Forbidden Donut

Keep it illegal, but decriminalized nation-wide. There are some people in this world who are not responsible enough to limit and/or control their actions with drug use.

Medicinally, it should be legal.

I think as long as you keep the same restrictions on it that you keep on alcohol, it should be fine for legal use. I've never seen anyone act nearly as stupid from getting high as they do when they drink. I don't personally smoke, so I wouldn't get anything out of it, but the taxes that would come off of it, the reduction in crimes committed by it, and the drop in the drug trade all make it seem like a very viable alternative to the problems that we currently have with it as an illegal drug.

+1 Pheylan

I agree with pheyan and gnomonuntutututu in all respects, only thing is I personally can't decide whether i would actually want it legal or just a grey area like in Holland.

It should be completely legal. the government is not allowed to tell me what substances to put in my body.

I just really think it's absurd to say to people don't use this substance it's bad for you and also we'll throw your ass in jail.

Further, it's illegality is detrimental to this country in a billion different ways.

PEOPLE SPEND THEIR PAYCHECKS ON THIS HIGHLY ADDICTIVE SUBSTANCE, DISREGARDING THEIR FAMILIES NEEDS...

yeah you've heard that one before. whats funny is if it was legal it wouldnt cost much more than a box of noodles. addiction? chemically, no. psychologicall yes - just like riding rollercoasters, jumping motorcycles, alcohol, sex, back rubs.. the list goes on. Most people like feeling good and want it again. yay for human nature? didnt know it was that hard to understand... Oh wait, people cant understand because they cant experience it for themselves to make a decision, that is unless they want to "BREAK THE LAW OH MY GOD NO EVIL EVIL SATAN"

edit: yeah legalization would be great im just scared of HOW high taxes might be along with how much the government tries to regulate it, take control of it via price, quality, quantity and so on. I only want it legal if production/distribution can stay in the hands of citizens. Yes that could actually be done through a legal business- news stands, coffee shops.. the list goes on. Dealers and peddlers deal it BECAUSE its illegal and so profitable rofl. Make it legal and you don't have to worry about that.

Well it would prolly cost more like a box of cigarettes the way our government works.

I did a 10 page research topic on the legalization of marijuana in which I brought up the pro's and cons:

Pro:
1. Increased Economy through taxing, jobs, buying, selling, etc. It's money the government can use.
2. Free's up a vast amount of criminals in prison for MJ related crimes.
3. Blackmarket is about 60 percent MJ dealing, in terms of drug useage. It is there most profitable by sheer demand and quantity.
4. Medicinally helps cancer patients, aids patients, and anyone who suffers headaches, nausea, fights eating disorders, stress release, and any pain one might have.
5. Your brain naturally has cannabanoid (sp) receptors which either means through evolution we acquired THC use as a normality or we were born with these.
6. Free's up the majority of cops who are called for marijuana related incidents to enforce more meaningful laws.
7. Sticks it to republicans. We'll turn the whole country into Hippies.
8. Least harmful narcotic out there, including alcohol and tobacco.
9. Cured my Post ADD medication disorders and allowed me to not use Valium anymore, which I'm very happy to not have to need. Like I said in the ADD thread, that medicine does terrible things to your personal being.
10. Excellent additive for food.
11. Can be cultivated for a powerful fuel source.
12. Safe potency and FDA controlled. You know what you buy and you know you wont be getting Primo (coke with weed) and other laced marijuana's.

Cons:
1. Increased Use.
2. Possible increase in driving accidents among the idiotic.
3. Can be addictive.
4. Might pave the way for future drugs to be illegal. Meth, Crack, Coke, Heroine, etc should never be legal, ever. I don't care what you say about substances and personal rights, those drugs are bad and people need to be protected from it.
5. Affects newborns and infants.
6. The increased availability will pave the way to younger people trying it.
7. It is cooler when it is illegal.

In my honest opinion, our Government should turn their backs on the issue like Holland does. You have to a have a reason to get marijuana. And if you want it, just find someone who has a good enough reason. But don't fine people for using it or possessing it.

All drugs should be legal.

Natural selection.

I think the government should draw their focus away from illegal MJ usages and focus more that is important and such.

Not sure what but i'm sure there's something more important than OMG ILLEGAL MJ USAGE! BANSTICK ACTIVATED!

Darwin just invited you to all of his parties, ever.

I support this message.

Tell me what you believe when you find out your daughter/ son/ girlfriend/ sister/ or brother OD on coke or heroine.

banstick, roffle

exactly!

i've known lots of people with drug problems, and the drug being illegal obviously didn't fucking stop them from getting it, did it? making drugs illegal does nothing. NOTHING. if the money spent on arresting and imprisoning people for drug related offenses was spent on education and rehab, i believe that we'd see a lot less cases of people ODing, family's being destroyed, and all that other great stuff that still occurs even while my personal rights to do whatever the fuck i want to do with my body are being restricted by big fucking brother.

