they push alcohol, alcohol 24 hours a day, push it down your throat, its the 2nd killer drug in the world. Ive actually seen beer ads during anti drug specials. cigerettes legal, alcohol legal and they kill more people then any other illegal drugs combined times 1000. Pot a drug that kills..... zero... lets put it in a time frame here... EVER. Its against the law, uhh tell me why? You're at a ballgame or concert and someone is really violent and agressive, are they drunk or smokin pot??? Ive never seen anyone on pot get in a fight because its impossible. Say you get in a car accident and youve been smoking pot, you're only going 4mph! sssscreech bam, "**** we hit something. we forgot to open the garage door dude. its ok i forgot we were going in reverse" at least no one got hurt, and the garage door needs to be replaced, BAM a job has been created.

let me school you all real quick. im doing my junior research project on the legalization of marijuana and i think i may be able to help. first off the only reason weed is more hazardous when smoked than a cigarette is because its not being filtered. if smoked through bong a large majority of tar and carcinogens are filtered out and vaporizers completely take them out of the question making it physically safe. second why should it be illegal if it doesn't kill anyone directly. it makes millions of people resort to crime buying it and selling it with no standard set by the government, any dealer out there can lace shit but if it harms you, you cant go to the cops. i know people that can get weed easier than cigarettes and booze. now in my opinion i think it should have an age limit like booze and let people decide what they do with their time cause i think it could be a better substitute to liquor which is addicting and physically dangerous.

quote:

as Triss (our resident "junkie" :P) is the exact opposite of fried and stupid.

This, made me very happy.

Thanks EG.

BTW - Tomorow if anybody wants to join me, I'm getting stoned and drunk.

AT THE SAME TIME...

hehe... so now we can add another twist to the puzzle:

Pot vs Beer vs Pot & Beer.

quote:

That's why I don't believe jack $h!t they say...they're so fried they can't keep their story straight. Yeah, sure, that's a real safe drug.

"Pot doesn't make you stupid, being stupid makes you stupid."

Throughout highschool, I've known of stupid potheads, genius potheads, athletic potheads, artistic potheads, and amazing musician potheads. In other words, you're just being a dick and you should really stop that. The ignorance you're showing here is indeed laughable, as Triss (our resident "junkie" :P) is the exact opposite of fried and stupid.

I know, I always laugh myself at their creativity.

quote:

Originally posted by NuShoesAgain:
I have heard a million and one different theories by the druggie crowd what pot was made illegal, and how it's all a government conspiracy. Just read the threads on YN and you'll see a couple dozen different claims. That's why I don't believe jack $h!t they say...they're so fried they can't keep their story straight. Yeah, sure, that's a real safe drug.

*laughs*

*walks out of the room*

I have heard a million and one different theories by the druggie crowd what pot was made illegal, and how it's all a government conspiracy. Just read the threads on YN and you'll see a couple dozen different claims. That's why I don't believe jack $h!t they say...they're so fried they can't keep their story straight. Yeah, sure, that's a real safe drug.

quote:

Originally posted by NuShoesAgain:
One single joint, in terms of tar and other toxic chemicals, is equivalent to between 1/2 and 3/4 of a pack of cigarettes. At a time when society is trying to eliminate smoking and other risk factors, the last thing in the world we need is something that's 10-15 times more potent than tobacco!

Pot, in two senses, is the most dangerous drug out there. First and foremost, it's got a following, a culture all its own, which sucks people in and keeps some wrapped in it. I haven't seem a magazine like "Tobacco Times" on the newsstands, but "High Times" is readily available. I haven't many hip-hop or reggae artists sing about their Marlboros, but they sure love to sing about their Mary Jane.

Also, pot is extremely dangerous in one other sense - there are a lot of folks out there who honestly believe it's "safe" to use, perhaps even "good for you". THAT misinformation is what makes it, in some ways, more dangerous than anything else.

