[Tam-Ken]

What are the real reasons marijuana is illegal?

User Detail :  

Name : Tam-Ken, Race : Asian, City : San Diego, State : CA Country : United States, 

[Samuel]

Marijuana, in its unenhanced form, is a relatively mild narcotic. Its effects are, arguably, more calming and less immediately debilitating than those of alcohol. I think the "war" against marijuana and other more potentially harmful drugs displays the American propensity for moral hypocrisy and politically expedient grandstanding. The public, as represented by our legislators, seems to have forgotten the basics of supply and demand, as well as the lessons taught by the outcomes of the first Prohibition (zero decrease in alcohol consumption; the blossoming of organized crime). With ridiculously biased and Draconian federal drug sentencing laws and "three strikes" legislation on the books (hand-in-hand with the explosion of the prison-for-profit industry), the criminalization of the drug culture continues to do far more harm to vulnerable communities than the drugs themselves.

User Detail :  

Name : Samuel, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 31, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : Firefighter, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Steve H.]

I was told recently by a health care professional that there is some evidence that marijuana causes impotency. Has anyone else heard this? experienced this? Seen an article about this? Any other harmful side effects?

User Detail :  

Name : Steve H., City : Denver, State : CO Country : United States, 

[Mr. Knowitall]

Okay, the honest truth can be summed up in one word: MONEY. First of all, the original reasons for the initial prohibition of marijuana was based on lies brought about by Harry J. Anslinger and the newly created Bureau of Narcotics. The press printed stories connecting marijuana use to insanity, violence, and crime. The reason, I believe, was because Hurst Pharmecutical wanted marijuana illegal so that citizens could not use it for medicinal purposes. They wanted to sell their drugs and marijuana is difficult to control because anyone with a green thumb can grow it themselves. The reason it is still illegal is, again, money. Oil companies, pharmecutical companies, and the lumber industry pay billions of dollars to the government to keep it from becoming legal. The reason for this is obvious if you are educated on the thousands of uses for hemp and cannabis: hemp/cannabis can produce fuel, paper, and medicine. Also, the government, in all it's coruptedness (is that a word?), likes to redistribute the drugs it confiscates from 'criminals.' Now, if marijuana was legal, do you think Uncle Sam could make as much money from it as it can under the drug's current illegal status. I think not.

User Detail :  

Name : Mr. Knowitall, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 21, City : Denver, State : CO Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Joe Genevich]

Probably the one law that really made marijuana illegal nation wide was the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. The true story is too long to go into here, but for anyone willing to do their homework they will discover marijuana prohibition was created , not to protect society from the 'evils of the drug Marijuana,' as the Federal government claimed, but as an act of deliberate economic and industrial sabotage against the re-emerging industrial hemp industry, and blatant racism. For the uninformed, marijuana and hemp are the same plant with the exception being that the hemp plant contains little or no THC, the psychoactive substance in marijuana, as to render it useless for medicinal or recreational purposes. Much of this information is available on the net. I suggest people learn the truth about this benign drug and protest to their legislatures to stop arresting people for choosing their form of recreation. Over 70 million people have tried marijuana. Where are the jails to hold all these people?

User Detail :  

Name : Joe Genevich, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Non practicing Catholic, Age : 48, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : Lab manager, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Dondi M.]

What I think is most interesting is how our society criminalizes pot and tells us to talk to our children about it and how supposedly bad it is, yet we have no problem allowing the majority of our society to become addicted to caffine which for many people has more negative effects than marijuana (which is also non addictive unlike caffine) and on that same note our society says that more harmful drugs like nicotine and alcohol are acceptable but that THC which is less harmfull is illegal. Thats just plain stupid IMO.

User Detail :  

Name : Dondi M., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 27, City : Vancouver, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : Systems Administration, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[annonymous]

Sam, I have to disagree with you. Caveat: I'm also going to give my very biased, gut reaction. As a recovering addict, I won't accept the argument that legitimizing drug use will abate usage and criminality. Cigarettes and alcohol are killing a whole lot of folks, and they're legal. Addiction is a symptom of a much larger social ill. Legal access will do more harm than good. I will concede the medicinal benefit of smoking, but I'm very suspect of the messages we will communicate to our children when we legalize the sale of marijuana, and the increased abuse from easier access to the narcotic. (I can conversely tell you how the drug lords purposely shrunk the availability of weed to increase the sale of coke/crack).

And please, if anyone tells me again that weed is relatively harmless, I'll throw up. I know enough people who ruined their lives "just smoking weed." Weed is the "f--- it" drug. Users typically develop an I-give-up, who cares attitude.

