First off I dont smoke, but I think it should be legalized. So many people do it anyway, I think its a personal choice and I dont think a large number of people would start smoking just because it was legal. If it were taxed & made a little more expensive, I think maybe less people would do it. If people wanna get fat & lazy thats THEIR problem, they will do it anyway, cause cigarettes, beer, and cheeseburgers are legal. People are being killed every day over drug sales, police are risking their lives trying to stop marijuana use/sales, children are being raised in/around grow houses and living with parents who deal. Kids are in foster care because their parents are in jail for dealing or possession. We have overcrowded jails and violent criminals being released who really need to be in there. People are able to sell weed & get welfare & food stamps and walk around decked out in gold jewelry. The same laws should apply that apply to drinking...like you cant get high in public, cant drive high, etc. Wow thats a lot I guess I feel pretty strongly on this one 
Sorry to pick you out, but you've made some very clever remarks.
The people that smoke weed know that it is ilegal just like people who don't. Sure, people who don't smoke it may try it as long as it wasn't against the law. That's not a choice though, it's a risk. If weed was sold at wal-mart, imagine the impulse buyers who would pick it up. And the point you made about just making it more expensive, well, if it's so exspensive, why would someone who smokes it regularly buy it legaly when they can get it for half the price from their dealer? Legalizing weed won't make crime go down. Committing crimes, that's a risk, not a choice. Becoming fat is no where near being a personal choice. It's darn near an affliction. The same reason a marijuana smoker would lite up a pipe to forget about his stressful life, a normal person would eat a cheeseburger. Not because they choose to, but because it's what they've been conditioned to do.
Maybe the reason the government never legalized weed is because they realized the huge mistake they made when they gave up the prohibition. Just because alcohol is legal doesn't mean it was a good idea. Heck, lot's of things that the government did were huge mistakes. The same reason they can't just pull out of iraq and they can't try to re-ilegalize alcohol, you'd have a lot of p-o'ed people with fire arms knocking on the government front door. but I digress...
Weed has nothing to do with
"overcrowded jails and violent criminals being released who really need to be in there". Penalties for possession of marijuana are dang near a slap on the wrist. Something like a $500 fine and 30 days to a year in jail.
"People are able to sell weed & get welfare & food stamps and walk around decked out in gold jewelry", I really don't want to get deep with this one. But selling weed doesn't exactly make a 5 figure yearly income. They are on welfare and food stamps BECAUSE they sell weed. And this can be traceable back to families being raised with no father in the household. No fathers because of some stupid drug deal or childish gang fight. And that's about as far as I'll go, that is an entirely new topic.
Adding weed to a roster with a bunch of "do not's" as rules (like alcohol) isn't going to fix anything if weed is legal. Just look at how many people are being killed because of drunk drivers. Killed by people, not following the law.
Like I said before, sorry about picking you out of the crowd. But you made some very good points that I understand from another persons perspective.
Community Forum
Topic: Your Opinion: Legalize Marijuana? (Read 24037 times)
June 26, 2010, 10:46:43 am