Alright, but if all drugs are made legal theres going to be a lot more usage. What I previously said, I meant to imply that these are people you really care about, and they OD'd due to either a lack of knowledge of maybe they realized, "Hey, this certain drug isnt illegal anymore, now I can try it without reprocussion." And they take too much.

Now im not disagreeing with you that all drugs should be legal. Marijuana has had no proven cases of overdosing. What I believe is that if all drugs were to become legal, restrictions should be applied to a)how theyre consumed, b)by whom theyre consumed, and c)how much theyre consumed.

I do agree with you that money is being wasted on imprisonated drug offenses. However, when you say that the money would be better spent on rehab, you should realize that a lot more money would be directed that way if drugs were legal, and families are still going to be torn apart, probably even more than how they already are.

I honestly dont care what a person does with their own body, but think about this... Say you have a 12 year old daughter, and she ODs at a party with her friends. Lets say that she was experimenting with acid, and without any knwoledge, she consumed a lethal amount. Would you still feel the same way?

There is no way that you can have a system where all drugs are legal, without the above restrictions.

The issue is that most over doses, at least that I've been around or entirely aware of, have either been suicides, or mistakes. And the mistake isn't because someone didn't know what they were doing given the dose they're used to, it's because illicit narcotics, are by definition, not regulated. So let's say, on average, you're getting heroine that's 60% heroine, cut with 40% of any other white power. Then say, someday, you get 90% heroine, and ten percent random white powder. All of a sudden, the average dose is 30% higher in power, and you die. If heroine were regulated, this would not happen. It would regulated. Am I saying heroine should be legal? No, I have no idea what the ramifications would be. But I'm not saying it shouldn't be legal either... And yes, the double negative is intentional.

Again, drugs are complicated... There's a lot of ways to get fucked up, if you don't treat them with the same respect you treat something equally dangerous, like a firearm. But that's not a reason you shouldn't be allowed to own them.

I think it should stop at marijuana. Other substances are way dangerous and addictive. In all honesty, the concept of considering them for legality appalls me. People don't have the common sense to police themselves. That's why we have laws, and ramifications if you break them. If everyone would drive in a safe manner, at a safe speed, we wouldn't have speed limits. But people don't behave that way. Its the same with drugs.

That philosophy is sometimes taken to ridiculous levels though. Like laws about spanking one's child, or that bullshit about "attending school"...

I agree with you overall, but once again, moderation becomes a problem.

drugs are a personal choice. if i speed i risk killing not only myself but everyone on the road. if i'm shooting up heroine i'm not endangering anyone but myself. maybe if i have kids i'm putting them in danger, well big brother can come in and take my kids then.

if we follow what you're saying then we should put people in jail for being fat. for eating unhealthy. for not going to the gym at least 3 times a week. from watching too much tv. drinking too much beer. not sitting up straight.

the government is not in place to protect me from myself.

Having drugs be illegal isn't going to stop them from taking them. Educating people about just how dangerous they are will.
And I would be willing to bet that the majority of violence from drugs comes from druggies and the dealing of drugs. If it were legalized and regulated, the government would be able to make money from tax instead of spending tax money fighting the 'war on drugs.' And it would be able to sell them in a secure environment, with the people knowing just how potent the stuff they are getting is.

The thing is, if hardcore drugs were legal, there would be a ton more use out there then there is now. And your drugs vs fat comparison; being fat isn't dangerous to other people. Being strung out on heroin, robbing a gas station so you can afford your next fix is dangerous to other people. The government isn't trying to control what you can do to yourself with hard drugs as much as it is what can you do to others around you.

You can't possibly say they could do much more to educate people about drugs. If you don't know they are dangerous at this point in society, there's not much more that can be done. Its printed on the side of the carton that cigarettes can kill you, yet people still smoke. You really think more awareness is going to stop people from doing harder drugs? By keeping them illegal, you may not stop everyone, but you at least eliminate the majority of the people that are casually curious. I least for where I live, I'd have to really work at finding someone to sell me a hard drug. That's true for most people around me. If I could just buy coke over the counter, imagine how much the use would skyrocket, and with that use, the amount of OD's and deaths, not to mention addiction.

I've yet to hear one good argument for why hard drugs should be legalized.

Youve said that far better than I did, many props to you.

The only necessary argument is that the government should not be allowed to tell me what to put in my body.

