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Marijuana Should Not Be Illegal

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Posted by: dertyclown

Why Is Marijuana Still Prohibited?

Government's answer: because you shouldn't use it. You shouldn't use it because it's prohibited. It's prohibited because you shouldn't use it. You shouldn't use it because...

Real answer: persistent myths about marijuana still remain, and they are repeated endlessly by the government, public schools and the media. These myths are preventing many Americans from realizing that there really is no good reason for prohibiting marijuana. However, they are becoming less and less effective. A 2001 Gallup poll revealed that one in three Americans already believes in ending marijuana prohibition. It is only a matter of time before the majority comes out in favor of ending it. I hope to quicken that process by rebutting some often-repeated marijuana myths in this column.

"The only reason someone would support ending marijuana prohibition is so they can legally get high."

Many non-marijuana users support an end to prohibition for various reasons. Libertarians, such as myself, simply want people to have the freedom to do what they want without infringing on the rights of others. Smoking marijuana does not infringe on anyone's rights, so you should be able to do it. Other people recognize that the cost of prohibiting marijuana far outweighs any benefits. And still others realize the hypocrisy in having legal alcohol but not having legal marijuana, when alcohol is the more dangerous drug.

"Marijuana is much more potent today, and this is a bad thing."

The average THC in marijuana is slightly higher today ( about 5 percent ). However, this myth doesn't even make sense as an argument for marijuana prohibition. Generally, marijuana smokers stop smoking when they have gotten satisfactorily high. So more potent marijuana means that less smoke is inhaled, which is better for the lungs. It does not mean it is more dangerous.

"Marijuana is highly addictive."

In a U.S. Institute of Medicine report, less than 10 percent of marijuana users ever exhibited symptoms of dependence. By contrast, the numbers were 15 percent for alcohol users and 32 percent for cigarette smokers.

"Marijuana can significantly damage your health."

No one has ever died from cannabis poisoning. This is mostly because the average adult would have to smoke roughly 900 joints in one sitting to overdose. In this respect, it is hundreds of times safer than alcohol and cigarettes.

Marijuana does not cause brain damage. Two 1977 studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed no evidence of brain damage in heavy users of marijuana.

In the long term, the most common health problem resulting from heavy marijuana use is chronic bronchitis ( coughing and wheezing ). Heavy use may also cause cancer, though that is not proven. Occasional marijuana use is not likely to have any significant effect on your health, but it may be risky to use if you are susceptible to panic attacks and/or psychosis.

"The damage to your health caused by marijuana justifies prohibition."

Even if marijuana were as harmful a drug as warriors claim, that would not justify prohibition. We are not children anymore. I think we are quite capable of deciding for ourselves whether smoking marijuana is worth the risks.

"Ending marijuana prohibition would be detrimental to society."

No, ending marijuana prohibition would be profoundly beneficial to society. We would no longer have to spend billions of dollars every year to pursue and lock up nonviolent marijuana users and sellers. Law enforcement could direct more of their efforts toward stopping real criminals. Gang violence and organized crime would go down. Assaults on our civil liberties would also be greatly reduced.

"Getting `tough on drugs' reduces marijuana use."

Harsher punishments generally do not significantly reduce marijuana use. Ten states currently treat possession of marijuana as a non-criminal offense, punishable only by a fine. A federal study comparing these states to states with harsher punishments found that "decriminalization has had virtually no effect on either marijuana use or on related attitudes about marijuana use among young people."

"Marijuana use leads to the use of harder drugs."

If anything, the opposite is true. A 1993 Rand Corporation study found that states that had decriminalized marijuana experienced decreased hard drug abuse. The explanation for this is that if people can more easily get marijuana, they tend to use it as a substitute for harder drugs.

"Marijuana prohibition at the federal level is constitutional."

No, it is completely unconstitutional. The federal government is not authorized by the Constitution to prohibit substances by the Tenth Amendment which states that power is reserved to the states or to the people. People understood this when alcohol was prohibited, so that required a Constitutional amendment. Constitutional prohibition of marijuana would also require a Constitutional amendment.

There are many more marijuana myths, but these are all I have room for. If you are interested in learning more, I suggest going to www.erowid.org. And if you are interested in doing something about marijuana prohibition, you might check out the Virginia Tech NORML or Libertarian Party organizations.
http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v05/n560/a08.htm

Posted by: evillally

Quote:

"Marijuana prohibition at the federal level is unconstitutional."

Negative. Congress has the right to regulate interstate trade and commerce.

Does marijuana lead to harder drugs? Sure it does; I've watched many friends and associats graduate from pot to cocaine, to mescaline, to ecstacy, to heroin and oxycontin abuse.

Marijuana may not be the deadliest drug, but it does lead to stupidity. Trust me, I watched plenty of people permanently fvck-up and throw away their lives on that trash. Sure, not everyone will become a loser, but why risk throwing away your life or ending-up with a criminal record?

But, to each his own...

