Would you legalize marijuana?

[vixyash]

With the legalization of marijuana in the California news lately, I posted this in my own personal LJ. But then I wondered what people thought on a larger scale, like in my own city. Granted, folks that have LiveJournals probably don't represent a fair demographic of the population, but I'm curious nonetheless.How would you vote if asked to

Comments

[happynoodlelady]

*it's better for you than alcohol, which is legal and kills
*you ever hear of two stoners getting in a fight at a sporting events game? it just doesn't happen
*the only reason it's illegal is because of the cotton industry trying to get a foothold on the textile industry
*it's completely naturally occuring. God put it on the planet.
*we've already proven the war on drugs was a waste of taxpayer money and is failing
*we could take recreational user arrests out of our overflowing jails and focus on the criminals that really matter, like pedophiles and murderers
*think of the potential tax revenue it could generate

comon people, there are like a billion more Pro's to this argument. It's senseless to keep it criminalized and always has been.

[theevillucy]

I totally agree with you and think you made some valid points

[lizetta]

I'm for decriminalizing, but I still feel the need to disagree with logical fallicies. Arsenic is natural, but that doesn't mean that people should put it in their body, or that any deity put it here for the purpose of humans digesting it. I think there's plenty good reasons to discuss this, but that isn't one of them.

Just my opinion, of course

[happynoodlelady]

In the early days of man when we were still evolving in this world we learned about plants and which ones could be used for medicinal properties and which ones to stay away from. Comparing a naturally occuring non toxic plant to lethal poison is ridiculous! Completely different categories. Obviously we don't go putting everything naturally occuring in the world into our mouth. Anyone who ingests sulphur or charcoal would have thier sanity in question. However, that does not change the fact that everything in the world does serve a purpose in it's own way.

It still does not detract from my origional point, which was more along the lines of classifying marijuana in the same criminal category as heroin or crack cocaine is simply nonsensical. Man made or processed drugs are much worse for you, are much more addictive, and breed a completly different class of criminal than those which are naturally occurring.

Just my opinion, of course.

[hapdrastic]

It is not the government's place to tell anyone what they can or cannot put in their bodies - if I want to ingest arsenic, why shouldn't I be allowed to?

Arsenic

[princesabin]

is in cigarette smoke. So you're right, while we're at it, let's make cigarettes illegal too. ;)

[tattoosfade]

Cotton thing isn't the only reason - it was illegalized also in part to criminalize minorities such as Mexicans, who at the time were thought to be the majority of marijuana users. Isn't that horrible?

I agree with all else you said :)

[nolly]

As I recall, the paper industry was involved, too -- rather, certain folks who owned both lots of forested land and large newspaper empires, and wanted to see trees for paper.

[tattoosfade]

All around, corrupt.

[meiczyslaw]

*it's better for you than alcohol, which is legal and kills

There is every indication that smoking marijuana is just as bad for you as smoking tobacco, and is accompanied by short-term effects that are as debilitating as alcohol's. There are also the second-hand effects -- a drunk can spill alcohol on you, but a stoner can put crap in your lungs.

In other words, marijuana can kill you with the usual cancers, and make you equivalent to a drunk driver.

(And, yes, I'm looking forward to the day when tobacco is gone. I wish Elizabeth had stuck to her guns with Raleigh: "You want me to light a fire under my nose?")

*it's completely naturally occuring[sic]. God put it on the planet.

As has been mentioned, there are a lot of things that God put on the planet. I wouldn't recommend eating tomato leaves, for example. (The fruit is the only part of the plant that isn't poisonous.)

*we've already proven the war on drugs was a waste of taxpayer money and is failingThat's 'cause we're punks, and don't care where the money is going. It's the