Con: Legalizing marijuana wonâ??t improve society

[Galaxy]

Con: Legalizing marijuana wonâ??t improve society

Monday, May 4, 2009, 9:19

Marijuana should remain illegal in the United States, some say.

Marijuana is a gateway drug, leads to delinquency and would become a great problem for young people, those who oppose its legalization maintain.

Do you want your children getting their hands on a drug the way they can beer or cigarettes?

Victoria County Sheriff T. Michael Oâ??Connor said making marijuana legal wonâ??t make society better.

Many of the narcotics users his department arrests say they graduate from marijuana to more lethal drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamines.

â??Sometimes the grass isnâ??t greater on the other side,â?� Oâ??Connor said.

In California, where marijuana is legal for medical purposes in some cities, crime rates are still worrisome.

â??There is an increased aggressiveness among criminals,â?� Oâ??Connor said. â??They rob these stores for the product. Or, they rob people for the legal drug profits. Criminals will just wait for pot to become legal, and theyâ??ll just continue to rob.â?�

Life on roadways would suffer, too. Law enforcement at all levels fight daily the problem of drivers who abuse alcohol. Drivers who abuse marijuana would worsen the problem.

â??To put themselves in an impaired way, then weâ??ll have increased risks to travel,â?� Oâ??Connor said.

Victoria Police Chief Bruce Ure said heâ??s unsure, without having viewed ample scientific data, what the full effects on society would be.

â??The issue that concerns me most,â?� Ure said, â??is whatâ??s next? If society legalizes this particular drug, then what drug is next and where do we stop.â?�

Legalizing marijuana wonâ??t undermine violent drug cartels, as legalization proponents suggest.

â??Organized crime will find something else,â?� Oâ??Connor said. â??Theyâ??ll continue until we change peopleâ??s minds about using narcotics. Itâ??s a defeatist attitude to say, â??Letâ??s make it legal.â?? Iâ??m trying to look at it practically, look at the bigger picture of things. What kind of laws will we write up on this? Can we enforce it?â?�

To legalize marijuana simply for taxation is not enough reason, District Attorney Steve Tyler said.

â??Nicotine doesnâ??t impair judgment like marijuana does,â?� Tyler said. â??Itâ??s a concern for young people. Personally speaking, not speaking as a district attorney, I side toward it being illegal. I believe it poses a health risk and poses the greatest risk to young people.â?�

Link: Victoria Advocate | Con: Legalizing marijuana won't improve society
Source: Victoria Advocate Publishing Co
Author: Gabe Semenza

Galaxy Reviewed by Galaxy on 05-04-2009. Con: Legalizing marijuana wonâ??t improve society Con: Legalizing marijuana wonâ??t improve society Monday, May 4, 2009, 9:19 Marijuana should remain illegal in the United States, some say. Marijuana is a gateway drug, leads to delinquency and would become a great problem for young people, those who oppose its legalization maintain. Do you want your children getting their hands on a drug the way they can beer or cigarettes? Rating: 5

[meandmine]

Con: Legalizing marijuana wonâ??t improve society

Marijuana is a gateway drug, leads to delinquency and would become a great problem for young people, those who oppose its legalization maintain.

Do you want your children getting their hands on a drug the way they can beer or cigarettes?

Source: Victoria Advocate Publishing Co
Author: Gabe Semenza

I don't know about you guys but I could have gotten marijuana in high school a lot easier than cigs or alchahol.

[Richol]

Con: Legalizing marijuana wonâ??t improve society

Monday, May 4, 2009, 9:19

Marijuana should remain illegal in the United States, some say.

Marijuana is a gateway drug, leads to delinquency and would become a great problem for young people, those who oppose its legalization maintain.

Do you want your children getting their hands on a drug the way they can beer or cigarettes?

Victoria County Sheriff T. Michael Oâ??Connor said making marijuana legal wonâ??t make society better.

Many of the narcotics users his department arrests say they graduate from marijuana to more lethal drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamines.

â??Sometimes the grass isnâ??t greater on the other side,â?� Oâ??Connor said.

In California, where marijuana is legal for medical purposes in some cities, crime rates are still worrisome.

