Should marijuana be legalised? (4 Viewers)

[Tulipa]

cigarettes have worse long term effects and alcohol (in excess) produces similar effects to marijuana.

explain why cigarettes and alcohol are legalised and marijuana isn't.

also isn't it true that if legalised it would be easier to regulate?

 

[_dhj_]

The harm minimisation question is overrated. It's more of an economic question. Will legalisation cause more crime, thus its consequences need more taxpayer dollars to deal with, or indeed will it cause less crime? Will it increase total dealer revenue or decrease it? Does legalisation increase consumption of other drugs by providing an accessible entry point to the 'hard drugs', or will marijuana become a more readily available substitute for other drugs? Can the government receive tax revenue from its legalisation? And of course, does the benefits of increased social liberty outweigh the net disadvantage of the above.

IMO the increased potential for harm from legalisation due to increased consumption is insignificant. But of course, any government has its own ideological baggage, as well as the need to satisfy the values and attitudes of its electorate. Such constraints will cloud its judgment and shift the focus from the real issues.

 

[davin]

Are you trying to tell me that swallowing a hash cookie has less effects on someone, than having 1 beer?This thread is about legalising marijuana, not LSD. And i doubt having 1 cigarette would be as damaging as having LSD.

if this thread is about marijuana and not LSD, then you shouldn't be comaring things, or should at least be able to explain why your reasoning on why marijuana shouldn't be legal doesn't also mean that LSD should. you're trying to create a line, but then you're applying it selectively.

if its simply "we won't allow things that cause more harm than alcohol or tobacco" then that seems to also imply that we will allow things that cause less harm.

 

[crazyhomo]

Are you trying to tell me that swallowing a hash cookie has less effects on someone, than having 1 beer?

how much pot is in a hash cookie? is there an agreed upon 'standard hit' for pot? no. your point is irrelevent because people will smoke or drink until the desired effect is reached. if someone doesn't want to get too drunk, they will not drink much, and if they don't want to get too stoned they will not smoke much

 

[Serius]

The truth is there isnt a line, maybe alcohol and smoking shouldnt be legal, if we knew what we know now back when smoking was becoming popular i am sure it would have been outlawed.

Drinking is basically a part of being human ,we have been drinking for thousands of years and its an accepted social lubricant. Sure binge drinking has health consequences, not to mention can make you take risks, but what it comes down to is drinking in itself isnt dangerous, drinking too much, like anything done too much is dangerous.

I am sick of people as a line of reasoning saying pot should be legalised because "omgz look at alcohol its so bad" thats not a reason for legalisation, its a reason for why alcohol should be restricted and policed more. Not to mention the fact that almost everyone drinks and its legal, so numbers cant easily be compared with pot which is illegal. No one has ever died from smoking pot? bullshit, plenty of people have had car accidents and THC has been found in their blood.

Alcohol and drugs lead down the same path in my opinion, just with alcohol its a slower process.

 

[Optophobia]

Davin, why is it then that Marijuana has been prohibited? The state has it all wrong, right? The state is wrong, but a whole pile of pimply university students are right. Correct?

cigarettes have worse long term effects and alcohol (in excess) produces similar effects to marijuana.

explain why cigarettes and alcohol are legalised and marijuana isn't.

also isn't it true that if legalised it would be easier to regulate?

Marijuana has long term effects as well, but its effects are less apparent because not as many people smoke it as Tobacco, over extensive periods of time (from age 16 to age 45 for example).

More people die from Car accidents than motor cycle accidents, therefore motor cycles are safer than cars? (By your reasoning at least)

how much pot is in a hash cookie?

it doesn't matter how much is in it, the person will still be out-of-it for a long period of time as it slowly makes its way around the blood system. You can have 5 beers and not be out of it.

You can drink 5 cans of beer which have only 5% alcohol in it, and be safe. Smoke 5 equally large cans of marijuana, and you would be fucked.

The objective isn't (contrary to the wishes of pot-heads) to make pot a socially accepted drug like alcohol or caffeine, its to make it less prohibited to those who are going to get access to it anyway.

 

[mr_brightside]

More people die from Car accidents than motor cycle accidents, therefore motor cycles are safer than cars? (By your reasoning at least)

Most cars hold 5 people.
motorcycles carry one.

Your reasoning isnt feasible.

 

[Optophobia]

Most cars hold 5 people.
motorcycles carry one.

Your reasoning isnt feasible.

Motor cycles are heaps more dangerous than driving a car. Yet more people die in car accidents (because more people use them). Why is my reasoning not feasible?

More people die from crossing roads than they do from guns. Therefore crossing the road is more dangerous than guns?

More people die from smoking tobacco than they do from smoking marijuana. Therefore tobacco is less safer than Marijuana.

 

[SuNrIsE_oVa_sEa]

yes cause its natural

 

[Justin]

yes cause its natural

So are the bullets in guns. The lead comes from the ground and the gun powder is made with charcoal which is from burnt trees, Sulfur from Volacnoes and Saltpeter as it is. Therefore, bullets are natural.

