Should pot be legalized?

I think it should be legal, because that would stop all the crap happening in Mexico, But, the government shouldnt have a say in whats in the substance, it should just be 100% weed...But for now, buy it anyways

I think it should be legal because there is absolutely NO argument for it to be illegal. It's less harmful than alcohol and that is legal! When's the last time you heard of someone overdosing on weed? Oh yeah that's right that doesn't happen. If you want to light up, go right ahead.

The thing is, though, alcohol is only legal for tradition's sake (AFAIK of course). If it were discovered today, it would be illegal. For obvious reasons. I'll admit that pot being illegal is a bit stupid, but I'm sure if it was something that everybody (by which I mean EVERYBODY) had been doing for millenia, it would be legal today.

As it is a more recent discovery, it's illegal. That's it. It may not be dangerous in small quantities, but lots of people lack the restraint to do things in moderation.

(You MAY want to suffix AFAIK to every statement I made there...)

I'm not sure if I'm qualified to say for sure whether pot should be legalized. I know it's basically harmless. I know that a system that legalizes alcohol and caffeine but bans marijuana is running off of a double standard.

One argument against pot says that it's a harmful drug. I don't think pot is really good for you, but lots of things aren't. A Big Mac is probably more harmful than pot. Banning pot for this reason seems like, as I said before, a double standard.

Another argument says that pot, while mostly unharmful, is a gateway drug to drugs that are harmful. I don't know how to respond to this argument, but (1) I'd need to see some statistical evidence and (2) we'd need to reevaluate other "gateway" activities that lead to harmful activities. On the whole, it's a pretty convoluted argument that's not too convincing.

I should say that, where I live, a huge chunk of peoples' money from from the growing, buying, and selling of marijuana. Where I live exactly is north of San Francisco, at the Humboldt/Mendocino county area. From from I've gathered, we're kind of renown for our marijuana, and some people even travel to the lower parts of California to sell their pot.

If marijuana were legalized, at least in the state I live in, many of us who rely on pot for a chunk of our income will become poor to flat-out broke, and would need to find a legal job, except there isn't much for jobs in a rural place like this, so a lot of people would need to move south, but I've heard that places like San Francisco and Los Angeles are just as sparse when it comes to job opportunities. Correct me if I'm wrong.

For those who grow marijuana, the legalization of it would cripple their business. And the joblessness percentage in America is already high enough. It isn't like pot is killing or seriously harming anyone. It's just that the price of it would plummet if it were legalized, and people would possibly have less of a need for doctors and medication if they could just grow weed in their backyard, since it's used for medical things such as the amelioration of nausea and vomiting, gastrointestinal illness, and other things, though obviously it isn't a miracle drug and people would need doctors and other types of medication, so doctors would get less money if people could grow it freely. But I know what some of you are saying: ♥♥♥♥ DOCTORS. THEY'RE JUST TRYING TO GET MORE OF OUR MONEY. I also agree with you there, and have done my best to spend money only when I feel it is necessary (this is why I have only bought on video game is the past two years), and I hate it when I feel that doctors have sucked up a bunch of my money, but the legalization would cause certain businesses to get less money, especially those who make part of their living off of selling it.

As long as America is run on Capitalism and greed, I'd rather have more money than less. This is coming from someone who has met plenty of people who've been in the marijuana business. They range from growing and selling a little weed on the side to growing 50+ pounds up in the mountains. However, I have no plans to live my adult life on this business, and I've never even smoked/bought/sold weed.

Is that really a good argument? If pot is legalized, a bunch of criminals will lose money because they ran an illegal business. Sounds fair to me.

Yes, I can understand how it sounds stupid. But 1)marijuana isn't that bad of a drug and 2)I'm sure a lot of people on ZU have smoked weed, and that weed was probably bought from somewhere. Does that make them criminals?

The commonness of an illegal activity doesn't make it less illegal. I'm not saying there's anything intrinsically wrong with smoking, but it's still legally wrong.

Originally Posted by Axis

Yes, I can understand how it sounds stupid. But 1)marijuana isn't that bad of a drug and 2)I'm sure a lot of people on ZU have smoked weed, and that weed was probably bought from somewhere. Does that make them criminals?

Yes. Yes it does. I'm one of them.

But anyway, I doubt they'd go out of business. There is always a market for tax-free whatever (and pot tax would probably be around twice that of cigarettes), and a group of people used to living under the radar would probably be able to make a tidy sum in duty-free pot. Or maybe they'd move on to other crime. Or maybe they'd just be unemployed. ♥♥♥♥ if I know.

Actually, if a huge number of people have illicit drug running jobs, then surely this means that the US unemployment figures are significantly better than we thought? Either that or the argument is moot, and I'm struggling to be sympathetic as it is...

I never really knew about cigarette taxes because I've never bought any. And, now that I think about it, a portion of the jobless citizens in America are probably doing some type of illegal drug business. Not all, but probably some, but that includes pot and other types of drugs. As with other types of drugs that really do have an affect on people, I have no sympathy for those businesses, Since I have close relations with pot and the business, I'd hate to see a lot of people around me losing their money, therefore the income for people in certain places would drop noticeably. But I don't see that much of a pot business in cities because you usually need a place to garden, and the rural area that I live at is perfect. But there is indoor growing where you spend a lot of money on lights to grow your plants. Certain places are better for growing than others, so places like San Francisco would probably experience far less of an affect in money than in Humboldt/Mendocino county and the major sources for marijuana distribution.

---------- Post added at 01:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:04 PM ----------

FYI, people who want to grow a lot of pounds use greenhouses that you can't see through, from what I've gathered. The smart ones don't leave their pot out in the open for government helicopters to fly overhead and bust them. Just in case you guys were curious.