â??There is an increased aggressiveness among criminals,â?� Oâ??Connor said. â??They rob these stores for the product. Or, they rob people for the legal drug profits. Criminals will just wait for pot to become legal, and theyâ??ll just continue to rob.â?�

Life on roadways would suffer, too. Law enforcement at all levels fight daily the problem of drivers who abuse alcohol. Drivers who abuse marijuana would worsen the problem.

â??To put themselves in an impaired way, then weâ??ll have increased risks to travel,â?� Oâ??Connor said.

Victoria Police Chief Bruce Ure said heâ??s unsure, without having viewed ample scientific data, what the full effects on society would be.

â??The issue that concerns me most,â?� Ure said, â??is whatâ??s next? If society legalizes this particular drug, then what drug is next and where do we stop.â?�

Legalizing marijuana wonâ??t undermine violent drug cartels, as legalization proponents suggest.

â??Organized crime will find something else,â?� Oâ??Connor said. â??Theyâ??ll continue until we change peopleâ??s minds about using narcotics. Itâ??s a defeatist attitude to say, â??Letâ??s make it legal.â?? Iâ??m trying to look at it practically, look at the bigger picture of things. What kind of laws will we write up on this? Can we enforce it?â?�

To legalize marijuana simply for taxation is not enough reason, District Attorney Steve Tyler said.

â??Nicotine doesnâ??t impair judgment like marijuana does,â?� Tyler said. â??Itâ??s a concern for young people. Personally speaking, not speaking as a district attorney, I side toward it being illegal. I believe it poses a health risk and poses the greatest risk to young people.â?�

Link: Victoria Advocate | Con: Legalizing marijuana won't improve society
Source: Victoria Advocate Publishing Co
Author: Gabe Semenza

again people are ranting the same shit they have always said about the good green herb:stupid:

[yokinazu]

Oâ??Connor said. â??Theyâ??ll continue until we change peopleâ??s minds about using narcotics.

hmmm. people have been using some sort of narcotic since the hmm i know it was a few years before 1963 i think man started using drugs, lets see, about the year of the dawn of man. earliest known writings of herb date to 2000 bc china. so im bettin its pretty much ingrained into our dna the urge to expand the mind.

[Markass]

Looks like a more ignorant than normal rant about why pot shouldn't be legal by a law enforcement officer, who would rather see it illegal for nothing but job security..

I'm with the other person, marijuana was much easier to get than cigarettes or alcohol, and even harder drugs were easier than pot to get..soon there will be enough people saying that, and the opposition will no longer be able to use that statement...just as has happened with the whole "it kills brain cells and makes you stupid" no, actually alcohol does that..and it's legal, marijuana binds to cannabinoid receptors..gotta love modern science

[delusionsofNORMALity]

it seems rather foolish to attempt to rebut such a load of drivel, but i have a bit of extra time this morning and i'm just high enough to waste that time in such an intellectual exercise.

Marijuana is a gateway drug, leads to delinquency and would become a great problem for young people, those who oppose its legalization maintain.

i just love the gateway argument. its false logic lies in the fact that any action may be seen to lead to any other action. cars lead to accidents, guns lead to shootings, mother's milk leads to heroin, life leads to death. if we consider only the worst possible outcomes to all our choices, we will find ourselves unable to rise from our beds each morning for fear of sparking some genocidal rampage by our least little action.

how foolish it is to believe that we can protect ourselves from error by refusing to act at all or, even worse, by limiting the freedom to act with a series of nonsensical regulations. our children realize this as well or even better than their parents. childhood is filled with those moments of stretching the boundaries and drug use is no exception. laws do not inhibit experimentation, they merely provide another boundary to test. delinquency needs no excuse, its roots lie in the apathy of parents and the incompetence of a failing educational system.

In California, where marijuana is legal for medical purposes in some cities, crime rates are still worrisome.

â??There is an increased aggressiveness among criminals,â?� Oâ??Connor said. â??They rob these stores for the product. Or, they rob people for the legal drug profits. Criminals will just wait for pot to become legal, and theyâ??ll just continue to rob.â?�

the real point is that "they'll just continue to rob", that's just what some people do. thefts aren't committed because of their illegality, but for the profit. the huge profitability of dealing in illegal commodities makes them a prime target for theft. the argument makes no more sense than banning the sale of electronics or jewelry because they too are so often stolen.

