Should Weed Be Legal?

Originally Posted by mog

Surely those days aren't over? They released a new album last week, and it kicks arse!

Marijuana should be legal, and there should be a limit to how much you can smoke before driving, just like there is with alcohol.

That's so groovey baby! YEAH!

[PeriscopeDepth]

Ah, arguing on the Internet. May the best Googler win!

http://journals.cambridge.org/action...line&aid=52333
http://jncicancerspectrum.oxfordjour...90/16/1182.pdf
http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/geninfo/news_time_10272002.pdf
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/122/114805.htm
http://spi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/20/1/23

Originally Posted by Tashkin

However, proof that habitual use of marijuana does in fact lead to respiratory cancer must await the results of well-designed case-control epidemiologic studies that should now be feasible after the passage of 30 years since the initiation of widespread marijuana use among young individuals in our society in the mid-1960s.

From the last link, a guy named Tashkin who I believed you used as a reference. These articles are saying what I was: that they're not sure. There's no doubt you inhale some nasty stuff, I'm not disputing that. That is present in all types of smoking. But tobacco causes cancer, this is widely accepted. Period. Dot. They're not sure about marijuana. Marijuana has not conclusively been proven to cause cancer; if it had researchers wouldn't be arguing about it as recently as few months ago.

I'm done. Frankly, I have been visting Internet forums long enough to realize that it's pointless to argue with someone who has already made up their mind. I have said what I wanted to say.

PD

[kiwi_2005]

Yep tobbacco causes cancer, and im a smoker. I hate smoking yet i cannot stop i smoke up to 10 -15 per day everyday since i was 19 although im pretty fit for a smoker ( according to my doctor on my last checkup) i exercise every 2nd day walk alot and am not overweight. But i smoke and i know its a killer. Have tried cold turkey, tried the anti smoking pills and the anti nicotein patches, I failed on all of them. The only way i can see myself stopping is if they stopped selling them in shops. When i see young ppl just starting up smoking i want to go over and grab the ciggarette of them and stamp it out - they dont realise they just nailed the first nail into their coffin

Ciggarette is a nasty nasty addiction that should be banned from the planet!. Who ever invented ciggaretts should of been shot.

[STEED]

My Bitch of a assistant always goes on saying you want to smoke, drink, eat, and all the rest to death do it. Live today for tomorrow your dead.

By the way she smokes like a trooper and drinks like a fish.

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by SubSerpent

Why is it still not legal worldwide? What harm does it do? What is the big problem with it?

It must be a full moon tonight

[SkvyWvr]

Originally Posted by kiwi_2005

Same goes with alcohol

Hey, leave my beer alone.

[SkvyWvr]

Originally Posted by SubSerpent

Why is it still not legal worldwide? What harm does it do? What is the big problem with it?

A wise man once said "everything is legal until you get caught".

[tycho102]

Originally Posted by SubSerpent

Why is it still not legal worldwide? What harm does it do? What is the big problem with it?

The Incans used to measure distance in units of "a mouthful of coca leaves". In the high altitudes of the Indes, it was a significant tool in their society and economy.

The problem is when you're driving while under the influence (of marijuana or cocaine or ethanol or LSD or morphine or heroin or PCP). The problem is when you're shooting people under the influence. The problem is when you are so addicted, that it prevents you from becoming a productive member of society.

I don't have a problem with marijuana.* I have no issue with the drug contained within. I take issue with the responsibility of using the drug (THC; tetrahydrocannabinol). If there was responsible use of the drug, then I would have no compunction to "legalizing" it.



* I have actually never used it, and cannot even recognize its smell.

[monkee]

Originally Posted by SubSerpent

Why is it still not legal worldwide? What harm does it do? What is the big problem with it?

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Despite the legalization of soft drugs, use of cannabis in the Netherlands is not higher than most other countries in Western Europe: 9.7% of young males consume cannabis at least once a month, which rates the Netherlands 7th in the EU after Cyprus (23.3%), Spain (16.4%), United Kingdom (15.8%), France (13.2%), Italy (10.9%) and Germany (9.9%).[1]
Some critics say that the legalization of soft drugs often leads to quicker consuming of hard drugs. Yet, the percentage of the population which ever consumed cocaine in the Netherlands is still lower than that of the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy. The situation is similar for other hard drugs.

Well... it doesn't cause real problems

[Immacolata]

The continued banning of weed is based mostly on emotions and very little on rational thought. Anyone with half a brain that isn't clouded by moralist issues can see that the benefits of legal weed outweighs the disadvantages of illegal weed. Just put it on the line with alcohol as for testing and operating machinery, and on line with tobacco smoking as for where and when you can do it.

The dopeheads will for ever remain dopeheads, nothing can really be done about it except making them realize that weed isn't good for them. The exact same way you make an alcoholic try to quit the booze. This way the state might even make a tidy extra tax revenue on weed tariffs.

[Eichenlaub]

I live in the Netherlands and I am thankful weed is legal here. If you ask me, it should be legal worldwide. Not for my own consumption though (check my sig), as that stuff simply isn't for me. Did try it a few times, but it didn't really do anything for me. The spacecake I once ate was nice though.

So why would I advise legalising it? Well, because of the laws here the whole scene has been moved to dedicated points in urban areas. Sure, you might find the occasional coffeeshop (not cafés, but coffeeshops - the difference being that in coffeeshops alcohol may not be served) in an odd location, such as close to a residential area, but generally speaking the coffeeshops are almost all concentrated in a handful of locations throughout a city, depending on the size of the population centre.
Generally, our citizens can go about their business without being bothered by dopeheads or dealers as any one who really wants to, has easy access to the stuff already. This means that you can live your entire life here and hardly ever notice the whole thing - you can just circumvent those areas you know. Since it is legal here, the soft-drug related violent crime has dropped from line of sight; it probably moved over to the still illegal hard drugs scene. There is basically only one form of crime left in the soft drugs zone: the growth of it. Dutch laws have one inexplicable discrepancy. It is legal to sell it in coffeeshops, legal to grow it yourself (limited to a number of plants), but illegal to trade in it. And by trading in it, I mean large-scale suppliers delivering stock to coffeeshops. See the loophole? This has forced suppliers to become criminals. How do they do it? Often they rent empty houses or sheds and build a plantation there, including special lighting and climate control. The lights require a lot of current and that's where much of the crime that private citizens actually notice, comes from: that current is often tapped! It cuts costs dramatically and once the harvest is over the suppliers often leave the premises and disappear without a trace leaving the owner with an incredible energy bill and possibly even damage to the building (walls removed or drilled through to accomodate more growth or tapping). It would be best to remove this silly limitation from the law and have legitimate supply companies set up. Make it susceptible to a market-economy and we'll have affordable, legal and good quality joints.

Not to say that there aren't any societal problems with this. I get annoyed when I smell the stuff aboard a public train or when I happily trod downtown doing some shopping and suddenly catching the odor when a dopehead with a particularly fresh supply scampers by. It must be said though, that they're usually harmless and do not cause or mean to cause public disorder or unrest. Compared to the drunks I can see every Saturday night in Eindhoven that is...

It's really not that bad to live with.

I hope it was somewhat enlightening.

Kind regards,

Eichenlaub