legalization

Bah, whats the point in arguing. Pot is good, pot heads are bad. What can I say?

I don't do drugs and that is as much as I care to delve into this topic.

Here's my take on it, coming from someone who's never even tried marijuana:

Alcohol, by far, is the cause of more deaths per year than all other drugs combined. Yet, alcohol is a drug that is totally socially acceptable and readily available on practically every other street corner for everyone over the age of twenty-one (and by underhanded means, alot of kids under the age of twenty-one). On the other hand, there are no reported cases of anyone dying directly from the use of marijuana, but the drug is illegal almost everywhere in the western world. The risks that accompany the use of alcohol have been proven by scientists and its victims, while any solid proof on the adverse effects of the use of marijuana basically remains uncertain.

It can be safely assumed, though, that the health risks with marijuana are far less severe than they are with alcohol. Keep in mind that I do not, in any way, want to endorse the use of any type of drugs, but I do want to point out the pointlessness of keeping marijuana illegal while a drug of much higher risk like alcohol remains so readily available and keeps making victims every single day.

A good reason for bringing marijuana out of its illegality is that it would enable law enforcement resources to focus more on serious and violent crime. In the past decade, more than five million Americans have been arrested for marijuana offenses. In almost 90 percent of the cases the arrests were made for simple possession, not trafficking or sale. If marijuana were to be made legal, it should be strictly regulated by amount and minimum age just like with alcohol. Along with that, problematic use of both alcohol and marijuana should be tackled. The way it is now, heavy abusers of alcohol can basically do as they please, they can form a danger to themselves and the people that surround them, plus they can unnecessarily become a financial load on society. Non-problematic marijuana users, on the other hand, are dealt with simply because the law says so, not because they cause problems or danger to themselves or society. As President Jimmy Carter said in a speech to congress in 1977, “Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear to me than in the laws against possession of marijuana in private for personal use…” I think he was on to something.

The main reason why the laws against marijuana still stand is because the drug is always accompanied by its myths, which are mainly spread by government through public service announcements and the like. Not only is there no scientific proof for most (if not all) of these myths, research results actually tend to imply exactly the opposite with most of them. One of the myths is that marijuana is a gateway drug that leads to hard drugs. While this might be true for some, statistics actually show the opposite. In the 1970’s, the use of marijuana became tolerated, not legal, in the Netherlands. Since that time, hard drug use has declined substantially. If marijuana actually is a gateway drug, the statistics would have shown an increase in hard drug (including alcohol) use, not a decrease. I believe that because marijuana was brought out of its illegal context in the Netherlands, and basically separated from the illegal milieu of hard drugs, the step to hard drugs is not made as quickly. Another myth is that marijuana is much more dangerous than tobacco, which is based on the assumption that marijuana is always smoked. Even if the myth were true, there are numerous other ways of using marijuana that are harmless, which cannot be said about alcohol.

Basically, marijuana is not as dangerous as it is made out to be and certainly not as dangerous as alcohol. With both alcohol and marijuana there are major concerns about the influence it has on someone’s ability to drive a vehicle. Thought the impairment on driving performance caused by marijuana is similar to that of alcohol, studies show that the actual hazard caused by marijuana is less than that of alcohol. The number of accidents caused by drivers who had only used marijuana are far lower than those caused by drivers who had only used alcohol. If you add to this the fact that marijuana can be a substitute for alcohol, as shown by studies from places where marijuana was decriminalized like in the Netherlands, legal marijuana might actually save lives.

Another factor is that marijuana is not nearly as destructive on the human body as alcohol can be. Some of the short-term effects of marijuana include faster heart-beat and pulse rate, temporarily impaired short-term memory, and panic reactions among naive users. Short-term effects of alcohol, on the other hand, can range from a feeling of increased self-confidence and loss of self-restraint to severe respiratory depression and even coma and death. As far a long-term effects go, marijuana can cause a decline in the respiratory system when it is smoked and psychological dependency can develop. Alcohol, in the long run, will affect all the major organs and create a physical dependency that can be very dangerous. Basically, the chemical balance of the body is changed completely and sudden cessation of the use of alcohol can be fatal without the correct treatment to go along with it.

