Why cannabis SHOULDN'T be legalized

[Pride]

I have a friend who likes to smoke up but actually he hates the living shit out of weed and thinks its ruining the world (he continues to smoke cause he's addicted). I decided to post his opinions but mine as well.

Anyway, we already have tobacco and alcohol problems in this country. Why should we legalize another drug? This country is well known for being stupid with drugs and abusing drugs. Do we really need another drug to legalize?
Freedom of choice? It's gonna cost this country a lot just to do so.

Medical? Is there really medical benefits? Or is it just an excuse for potheads and old people to get high?
If medical weed is legalized, then people can cure their back problems while at work. It's not like their back pains won't return. Then they'll be too stoned to work and it'll all be legal and will cause a slow down in this country.

Expensive pills not working? Side effects?
He thinks that patients are lying and just want weed to get high.
As harsh as it sounds, we cannot just ignore these things.
I've read posts from some of you that are trying to bullshit your doctors to get a medical card (YOU know who YOU are!)

Statistics in other countries?
One pot head said "Look at Amsterdam, they're doing fine!"
Yet a non smoker from a completely different forum said: "Amsterdam is full of whores and potheads! It's disgusting!"
Plus, we're not Amsterdam. In fact, we can't even let alone handle alcohol that we had to push the drinking age to 21. We saved 20,000 lives a year just for doing that.

Many of you think the government just wants money, doesn't want us to know the truth, etc. But perhaps they're keeping weed illegal for a perfectly better reason than what you think. Maybe they simply don't want the country to be full of potheads who stay home all the time. I admit they go out of control sometimes, but so can potheads anyway.

I am not for keeping it illegal, or legalizing it. But rather I'm just a curious George asking questions. Don't be mad and flame me, but rather try to think and reason. All I see are 'LEGALIZE IT' threads, but there's never a topic that questions the bad parts of weed. There's a bad side of everything. We should discuss it. I see way too many threads on people failing and dropping out of school because they skip school and get high. We cannot toss that aside.

It'd be great if weed became legal and I can easily go to a store and get weed and peacefully smoke it at home. That's what we all think. But maybe we're thinking for ourselves and just want to get high.

Maybe we should look at the bigger picture?

Please reply and tell me your thoughts.
Again keep in mind, I'm not for legalizing, nor for keeping it illegal. But I think this is a very important topic to discuss.
Another thing though, this is probably like posting why pirating stuff is ok on a warez forum. But I still want your opinions.
Thanks.

Pride Reviewed by Pride on 05-18-2006. Why cannabis SHOULDN'T be legalized I have a friend who likes to smoke up but actually he hates the living shit out of weed and thinks its ruining the world (he continues to smoke cause he's addicted). I decided to post his opinions but mine as well. Anyway, we already have tobacco and alcohol problems in this country. Why should we legalize another drug? This country is well known for being stupid with drugs and abusing drugs. Do we really need another drug to legalize? Freedom of choice? It's gonna cost this country a lot Rating: 5

[harmonicminor]

you know it was never a problem till they made it illegal. it also helped mankind survive for thousands of years. it could solve our energy crisis
it is the 1 plant in the whole world with many many uses besides being potheads
we dont have much time till mankind will come to an end anyway because of our destructive nature
many of the people that I see that dont like pot are crackheads or opiates addicts
would you rather your children be doing that????????
not to mention the whole stoner thing is propaganda
go watch your tv for some more mind programming

[Pride]

Those drugs are even worse but not enough people abuse them anyway which is why they're not that big of a problem.
Did enough people smoke weed in the past?

Not enough people smoke salvia. If people smoked as much salvia as they did with weed, then it would be an issue. Oh wait, it is, isn't it? There's already an issue with that kid commiting suicide. That's just a start.
It's already all over the news these days. Kids are abusing salvia. Salvia IS becoming an issue.
What is NY doing right now? They're making it illegal.
Soon the whole country might do that.

I believe it wasn't until way later that weed became an issue and too many people started abusing it. Nowadays we smoke weed a whole lot more than we used to.

