To legalize it or not?

I just read a fascinating article in Time magazine concerning alot of European countries softening there Marijuana laws. So Are you For or Against and why?

I'm for legalization of canibis and hemp. For canibis because it's a bona fide part of human culture and history. Compared to booze or tobaco it no worst, possibly better. The great book " The Emporer Wears No Cloths" by Jack Herer details to exact greed and corruption that led to the United States Prohibiting it in the first place, there by leading to international pressure to do the same.I could go on and on and on so I won't.

Hemp- Pots industrial cousin. Scares the pants off the oil, textile and lumber industries because you can make paper, cloth, and fuel from it, not to mention the seeds are great food and nutrious too. And no you cant get high from hemp, only canibis.Way better for the enviroment, it could actually reduce greenhouse gases in our atmoshpere if enough of it were grown. The real reason pot was outlawed in the first place is....Hemp. 1937 The same year that Popular Mechanics announced the hemp revolution on its front page, Corrupt politicians (including William Randolph Hearst- the newspaper magnet) pushed the United states congress to pass prohibition to protect their precious assets in timber and textiles.
Wow what a rant! all opinions are welcome!

[Gabe]

I'll say legalize it, it no more harmful then smoking or drinking, has great medical benifts and a heck of alot of people are doing it anyway, so you might as well tax it.

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[Yorick]

I'm all for legalisation of all drugs. Get them out of organised crime and the undergroud, remove the mystique and subversive attraction and show it for what it is. Dependancy on, and slavery to foreign substances for energy, inspiration, relaxation, enhanced perception and stamina. Ask the families of heroin addicts wether they want it legalised.

The illegality is not working, the west is losing the battle as drugs are used by younger kids in more remote towns. Legalise, control and monitor the stuff IMO. Overdoses would become rare, crime would drop, and education would be enhanced. Prohibition didn't work did it?

Man, I took Morphine when I was in hospital. It's supposed to be akin to Heroin. I became a vegetable. A vegetable without pain, but one that couldn't think properly, communicate and express/receive at all. ASAP I was opting for Pethadine.

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I am the walrus!.... er, no hang on....

A fair dinkum laughing Hyena!

[Redblueflare]

I was going to say don't legalize it. After reading Yorick's post i've changed my mind. People that don't smoke that crap now, wouldn't smoke it even if it was legalized. Wouldn't make much of a difference would it?

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Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I just don't have to listen.

[SSJ4Sephiroth]

well, seeing as how my county is the biggest U.S. producer of marijuana, i say go ahead and legalize it. theres no way they can stop all that stuff from being smuggled in even if they do destroy all the farms in the States, so theres really no point in keeping it illegal. let us learn about it, and maybe so many people wont do it cuz they think its cool and rebellious! o and BTW, despite the fact that my county is the leading producer in marijuana, i dont do it.

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With each kill, I grow wiser, and with added wisdom, I grow stronger. Does anybody have any idea what this means?

[oldbittercraig]

Just like prohibition, the criminalization of illegal drugs simply leads to increased crime.

If the government legalized it, controlled the sale of it, and taxed it heavily we'd be able to make $$ to help improve the American education system. Additionally, we'd free up BILLIONS of dollars of taxpayer money pissed away on prison inmates locked up for menial drug offenses.

Not a user myself, but I think that the American peoples should be adult enough to make their own decisions (and suffer the consequences thereof).

[AliCat]

Against legalization.
Drugs are made illegal for various reasons, one of which is that they are dangerous to the human body, especially when inexpertly prepared. It's easy enough to say "legalize this (or that)" if you don't know anyone affected by it. After seeing enough people in their thirties and forties who have lost conscious control of bodily functions, permanently, from moving on from marijuana to harder drugs.
If we made various drugs legal, they would have to be regulated, as the public expects something legal to also be safe. Fine and dandy. How do you make what is essentially a toxin, a poison, in your system a "safe product"???

It would be interesting to see what someone from a country where such products are legal thinks.

[trux]

Most people should know my answer...LEGALIZE IT NOW!

I agree with everything Yorick has said. I also agree with everything G'kar has said.

The U.S. war on drugs is for the most part a war on immigration, poverty and the inner city. How often do you see a drug raid on a house in suburbia? Almost never. How often do you see a drug raid on a house in the slums of an inner city. Every day! There are just as many people using drugs in middle and upper class suburbs as there are in the inner city, yet look at the racial breakdown of our prison system for drug use.

Besides, if the government legalized marijuana it would be free to tax the hell out of it - making more money for themselves for something people spend billions of dollars on every year. Marlboro has already trademarked the marijuana leaf symbol for the inevitability that it will become legal (they'll be called Marlboro Blue's, by the way.)

I won't take all day listing all the other MANY reasons this should happen. The main reason I want it to become legal is that I love the sh*t. I'm an otherwise law-abiding citizen who finds it rather unjust that I could be thrown in jail for sitting in my house minding my own business with a bag of pot.

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a bunch of long hairs.
trux

[trux]

Originally posted by AliCat: Against legalization. Drugs are made illegal for various reasons, one of which is that they are dangerous to the human body, especially when inexpertly prepared. It's easy enough to say "legalize this (or that)" if you don't know anyone affected by it. After seeing enough people in their thirties and forties who have lost conscious control of bodily functions, permanently, from moving on from marijuana to harder drugs. If we made various drugs legal, they would have to be regulated, as the public expects something legal to also be safe. Fine and dandy. How do you make what is essentially a toxin, a poison, in your system a "safe product"??? It would be interesting to see what someone from a country where such products are legal thinks.

Drugs do harm the body. But so does alcohol. So does cigarettes. So does sugar. So does salt. Hell, so does steak. And these are things we can't go without.

How do you regulate something that is a toxin? Cigarettes are toxins and they are regulated. They are taxed. The government and corporations make an awful lot of money on them.

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a bunch of long hairs.
trux

[Liliara]

Just legalize marijuana. Let the police arresst the real criminals.

When was the last time someone smoking just pot went out and got into a fight because they felt rowdy? I think it's kind of impossible since it usually just glues them to the couch.

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The more thou sweateth in training, the less though bleedeth in combat