Legalization of Marijuana discussion

The fact that you're not high and you still decided to post this makes me hesitant to legalize weed under the possibility that it could cause greater circulation of the substance.

I don't really see what me being high/not being high when posting this matters. The debate is made by a lot of people whether they use it or not. Even schools debate this. o.o I only posted this because i was curious what SPers thought about it.

While I am totally for cannabis, "legalization" is a huge term for this case. You'd be probably better off talking about depenalization. To legalize is to entitle people to legally do something now banned by law. If legalized, pot plants are legalized too, and commerce is as well.

By lifting the ban on personal consuming, regular or occasional consumers are allowed to carry or smoke weed in private places, such as home or whatever. Pot smokers, in this case, are no longer plausible for emprisonment, but called sick people if found with problems.

In my country, as well as in the Netherlands and some other country, marihuana has been depenalized and I cannot say the outcome is bad.

Weed, differently to what most people believe, is not even as bad as alcohol, tobacco or harder drugs. In fact is lighter instead. Most of us know our way around Google, any of you can check this yourselves.

Gotta say, that makes a lot more sense. Never really heard about that, lol.

What happens if you get caught in a country where it's depenalized? Does nothing happen or what?

As for Takebacker's first post, you can't measure if "legalizing" or depenalizing pot with one of those examples. Saying some random guy had a better score studying high instead of sober, only reinforces the gap between what people think about pot and its regular consumers and the real effect.

Is it me or does it look like you didn't finish your first sentance? o.o

I don't really see what me being high/not being high when posting this matters. The debate is made by a lot of people whether they use it or not. Even schools debate this. o.o I only posted this because i was curious what SPers thought about it.

This is not a debate. This is a farce.

Oh, yeah lol. What I mean is that your example only helps to make non-consumers more scared about what weed really does. More especifically, people will only think pot affects your brain or your way of thinking. And reinforces the thought you need that to be good at school and all sorts of crap.

As far as depenalization goes, lets say I'm caught around the street with a "cigar"? Of weed (they call them "porros" here), I only get adviced that I'm only entitled to smoke my weed in a private place. HOWEVER, there's a certain quantity you're allowed to possess at a time, lets say, 1,5~2 grams or something like that.

This is not a debate. This is a farce.

Go argue why alcohol or tobacco is legal and pot isn't, being pot less damaging to your health. I don't see that as a valid point.

Alcohol and tobacco should be illegal along with prostitution (Las Vegas), corruption (pork-barrel legislation & log roll voting), fabrication (reproducible results on scientific papers) and pot. But it's because a vast majority of people are irresponsible and barely have any moral decency that the last thing many countries need is to consider the ramification of making marijuana open for public consumption. Especially since such legal actions by the government, would make them viable for potential lawsuits when accidents and troubles begin to hit the fan. People have the gall to sue companies for half-assed reasons like spilling coffee on themselves. The last thing that the American government needs to handle is lawsuits from the American populace over their own stupidity and irresponsibility. Working in emergency last week, I witnessed two kids wasting four hours of the hospital's time trying to get vicodin by pretending that they were in severe pain. They were just a bunch of idiots who wanted to get high and wasted my time that I could have spent with other patients. If you have a scientific paper detailing the effects of pot and have that compared to the effects of alcohol I would be interested in you posting that for me.

This is not a debate.

This thread specifically? Not really. Bad choice of words.

Oh, yeah lol. What I mean is that your example only helps to make non-consumers more scared about what weed really does. More especifically, people will only think pot affects your brain or your way of thinking. And reinforces the thought you need that to be good at school and all sorts of crap.

Oh. I wouldn't say you "need" it to be good at school.

As far as depenalization goes, lets say I'm caught around the street with a "cigar"? Of weed (they call them "porros" here), I only get adviced that I'm only entitled to smoke my weed in a private place. HOWEVER, there's a certain quantity you're allowed to possess at a time, lets say, 1,5~2 grams or something like that.

Interesting. And 2 grams is a good amount of weed too. o.o Though obviously some people would carry more anyway.

http://www.saferchoice.org/content/view/24/53/

Delivered. I can probably find a better paper when on a computer not a blackberry.

@Takebacker

I'm not saying particularly being good at school. The example isn't good anyway. Also, 2 grams is two normal weed cigars. Maybe a tad "big". It's not really that much and it doesn't justify that you're selling weed. In the end, the justification behind all this legalization/depenalization thing is to knock down big scale drug selling. When you think about it, the guy that sells you a cigar around the corner isn't the one damaging the whole population or the government itself.

http://www.saferchoice.org/content/view/24/53/

Delivered. I can probably find a better paper when on a computer not a blackberry.

It's a really wonderful site. SAFER envisions a society where they can get their hands on marijuana. Even if it means fabricating data and blatantly lying to people with their half-baked statistics and lack of a moral spine. The first thing we see on this wonderful website is a graph. Now to the average Joe, when you have a graph, you're really rolling in the dough. Having a graph means you have to be legit. After all, how many people have time to go on excel and slap a bunch of numbers to form a bar graph. I certainly don't. Yet someone who was probably high at the time had the audacity to not only make a graph, but to link it to a 1994 New York Times article that sets up the parameters for how to define such factors. When it comes to actual numbers, the article doesn't really elaborate on how to judge nicotine or compare it other conventional uses of "I can't handle the pressures of life" products. So SAFER decided to slap on the numbers themselves. Thanks SAFER! Also they cleverly sneak in the article at the end of that section making the reader believe that the NY times article actually does incoporate those numbers into the graph. Those clever sons of bitches.