Can I just ask, what are the connections between marijuana and paranoia? I've been told that too much pot makes you paranoid, but it doesn't seem that anyone's brought it up yet...

If pot was legalized, drug tests would eventually go the way of the dinosaur (Well, scary ♥♥♥♥ like heroin, meth and whatnot would probably still be tested for, but pot would be added to the pile of harmless drugs that aren't tested for (LSD and shrooms, which aren't typically tested for because they get out of your system pretty quickly and are exceptionally difficult to detect)), and I would think that benefit alone would outweigh any negative effect it would have on those dependent on the sell of pot for survival. Heck, if anything, a large surge of unemployment is exactly what is needed to get the populace angry enough to kickstart the end of American Capitalism.

Originally Posted by Andross

If pot was legalized, drug tests would eventually go the way of the dinosaur, and I would think that benefit alone would outweigh any negative effect it would have on those dependent on the sell of pot for survival. Heck, if anything, a large surge of unemployment is exactly what is needed to get the populace angry enough to kickstart the end of American Capitalism.

How would the loss of drug tests be good? I'm for legalisation, but I still don't want someone running me over in a drug-induced haze...

Originally Posted by Mister Blak

How would the loss of drug tests be good? I'm for legalisation, but I still don't want someone running me over in a drug-induced haze...

Because I think someone's recreational activities should be their own business. If they're letting drugs ruin their capacity for work, then let that show itself on its own, because most pot users are responsible, normal people who shouldn't be punished for others' irresponsibility.

The problem with drug tests is that even for the most casual users traces of THC will remain in their hair for up to 90 days; for someone to lose their job because of a weekend of fun every now and then is ludicrous.

Oh, you meant in the workplace! I was thinking breathalyser-style!

But surely they wouldn't be testing for pot if it was legal? They don't test for fags, caffeine or alcohol currently, so why would they test for pot? And how would removing pot tests change anything after legalisation?

Andross isn't saying that drug tests should go away, he's not advocating, for example, that someone working in a nuclear power plant should be allowed to take cocaine or heroin without repercussion or that in jobs where it could be incredibly dangerous to society at large there should be no drug tests done. Just that they won't be as common/prevalent in jobs where workers aren't necessary. The main reason drug tests are as prevalent as they are is because employers hate marijuana, so very often you're required to provide testing in jobs like BUGGIE PUSHER at a grocery store when really that's unnecessary.

Frankly as long as someone isn't smoking up on the job or coming into work wreaking of weed, there's really no reason that an employer should know or care what that employee does in their spare time.

Making Marijuana legal wouldn't effect jobs at all. If you sold pot and now the govt does you're not losing a job. Lol. What I mean is say Bob sells drugs and works at McDonalds then pot becomes legal, Bob didn't lose a job, he just lost an illegal source of income. He still has a job. It wouldn't effect the employment rates in America at all.

Originally Posted by DarkKnightGamer24

Making Marijuana legal wouldn't effect jobs at all. If you sold pot and now the govt does you're not losing a job. Lol. What I mean is say Bob sells drugs and works at McDonalds then pot becomes legal, Bob didn't lose a job, he just lost an illegal source of income. He still has a job. It wouldn't effect the employment rates in America at all.

I really think that if the government were going to legalize pot and sell it in stores like cigarettes or booze, then street dealers would be ♥♥♥♥ out of luck. If the government really wants to eliminate gang violence and drug trafficking they will sell pot on the white market for a far cheaper price than the typical $20US per g. Street dealers would thus not be able to compete. Not to mention regulated pot production would probably be safer than a lot of stuff bought off the streets.

Originally Posted by Mister Blak

The thing is, though, alcohol is only legal for tradition's sake (AFAIK of course). If it were discovered today, it would be illegal. For obvious reasons. I'll admit that pot being illegal is a bit stupid, but I'm sure if it was something that everybody (by which I mean EVERYBODY) had been doing for millenia, it would be legal today.

As it is a more recent discovery, it's illegal. That's it. It may not be dangerous in small quantities, but lots of people lack the restraint to do things in moderation.

(You MAY want to suffix AFAIK to every statement I made there...)

Marijuana has an extensive history of usage dating back thousands of years. It is simply by virtue of the fact that in western culture alcohol was the drug of choice that we have the popular notion that it is okay. In other areas such as the middle east, the indian subcontinent, china, etc, marijuana has been used since pre-history.

Originally Posted by Razekial

Marijuana has an extensive history of usage dating back thousands of years. It is simply by virtue of the fact that in western culture alcohol was the drug of choice that we have the popular notion that it is okay. In other areas such as the middle east, the indian subcontinent, china, etc, marijuana has been used since pre-history.

Yes, but western culture (specifically European) is the culture thar matters here. This isn't me being racist, it's a fact- the basics of almost all laws in modern-day Europe, Africa and North America were set down by people who followed European culture. I have no idea about the legality of pot in Asia (is it shoot on sight? Prohibited? Encouraged? Discouraged but not enforced?), but in North America and Europe it is illegal because of European culture (AFAIK), and I believe that this is the subject of this thread.

Also, Demise, would you mind explaining that statement? I agree with you about the smell- the stuff reeks, and I know some people who vomit at it, but why is it inherently disgusting? And why would it cause you to lose friends once it's legalised?

As for 'one of the worst things out there': Alcohol, cigarettes, powdered cocaine, mushrooms, crack cocaine, solvent abuse, fast food, LSD, and of course heroin (which is THE worst) are all things worse than pot, and I've probably forgotten a load as well.