Should marijauna be legalized?

  • I'm not sure whether or not it should be legalized. I haven't seen any reports regarding the propensity of marijuana smokers turning to using stronger, illegal drugs, or regarding the damage (if any) that marijuana smoking could cause. I would prefer not to answer this one way or the other before I have seen both views completely.

  • Definently. There is no point in keeping illegal a substance that is currently impossible to control, regulate, or tax, but is sold through the black market with no enforcement whatsoever. It is also a relatively harmless drug, except for the user, and THAT only if he smokes relentlessly. Legalize it and save the trouble of dealing with it in the courts.

  • Yes, of course, everyone should be allowed to do what he likes if he doesn't hurt anyone else.

  • Yes.

  • *SIGH* No. Studies have shown it to be addictive, both mentally and physically, and while it may have some value for medicinal purposes, using it to feel good is truly pathetic. You feel goo, then you feel ordinary again and miserable, so you want to increase the time you spend high, and of course while you're high, you don't want to do anything else, so you end up living your life as someone who is unhappy unless they're permanently high. Not much of a life, in my not-so-humble opinion.

  • Sure. What's the harm? Alcohol does a lot worse things to people and it's legal.

  • Hmm...I really don't have an opinion on this, considering I've never really smoked it and have no real desire to do so, and if at all then only once or twice in the spirit of experimentation. I guess I'd say no, it doesn't really *need* to be legalized, and I sure don't give a damn.

  • Hmmm...I don't think there was really sufficient reason for making it illegal in the first place, but I think legallizing it would probably increase consumption, and we really don't need more potheads running around. Then again, it should be one's own right to decide what to do with his/her body, so why not. I would hope, though, that it would have the same (or more) restrictions on advertising that alcohol and tobacco do.

  • ...if morphine is legal for medicinal purposes, I see no reason why marijuana shouldn't be (other than historically). So ... yes.

  • Yes. In order to control the behavior of private citizens, the government needs to demonstrate a compelling reason in the interests of society. And quite frankly, in the 40 or years that people have paniced over pot, no one has been able to show that it is addictive, or leads to behaviors detrimental to society as a whole. I think one need only look at the statistics on drunk driving and alcohol related crimes to see that far more societally dangerous drugs have been legalized at the will of the citizenry--and the only two states to hold a referendum have found support for at least a limited decriminilazation.

  • Why the hell not?

  • I don't know, and frankly, I don't particularly care. I'm not against its legalization, and, in fact, I support California's new medical law. However, I don't know enough about the issue to generalize on broader terms.

  • Yes it should, if for no other reasons than the following: a) It has not been shown to be more dangerous to one's health than alcohol, which is legal (In fact, many people argue that alcohol is worse for you in terms of long-term effects if we compare recreational uses of the two substances.) and b) regulation of the industry would assure that quality marijuana is safely attainable for all (prices would be standard and there would be less risk that you are obtaining your pot from untrustworthy sources which could even tamper with your pot to lace in more harmful subtsances.)

  • Yes! Just like in the Netherlands. They don't make criminals out of their citizens for using soft drugs like marijuana. They do NOT however tolerate the use of hard drugs or the selling of cocaine, smack or any of the other hard drugs. Legalize marijuana and you tax it, just like tabacco and it will decrease the population in the prisons and save the tax payers a lot of money PLUS it takes a lot of the control out of the mafia's hands.

  • I think so. Just imagine... we could havea whole nation of really calm people, too stoned to shoot other people, rob banks, refuse to tie reflectors on their cat's tail... all that kind of horrible illegal stuff (the cat reflector thing is really true, btw). Honestly, I think it has medicinal value in some cases and isn't a big problem otherwise. And besides, the government would probably tax the hell out of it and maybe some of that money would filter down to important things like infrastructure, education, and social programs. Oh wait. I must be stoned to think that.

  • Sure. Okay, this is only because if people want to run around and get high, it should at least be legal. I mean, it's their desicion. and I know a lotta people who just run around doing stuff BECAUSE it's against the law, which is no reason to do anything.

  • Yes. Not because I think it's particularly medicinal, but for the simple reason that it's much less dangerous than a lot of stuff that already *IS* legal (alcohol and tobacco come to mind). Also, our wonderful and caring government spends vast amounts of money each year persecuting harmless casual marijuanna users who aren't harming anybody but their own lungs, and ignoring many violent and horrible crimes that are acutally on the rise. Basically, I'd rather have the police chasing rapists and murderers than harmless potheads.

  • NO! There are enough problems with it now. It it were legal we would be a nation of of BLACK BRAINED zombies. I have seen what it does to perfectly cool people. It turns them into uncaring assholes! Pardon my French.

  • Well, that's a tough question. I've outgrown my time of smoking weed. It does nothing for me accept prevent me from interviewing for MONTHS. I feel bad for people who take it for illness though. Perhaps it should be legalized if you have a doctors perscription... otherwise it should stay illegal. This country is falling apart as it is... we dont need a generation of legal potheads to fret about.

  • Answer: No. Reason, in 3 words: Look at Amsterdam.

  • Yikes. Well I don't think so. If it were people would go ape shit-hog wild and be smoking pot more than ever. And then we'd have people driving stoned and stuff like that. It would be good for the economy but who'd be left to enjoy it. It's such a gateway drug too. We'd all end up starting on pot and moving to more serious stuff and ODing. It shouldn't be legalized and neither should smoking. That should be illegalized. That's just as bad. It's kinda like a gateway to a gateway drug. It fucks up your lungs and everything. Bad bad stuff.

  • Yes. So many people do it now anyway, and I feel that the government has no legal basis by which they should be allowed to regulate what we put into ourselves. It's kinda like. . .well, I can't think of a good analogy right now; it's pretty late.

  • Yes. It seems to be less harmful than alcohol. It's not physically addictive like alcohol or nicotine. It is also relatively cheap, so it is not likely it will increase crime.

  • Marijuana should be given the same treatment as cigarettes and alcohol. Make them all legal, move them into special stores, require that purchasers be of legal age and tax the bejeezus out of them. Legalizing marijuana would cause an employment boom in the pizza business. 

  • Yes...  Why not?
We can gow it
we can sell it
we can tax it

it's cleaner then tabacoo
Has medical uses
it can be used in other things such as

papper
rope
packing materials

and best of all it's green!  and we all know "It's not easy being
green"!

    my answer is

    No. The fact that worse things are legal are arguments they should be illegal, not that pot should be legal. Te fact that it costs the government money doesn't matter - so does keeping murder illegal. Think about how much tax money hitmen could bring in...

    For every study showing it to have medicinal value there are 3 showing that its harmful. There's simply no good reason it should be legal.

    Get back to the Question of the Week.
    Look at past week's answers.
    Or all the way to Donald's Homepage.