P.S. Tobacco helps people with some diseases too, such as Parkinson's.

you, my naive friend, are the misinformed one, there are studies that the government has kept secret about pot, and if it didnt have medicinal capabilities then why would the government grow it for research?

quote:

Originally posted by nathan2142:
What is the debate going on with "health risks" of marijuana? There is no debate. Every legitimate study of marijuana (around 7,000 articles!) shows that marijuana has damaging effects. Nothing positive has been demonstrated from marijuana. All the rumors of the "benefits" of marijuana are just heresay and are not proven by anything.People try say it doesn't impair driving? Have you been around people who are high?! They exhibit the same signs as intoxication with impaired coordination. Some people try to make legalizing pot a "freedom" debate. That's simply ridiculous. Freedom to smoke pot is not equal with freedom of speech. Freedom of speech helps our society to progress. Pot will not have that effect. If you don't believe me, check out the average druggies annual earnings. People who try to legalize marijuana typically are doing so only because they want to smoke it without fear of being busted. Please don't make up "facts" to disguise your motivation.

stop believing what the government is spoon feeding you, they are the ones that made this plant illegal in the first place. and by what is happening today with talk about the draft and so on the governtment doesnt give two shits and a fuck about you.

quote:

Originally posted by Saturnmoth007:
SO what if it doesnt hurt you? Why do you need to stick some fucking plant in a tube and light it on fire, and then sit on your couch with your friends and babble for the next few hours? Why? Why do you want to legalize it so bad? What's the attraction? If you dont "need it," then why is it such a big fucking deal that its illegal. Do you think you look cool? you think its like a party?

That's pretty bad logic. I don't need to eat Orville Redenbacher popcorn, either, but I still would be upset if it were illegal. I'm a non-smoker and I'm still upset by the gradual encroachment on smokers' rights. You don't even need to have an interest in something, much less need that something, to be upset that it's illegal. In my opinion, the burden should always be on the government to show why something needs to be illegal, rather than on the citizens to show why something should be legal.

As for marijuana, personal experience has taught me that some people can actually handle it quite responsibly while others just can't. Whether trying to prevent the potential damage done by this substance is worth legally denying it to the people who could enjoy it responsibly is a call each of us will have to make. I doubt many of you will be surprised to hear that my answer is it's not.

marijuana was made illegal in the early 20th century because americans feared the influx of mexicans and central americans who brought the plant into the country. Americans feared that the mexicans would take their jobs, and they were in many cases, so they came up with a way to deal with them andthrow them in jail. Since they all smoked MJ, they used propaganda and laws and falsified scientific research to make the drug illegal and thus deport many mexicans or simply jail them. That is why it was made illegal in the first place.

Honestly, saying that "Oh well other legal drugs that cause more harm than MJ are legal, so why shouldnt mj be legal??!!" Well, that's a flat out sad statement. Maybe you should focus on illegalizing the other ones, because you seem to be just proving the fact that you have some kind of need for it. SO what if it doesnt hurt you? Why do you need to stick some fucking plant in a tube and light it on fire, and then sit on your couch with your friends and babble for the next few hours? Why? Why do you want to legalize it so bad? What's the attraction? If you dont "need it," then why is it such a big fucking deal that its illegal. Do you think you look cool? you think its like a party?

quote:

Say you get in a car accident and youve been smoking pot, you're only going 4mph! sssscreech bam, "**** we hit something. we forgot to open the garage door dude. its ok i forgot we were going in reverse" at least no one got hurt, and the garage door needs to be replaced, BAM a job has been created.

I hope that was a joke... I didnt laugh but that's a pretty stupid, naive statement. Ok so you're going 4mph, but what about the guy going 60mph behind you or on the other side of the road in the lane that you're swerving into? and "Bam, a job has been created": peeling you and your friends' carcasses off a windshield. Seriously, with the garage door thing... BAM a job has been created????? WTF? were you high when you wrote this? I could go outside right now and break my own garage door like a fucking moron; that would produce the same effect would it not?

