Legalization!

[JaiDee]

  OK, since we are pretty much all adults here, even myself included [sometimes], can we get some opinions on the legalization of a pretty basic weed which has pretty much been determined to NOT harm anyone and is a helluva lot less dangerous than alcohol or even cigarettes? Ever heard of anyone dying from an overdose, or kidney failure, or beating up their wife or getting throat cancer; while on WEED?

 

   Polls consistently show that Americans and people in many other countries want weed decriminalized or legalized completely; in America right now 2 states have already gone legal, and the rest will surely follow; it just depends on how long it takes.  2020 by the latest, once the other 48 see the benefits to having new revenue to tax and less jail cells to fill. 

 

Uruguay is the first country to do it nationwide and will be a bellwether for the rest of South- and Central America. Portugal has decriminalized ALL drugs and supposedly their usage numbers have gone way down.And we all know about Holland; hell, when you tell a young person something is legal and they are free to do it, they tend to NOT want to do it!

 

   I'm a stoner from way back and don't even mind admitting that, it would be like someone in the 30's saying they enjoyed a glass of beer or a shot of whiskey from time to time, while the government was trying out some ill-conceived and eventually ill-fated 'prohibition' law.  In 5 or 10 years and certainly in future generations people will be saying "hey, remember when weed was illegal? what the hell were people thinking about back then"?

 

   The War on Drugs; an epic failure, and while I am against legalizing cocaine or meth or heroin, putting a harmless little plant in the same catagory as those heavy-hitters is ridiculous.

 

 

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/27/22470647-poll-majority-of-americans-support-efforts-to-legalize-marijuana?lite

[Snick]

Its a gateway drug, start smoking pot and you'll be marrying your horse. Or something like that.

[deepthroat]

I'm for criminalizing/legalizing all drugs, along with prostitution and horse marrying.

Locking people up for what is basically a public health issue (drug addiction) has never contributed anything but overcrowded prisons and ruined lives to our society.

The only people who benefit from this policy are those that either make their livings off the criminal justice system, or through the illegal drug trade. Everybody else gets fucked whether they realize it or not through higher taxes, more crime, and the higher incidence of drug abuse and addiction that result.

[SiamSam]

I too think ALL drugs should be decriminalized and regulated. 

[rxpharm]

Sorry, I have to disagree with SiamSam - drugs like Ice, Heroin, Speed, should not be decriminalized, mainly because they ruin lives. Making these drugs legally available will not change how badly people will become addicted and eventually die from neglect or overdose.

 

Legalizing marijuana does make sense.

[SiamSam]

This is an old debate Rx and you're either on one side of it or the other. There is no middle and legalizing marijuana doesn't put you there. 

 

You're right. Ice, heroin, speed, can indeed and do ruin lives. But nothing has ruined as many lives as alcohol. These substances/ will continue to ruin lives whether legal or not. You can't stop people from pursuing what they want but you can regulate and make the products/activity safer.

 

Addictive personalities and the poison they seek have been and will always be with us. I'm curious if legalizing alcohol, tobacco, gambling, etc. increased addictions, reduced them, or held them stable. Would legalizing prostitution increase the activity  of the trade? Maybe initially but the attraction would wane and I doubt their would be more of it. However legalizing it would make the world of the provider and the buyer much safer. I see it the same way as it concerns drugs.

 

You say making these drugs legally available would not change how badly people become addicted and they'd die from neglect and overdose. Perhaps but not completely sure or convinced. I suspect a percentage of these people would end up this way whether their addiction is legal or not. The difference of course (if legal) is they would be doing this with clean, controlled products. 

 

Anyway, like I said this can be debated until the cows come home. 

[Snick]

I gotta disagree, I think there is a middle ground.

Legalize pot, maybe cocaine.

No to Ice,Meth and definitely Krokodil.

[JaiDee]

Honestly, outside of weed I am really not sure......it sure would be nice to take away profits from the cartels and also have the benefit of taxing all drug  transactions, as well as maybe disbanding the DEA??    Would never happen of course,  but one can dream.

 

  Anyway,  if it's all legal the costs will go elsewhere, mostly to rehab centers and other outpatient facilities who would have to deal with the inevitable onslaught of addicts.......but right now all the costs go to the DEA and local law enforcement [which, of course, is YOU] and the prisons,  most of which these days are privately-run.  You can bet your arse THOSE  Mfer's don't want legalization!

 

   So it seems to be a toss-up;  pay to have your junkies and drop-outs treated, or pay to have them put in some private prison?  Again, not sure,  but one thing I AM sure of;  the ''war on drugs'' is a colossal failure.

[strocube]

I say legalize herb for anyone 18 and over. I Would, like Portugal, decriminalize ALL drugs, like coke, meth, smack, etc and treat the addicts to these substances as a public health issue, and NOT A CRIMINAL ISSUE.

