Should marijuana be legal?

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There was an article in the newspaper this week about a study on this subject. The study found that marijuana was not a Gateway drug. It also noted that many marijuana users went on periodic drinking binges, and smoked cigarettes. It stated that it was unclear whether the marijuana users drank for the same reason they smoked, but they pointed out (as a reason for the "gateway drug" myth) that it, along with alcohol, are simply available at a younger age than harder drugs, and that a person who was "predisposed" to use harder drugs starts with marijuana and alcohol because it's easier to get. Can't find the article right now or I would provide some direct quotes.

One thing I also think is kind of strange: Tens of thousands of people die from alcohol every year. It ranges from machinery or auto accidents while under the influence, violence caused to other people while in an alcoholic rage, people doing insanely stupid things while drunk, etc. Yet I can (if I am of legal age), walk into any place that serves or sales alcohol, and get completely drunk. It's 100% legal. Yet marijuana, which (as far as I have been able to tell) does not cause any fatalities, is illegal.

So, the lines are open, callers you are on the air. What do you think?

I would also be curious to hear from people who live in countries where it is legal. How is it viewed there? Is there a stigma attached to it? Are users looked down upon socially, or is it not considered that big of a deal? Does the fact that it's legal raise/lower crime?

[ January 18, 2003, 10:02: Message edited by: Nutrimat ]

 

The argument that just because alcohol is legal so should cannabis be is pretty lame. Alcohol is as damaging if not more than cannabis but why should that make us legalise even more dangerous substances? Alcohol has a cultural history in the western world and we know more or less what we are doing, though the damages are huge. Cannabis doesnt have this cultural history and when you do try it you have broken the cultural taboo against drugs and if you have done it with one drug why not another? The main danger with cannabis is the psychological effects, alcohol may wreck your body but cannabis wreck your mind. It 'conservates' the brain so to speak, so if you start to smoke pot on a regular basis at age 15 you dont get much older than 15. This danger of course dissipates as you get older and when you are adult I would say that alcohol is a more damaging drug than cannabis from a medical perspective. But even then we have the random psychosis to include which can be pretty nasty.

 

I do not think canopus should be legalized... no matter how many people say it is not dangerous it is... (some say the MOST dangerous as it leads to harder drugs ( and it DOES do not kid yourself)) Many many other reeason why it should not be legalized but chances are you know them.

[ January 18, 2003, 12:52: Message edited by: X ]

 

Tal, the poisoning to death can always happen from other products too. Wanna try? Eat (don't smoke) a few cigarettes.

Anyway, I think that use of marijuana should be legal, however the selling on the street should remain illegal. So, sell it in stores, controlled.

Do I have to add that I actually don't see the fuss over marijuana? I really don't get what do anyone needs it for (except as painkiller or whatever for cases of cancer).
I've always said that if you can't get good time or good laughter without alcohol and drugs, there is a good chance that your brain is irreparably damaged.

I'll just add to Tal's observation some more - it's not only marijuana that leads to harder drugs. Smoking (generally), alcohol, abuse of painkiller pills, antibiotic&alcohol combos can also lead to drugs. Your only chance is to choose not to take something BEFORE you ever get offered! Without an initial attitude towards drugs, there is almost no way you'll reject it.

[ January 18, 2003, 14:39: Message edited by: Extremist ]

 

I think Nutrimat's point is that there is no causal effect between using marijuana and using harder drugs. I agree wholeheartedly. Studies that purport to show a causal effect have been roundly criticized for their shoddy work. Many times this is how they go: study a group of, say, heroin users. Find out how many of them used marijuana before heroin. You find out all of them did and conclude that marijuana makes you more likely to use heroin.

That's shoddy reasoning. It doesn't account for all the people, I know many, who use marijuana and never use heroin. I read Nutrimat to be saying that those willing to go a further step and break stricter laws by procuring and using heroin would be willing to break more minor laws and obtain the easily had marijuana. There is no causal link there between marijana and heroin.

As for me, I don't care whether marijuana is harmful. Simply because something is harmful in my opinion it doesn't follow that it should be illegal. Causing direct harm to another should be illegal in my book but not to yourself.

 

Yes, legalise it. Also legalise heroin, cocaine, ecstasy etc. And eliminate the category of "prescription drugs". When I need a refill of, say, tetracycline, why should I have to pay a doctor to give me permission? I'm a grownup, and it's a private matter between me and the pharmaceutical company. If I want medical advice, it's not like I don't know where to find it.

