Legalization of marijuana

[mpeters69]

Just looking for who supports and who doesn't and reasoning as to why you feel how you do!

[sigmapi1501]

Is there a good reason AGAINST it?

[mpeters69]

Is there a good reason AGAINST it?

My thought exactly. It's your body, your choice how I look at it. However, this might seem contradictory due to the fact that I'm a staunch Republican..

[msmoneybags48]

It is a choice of whether I prefer to smoke marijuana or not.   I chose the latter, because I don't need anything in my body that addicting.  My ex-husbands smoked it, and they had the munchies as a result.

[mpeters69]

It is a choice of whether I prefer to smoke marijuana or not.   I chose the latter, because I don't need anything in my body that addicting.  My ex-husbands smoked it, and they had the munchies as a result.

I don't think marijuana is addictive. The munchies are like the only consequence but it's easily combated, it's all willpower really.

[loulizlee]

I have seen too many reality cop shows where the people who were caught disobeying the law were high on marijuana.  I am fine with using it for medical purposes, to relieve pain, but what is the real purpose for smoking it for "recreation"?  You will not convince me that it is not addictive, and you will not convince me that it is not the first step to other, harder drugs.  And you cannot convince me that you can have willpower when you are high on marijuana.  How many marijuana smokers have you known who were on a diet?

[mpeters69]

I have seen too many reality cop shows where the people who were caught disobeying the law were high on marijuana.  I am fine with using it for medical purposes, to relieve pain, but what is the real purpose for smoking it for "recreation"?  You will not convince me that it is not addictive, and you will not convince me that it is not the first step to other, harder drugs.  And you cannot convince me that you can have willpower when you are high on marijuana.  How many marijuana smokers have you known who were on a diet?

Well..I am a very avid marijuana user and I'm on a diet. I workout every day and have a very strict protein based diet where I only eat healthy foods. I smoke everyday before and after my workouts and random times throughout the day. I never binge eat. The munchies are not an issue with me nor my friends. I have never done another drug and never would want to. It's a natural substance and isn't harmful in anyway. If marijuana makes someone feel good, relaxed, and happy, why should you not be able to use it if it's your body? People that smoke marijuana don't turn into idiots. In fact, I find myself much more focused. I think about more things, I'm just happier. 50% of the people in jail are in jail for marijuana related crimes. We could save MILLIONS of tax payer money by legalizing and freeing these people. NOBODY has died from just marijuana use. The amount of deaths from tobacco and alcohol are insane, yet they're legal. You can not argue that these harmful and dangerous drugs deserve to be legal over marijuana. There is no legitimate argument there.

[sigmapi1501]

I have seen too many reality cop shows where the people who were caught disobeying the law were high on marijuana.  I am fine with using it for medical purposes, to relieve pain, but what is the real purpose for smoking it for "recreation"?  You will not convince me that it is not addictive, and you will not convince me that it is not the first step to other, harder drugs.  And you cannot convince me that you can have willpower when you are high on marijuana.  How many marijuana smokers have you known who were on a diet?

Ummm... those people on COPS are high on crack, not pot.  You don't fight cops on pot. You forget why they are there on pot.

[lvstephanie]

Being a staunch conservative, I feel that pot should be legalized at a federal level... This is one issue that I don't understand why some republicans (esp. at the federal level) are against since it really should be decided at the state level what they want to legalize and to what degree. I think it's outrageous that the DEA still can close down a legal store (or at least confiscate all of their merchandise) because even though the state may legalize it, there may be some federal laws that they're breaking. The only ways I can see having the federal government involved with marijuana laws would be if it was transported into the US from an outside country, if the federal government passed something like the legal drinking age (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Minimum_Drinking_Age_Act_of_1984) where there is no penalty at the national level for underage consumption and/or purchasing, but rather withholds federal funds to states that do not abide by the standards set by the federal government (thereby enticing states to pass laws making it illegal to purchase / possess alcoholic beverages under the age of 21), or if the FDA (or perhaps ATF) established rules defining how it was produced, characterized, etc. and conducted inspections to ensure that its production met with their standards.

You will not convince me that it is not addictive, and you will not convince me that it is not the first step to other, harder drugs.