Decriminalization is not the same as legalization. What decriminalization does, is it treats people with substance issues as the sick people they are. At the same time, laws against sales and trafficking in those substances are still enforced. This approach is working in Portugal. It could work anyplace really.

But since the war on some drugs in the US is BIG BUSINESS, it will be a very long hard fight to get things turned around. But as we have seen with the recent wave of legalizing and decriminalizing herb, we're making progress:)

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/evaluating-drug-decriminalization-in-portugal-12-years-later-a-891060.html

[Lefty]

Its a gateway drug, start smoking pot and you'll be marrying your horse. Or something like that.

 

The real gateway drug is milk. Everyone who ever gets hooked on hard drugs, started out drinking milk when they were young. 

[Lefty]

I think only legalize pot and mushrooms because they are natural. Any drug made in a lab or through some form of technology, keep them illegal. 

[JaiDee]

This was about the time "Reefer Madness" came out;

 

 

In hearings on the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, Anslinger testified before Congress in favor of Marijuana Prohibition by saying: "Marijuana is the most violence causing drug in the history of mankind. Most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz and swing result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes."

 

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/editorials/jan-june01/drug_laws.html

[JaiDee]

My mistake,  looks like WEED can kill someone.....that is, if you get pulled over leaving Colorado for Kansas, get pulled over, and put in jail for the night.

 

''Speeding got two Kansas City sisters pulled over in western Kansas. The marijuana they’d purchased in Colorado, just weeks after it became legal there, got them thrown in jail.  What’s unclear is why one of the sisters died Wednesday in the Sherman County, Kansas, jail.''

 

 http://www.kansascity.com/2014/01/23/4772271/family-searches-for-answers-while.html

[Jimslim]

I would support the legalization of all drugs and make them properly regulated and tested so people could make informed choices in a safer environment .

 

And I agree with previous comments alcohol and tobacco are by far the most dangerous and addictive drugs around , no coincidence that they are a multi billion pound industry worldwide .

[SiamSam]

I would support the legalization of all drugs and make them properly regulated and tested so people could make informed choices in a safer environment .

 

And I agree with previous comments alcohol and tobacco are by far the most dangerous and addictive drugs around , no coincidence that they are a multi billion pound industry worldwide .

 

I second this! 

[Lefty]

I would support the legalization of all drugs and make them properly regulated and tested so people could make informed choices in a safer environment .

 

And I agree with previous comments alcohol and tobacco are by far the most dangerous and addictive drugs around , no coincidence that they are a multi billion pound industry worldwide .

No surprise there. You are an intelligent socialist 

[JaiDee]

Saw that on my Newsfeed yesterday, thought for sure it was from The Onion.

[pacman]

I've heard all the arguments about legalising drugs & remain ambivalent whether it happens or not. Though based on stories reporting the breakdown of Portugal society after they did it, I don't wish to live anywhere it happens.

 

What does amaze me is that some people can smoke dope every day & can function as per normal. I know I can't. I was never a stoner, I never even bought weed myself. But I knew many people who did who would always share it around. I partook on occasions over the years, maybe 20 times until I finally had to say no more.

 

It knocked the shit out of me. If I was stoned on Saturday I didn't recover till Tuesday. I had a low grade headache for days at a time &  I found it very hard to concentrate. My work suffered & for me it was far worse than drinking alcohol every night. I also had a regular smoker living in my house one time who completely fucked her life up. She was always stoned & was completely useless. I hate to think where she ended up.

 

But these aren't the reasons why marijuana leads to narcotics. I don't believe that being stoned on dope leads anyone to wanting to try something harder. Well, maybe it does for some but not the average punter who likes a little recreational weed. Where its role lies in this 'gateway drug' theory is in the way it lowers ones inhibitions. Ask someone straight if they want to try heroin or similar & most people will decline. That's 'most' in my experience. But ask them when they are under the influence of dope & many will say "why not?"

 

I've known a few people who died from overdosing & they all started with marijuana. And the major naltrexone clinic we have here is run by a doctor who has saved 100's of lives & he claims the drug that causes the problems he deals with is marijuana. 

 

One conclusion I draw from my experience when I read about the US states that have legalised it is we can't be talking about dope of the same potency. They must have some milder form or something because the stuff I remember would have half the room off their face for the entire evening. And that would be on one joint passed around. I could never even hold a second one let alone smoke it.

[Tomcat]

Seems as if Mexico City will try and follow suit and attempt to legalize..   tens of thousands of people have been killed just in the turf wars in the last 7 years. Up to 5 grammes would be able to be purchased over the counter if this goes through

 

The President is against it though and claims the violence will not stop

[JaiDee]

I read an article just yesterday about how Uruguay and the 2 US states who have already legalized may have provided the opening for many other countries to now move closer,  Mexico included.   Lets face it, legalization of weed is just a matter of time, if not worldwide then certainly in a good portion of the developed world.  The USA will be legal nationwide by 2020, latest; Canada also.  IMO Thailand will pick up the rear and won't legalize in my lifetime.