But I digress. One mistake isn't enough to be so condescending. Let's look at the second group of statistics that SAFER gives us in order to inform us how much SAFER weed is than other alternatives: in 2001, there were 331 alcohol overdose deaths and 0 marijuana overdose deaths. Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). SAFER this time gives us government information. Wow SAFER. First the New York Times and now the Center for Disease Control. Very fucking impressive. Except for the fact that this government webpage also has no mention of marijuana or weed either. SAFER why do you lie to us and attempt to fabricate data to push your own agenda. Is it because there are no legitimate arguments to back up your opinion, or are you too busy getting high to do things the right way, instead of blatantly lying to a portion of the world that is not as hopelessly idiotic as you want them to be.

I quickly skimmed again through that article and they talk about marijuana clearly with the correspondent evidence. If someone can lend me a hand and find a better article to support the cause it would help. I spend 5 minutes to load a page and 5 more to try to skim through it.

For

because weed isn't as dangerous as alcohol or cigarettes, yet both of those are legal. I know they stay legal because of taxes or whatever, so I guess the government is just scared that we can actually provide for ourselves for once.

I'm not saying particularly being good at school. The example isn't good anyway. Also, 2 grams is two normal weed cigars. Maybe a tad "big". It's not really that much and it doesn't justify that you're selling weed. In the end, the justification behind all this legalization/depenalization thing is to knock down big scale drug selling. When you think about it, the guy that sells you a cigar around the corner isn't the one damaging the whole population or the government itself.

Well sure if you smoke a joint all the time it isn't really THAT much, but if you do it the way most people do then 2 grams could last a good while longer. I didn't say it was a lot, just that it was a good amount.

And yeah, that does make a lot of sense.

@ article thing: Here's the google search for the sake of rob. http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q...a56c95bda8

For

because weed isn't as dangerous as alcohol or cigarettes, yet both of those are legal.

For the record, this is not an argument.

Guys this is a scientific paper: http://www.springerlink.com/content/h423x57p33521404/

You could have found it if you went to Google Scholar or used Ebscohost. I assumed you knew how to find these articles as you seemed so convinced about your personal opinions that I thought you had a scientific paper bookmarked for possible argumentation. I always do this when I feel strongly about anything. I couldn't find many scientific articles that directly verify your claims. I took the initiative to read through most of them that were listed. I'm sorry I turned this into an argument. I should have ignored this thread like I usually do. But this time I wanted to make an exception because I thought that this thread would be educative if I gave it a second chance.

? That's a really old document, though i suppose that doesn't matter.

I thought this was pretty good. http://www.healthkicker.com/692253056/ma...breakdown/

? That's a really old document, though i suppose that doesn't matter.

I thought this was pretty good. http://www.healthkicker.com/692253056/ma...breakdown/

Adorable.

If you have a scientific paper detailing the effects of pot and have that compared to the effects of alcohol I would be interested in you posting that for me.

Here you go. I'm pretty sure this is what you're looking for.

Pot should be made legal IMO.
like its been said, if its illegal, people will be more inclined to do it.

side effects of it being made legal mumbo jumbo aside, itd help make jobs for one thing. figure if the government ran a program where people could sell weed to them for profit/redistribution, they could in theory make money buying the pomegranate and reselling it for more. and hemp paper/clothing, which'd help alleviate at least a small portion of the deforestation around the world, could be another potential factor.

the main thing is that proper education is needed on the subject in schools. none of this "DRUGS ARE BAD AND THEY CAN KILL YOU IF YOU USE THEM!" pomegranate, while half of those brats are on some form of ADHD/ADD/depression/social anxiety/ retard pill. same goes for guns, if youre educated and know what the thing does and how it feels, you're more inclined to be responsible about it.

Hahahahahahaha so ignorant.

THE PROBLEMS WEED CAUSES LIKE SITTING IN YOUR HOUSE AND EATING LOTS. SO. DAMN. AWFUL.

Weed doesn't cause any problems. It's a downer, so you're not likely to go out and cause trouble like someone who's drunk or freak out like someone who's on any other drug. Weed is harmless save for the few people who idioticly choose to drive under the influence and end up hitting someone, but those people probably aren't very good at driving anyway, and just as many accidents happen when people aren't impaired by weed.

There is legitimately no reason to be against weed. If everyone were high the world would be a better place.

edit: haaaaaaaaaahahahha @ shikage's post.

POT IS RUINING MY LIFE. I CAN'T CHANGE THE CHANNEL. TOO HIGH. IT'S ALL OVER.

Ahahahahahahahahah, will you marry me?

Btw yoyoyoyoyoyyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoy0y0y0yoy0yoy0o, you've never blazed have you. Go smoke weed and then come back and comment.

Btw yoyoyoyoyoyyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyoy0y0y0yoy0yoy0o, you've never blazed have you. Go smoke weed and then come back and comment.

This is also not an argument.

Maybe not, but to "comment" on something,you should have a clear understanding of the topic should you not?

Anyways i gtg to school.