I disagree that it is a so-called gateway drug... "Drugs" are anything (aside from foods) that a person takes in order to to alter the way they feel. Using this definition, there are many legal drugs (including legal, recreational drugs) that a person might consume, yet we don't consider them to be "gateway" drugs. Furthermore, it is not addictive as other drugs, even those legal, recreational ones (see http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-teenage-mind/201012/is-marijuana-addictive), so in that sense it doesn't mimic the "harder" drugs. Only about 10%-30% of regular users are reported as having an addiction, and that number drops to near 0% for first-time users. And the withdraw symptoms are also pretty minor, making even relatively easy for an addict to stop "cold-turkey" (compare that to the legal, recreational drug of nicotine). Another big difference between marijuana and "hard" drugs is that it is extremely unlikely to overdose and die from pot (see http://www.newhealthguide.org/Can-You-Overdose-On-Marijuana.html); in fact it is much easier to overdose on alcohol than from pot (it takes 40,000 times the amount of pot to OD than it takes to get high, yet with alcohol's stronger potency only takes about 5 times the amount to OD). And the deaths reported from marijuana consumption are either due to its influence affecting a person's perceptions when high (thus many deaths are due to driving while under the influence) or because there was a foreign substance in the marijuana (some dealers will spike the pot with "harder" substances in order to get the user addicted on that other substance) which with proper regulations on the manufacturing and characterization of marijuana would mostly eliminate. About the only similarity between marijuana and "hard" drugs that might make it a gateway drug is that it is illegal (in most states, esp. for recreational use), so the only way to purchase it is on the black market where the dealer may also sell the harder substances (including the spiking of the marijuana as described above). But if marijuana was made legal, then this becomes a moot point since legal shops, growers, and manufacturers would be out in the open and could be monitored more easily. Please note that I tried to find fairly objective sites / cites since both sides of the argument tend to over-exaggerate the reality of this drug's effects.

[hitch0403]

I want to comment on does marijuana lead to other dangerous drugs.I think we all know the answer to that is YES!!!I also realize it doesnt with ALL users of the weed.

If it caused 1 user to OVERDOSE on heroin....its ONE TOO MANY!!!

I personally know it can cause bronchitis too.I was an avid smoker of it in my late teens and coughed for over 3 months!!

Do we weigh the good it causes for some against the abuse of it?

You hear of the good from blood transfusions...you dont hear the other sicknessess they cause.Its Gods law in the bible to abstain from blood.Yet man breaks HIS laws constantly.

Most of us know the reasons we smoke it and im sure 99% of it is recreational.

Eccl says it best....."Man has dominated himself to his own injury"

[hitch0403]

Eccl 8:9

For those that need to see it!!Or read it!!

[mpeters69]

Being a staunch conservative, I feel that pot should be legalized at a federal level... This is one issue that I don't understand why some republicans (esp. at the federal level) are against since it really should be decided at the state level what they want to legalize and to what degree. I think it's outrageous that the DEA still can close down a legal store (or at least confiscate all of their merchandise) because even though the state may legalize it, there may be some federal laws that they're breaking. The only ways I can see having the federal government involved with marijuana laws would be if it was transported into the US from an outside country, if the federal government passed something like the legal drinking age (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Minimum_Drinking_Age_Act_of_1984) where there is no penalty at the national level for underage consumption and/or purchasing, but rather withholds federal funds to states that do not abide by the standards set by the federal government (thereby enticing states to pass laws making it illegal to purchase / possess alcoholic beverages under the age of 21), or if the FDA (or perhaps ATF) established rules defining how it was produced, characterized, etc. and conducted inspections to ensure that its production met with their standards.

You will not convince me that it is not addictive, and you will not convince me that it is not the first step to other, harder drugs.

I disagree that it is a so-called gateway drug... "Drugs" are anything (aside from foods) that a person takes in order to to alter the way they feel. Using this definition, there are many legal drugs (including legal, recreational drugs) that a person might consume, yet we don't consider them to be "gateway" drugs. Furthermore, it is not addictive as other drugs, even those legal, recreational ones (see http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-teenage-mind/201012/is-marijuana-addictive), so in that sense it doesn't mimic the "harder" drugs. Only about 10%-30% of regular users are reported as having an addiction, and that number drops to near 0% for first-time users. And the withdraw symptoms are also pretty minor, making even relatively easy for an addict to stop "cold-turkey" (compare that to the legal, recreational drug of nicotine). Another big difference between marijuana and "hard" drugs is that it is extremely unlikely to overdose and die from pot (see http://www.newhealthguide.org/Can-You-Overdose-On-Marijuana.html); in fact it is much easier to overdose on alcohol than from pot (it takes 40,000 times the amount of pot to OD than it takes to get high, yet with alcohol's stronger potency only takes about 5 times the amount to OD). And the deaths reported from marijuana consumption are either due to its influence affecting a person's perceptions when high (thus many deaths are due to driving while under the influence) or because there was a foreign substance in the marijuana (some dealers will spike the pot with "harder" substances in order to get the user addicted on that other substance) which with proper regulations on the manufacturing and characterization of marijuana would mostly eliminate. About the only similarity between marijuana and "hard" drugs that might make it a gateway drug is that it is illegal (in most states, esp. for recreational use), so the only way to purchase it is on the black market where the dealer may also sell the harder substances (including the spiking of the marijuana as described above). But if marijuana was made legal, then this becomes a moot point since legal shops, growers, and manufacturers would be out in the open and could be monitored more easily. Please note that I tried to find fairly objective sites / cites since both sides of the argument tend to over-exaggerate the reality of this drug's effects.