Though I am not an advocate of the legalization of marijuana, the comparison between myths that support its illegal status and the facts that contradict them makes me wonder if it is actually worth it for law enforcement resources to spend so much time, energy, and tax-payer’s money on enforcing a law that might not be very useful. Compare that to a legal drug like alcohol, which has a much greater potential risk, and kills more people than all other drugs combined. Though all we can do is speculate and make assumptions about the effects it would have if marijuana were to be legalized, I believe it certainly would not worsen drug-related problems if the legalization was accompanied by strict regulations.


That got me an A in English 1. :cool: Feel free to comment.

very true. i think the reasons you pointed out are almost completely the case in my opinon, too. however, pot for many people is a lifestyle instead of a saturday night kindof thing. while many people drink every day, and yes, it does mess your insides up worse in the long run, marijuana just gets a very bad rep from the people who choose to use it. alcohol is such a stupid drug becusae people think they can get ****faced drunk and **** people with STD's and call it partying. i also hate when people who have a problem with drinking (or just dumbasses in general) who say that they dont do drugs. yea, just becasue the government doesnt forbid alcohol sales and consumption doesnt mean that its not a drug, **** dick. i dunno. im swayed on the opinion mainly because i know if it was legalized, wed have alot of 4:20 **** going on, and i hate 4:20 kids.

Originally Posted by: quickfingershowever, pot for many people is a lifestyle instead of a saturday night kindof thing. while many people drink every day, and yes, it does mess your insides up worse in the long run, marijuana just gets a very bad rep from the people who choose to use it. alcohol is such a stupid drug becusae people think they can get ****faced drunk and **** people with STD's and call it partying. i also hate when people who have a problem with drinking (or just dumbasses in general) who say that they dont do drugs. yea, just becasue the government doesnt forbid alcohol sales and consumption doesnt mean that its not a drug, **** dick. i dunno. im swayed on the opinion mainly because i know if it was legalized, wed have alot of 4:20 **** going on, and i hate 4:20 kids.

This is just passing the blame to the substance. People just don't take responsiblilty for themselves as much anymore. People are losers with and without these drugs.

Here are a few good websites that I found doing research. http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4522&wtm_view=medical http://www.thecompassionclub.org/library/chinese.html http://members.tripod.com/~totaleuphoria/marijuana.html

Originally Posted by: AICWe learnt some about this subject at biology class some years ago and as far as I remember, regular dozes of Marijuana is believed to decrease your learning ability by far. Secondly this drug is highly addictive and the need for a rush can sometimes lead to the use of far worse drugs (heroine, speed and whatever).[/QUOTE]
First of all, my learning ability has not decreased at all. My government class that I am taking is the first class where I have started studying, going to class, and taking tests all high. When I am in class, I can put almost 90% of my attention on the teacher, and about 90% attention into what I am studying. I have to say that I am doing so much better in this class than I have ever done in any of my other classes. I would say that my learning ability has dramatically increased because of regular doses of marijuana.
Secondly, marijuana is not physically addictive. It may be psychologically addictive if anything. There is nothing in marijuana that leads you to other drugs.
[QUOTE=zreynoldsp]Current belief is that it can accelerate conditions like schizophrenia, I'm not sure if they think it can cause it, but it seems to help it along...

That's a little odd since smoking marijuana has been found to help people with schizophrenia and depression.

I could talk about this forever, but Ii think society and the government have brainwashed everyone into thinking pot is bad. There has not been a single recorded death by overdosing. Marijuana has been used by many different cultures for many years. It is still a big part of the Jamican culture. In general, the people who talk smack about pot are the people who do not use it. Try blazin for a week and see how your views on smoking tree change.