Posted by: mespock

All the truths about Marijuana can be learned in the Film "Refer Madness" Produced in 1936...

It's still the die hard truth about old Mary Jane!

Posted by: JohnnyBz00LS

Quote:

Originally Posted by evillally

Does marijuana lead to harder drugs? Sure it does; I've watched many friends and associats graduate from pot to cocaine, to mescaline, to ecstacy, to heroin and oxycontin abuse.

Marijuana may not be the deadliest drug, but it does lead to stupidity. Trust me, I watched plenty of people permanently fvck-up and throw away their lives on that trash. Sure, not everyone will become a loser, but why risk throwing away your life or ending-up with a criminal record?

But, to each his own...

Do you REALLY think that if they DIDN'T try pot first that those people would NOT have gone onto harder drugs? That's a pretty naieve thought. People who have the propensity to self-destruct by using hard drugs (including alcohol) would have done so regardless if they had tried pot first. I've known alot of people throughout my lifetime, the ONLY ones who ended up "losers" are those who screwed themselves with hard drugs or alcohol. NOT ONE of those who stopped at pot, even those who remain pot smokers to this day, have ended up becoming a "loser", or "stupid". And the number of those in the latter group outnumber the "losers" by a wide margin.

Posted by: dertyclown

Marijuana prohibition -- not the use of marijuana itself -- appears to play a role in influencing some individuals to advance to harder drugs, according to a recent report from the Netherlands Institute of Medical Health and Addiction.

The 1997 fact sheet, entitled "Cannabis Policy, an update," reviews Dutch marijuana policy and criticizes the notion of marijuana as a gateway drug. The report cites "social factors," not the use of marijuana alone, as the primary reason why a minority of marijuana users graduate to stronger drugs. It concludes that marijuana must be separated from the illegal drug market in order to effectively discourage users from trying other drugs.

The following excerpt is taken from the summary conclusions of the Dutch report.

"The assumption that cannabis consumers run a higher risk of switching to hard drugs ... is known as 'the stepping stone hypothesis.' This idea was first put forward in the forties in the USA and has since greatly influenced public opinion, as well as American and international drug policies.
As for a possible switch from cannabis to hard drugs, it is clear that the pharmacological properties of cannabis are irrelevant in this respect. There is no physically determined tendency towards [sic] switching from marijuana to harder substances. [Emphasis added. --ed.] Social factors, however, do appear to play a role. The more users become integrated in an environment ('subculture') where, apart from cannabis, hard drugs can also be obtained, the greater the chance that they may switch to hard drugs. Separation of the drug markets is therefore essential."

The report defends the nation's policy of "tolerating" the use and sale of marijuana by stating that the Netherlands has fewer hard drug addicts and drug-related deaths than neighboring countries. The report also states that Dutch marijuana-use rates are comparable to those in countries where use is illegal and notes that the overwhelming majority of the country's marijuana users do not experiment with harder drugs.

Surprisingly, recent literature from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reinforces the Dutch argument. According to the 1996 guidebook Marijuana: What Parents Need to Know: "Using marijuana puts children and teens at risk with people who are pushers and sellers of other drugs. So there is more of a risk that a marijuana user will be exposed to and urged to try more drugs." The pamphlet also concludes that, "Most marijuana users do not go on to use other illegal drugs." [Emphasis added. --ed.]

NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. praised the observations of the recent reports and called for the U.S. government to take action to remove marijuana from the illicit drug trade. "Every federal study over the past century has revealed the 'gateway theory' to be a blatant falsehood. As the Dutch model demonstrates, when the marijuana market is effectively separated from the harder drugs, marijuana is clearly a terminus rather than a gateway drug. Politicians in America who voice concern about marijuana being a possible gateway to harder drugs should review the facts and support policies that will effectively separate marijuana from the black market."

For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of the NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Copies of NORML's position paper: Marijuana and the Gateway Theory are available upon request. Copies of Cannabis Policy, an update are also available from the national office

Posted by: dertyclown

pot does not lead to "harder drugs" the fact that you must buy it on the black market is why it WAS called a gateway drug. experince I have had, If you ask for it you can get it. they do not push any thing on you, but it opens you to that side of the track. it is just as likeley to start running guns. there is no way you can say pot makes you try harder drugs, the same could be said that cigarttes lead to speeding. Its BS.

Posted by: Black03

One of my friends in Jr High smoked pot all the time. Would come to school that way. Ended up quitting baseball, spent all of his time buying/selling, dropped out of high school.....

Last time I heard anything about him was when he put a shotgun to the bottom of his chin and tried to kill himself, didn't succeed right away, spent a long time in the hospital before he died.

I have never tried drugs, never will, don't hang out with people who do.

Although, I guess if you are dumb enough to do something like that, I don't care what you do with your life, might as well let the govt tax it.

Posted by: barry2952

If you can set aside the legal issue you will see that pot is no more damaging to its users, or society, than is alcohol. I don't believe if it were legalized that consumption would go up all that much.