I really dont care one way or another about mj. Im not going to do it. Mybest friend's a genius and he cant get enough of it with his stupid ass friends. Hes wasting his life. I cant even have a conversation with him anymore no less can i go out with him because hes always out with his pot buddies. its his choice i certainly wont tell him not to do it. But i swear its like a gang, and its so fucking stupid that people can get so much enjoyment out of suckling a little plants' aroma. Get a life and open your eyes. Stop trying to escape reality.

Pot (and other drugs) was illegalized the same time alcohol was, it was all part of the prohibition. But then they brought back the booze. Why? My best guess: more people wanted to hit the sauce then spark up.

Yeah, really...she might as well have cited NORML's website.

quote:

Originally posted by veggiechick08:
Hey heres a website everyone should check out before spreading around their misinformed opinions. http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/

Too biased. Not enough reference. Try again.

Hey heres a website everyone should check out before spreading around their misinformed opinions. http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/

What is the debate going on with "health risks" of marijuana? There is no debate. Every legitimate study of marijuana (around 7,000 articles!) shows that marijuana has damaging effects. Nothing positive has been demonstrated from marijuana. All the rumors of the "benefits" of marijuana are just heresay and are not proven by anything.People try say it doesn't impair driving? Have you been around people who are high?! They exhibit the same signs as intoxication with impaired coordination. Some people try to make legalizing pot a "freedom" debate. That's simply ridiculous. Freedom to smoke pot is not equal with freedom of speech. Freedom of speech helps our society to progress. Pot will not have that effect. If you don't believe me, check out the average druggies annual earnings. People who try to legalize marijuana typically are doing so only because they want to smoke it without fear of being busted. Please don't make up "facts" to disguise your motivation.

People have died in the car accidents under the influence of pot.

I think what really needs to be done about this is Cars should be made illegal! And for that matter sleep!

Accord to TIME Mag. more people die from falling out of their beds, then lighting strikes....

And don't get me started on swimming pools and bath tubs... BAN THEM ALL!

i drink every once in a blue moon but i do smoke pot .so its what ever.

It's very interesting to hear some of the points that have been brought up in this discussion. Everything from health effects to taxation to comparisons between pot and beer/cigs has an effect on the debate. I wonder, however, that no one has brought up the fact that many of the negative effects of pot are personal effects. I believe a person has every right to make a decision to endager themselves, if it were not for that right, would we even be human?
Granted, their are effects of pot that effect society as a whole. The two that I saw mentioned earlier were the environment and the driving influence. As far as the environment is concerned, if you were to weigh the bad effects of pot vs the effects of vehicle use and industry, I assure you that the latter is the worse. Also, as stated before, hemp has a wide range of uses in our society. As for the driving, safety, etc, that is a part of being a human being. Allowing one human being behind the wheel of a car is dangerous to another human being. Allowing one human to develope a natural area is dangerous to others, yet it happens every day. It is a part of life.
My views are that pot should be legal, I think I have the right to help or harm my body as I see fit. It's a personal decision that our, supposedly limited, government should have a limited say in.
~maggie

I am new to this but I am going to give my input. Going back to the person who said "Tell that to the 250,00 people who go to rehab...blah blah blah" Mind you more than half of these people admitted to rehab asre forced to go because or court sentences, not because they are addicted to marijuana, which has time and time again proven to not be physically addictive. Marijuana can form a mental dependency however, a dependency and addiction are two totally different things. And to the person who said cocaine and opium should be legal if pot is. Cocain and opium may be naturally occurring plants but, cocaine and opium both undergo high laboratory stages before actually hitting streets which intensify the potency 100x. The naturally occuring coca leaf is as bad for you as caffiene. If pot were legalized taxed and regulated our crime rates would go down by eliminating an open air black market. A drug dealer doesn't ask for ID, it is easier for a child to score a dime bag than it is for them to get beer or cigarettes. Oh, and a lot of weed is not laced with other drugs, it is a scare tactic used by our wonderful government. The medical value of marijuana is prevalent and constantly denied by the government. A plant that was made illegal by racism and continued to be prohibited through ignorance needs to be liberated. And if anyone chooses to argue about the racism fact you will lose. Look up HArry J ANslinger and the prohibition of marijuana. You will be shocked. Thank You.