Do you think Marijuana should be legal? (US resident)

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I have not used Marijuana because its illegal.

From what I have looked up the main reason of it still being illegal is that it has been. There have not been conclusive studies about the long term effects and short term effects are just short term.

I personally think that it should be legal for 18 and older like smoking but am perfectly okay with disagreement.

I could not find a recent poll of this on here, even though I did see that it has been done in searches.

This is from someone living in the US, thought that would be good to know since its semi legal in California.

Edit: I just thought of that people might think it should be for 21 and older, which would also be fine cause that is the same age as for alcohol, I don't know how I should put that into the poll. Since I have already started it and think it would be an unneeded divid for the pro legalization

Last edited by Alexender on 24 Jan 2012, 10:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

There are actually multiple possibilities here, but unfortunately, the American government is very narrow-minded.

Something I never understood until I took a course in college that involved at least some minimal social theory (it was actually Literary Theory class), was that there are different approaches to laws and society beyond something just being illegal or not. Someone who knows more about these topics could probably explain much more sufficiently than I can.

For instance, I'm personally "radical" in my political views, since I believe in mass "decriminalization," including marijuana. That is to say, I don't really believe in crime and punishment. I used to, but then changed my views. Saying something is not a crime is not exactly the same as saying it is legal.

Weed is illegal because William Randolph Hearst - one of the most important media magnates of his time - ran a huge smear campaign and changed public opinion radically against it because hemp is more efficient then traditional paper.

That's my general understanding of why it's illegal, there are no medical grounds worthy of completely banning it.

Here's one: There should be no punishment since everyone is a victim when a crime is commited, as crimes are commited for three reasons: mental illness, passion and property rights.

virtually every crime is done out of property rights, and virtually every major war and crime in history was a crime of property rights, hence we are are merely victims of property - so we can prevent them by eliminating the notion of ownership, while we cannot justify the punishment of the mentally ill or the passionate who have no true choice in what they do.

I'm Canadian but I thought I'd tell you anyway, pot should be legalized. Why alcohol and cigarettes are legal but pot isn't - that's beyond me. I've tried pot twice in my life (and I inhaled!). The most I can say about it is that it was odd. But think of the taxation value! If they'd only legalize it, they'd be raking in the taxes instead of spending money throwing users in jail. And the content could be regulated too. Anybody want to think up some brand names?

I've tried it and don't like it, but I think it should be legalized and taxed, just like alcohol and tobacco. In fact, from EVERYTHING I've read and heard, marijuana is less harmful to the body & mind than either tobacco or alcohol, and is not physically addictive, which those two substances are proven to be.

Charles

By saying i am from the US I was not try to restrict who could take the pole, I was just hoping to give more clarification.

This is accurate and correct.



Mainly agree, though not entirely.

If we consider alcoholism a drug addiction, and addiction as mental illness, then the majority of persons incarcerated in the United States are mentally ill when looking at addictions along with all the other mental illnesses. Many others are mentally handicapped or challanged. Many are also at or below the poverty line.

In the state of Oklahoma, where I come from, we have the highest rate of female incarceration per capita. The vast majority of those are either prostitutes, drug users, or both. A significant percentage of the rest of our "criminal" population in this state are sex offenders, but under our laws, streaking, public urination, and possession of hardcore pornography are all "sex offenses."

I think the problem is our society isn't too far off from being not much different from a theocratic police state, and people are more concerned with punishing "evil-doers" than anything else.

So the society and its laws create crime. On the other hand, I personally do believe in life, liberty, and property, and that the most important (if not sole) purpose of government is the protection of these, which requires some level of order and control. However, imprisonment is a less effective solution than addressing the underlying psychological and socioeconomic issues.

Weed should be regulated essentially like alcohol. Hit 19 (21 for you guys stateside unfortunately) and you can buy it, but you can't drive under the influence of it.

Impossible to overdose on it, non addictive, long term side effects are negligible (especially compared to alcohol and tobacco). it was banned mostly as a political thing.

I didn't like it the one time I tried it. I like the effects of alcohol much better, and for day to day life stress relief or whatever, I tend to just drink copious amounts of caffeine as it helps me get stuff done.

I think it should be legal for a lot of reasons, but I also think it's lame, so...

Yes it should be legal.....even caffeine is more toxic than cannabis and people give that to their kids via soda.

Absolutely, 100% yes.

Fun fact: I have an ex boyfriend who stubbornly won't try weed, because his whole family smokes it. He's a bus driver. His dad and brother are brain surgeons, and his mom's a nurse.

I completely agree with that.

Right now, 12 year old kids are buying overpriced weed laced with god-knows-what behind the schoolyard. How can this happen? Because it's illegal. We can only control the quality of and access to a substance if we legalize it. There are no pot smoking children in the Netherlands, and nobody risks their health by smoking laced / contaminated weed.

Besides, it is utterly ridiculous to outlaw a plant. Around here, one species of Psilocybin mushrooms grows wild in the woods. How do you outlaw that? How can you possibly forbid the existence of a living organism? That's human hubris at it's worst.

I say Legalize it and save room in the prisons and stop corrupt drug dealers on the streets.

I have tried it before and find it to be a good temporary ant-depressant.
Cigarettes are far more addictive and harmful than weed.

It's not like legalizing coke or heroine which is very harmful.

http://show-mecannabis.com/about/the-initiative/

I live in missouri, if this proposed bill gets passed if you are 21 or older it will be legal to smoke and grow cannabis.

Can't believe it will be legal to grow it

It should be legal or at the very least decriminalized. Nobody should go to jail or prison for taking a substance of any kind. People should not smoke it much though. Smoke no matter what it is from is bad for the body and the brain. Eating it is a much better choice in many cases.

Yeah, I voted for 18+ but I think that's too young. The reason alcohol is 3 years later than cigarettes is that it impairs driving. An 18 year old who just got his/her license and still feels invincible is more of a drunk driving risk than a 21-year old. Though marijuana does not have quite the same effect, it does slow your reaction time, so I think the same age restriction should apply.