THANK YOU! I am a very right winged conservative and I agree 100000% with what you are saying. Other drugs are legal even though millions die every year from them while this "drug," that has killed nobody, is illegal. It's crap.

[mpeters69]

I want to comment on does marijuana lead to other dangerous drugs.I think we all know the answer to that is YES!!!I also realize it doesnt with ALL users of the weed.

If it caused 1 user to OVERDOSE on heroin....its ONE TOO MANY!!!

I personally know it can cause bronchitis too.I was an avid smoker of it in my late teens and coughed for over 3 months!!

Do we weigh the good it causes for some against the abuse of it?

You hear of the good from blood transfusions...you dont hear the other sicknessess they cause.Its Gods law in the bible to abstain from blood.Yet man breaks HIS laws constantly.

Most of us know the reasons we smoke it and im sure 99% of it is recreational.

Eccl says it best....."Man has dominated himself to his own injury"

I'm an atheist..

[lvstephanie]

I want to comment on does marijuana lead to other dangerous drugs.I think we all know the answer to that is YES!!!I also realize it doesnt with ALL users of the weed.

If it caused 1 user to OVERDOSE on heroin....its ONE TOO MANY!!!

I personally know it can cause bronchitis too.I was an avid smoker of it in my late teens and coughed for over 3 months!!

Do we weigh the good it causes for some against the abuse of it?

You hear of the good from blood transfusions...you dont hear the other sicknessess they cause.Its Gods law in the bible to abstain from blood.Yet man breaks HIS laws constantly.

Most of us know the reasons we smoke it and im sure 99% of it is recreational.

Eccl says it best....."Man has dominated himself to his own injury"

According to the JW site as to whether alcohol is prohibited (http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2010002) couldn't the same be said for marijuana? After all if "he has given man “wine to make him happy, olive oil to make him cheerful, and bread to give him strength.” (Psalm 104:15, Today’s English Version)", wouldn't God have given man weed to make him happy as well (assuming that 99% of its use is indeed recreational)?

And as for its medicinal use, we already weigh the good that a medication causes over its abuse; it is the abuse of substances that is wrong, not the proper use of it. Other forms of medication are allowed by JW's, even though there is the potential for others to abuse it, or even if there are dangerous side-effects (again weighing the good over its harm in assuming that the treatment is not as bad as the untreated condition). I can somewhat understand why JW's believe that blood transfusions are wrong since the Bible explicitly states that blood consumption is wrong (although I do think there is a difference between consumption as in what vampires do vs. a blood transfusion, esp. if the blood is coming from the same individual (and therefore isn't affecting someone else's soul, since the justifications in the Bible against blood consumption have to do with the blood being where the soul exists) but that's besides the point). But since the Bible doesn't explicitly prohibit the use of marijuana, then from a medicinal standpoint its use shouldn't be prohibitive.

EDIT: And mpeters69 makes a good point that even though one particular religion may feel that something is wrong doesn't give that religion the right to trump the edicts of other religions in creating the laws of this free country (at least at the federal level, and you'd be hard-pressed to do similar things at even local levels). We don't have laws prohibiting pork consumption (Jews and Muslims), beef consumption (Hindus), blood transfusions (Jehovah Witnesses), the ability to seek out medical help (Christian Scientists), pornography (Many religions prohibit lewdness), or any of the other multitude of things that the various religions proscribe.

[hitch0403]

IveSteph.....what does wine have to do with weed?Yes the bible says wine has medicinal value and make your heart rejoice...and it also says it will bite you like a serpent if you get drunk on it.

The bible doesnt promote weed at all.

Also you bring up freedom of religeon.What RIGHT does man have in deciding Gods rules?Its pretty obvious that Christendom claims to teach bible but doesnt.I could give you a zillion examples but i really dont think it would do any good from who supports the soul never dies to Jesus is God.

Its really quite simple.To those that support weed they will not see the damage it does because they like it and will find any small amount of reasoning to support it.

A diabetic has to stay away from sugar cos of the damage it can do to them.Maybe it wont happen right away.And the pleasure they got from all those years cheatin with it finally caught up with them.

Too bad many dont understand the writing of the bible was for mans good and too many wanna challenege it.But then again that was the first sin in Eden when Satan blinded Eve into making her think she could decide for herself what was good and what was bad without the Creators help.

That spirit is is quite prevalent in this world today and the reason God has allowed it to continue is to prove it DOESNT work in harmony with living within HIS laws!!