Life on roadways would suffer, too. Law enforcement at all levels fight daily the problem of drivers who abuse alcohol. Drivers who abuse marijuana would worsen the problem.

heaven forbid that we should handicap law enforcement by actually asking them to do their job.

â??Nicotine doesnâ??t impair judgment like marijuana does,â?� Tyler said. â??Itâ??s a concern for young people. Personally speaking, not speaking as a district attorney, I side toward it being illegal. I believe it poses a health risk and poses the greatest risk to young people.â?�

nicotine may not impair judgment, but it does kill. as a life-long smoker, i can honestly say that i would rather my son smoked weed than cigarettes. i would rather he lived a long life with occasional bouts of euphoria than died at an early age, gasping for breath and coughing up what remained of his lungs.

â??The issue that concerns me most,â?� Ure said, â??is whatâ??s next? If society legalizes this particular drug, then what drug is next and where do we stop.â?�

where do we stop, indeed? should we actually ask that our citizens choose their paths for themselves or are we all just children to be controlled by an ever more intrusive government? the ethical development of a society might best be determined by the number of regulations needed to keep it from self-destructing and it seems we are increasingly underdeveloped. each year we see more and more laws needed to keep the population under control. our moral growth is stunted by this increasing dependence on government for guidance. why not just hand over our lives to the police state and embrace the totalitarian bureaucracy as necessary for our survival?

[Medicaldelivery]

By legalizing, we're not trying to make society better. It's gonna take a little more than legalizing bud to better our society, America has some REAL PROBLEMS that are not going to be fixed by legalizing weed.

Legalizing will keep a lot of people out of jail, cuz they won't get arrested for a gram of bud (like I did a few years ago).

Also, for the benefits it's gonna provide to sick folks, who use bud as medicine for their illness.

These are the types of discussions that we really need to stop having with people, they're laughing at us behind our backs, because they know that these types of conversations do not lead to anywhere, they just satisfy the pot heads who want to argue about their drugs.

This is a pointless debate...If you think that legalizing bud will improve society, then you are the living in a fantasy land, and you need to stop smoking or stop talking about this type of shit.

[Medicaldelivery]

Looks like a more ignorant than normal rant about why pot shouldn't be legal by a law enforcement officer, who would rather see it illegal for nothing but job security..

I'm with the other person, marijuana was much easier to get than cigarettes or alcohol, and even harder drugs were easier than pot to get..soon there will be enough people saying that, and the opposition will no longer be able to use that statement...just as has happened with the whole "it kills brain cells and makes you stupid" no, actually alcohol does that..and it's legal, marijuana binds to cannabinoid receptors..gotta love modern science

Don't you just love modern science?

[Italiano715]

First of all that whole thing the cop from Victoria County said about gateway drugs is bullshit.....I've smoke since i was 15 years old and have NEVER done anything else but smoke weed....I don't even smoke cigarettes :wtf: So how can people who have never done the drug oppose to it being illegal? It if it affects society at all then it already has considering there are over 4 million americans that smoke EVERYDAY! I read that 2 million Americans will try it for the first time this year. I just think that the cops and DEA agents are worried they will be out of a job considering most of the drug busts end up being large amounts of marijuana. So all I'm really trying to say is f**k the cops. They should be protecting us from violent offenders not your average everyday relax on the couch after work smoker! What is this world coming too when we live in a nation with a bunch of hypocritical government workers and officials?!

[yokinazu]

i noticed somthing here i thought kind of odd. back in the early to mid 80s when i first started my ranch, i remember seein that the number of people who ADMTITEDLY smoke pot on a daily basis was somewheres about 30 million and that another 50 mil were "social" smokers once or twice a month( this also includes those who wont admit it). now this article says 8 million. that seems like a huge decline. i would be willing to bet there are almost 8 mil that have obtained a scip for it across the country. that number just dont seem right. thats like 3.16666 % of our entire poulace.i dont even no 3.16 outa 10 people who dont smoke pot.