[graph]

You're misinformed in a lot of areas, my friend. The world does not only smoke tobacco and drink alcohol, there are thousands of people in America that smoke marijuana. However, every single day people are going to jail because of it. Not all of them are drug dealers; some of them are husbands and wives, some are mothers and fathers, all because they use a drug that has been used since the beginning of civilization. Do you think weed is scary? That people who use it deserve to be incarcerated?

What will it cost this country? Surely not financially, they are actually losing money because of this "War on Drugs". Besides, with legalization comes taxation, and maybe it would benefit us all economically in the end.

I have experienced firsthand people who have never smoked cannabis in their life, and will only do so now for medical purposes. There are people in my family with AIDS that will constantly vomit when going through chemotherapy, and their way of holding down food is vaporizing. However, I will never be able to prove to you that medical users do indeed use cannabis for strictly medical purposes. However, if you ever find yourself suffering from glaucoma or arthritis, I suggest seeing how much you can benefit from cannabis.

Any doctor will tell you that everyone's biochemistry is different. Not all drugs work on all people. In fact, any given perscription drug on the market today will only work for about 80% of the population. With perscription medication come sometimes horrible side-effects, such drowsiness, vomiting, anal leakage, I mean the list just goes on. I believe anal leakage to be far more dangerous to the workplace than being a little high, don't you?

Again, I must reiterate one simple fact. You don't know, and may never know, how much some people suffer in this world, especially people with horrible, dibilitating conditions such as multiple sclerosis. To call these people liars is just naive. However, even if they were lying, after all the pain that they suffer through every day, is it that much of a problem if they want to smoke a joint? Who is it hurting?

That's probably the biggest question regarding Prohibition. Who is it hurting? Alcohol is physically addictive, Cannabis is not. Alcohol makes people violent and incapacitated, Cannabis makes you passive and a little hungry. People still die in this country from alcohol poisoning. No one has ever died from too much Cannabis. This country has a horrible caffeine addiction, yet that's not popularazied by the media.

Remember, strip away all the goverment propaganda, the Prohibition, the anti-marijuana fighters, and even those pro-marijuana, and you're left with a plant. All of this fuss, all over a plant?

[harmonicminor]

well Salvia isnt something for the average person to relax to after work.
those other drugs arent a problem????? I think more people are dying from that than weed my friend
I take it you live out in the woods somewhere

[gromorebud]

It'd be great if weed became legal and I can easily go to a store and get weed and peacefully smoke it at home. That's what we all think. But maybe we're thinking for ourselves and just want to get high.
so what's so bad about that?

[rantingsweed]

that kid that killed himself wasnt because of salvia, it didnt make him kill himself he did it of his own free will. He should have been smart enough to know that he was just on a drug and it wasnt real, his own fault for not being mentally prepared, not the drugs. Salvia has been used for religous and healing purposes for thousands of years, it's not some new killer drug.

And almost every person ive talked to that has tried salvia say they will never do it again.

Also, you should watch the Penn and Teller Bullshit! epsiode about marijuana and pay close attention to Dr. Lesper Grinspoon's part, he believed all the propaganda about marijuana until he actually researched it for himself. Then his son was diagnosed with cancer, and cannabis cured him of his nausea and vomitting from chemo, and he never had it again. It worked the first time he tried it.

Again, NOBODY has ever died from a marijuana overdose.

Who can say what a person can and cannot do with their own body? The only person that should be able to do that is a persons own self.

[rantingsweed]

oh, and watch the last 4 or so minutes and look at Irvin Rosenfeld(sp?). He smokes marijuana LEGALLY provided by the federal government for bone tumors, he is a very successfull stock broker. There are only 7 patients left that are still provided with legal marijuana from the federal government, and i agree with Irvin, once all those patients are gone the government might just end all things marijuana in america.

[Ms.W]

Very sad perspective. Your friend's internal strife sounds concerning. I am a professional in the mental health field and would suggest he/she seek counseling. And, for the record, smoking pot is not the root cause of one's laziness, this is a ridiculous badge. The problem is this: the perception that people who smoke pot are airheads is perpetuated because those of us who are high functioning (professionals, educators, civil servants, etc.) cannot admit that we smoke pot! The folks you refer to are folks who lack descretion and would likely act in a similar way if they did't smoke pot.

[Pepper]

Good post Ms. W.