I don't parttake of it (presently), but I object to its illegality.  One of the many activities the government seeks diabolically to restrict, which only affect the individuals engaged in them.

If I beat someone to death with a shovel, should shovels be made illegal? Strawman aside, marijuana should be reclassed into the same category as alcohol. We should look to the Netherlands as a model.

There have also been plenty of studies that show it is less harmful than alcohol in some respects - you can't OD on it and it doesn't damage your liver. If eaten and not smoked, it does no damage to the lungs whatsoever.

Is there some semantic confusion over the word  "only"? If someone wants to drink himself literally to death in the privacy of his home, that's fine with me, and I don't feel it's the government's job to interfere. Now if someone has even 1 drink and starts a car, I want the government involved, because at this point his behavior is a threat to others. A similar dichotomy should apply to marijuana.

I honestly cannot think of a good reason why marijuina is illegal. Concern over productivity and health/safety of citizens? I doubt it, given that cigarettes and alchohol, both of which are more dangerous, are present in abundant quantity. It's just a plant that makes you happy and dumb for a few hours. I would caution against overuse, since it can make you happy and dumb for a lot more than a few hours when the THC acid which is a major component begins to cause neural apoptosis.

I agree that it should be legal, with the same applicable laws as alcohol regulation.  Such as a DUI is a DUI, period.

Marijuana has been consumed by man for thousands of years.  Hmmm, "Pot existed before Jesus" would make a nice t-shirt to wear to a family restaurant!

I wonder is they did a poll on whether it chould be classified like alcohol, or not.  I wonder what the results of that would be. 

I pretty much agree with what everyone here is saying. There is no good reason for pot to be illegal and it should be treated like alcohol.

I did a quick google of "Christians against marijuana" and I found a surprising number of websites where Christians are opposed to the criminalization of marijuana. Their line of thinking is that pot is a plant, god put all plants on earth for humans to eat, therefore making it illegal is like saying "god was wrong".

A few years ago I was bailing a friend out of jail (she wrote a bad check or something) and while we were waiting in the courthouse watching people go before the judge for stuff like traffic violations, they bring this guy out in full orange prison garb and handcuffs. He looked like his world was coming to an end. The charges were posession of some insignificant amount of marijuana. The guy broke down in tears in front of the judge saying he was sorry and he just wanted this to be all over with. It brought me to tears and I am not en emotional person. I don't remember what his sentance was but it just seemed so stupid to me. 

An underlying question, maybe the question, is what is it in the American psyche that is anti-pleasure?  It pervades religious politics, sexual politics, substance politics, etc.

Kind of like some defect passed down by the pilgrims.  I understand that there are antidepressants sold in Europe and not allowed in this country--they make people feel too well.

Wow, a whole group of rational thinkers all think that marijuana should be legal.  There's a shocker.

Who here wants to pool their money so we can buy an island and start our own country?

I think people should be allowed ingest whatever they desire, once they reach the age of majority.  However, it is easy to tell if a kid has been into booze, they stink of it.  How do we know when they have been into marijuana?  It is a little tougher to police.  That may effect its legalization.

In general, though, I agree. Let the hippies have their bongs.

There's an interesting debate going on in the UK about this at the moment with the government publishing a public consultation document to survey public opinion before the new drug laws are passed next year. I gave them my tuppence worth although I don't hold out too much hope for anything similar to my ideas to be the result as most of my friends are too scared to fill in a government survey. They are looking at the way that drugs are classified. The supposed reason is based on their level of harm to the individual and society while in fact many drugs are legislated against for purely political reasons - LSD being a case in point. I'd go a lot further than just marijuana and cannabis though. You can see my answers to the questions posed here:

http://www.bloglines.com/blog/snafu23uk

Interstingly, since cannabis was downgraded to class C, there was a significant drop in the number of arrests and prosecutions for people caught with it, relieving some of the pressure on our already strained prison system.   They are now talking about moving it back to class B.   Compulsive reasoning behind this proposal is sasly lacking esecially since a number of current cabinet ministers have recently admitted to smoking pot when they were younger. 

I think it has something to do with the how high the pile of empty junk food wrappers is.

 I would have said that it was more inevitable because you were a young person living in todays society but that's just me

I greatly disagree with you... marijuana causes both short and long term memory loss, more long term memory loss the short term and it usually isnt permant, but it can cause the illusion of "opening ones mind" or thinking that one has a better understanding of things that one didnt understand before, but that doesnt make it true that ones thoughts reach out better then they once did any more then just relaxing would cause....

I in no way support the illegalization of marijuana, i just disagree with that point.

getting away from the discussion of it's use as a drug, the main opposition to it's legality has nothing to do with ingestion.

The opposition will come from drug companies and timber/paper/textile companies.  Hemp's fiber is superior in almost all respect, it grows quickly in a wide variety of climates and needs no irrigation.  It's fiber is even better to make into ethanol than corn, which is getting billions of dollars in subsidies (it's a scam).  The real shame is that industrial hemp is illegal despite the fact that it has almost no THC.  This country is just absurdly moronic when it comes to thinking critically and making good choices. 

Hi rolat33 and Darth Redding and welcome to the forums.

We'd like to get to know you a little better.  We'd love it if you'd take a minute and hop over to the General Conversation, Introductions an Humor forum and introduce yourselves! 

is that an order?