You're description of a drug addict robbing a store to afford his next fix is completely bogus. First of all, the number of people robbing stores for money to buy things other than drugs far outweighs the number robbed for drug money, so do you want to ban everything somebody would potentially buy with robbery money? Second of all, if drugs were legal the prices would go down because they'd be every where and easy to obtain or create on your own. So drug addicts no longer need crazy amounts of money to get them.

And like I said before, yes there are ways to educate yourself about drugs right now, but for the most part it's a lot of bullshit propaganda and fear mongering. All that dishonesty is easy to see through and that's why people try drugs for themselves because they know they can't believe authorities or parents. If drug education was honest and up front then people would listen to it more closely. When you say, omg weed will ruin your life and kids look around and say hey i know a lot of people who's lives aren't bad at all who smoke weed, i wonder how much of the other stuff my parent's tell me is lies. Truthful education and awareness will prevent use far more than making them illegal. And because you're never going to prevent everyone from doing them, our tax money would be put to better use in rehab programs so that when someone gets hooked they can get off the drugs instead of go to jail, (where drugs and other criminal activity are far more pervasive and hard to stay away from, btw).

So should things like anthrax or rycin be allowed for anyone to buy? The government doesn't want you to put those things in your body, or in anyone else's. So why not make those legal? Too much of one of those can have the same effect as too much coke. The reason is, they are illegal because of the greater good. Sure, some people are responsible enough not to use drugs, or either one of those highly deadly substances. The problem is, not everyone is responsible enough to not use them.

Dont you want to know if the medicine you buy is safe? I dont agree with how long it takes a drug to go through the FDA approval process, but I do appreciate knowing it will be safe to take. If a medicine doesnt make the cut then it is scrapped. Would marijuana or hard drugs make the cut? Maybe marijuana is ok for specific use in glaucoma or whatever, but i see no use for hard drugs.

where did i ever say i don't want the FDA to approve or disapprove drugs??? I don't want the FDA or any other government entity telling me that i will go to jail for using ANYTHING. And to be honest i'd rather there were some independent non profit research group to test drugs, as the FDA has made questionable rulings in the past due to government pressure and i'm sure pressure from pharmaceutical companies as well.

Theoretically, yes i should be able to ingest anthrax if i see fit. Of course anthrax is a biological weapon, and is nothing like any of the drugs we're talking about seeing as how sprinkling some on an envelope can get hundreds of people sick. So no, i do not think we should be able to have our own biological weapons for personal use.

I don't care if there is a use for a drug. If i want to use it on myself i should be able to. and if i'm dumb enough to do it, you all shouldn't have a problem with that.

If i'm running around sticking needles of heroine in other people, then by all means please put me in jail.

also i'm curious:

would you guys make cigarettes illegal? what about alcohol?

what "uses" do they have?

i understand they do not have the same level of immediate intoxication as "hard" drugs and they may not kill you as fast in the case of cigarettes, but cigarette and alcohol addictions are just as devastating. ask bill how hard it is to quit cigs. go to an AAA meeting and ask them if alcohol is a "soft" drug. actually you can probably just ask bill about both of those, rofl. i love you bill.

Right now in Canada charges never go through unless the guy has a brick, or some abundant amount on him. However, I see no epidemic. People are not out smoking all the time laughing at cops, pushing it in the public's faces, etc. Therefore, personally I'd be fine with decriminalization, or regulation. This is a fairly uninformed opinion, however I cannot see marijuana ever causing more problems then alcohol... drunks are much more dangerous then people high on pot.

I'll agree that alcohol is probably one of the most dangerous of all those drugs, at least to other people. The reality of trying to control it more then we already do would likely lead to revolution. /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

I think you are already getting what you want in being allowed to ingest something. Its not illegal to inject yourself with anything. You can do any drug you want and not be prosecuted. What's illegal is possession, buying and selling the drug. They don't care if you do the drug, just so long as when you do, you don't have possession. /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

Ask a law enforcement officer who he would rather deal with in a difficult situation:
Someone under the influence of weed or someone drunk?

Ask a law enforcement officer who he would rather deal with in any situation:
Someone under the influence of weed or someone drunk?

I bet both answers he says the high guy. If he pulls that "neither" shit tell him he DOESNT HAVE AN OPTION

I haven't seen any argument on the bad consequences on brain cells and scholarship. I don't have time tonight and probably not this week-end so some of you guys might have a better knowledge of the case.

Discuss /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

Memory is not actually "lost" or damaged. Consider it as shifting your resources. What is originally dedicated to certain types of memory is switched over to comprehension/perception. That seems to be the most common change. As for that "uselessness" and couchlock, that depends not only on the type of weed you smoke (you smoke shit you feel like shit, just like you breath shitty air or eat shitty food and you feel like shit? see the pattern?). It also depends on your individual chemistry and brain capacity if you will /wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" /> From a mental perspective the enhancement can be endless.