Originally Posted by: crazywolfThere has not been a single recorded death by overdosing.

That's because nobody has ever tried smoking 6000 joints in one sitting.

Originally Posted by: HammurabiThat's because nobody has ever tried smoking 6000 joints in one sitting.

We'll see about that!!

Originally Posted by: HammurabiThat's because nobody has ever tried smoking 6000 joints in one sitting.

Seriously, someone prolly has tried that but passed out or submitted to munching down, watching cartoons, or maybe just zoning out on the wall forgetting there's a lit joint and that they have a goal to reach (<<
Too much of anything will kill you. 6000 cups of coffee? Yep, heart attack I'm sure.

[FONT=Palatino Linotype]"Bust a nut!" - Dimebag
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Einstein[/FONT]

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Originally Posted by: R. ShackleferdToo much of anything will kill you. 6000 cups of coffee? Yep, heart attack I'm sure.

You would actually die of a caffeine overdose sometime in the early 3 digits. [/random trivia]

Originally Posted by: crazywolfThat's a little odd since smoking marijuana has been found to help people with schizophrenia and depression.[/quote]
Well, while I can tell you that most of the pot smokers I know are fine, one guy I went to high school with was (last I heard of him) working to support his smoking habits. The last report I heard about him from my little brother was that he was carrying around an SKS with a modified sear (read: "AK-47") to protect his plants, was super-paranoid and scaring the crap out of a lot of people.

Now, this is a guy who used to be the class clown and this all happened after he'd decided to quit drinking and only smoke pot. So, obviously, it has differing effects on different people and quantity is a factor, too.



[QUOTE=crazywolf]I could talk about this forever, but Ii think society and the government have brainwashed everyone into thinking pot is bad. There has not been a single recorded death by overdosing. Marijuana has been used by many different cultures for many years.

Actually, some British guy recently managed to do it. It took him like 20 years of smoking day in and day out to pull it off (ie: smoking more than the body can process, sort of like how an alcoholic gets up to a .4 over several days (and of course after years of building a tolerence)).



Personally, I'm on the fence about this issue. I can see a lot of the benefits to legalization, but I can also see a lot of problems and unintended complications to it, too.

That said, I think the "Medical Marijuana" debate is a farce; there's at least one variety (and I think others, as well) of THC pills that doctors can prescribe to patients. For most of the parties involved, it's nothing more than a [poorly] disguised play at general legalization and it bugs me that the activists involved aren't more honest about it.

Originally Posted by: HammurabiYou would actually die of a caffeine overdose sometime in the early 3 digits. [/random trivia]

actually.... the LD (lethal dose) of coffee is 2,000 gallons (not sure on the metric conversion).... the LD50 (lethal dose among 50% test subjects) is 1,265 gallons. That's regular coffee though... The LD of expresso is only 126 gallons though. I am taking HazMat classes right night because I have to be a certified HazMat Technician for work... and my instructor actually used coffee as an example.

All the facts re marijuana pros & cons:

http://search.nature.com/search/?sp_a=sp1001702d&sp_sfvl_field=subject%7Cujournal&sp_t=results&sp_q_1=&sp_x_1=ujournal&sp_p_1=phrase&sp_q=marijuana

For those sceptics, it has definitely been proven to bring on schizophrenia, psychosis and anxiety attacks in those susceptible... it also does have medical benefits in the treatment of pain and parkinsons... booze causes dementia and dependence, I don't see why grass is demonised when half of the social problems would be solved due to the dampening of agression and general aversion towards anti-social behaviour... also... it would creaete an amazing form of revenue through taxes PLUS taking the cash out of criminal hands thereby stamping out dealer related shootings, robbery etc... check out the statistics on how society in Holland has benefited... the problem over there with drugs in general is that the port cities are among the largest in the world and are also unue nodal points to the rest of mainland Europe... hence the proliferation of smack, charlie, E, speed etc

Originally Posted by: Superhumancheck out the statistics on how society in Holland has benefited...

