't even cook in the grocery store, and it sells food! That's a silly straw person argument. Why don't we worry about that when we start seeing grocery stores putting drug courts right next to food courts.

First, the argument assumes that if drugs are legal, there's going to be some mass rush on shooting up. Perhaps that would be true initially, with the whole idea of being able to do something previously forbidden, but it will level it. If heroine is legal, I'm still not going to do it. (If it doesn't, I still wouldn't change my position, though.)

Second, while I advocate legalization of all drugs, let's not get out of hand and let's stick to marijuana. If we legalize marijuana, this would have no impact on shooting up - street corners, malls or grocery stores.

Third, it ignores the pressure and influence communities can have. Communities are great regulators of behavior. There are many actions that are legal but yet not widespread because as a community we disapprove. It is entirely legal for adults to smoke cigarettes, but that is declining steadily. (It is not legal for children, and that's where smoking starts, typically.) It is socially unacceptable now to smoke in front of children, to smoke inside the house (at least others' houses), to smoke while others are eating, etc. (Of course, regulations are increasing, but they are doing so as a result of community pressure. And cigarettes are different - one standing next to a smoker cannot choose to not breath in second hand smoke; one standing next to a junkie can choose not to shoot up.)

Fourth, there seems to be some unspoken assumption that if people are going to do drugs in places you don't want it to be done, it should be illegal. Why? Is it because of fear that this would influence others? When I look at a homeless person, I don't suddenly decide that I want to be homeless. Why would I look at a heroine addict and suddenly decide I want to be a junkie? Additionally, we don't (shouldn't) restrict the expression of ideas simply because someone else might hear it and agree with it. If someone else looks at a junkie, sees everything about it (after all - I would definitely advocate full awareness of the true impacts), and still wants to become a junkie, let her. I'm all for helping people, but if someone knows what she's getting into and still decides to ruin her life, who am I to stop her?

"Only in America do we choose to use cartoonesque terms like pro-life and pro-choice, and I think it brings the discussion to an emotional but shallow level without any rational communication."

Well said, trésjolie. (That's not to say I want this turning into an abortion thread though. You were just responding to a previous post. And this isn't about abortion, per se; it's about the language we choose to use and the impact it has on debate.)

In my opinion, the difference between alcohol and weed is that you can "do" alcohol without feeling any severe effects. If I have half a glass of wine, I'm not drunk. However, you can get high on one drag of marijuana. Decriminalization sounds like a good option, but I think there should be strict regulations. For example, I think you should need a special permit to sell it (like with alcohol) and that there's some kind of punishment for selling it on the streets. And you should not, under any circumstances, be able to drive under the influence of marijuana.

I honestly don't know.
I mean, smoking pot can't be any more harmful than drinking obviously, but still. It is a risk. But I think the real problem isn't underage drinking and drug abuse, it's drunk /driving/. But that's just me.
Besides, isn't Marijuana less addictive than cigarettes & alcohol?

AMEN to frimpled. People are not dying or killing from the use of marijuana. I've never heard of anyone being addicted to marijuana. I really don't understand why people say it's a gateway drug, it just doesn't make sense - so if I smoke marijuana I might just want to smoke crack?! I've been smoking mj for almost 15 yrs. and never once felt addicted I've stopped for long periods of time. What I have stopped doing, is drinking. I was never addicted just felt I need to live a healthier lifestyle. Stop blaming weed and pay attention to how easy it is to get Vicodin and get addicted and eventually overdose.

Remedios, I understand not wanting the government telling you what you can and cannot do with your body. If we make it into a State issue, like it should be, then it is the people who decide if it should be legal or not. Your vote would matter as much as the next person. People in the country who don't want it legalized should have a say just as much as people who do want it illegal.

If it goes back to what the people want, and the State, changes can be made to suit the people. What is good for one state and one population is not necessarily good for the next. If the future voting people don't like it, then they can vote to change it. If you don't like what your state is about, you have the power. Not some bureaucra in DC telling you what it is right and wrong for the people of your state.

bhsutle, there are absolutely people addicted to pot. I have lots of friends who are. You can be addicted to anything.

I am not saying that should keep it illegal, because you can be addicted to alcohol and that is legal. But you can be addicted to it.

I've always believed that pot should be legalized. It's less dangerous than alcohol. And as far is it being "immoral," who is the government to tell us that ingesting something into our own bodies is immoral?

I do believe that marijuana should be heavily taxed and restricted, though. I believe that it should only be sold from licensed vendors, to people 21 and over.

Anyone who has really done their research on this knows that it is extremely beneficial to many and is far less dangerous than alcohol and pharmaceuticals. Hopefully soon the U.S. will wake up and start living in a way that once made our country revolutionary...

That is to stop this awful habit of constantly telling each other what to do. That is to be a lot "freer" and "braver" and a lot less judgmental and superstitious. That is to start living by the words of the constitution once again and stop trying to reinvent the wheel. That is to stop listening to big corporations and what they want for us and start listening to ourselves as we are the citizens. That is to legalize marijuana and realize that it was an inherent benefit to the original prosperity of our fine country.

More people should read "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" by Jack Herer, honestly a wonderful truthful book, a must read.

I agree, just because pot isn't physically addicting doesn't mean people aren't dependent on it and crave it during the day. People have "addictions" to food, sex, drugs, whatever; these addictions don't need to be physiological to be real.

In spite of that, I think I'm still on the pro-legalize side of the issue. I see enough reasons to legalize it that I think it would be worthwhile. Besides, if marijuana were governmentally regulated not only would drug dealers lose business, but it could be taxed the way tobacco and alcohol are and the proceeds could benefit health care, research and public health efforts all over the nation. And those who use it wouldn't be subject to the dangerous settings associated with dealers or risk using contaminated substances.

I am confused about how drugs are a moral issue. Especially something such as pot that grows naturally and isn't produced in a lab. It's a choice to use it or not, but I don't think it's a question of morals, just one of personal judgment.

I'm definitely for this. It should be regulated like alcohol. It should be illegal to drive while on weed. The tickets should be outrageously high.