Plastic is natural as it comes from oil in the ground. Therefore its ok to chuck plastic bottles in the ocean. Its all ok, its all natural.

 

[Tulipa]

smoking anything will damage your body in some way. that in itself is a big fat freaking DUH. it's smoke inhalation. course it's going to have detrimental effects on the body.

the comparisons to alcohol and tobacco are drawn as those are two legal drugs that have similar long and short term effects to marijuana. and are we not talking about legalisation here?

edit: oh god. the "pot is natural therefore it is not bad" argument. freaking idiot. YOU ARE INHALING SMOKE AND HOLDING IT IN YOUR LUNGS. that is not HEALTHY. while it does not have the added carcinogens et al that tobacco does, it is still INHALING SMOKE. do you know why people are sent to hospital with "smoke inhalation" problems after fires? because its NOT GOOD FOR YOU.

get it? good

 

[SuNrIsE_oVa_sEa]

So are the bullets in guns. The lead comes from the ground and the gun powder is made with charcoal which is from burnt trees, Sulfur from Volacnoes and Saltpeter as it is. Therefore, bullets are natural.

Plastic is natural as it comes from oil in the ground. Therefore its ok to chuck plastic bottles in the ocean. Its all ok, its all natural.

Of course everything is made from the earth ur changing wat im sayin i mean it a natural plant-god made it its from the ground bullets are completely different its fully man made and so are guns

 

[Justin]

Of course everything is made from the earth ur changing wat im sayin i mean it a natural plant-god made it its from the ground bullets are completely different its fully man made and so are guns

So because its from nature, its not harmful?

Go drink some snake venom while you have bleeding gums. Go stir your tea with that very poisenous bush whose name i forget. Go plant some weeds in native bushland. "It's all natural. God made it, it's ok"

 

[ice_wind]

yes, i think it should b legalised...for medicinal purposes. if u wanan stop people abusing this stuff...overdosing on it, and smoking impure stuff mixed with god knwos what, and stop prisons form overflowing...yes u should legalise it...with the correct dosage labelling & stuff...

anyways...it's already a multi-million dollar industry...why not just let it come ot the surface for the right purposes...

 

[crazyhomo]

Drinking is basically a part of being human ,we have been drinking for thousands of years and its an accepted social lubricant.

ditto cannabis, opium and cocaine

I am sick of people as a line of reasoning saying pot should be legalised because "omgz look at alcohol its so bad" thats not a reason for legalisation, its a reason for why alcohol should be restricted and policed more.

i agree. i don't think pot should be legal because alcohol is, although i do think it is an example of a double standard. i believe pot, and other recreation drugs, should be legal because it's my own choice what i want to do with my body, and the risks that follow. heart disease is a much higher killer than any kind of recreation drug, legal or illegal. does that mean we should be banning certain fatty foods? i don't think so. if i want to eat macca's my entire life, that's my choice. i know the risks, and yet i still choose to eat it, because i get to decide what i value in my life

You can drink 5 cans of beer which have only 5% alcohol in it, and be safe. Smoke 5 equally large cans of marijuana, and you would be fucked.

a large can of marijuana? wtf?

like i said, if you put less thc in a marjiuana cigarette, then you are going to get less of an effect. when people want to get drunk they will have drinks with a higher concentration of alcohol. if you drank 5 cans worth of vodka you could likely die, so your comparison is completely irrelevent. like i already said, people will drink until they are feeling the effects they want to feel, and the same goes for smoking.

seriously, you are an idiot

 

[crazyhomo]

Of course everything is made from the earth ur changing wat im sayin i mean it a natural plant-god made it its from the ground bullets are completely different its fully man made and so are guns

yeah, i've got a tree in my backyard that grows pre-rolled marijuana joints. moron

 

[davin]

yes cause its natural

do you have ANY idea how many poisonous things there are that are 'natural'? How many plants or animals can kill you by contact or consumption? The "its natural" claim contains no logical process.

Davin, why is it then that Marijuana has been prohibited? The state has it all wrong, right? The state is wrong, but a whole pile of pimply university students are right. Correct?

Well, now we're getting into a view on the role of gov't. Personally, I think the use of marijuana is foolish and not something I would partake in. Then again, I feel the same way about tobacco and alcohol. However, I don't think the gov't should be legislating what one is allowed to do to one's own body if one is an adult. I don't believe that the role of gov't is to claim to protect people from themselves. As such, with marijuana, I would much rather see the gov't legalise it, tax it, restrict it to those over a certain age, and prohibit driving while under the influence of it.
Keep in mind that marajuana has been in use since ancient times, and was completely legal. It was really only in the early part of the nineteenth century that laws were enacted against it.
Though, optophobia, i find interesting your view that the gov't is always right because its the gov't.

 

[mr_brightside]

Hey Optophobia, ever tried weed?


and fuck you Justin
your sig; its full of mary jane wanna

 

[Justin]

Marry-Jew-warr-na?

Apparently Marijuana grows wildly in some national park in Northern Sydney.

 

[katietheskatie]

a large can of marijuana? wtf?

hahah, that's what i was thinking.