I'm skeptical anytime anybody wants to apply what works for a small, mostly homogenous nation to the United States who has half of The Netherlands' total population in just New York City.

Originally Posted by: R. ShackleferdToo much of anything will kill you. 6000 cups of coffee? Yep, heart attack I'm sure.

Jolt cola, remember that?.....one bottle is equal to somewhere around 4 cups of coffee (caffeine amount). College kids died from drinking only 6 of those cola's in a row to stay awake to study, overworked the heart and they stopped. So, according to this, 24 cups of coffee in a row could potentially kill you.

Originally Posted by: aschlemanactually.... the LD (lethal dose) of coffee is 2,000 gallons (not sure on the metric conversion).... the LD50 (lethal dose among 50% test subjects) is 1,265 gallons. That's regular coffee though... The LD of expresso is only 126 gallons though. I am taking HazMat classes right night because I have to be a certified HazMat Technician for work... and my instructor actually used coffee as an example.

Then I was misinformed. I hate it when that happens.

On the plus side, that does explain how my friend who tried to kill himself with caffeine pills didn't succeed.

Well coffee isn't pure caffeine... and it really probably wouldn't take too many caffiend pills to kill you. That sucks about your friend though. It all depends on the persons heart rate, body mass, and blood pressure though. I know someone who died of a cardiac arrest from taking Stacker pills before they took the Ephedra out of them. He collapsed on the baseball field and died right there and he only took 3 of them.

Originally Posted by: aschlemanWell coffee isn't pure caffeine... and it really probably wouldn't take too many caffiend pills to kill you. That sucks about your friend though. It all depends on the persons heart rate, body mass, and blood pressure though. I know someone who died of a cardiac arrest from taking Stacker pills before they took the Ephedra out of them. He collapsed on the baseball field and died right there and he only took 3 of them.

We used to take these Ephedra pills back in college. They were called Yellow Jackets, and we'd use them for when were draggin' ass and needed energy to drink all night. I used to take them before class too, and one day I started to have an "adverse reaction" while sitting in class. I remember being really hot, and uncontrollably jittery, then my peripheral vision dropped away and I thought I was gonna faint. My heart was beating like a jackhammer. That was the last time I ever took those things, then they were made illegal a few years later.

Originally Posted by: LeedoggWe used to take these Ephedra pills back in college. They were called Yellow Jackets, and we'd use them for when were draggin' ass and needed energy to drink all night. I used to take them before class too, and one day I started to have an "adverse reaction" while sitting in class. I remember being really hot, and uncontrollably jittery, then my peripheral vision dropped away and I thought I was gonna faint. My heart was beating like a jackhammer. That was the last time I ever took those things, then they were made illegal a few years later.

Ahh, yellow jackets. Man, we used to take them and drink like crazy. I once partied at a friends house, and we had partied the night before until like 3 in the morning. Well, I had to work at 8am until 6pm. Well, after work, I drove straight to his house and was like damn I'm not gonna make it tonight. He hadned me two yellow jackets, and I passed out for about a half hour. Woke up rejuvinated and drank a case of beer that night until I finally (and I mean finally) fell asleep at 6am. The bad part was, I wasn't even drunk from the beer. Just jittery and couldn't sleep. It was horrible. Never took them again.

I had a good friend who was the King of All Partiers 'round here. We used to spend a lot of weekends dropping acid and eating speed like they were Flintstone chewables. I never thought that there was much of a physical or emotional toll to that sort of thing until the day I thought my heart was going to explode. I refused to go to the e/r for fear of the questions that would be asked. Well I survived but my friend ended up killing himself a few years later after a particularly nasty bender of alcohol and assorted chemicals.

I stopped doing anything stornger than the occassional beer or maybe an Advil or two since.

"Here's to you Butchie. I hope you're geeking a frosty or two and burning some herb wherever you might be, brother." :)