I used a fair amount of marijuana and hashish when I was a teenager. It was boring. I stopped. It never led to harder drug use for me because I just wasn't interested. People who enjoy intoxication will do it whether it's legal or not. Let's stop hemorrhaging taxpayers' money in futile efforts to stop them.

 

I would like to see marijuana and tobacco be treated equally - either both legal or both illegal. The separation of the two has as much to do with the vast sums of money in the tobacco lobby as with any "long-standing cultural traditions" you care to name. Unfortunately, for that very reason, it'll never happen. Personally, I think the US Supreme Court messed up when they ruled that cigarettes couldn't be controlled as a drug delivery device. I'd like to see both tobacco and marijuana available by prescription only. Then again, have any studies ever found any beneficial uses for tobacco/nicotine?

This is one of the most dangerous things I've every heard. Right now there's a huge and growing danger of drug-resistant organisms due to the misuse and over-prescription of antibiotics. Are you sure that what you have is bacterial (which will respond to antibiotics) and not viral (which won't), Sprite? If you take antibiotics for a viral infection not only do you do yourself no good, you may SLOW your recovery by wiping out your body's beneficial flora.

Then there's the whole topic of drug interactions and side effects. What a get-rich-quick scheme for lawyers this would be! Will everyone with high blood pressure read the labels well enough to know that they should take Allegra for their allergies instead of Sudafed? No way. How about something as simple as vitamins or herbs? How many women take Calcium to prevent ostoporosis and Iron for anemia, and just swallow a handful of tablets with their morning coffee without realizing that calcium blocks the absorption of iron? People who use herbs often don't consider them as medicine so they aren't reported to the doctor who's treating the person, but they can alter symptomology or treatment. Where do you think the modern science of pharmacology started, anyway?

I now work for a company that does data management, frequently for projects related to clinical trials of drugs. What I've learned about pharmaceuticals has completely killed my curiosity regarding controlled sustances. I pay my doctors to keep stuff like this straight, and I'm not going to muck around with self-medication (aside from the occassional ibuprofen, I admit) and make their work harder.

 

I think we should all follow Dave Barry's suggestion--Legalize all drugs, and sell them in the grocery store. Only, make sure they're packaged in those shrink-wrapped/blister packs that so many of our finest food products are now available in. Or put a child-proof cap on it. If normal, everyday consumers can't get into the things, then how on earth is someone high on crack going to be able to?
I think that marijuana should be legalized, and here's why. I, personally, find marijuana unappealing. I think it's gross, and it makes people act goofy. Then again, I'm an asthmatic, and hate cigs too. But I think that marijuana affects peoples mind just as much as alcohol does, and I think it should be legalized and controlled like alcohol is. We could have signs on the highway---"Don't take a hit and drive." We could have tv ads featuring rugged men playing football and smoking up. (it's as realistic as the tv ads showing rugged men playing football and drinking). Think of the sociatal implications! I think it would be fun to watch.

 

Ouch.

This thread hurts.

Mainly because so few people look only at the situation, and don't bother looking at all of the effects that situation will have on the entire rest of the world. When I say the rest of the world, I mean the price of rice in China, the number of people in your high school graduating class, and the softness of the Charmin toilet tissue with which you wipe your sweet hinney.

The goal may very well be desirable. But it's the path that makes it so difficult.

If you believe the ends justify the means, then yes; the United States should legalize marijuana.

 

Why should we legalize drugs? We would have to close half of our jails, close most of our courts and layoff countless police, judges and lawyers. But then with the money saved we could do less important things such as provide school lunch programs for poor children, good health care for the aging, and perhaps even have a system of education that really produces excellence. All the things conservatives hate. But don't worry, things won't change anytime soon.

 

Legalize it, tax the hell out of, and use all the $$ to build a great big 7-11 with nachos and snack foods for all!!!

Actually, I could care less about legalizing drugs...I still wouldn't use them. But I think overall, it would lessen crime, plus you could tax it, but I think overall productivity in the US would decline...But personally, I think Americans work way too many hours anyway!

 

Have you ever think who are the persons who are earning money from drugs except the drug dealers? The answer is simple. Cops, politicians, judges, lawyers, businessmen. If drugs are legalized all these will lose lot of money.

Tal
The kid, who died problably was allergic in marijuana. Do you know how many people are allergic in bees wasps or even cats? Should all these be illegal and exterminated? Also, the fact that drugs are illegal does not prevent people from trying them. On the contrary, the forbidden is always attractive and since everybody is a rebel, when he/she is teenager, trying drugs is a kind of rebellion in his mind.