If you think it's harmless, ask the insurers who pay the medical claims for individuals who injure themselves on the job because they were high, or the employers who are tired of the absteeism level of employees who only get high on the weekends but can't seem to make it into work on Monday. Ask the professor about the bright student who's pulling Cs because she fails to commit the necessary time to her assignments. THC does damage brain cells, and weed has 10 times more nicotine than cigarettes. And for many addicts, weed was the doorway to the so-called hardcore drugs. My stand is more than just some soapbox, shallow, moralistic (and since when is actually having some morals a bad thing?) whine. How about practical, logical opposition? I've experienced firsthand the horror of drug addiction. Wouldn't wish it on a dog.

Lastly, those who think addiction happens only to poor, lazy, stupid and weak folks, think again. Statistics on drug addiction are higher than many of us think, and the numbers are incredibly alarming if you look at the numbers on substance abuse (misuse). Everyone who abuses doesn't necessarily become addicted, but those who are addicted started by abusing drugs.

I question how much we have really profited by legalizing alcohol and nicotine. In my mind, they are equally lethal. The only difference is that their manufacturers and our government are getting a cut of the profit. Ask the man with one lung and on an oxgen tank if he feels cigarettes are harmless.

User Detail :  

Name : annonymous, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 34, City : Detroit, State : MI Country : United States, 

[Daniel]

The billion-dollar war on marijuana and "drugs" in general is a waste of our money. Putting a plant in your body does not constitute a crime. We are the most drug-reliant society in history, and with the influence of hemp, medical marijuana and the re-education of younger people, I see marijuana becoming legal (here) in 10 to 15 years.

User Detail :  

Name : Daniel, Gender : M, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 23, City : Fort Lauderdale, State : FL Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[John K.]

I just thought that I would add to Zawadi's very clear and justified stance on legalizing marijuana. A number of people seem to say that MJ is non-addictive. This is clearly not the case. Whether it is physically/chemically addictive or not, it is obviously psychologically addictive. The fact that it is less damaging than more hardcore drugs is a moot point. It is still damaging. In my point of view, it comes down to a matter of supply and demand. If the demand continues to be high, our 'war' against the suppliers will never be successful. The only way to end drug use is to eliminate the demand. And as with alcohol and tobacco, that is going to be very difficult. After all, society today believes that if you demand a product, it is the supplier's fault if they give it to you. I say, eliminate the demand, and the supplier will no longer have a reason to sell!

User Detail :  

Name : John K., Gender : M, Age : 26, City : Cranford, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Chemical Engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Lane Coley Morin Russell II]

I must agree with Zawadi on this--besides a clear head, first-hand experience adds much weight to her words. The war on drugs here, however, is a hoax. It is to the advantage of the government to have us all hopped up or brought down on something, to make the public easier to control. Since not all Americans are willing to tune in, turn on, and drop out, television provides much the same effect. To keep marijuana illegal provides secrecy to our government; the ability to, and the neccessity of, projecting a front, keeps the public's eyes elsewhere. The government makes untold profits selling the drug to high-level criminals, who sell it to low-level dealers. The necessary expense of a few drug busts completes the charade, while the lower ranks are kept in the dark, making the whole thing look good. Legalizing it, on the other hand would justify massive government expansion; taxation would add to the government's profits in a more realistic way, and the MJ stoner population would explode, leaving the majority of the public easier to control and much more open to suggestion. The Prohibition analogy is a bad one: if you take away the supply of alcohol, then those who demand it become discontent and will try to take it by force;the stoner is not likely to fight with anyone, as long as he is kept supplied; and if his supply is taken away, he probably still won't fight. For this reason, among others--that marijuana,legal or not, is of much help to the government--I do not countenance, condone, or support the legalization, manufacture, sale, or use of marijuana.

User Detail :  

Name : Lane Coley Morin Russell II, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 24, City : Prescott, State : AZ Country : United States, Occupation : hotel night clerk, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[PW30316]

Zawadi, I have to disagree with some of what you say. Weed contains no nicotine whatsoever. THC does not damage brain cells. I'm not saying weed has no ill-effects, but the ill effects are way, way less than tobacco. It's just bizarre to me that tobacco is legal while weed is not- what sort of message is THAT sending to kids, by the way? It's also an interesting debate as to whether legalisation would reduce it's effect as a gateway drug: at the moment people have to get weed from criminals, the same criminals who later sell them harder drugs. Remember that prohibition of alcohol financed the mafia in the 1930's.

User Detail :  

Name : PW30316, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 33, City : Sydney, State : NA Country : Australia, Occupation : I.T., Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Author]

Posts