I saw a pretty good documentary on the "Medical" benefits of marijuana. I personally think that the United States is a long way away from Legalizing it. I am not going to say it is impossible but I doubt that the Fundies in our govt will ever try to change anything. I mean Marijuana doesn't have big financial backing like Tabacco and Alcohal do. So while Millions of people die every year from the likes if Alcohal and Lung cancer, Marijuana continues to not do much harm to anyone. So statistics and scientifi data are in Marijuna's favor but sadly that doesn't do very much.

The illegalization of marijuana had nothing to do with any religion as a surprising number of allegedly informed Americans seem to think. Originally it was used to target Mexican and blacks. many Jazz musicians at the time used it, as did immigrant workers from Mexico. Campaigns were launched to send back Mexicans (as the depression was in swing and people wanted those jobs) and to keep blacks from working because they were "criminals" and "dangerous" because of marijuana.

First of all i believe that we should be able to put anything in our body we went... that is our right as a human and its ridiculous that some ridiculous gov't agency decided we cant. That being said i will personally do and consider doing anything that doesnt fall into these catagories. Physically addictive... weed OK, Shrooms OK, LSD OK, and you cant overdoes... hmmm weed OK, Shrooms OK, LSD OK.... the only real risky drug i do is alcohol.... im drinking a 40 of hurricane right now... i wish i was being safer and smoking a nice J

I used to smoke marijuana off and on from the age of 18 until about the age of 32. I'm glad I don't touch it anymore, I wish I had never touched it and really think the marijuana laws should be a lot tougher.

Someone commented that they have never suffered paranoia when smoking marijuana, I'm sorry but every single person I have met (and that includes me) suffers paranoia from it. Most people don't know what paranoia really is so that is why they think they don't suffer from it under the influence.

According to the Online Merriam Webster Dictionary:

1 : a psychosis characterized by systematized delusions of persecution or grandeur usually without hallucinations
2 : a tendency on the part of an individual or group toward excessive or irrational suspiciousness and distrustfulness of others

Number 2 in the case of marijuana use is the more important one. Just to be clear, ever been under the influence and walked back into a roomful of people and you think some or all are talking behind your back? That's a part of it.

I have friends that have followed my lead in that have either given it up or severely decreased their usage and they have noticed how their lives aren't as full of conflict anymore. In general their lives have gotten a lot better.

Yeah I'm ranting a bit, but if you really truely want to see what I am talking about and you yourself smoke it. Then don't touch it for about 6 months, it's really eyeopening.

Regards,

UltraMonk

Okay well out with it: 

 I am 25 years old, I have been high twice in my life. Once over this past summer, my friend offered me a brownie. I had 1/4 of said brownie.

About a month ago I smoked.

I certainly agree with rampant usage is bad. It can fuck you up, ruin your life, and have quite a few negative consequences. Of course, the same can be said for rampant usage of ANYTHING. Alcohol, tobacco, caffiene, red meat, water... The best thing people can do is control themselves. Before trying pot, I pretty much felt the same way I do now about it's legality. I didn't really get why it was illegal while alcohol remained legal.

It definitely made me very paranoid. The brownie was really too much and it caused visual and sensory hallucinations which scared the shit out of me at first. At first I was wondering why people would ever, ever want to have the experience I was having.  I tried to calm myself down by listening to music. The music was like a switch. I listened to my favorite album and it became the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. I could physically feel the music. My appriciation of music does not seem to have dissapeared, it is as if my perception of music was permanently altered for the better.

When I smoked, the effect was much milder. I felt mildly paranoid but I told myself it was the drug, and music became absolutely amazing again. It also lasted only a few hours wheras the brownie lasted about 12 hours. 

Anyway, I am in graduate school, I enjoy my brian cells, and I have responsibilities. I don't have time to party, so I won't. I am completely capable of regulating my usage of substances that enter my body. I have since decided that alcohol is not for me anyway. Alcohol makes me tired and antisocial as well as destroys brain cells and liver cells, so it is really rather pointless. I don't smoke either except for the occational clove (like.. a few times a year a year I might smoke one)

 So I guess the moral ofmy post is - control yourself! 

To the "paranoia" thing, that happens when you get too much THC in your system, and obviously "too much" is relative to your tolerance. And it's not like some uber-substance that, once you're screwed, you're screwed. Are you feeling paranoid and anxious? Drink some water. Actually, drink something thicker, with more substance. Filling your stomach calms you down immensely. I also found that brushing your teeth or gargling mouth wash (to get rid of the dry-mouth associated with being high) helps a lot too. Be weary of ingesting THC along with foods like brownies or cookies. They can hit you hard - way too hard. At best, eat a little bit.

To the main subject of this thread, I agree with the majority view. It should be put on an equal post to alcohol. You can't do it legally until a certain age, you can't be high in public, or operate machinery. It keeps the abusers at bay. I see no problem with smoking every once in awhile, as I do, if I've had a really bad week or something.

In UltraMonk's defense, being sober has a level of clarity and focus that no substance can match. However, this clarity wasn't as understood or respected until after I stopped abusing, so I can't say that I wish I was never a stoner.

And to the thought of Christians with weed - someone beat me to it, but I was going to say that most of the people I know that smoke weed are Christians. "God made it" is their rationale.

I think north america would be a much safer place if it was legalized. Cops who spend their time on it could be better used to catch theives, rapists and murderers.

I have never tried it. Is it really that great? My sister at one point last year 'partook' in the activity at least 3 times a day. She loves it but she also thinks it is cool to be able to introduce her supplier as her "pusher"

Would making a substance like that legal, make it less ..tempting? Less appealing to people as a forbidden drug?