 

Then...Being a lawyer, I retract my last statement! Show me the money!!!!!

 

I like your idea, Sir Belisarius, but there would have to be free beer to go with the nachos - for those of LEGAL age, of course. Which would you rather have in your neighborhood, a new nacho stand, or a new prison? Conservatives love new prisons! Of course being a lawyer, you may opt for the latter regardless.

 

First, thanks to everyone for sharing your views.

Tal, I was not aware that a person could die from this. I am 32 years old, and have known people who smoked marijuana since I was 12. In this entire time, I have only heard of one fatality (a person who smoked his cannibis in a copper pipe, which killed him). The fact that the person you are referring to smoked one joint and died seems to me that it was an allergic reaction, not an overdose. If you look hard enough, you could probably find someone who is allergic to Twinkies, and would die if they ate them.

Also, the study I referred to said that people who smoked marijuana and then went on to "harder" drugs would have done so anyway. The only reason they started with marijuana is because it was available to them first.

Joacqin

I am not sure I understand your argument. Even though alcohol is far more damaging than marijuana, it stays legal because...it has a "cultural history"? Please clarify. Also:

Please clarify and explain to me exactly how marijuana "wrecks your mind". I have known intelligent people who smoked cannibis for long periods of time with no apparent mind wrecking. I've also known incredibly stupid stoners, and it is my belief that these people were, well, pretty dumb to begin with. By the way, alcohol is extremely damaging to the brain, and it's effects include hallucinations, disorientation, lack of concentration, memory loss, paranoia, etc. Unfortunately, I am speaking from personal experience, as some people very close to me are ex-alcoholics, who were forced to quit due to the mental and physical toll. Living with heavy drinkers is like watching someone commit suicide in slow motion over a period of years.

Laches: Yep. Cigarettes, alcohol, movie theater popcorn, and McDonalds food are all worse for you, yet nearly anyone can aquire these things.

Sprite: I don't think completely removing all restrictions on drugs, prescription or no, is a good idea at all.

Rallymama: I have heard one study recently that claimed cigarette users were much less likely to have prostrate problems (and no, it's not because they die first!). But it doesn't seem worth it to start up for that reason, given all the lung/throat/respiratory problems with cigs.

Tal, I honestly believe that few people are deterred from marijuana by the fact that it's illegal. At least here in the US, the penalties for it are not that severe (compared to other illegal drugs or substances). You might have some people who would try it just for the hell of it, but if these people are law abiding enough that they avoided it because it was illegal, I doubt if they would have that much of a problem with it or smoke it that much. It doesn't turn you into a psychotic killer or anything, after all.

[ January 19, 2003, 07:30: Message edited by: Nutrimat ]

 

The argument with cultural history was there to show that it would be impossible to ban alcohol due to it being our part of the worlds choice drug for millenia.
I did say some of the stuff cannabis does to your mind but I can say it again, it stunts your mental growth, especially devastating if you start with it a young age, it is alot more psychosis inducing than alcohol, it is stored in your braintissue and can get you stoned in the most awkward situation.
But it shouldnt really be compared with alcohol, I dont understand why people always do that. Just because we one damaging drug legal we should legalise another?
And everyones stories about how they smoked pot and they had friends that did and nothing bad happened to them is a moot point, not everyone that drinks turn alcoholic nor everyone that tries a cigarette turns a smoker. Some people are more vulnereable for drugs than others. Though you dont get to hear from them very often as they are most likely dead or living in some dump somewhere.

I would also like to add that the entire attitude towards cannabis is alot different in the US compared to the most northern european nations. It just isnt that big here and is seen as a drug and is therefore taboo while you are allowed to drink yourself senseless with little or no social repercussions. Here the fact that it is illegal do deter people from trying.

[ January 19, 2003, 10:48: Message edited by: joacqin ]

 

Do we realy need all these drugs? What good can possibly come from them? What is the point of having nations of screwed up high weirdo's running around?

 

I think here in Europe, the fact that canabis is illegal stimulates the use of it. Therefor maybe an option is to legalize it, and therefor make it less attrictive now that it is 'legal' but that's only speculation.

I have one question though, I have never smoked a marijuana cigaret before in my life, and never have the intention in doing so, in fact I have never smoke a normal cigaret either. I think it's for the weak but hey that's me
Question: Are marijuana cigarets as addictive as normal cigarets?