It's funny, my parents grew up in the days when alcohol was illegal and pot was legal. Go figure.

In my opinion the true gateway drug is cigarettes.

Posted by: RRocket

Oh...if you'd like to REALLY get a debate going, skip "pot" and ask why HEMP is illegal in the US. Even though you can't possibly get high from it, HEMP is still an illegal crop. Hemp is a good as a crop that you could ever grow. But the truth is, that MAJOR contributors to the "Partnership for a Drug Free America" are corporation who would take a HUGE hit if hemp was made legal. Companies like DuPont, 3M, the cotton industry and paper and pulp producers definitely do not want hemp legal...it would basically make much of their products obsolete. Hemp can be grown in virtually any soil condition, requires no pesticides, and can be grown several times per year in the same plot of land with no ill effects. Clothes from hemp last several times longer than cotton, paper is easily made without deforestation. You can make plastics and resin without using toxins. Oils, lubricants, you name it. It's a miracle plant, and oddly enough, was one of the US' first big cash crops. Hemp was very difficult to harvest, so Americans designed awesome machines to harvest it...this helped put America on the map as an emerging industrial super-power. I mean...the hemp even saved the life of former President George Bush...when his plane went down, the hemp cords in his parachute did their job and brought him down safe.

I live in Canada, and hemp is grown legally here. Pot is on it's way to being decriminalized also. As stated earlier, pot is not a gateway drug...those who use hard drugs were going to use them anyways. Just like those people who are alcoholics...it's almost predisposed. Pot is also fantastic for medicinal uses. I once grew pot for a friend who was dying of cancer. Of all the drugs, pot was one of the few that had no side effect, and stopped the nausea from chemo almost instantly. It made the qulaity of her life so much better, it was almost hard to believe. Truly amazing. From then on, I have become a big advocate of legalizing and decriminalizing the drug here. It's safe, but like any other substance, you have to use your head.....

Posted by: MonsterMark

How did I know that Ron would show up in this thread? And 'for the record', Barry and I are on the same side on this one. Smoke 'em if ya got 'em.

Posted by: Jamler3

Quote:

Originally Posted by barry2952

If you can set aside the legal issue you will see that pot is no more damaging to its users, or society, than is alcohol. I don't believe if it were legalized that consumption would go up all that much.

It's funny, my parents grew up in the days when alcohol was illegal and pot was legal. Go figure.

In my opinion the true gateway drug is cigarettes.

I don't ever recall a time when Marijuana was "Legal".
I do agree with the fact that it is no more damaging than alcohol.
Just think of the revenue and impact to our GNP if it were legalized...
Tax dollars alone would help close the national debt gap!!

Posted by: MonsterMark

But then the commies would overrun us and we'd be too stoned to notice or care.

Posted by: barry2952

I'm not sure of the actual date but I believe it was sometime in the '40s. The law wasn't enforced until Richard Nixon wanted to use it against "those damned hippies".

I can personally attest to the fact that pot is not a gateway drug. As compulsive as I am I've never been tempted by harder drugs. The reason I haven't tried cocaine is that I can afford it, for a while.

I'd just like to make one statement and I'm sure I'll catch some flak for it. I believe that pot shouldn't be illegal because it is a totally natural plant. Yes it has been made more potent with crossbreeding but it is still natural. Every other drug uses poisons in their manufacture. They are all chemically altered to enhance their potency.

Package it, tax it and control it just like cigarettes. No child should have access until they are old enough to make their own decisions. At the very least make it legal for pain and appetite control for those that need it. Have a heart, guys.

My mother was a terminal cancer patient and would have been helped greatly by pot. She chose Morphine patches and they eventually robbed her of her sanity. Very sad.

Bryan, are you for decriminalization of legalization? I know it's a fine line but I would settle for decriminalization. 15 years for posession? How many families have been split over that?

Posted by: Jamler3

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonsterMark

But then the commies would overrun us and we'd be too stoned to notice or care.

If it were to become legal Bryan, it doesn't mean that we'd all be high
Alcohol is legal but we're not all dunks...! Well maybe they are in Washington!

Posted by: barry2952

Bryan,

Your paranoia is showing. Commies?

Posted by: MonsterMark

Quote:

Originally Posted by barry2952

Bryan,

Your paranoia is showing. Commies?

Guess I'm still living the sixties. I should get out of the bomb shelter a little more often.

Jim, a whole lot more of us would be stoned than are now. Can you imagine walking into club and someone sticking a nice fat 'j' in front. Sure, I'll just take one hit. I haven't done this in years. Next thing you know you are laughing your arse off and munching on a bag of Doritos.

Posted by: RRocket

If you would like to see an excellent film on the subject, it's called "Grass", and is narrated by Woody Harrelson. It follows the war on pot from the 30's, to present. And before each decade, it shows how much of the US dollar was spent on fighting pot. It's eye opening, and very very good. Check it out...

Posted by: barry2952

Yeah, that's going to happen.