ishter

The highly controversial, widely debated topic regarding the legalization or at least the decriminalization of marijuana.

I for one believe that marijuana should be made legal, or decriminalized (no longer a crime) as it is the only current illegal substance, which has no proven negative impacts upon the human body. This is obviously to a certain extent (when not smoked daily for 25 years straight), and when smoked pure (without the adding of tobacco or other substances.

Another possible outcome would be for the government to regulate both the supply and demand of marijuana (demand through taxation, hence supply also) as done with tobacco. This would not only result in better quality, greater purity, and more suitable quantities, but would also add significant fiscal benefits.

Please do keep in mind, that laws relating to the possession, sale and trafficking of marijuana and marijuana related substances (hash, etc) may differ largely between country and country. Therefore try refrain from being country specific, and refrain from attacking a specific countries regulations and laws.

Eg. Classification as a class A substance in the USA as opposed to the current status of marijuana in holland.

Begin.

SgtJoo

The Prohibition on alcohol led to the mafia and illegal distilleries. People who wanted to get alcohol still could. Prohibition on drugs has led to gangs dealing drugs fighting each other in bloody turf wars and forcing police forces to dedicate inumerable resources to fight the "war on drugs". Drug addicts commit 25% of all auto thefts, 40% of robberies and assaults, and 50% of burglaries and larcenies. Get rid of the Prohibition.

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SWWAcoma

I hear this argument a lot from the "pro-legalization" crowd, but I believe strongly one of the main reason's Marijuana isn't legal as of right now is that the government could never control regulation/taxation of the product. Marijuana, unlike tobacco, is actually fairly easy to grow. Look at how many people can grow it in their closets, in their back yards, deep inside wooded areas. These are people that are growing it illegally, if the drug were to be legal there would be no way the government would be able to regulate is sale and movement.

I'm not a tobacco smoker, but I know the government just passed legislation that raised the sin tax on cigarettes exponentially. If the government wasn't able to do that, and tobacco was something that could be grown as easily as marijuana then I have no doubt tobacco would be illegal as well.

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TheHunter360

Marijuana accounts for a good sum of profit for those drug cartels south of the border. Legalize it, sell it, tax it, profit. Cartels lose, we win.

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ishter

People can make their own alcohol fairly easily too - yet very few actually bother.

If marijuana was produced in the masses (economies of scale) there would be little point of growing your own produce (assuming the government doesn't +500% taxation)

I have no doubt that people will still grow weed if it is controlled by governments, but this is dictated by human nature, the desire to not conform, ignore authority, and not feel controlled.

I say give it 10-20 years and marijuana bars will be present in all major cities as allowed by domestic legislation.

Good point hunter, Cannabis genus (marijuana plants) benefits stem not only from recreational/medical use, but in the production of various vital products such as paper, plastics and food.

TheHunter360

Don't forget about hemp!

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GhostHands

I would like to see it legalized. Currently, in the state of Washington, I am covered under the Medical Marijuana Act and could legally obtain and smoke pot for medicinal purposes. Since I have no idea how to get the card, I smoke pot whenever I want to and don't care about the consequences. This is a true statement: WA police are more concerned with jaywalkers than they are with small amounts of pot possession. It will be on the ballot very soon to decriminalize, and the governor and attorney generals office, along with a huge group of lawyers and law enforcement are trying to get it legalized here.

I know people that have smoked daily for over 15 years, their only trouble is weight gain due to munchies and $50 less in their pocket every week.

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ishter

anyone heard of hydro-weed? i smoked it a couple of days ago for the first time - wowowoow its potent. It's big-ish in australia because growing it naturally doesn't suffice due to the weather or something, so they use chemicals and whatnot, cant be good but oh well..

EDIT: this is hardly a debate =D more like a lobby group

Nibbles

In addition to the many reasons people have already mentioned in favour of decriminalisation, I don't see why something less dangerous and damaging than alcohol should be illegal.

It's grown through using Hydroponics. This means that no soil is used. Instead nutrients are fed in through water where the plants roots rest and strong artificial light is usually used to simulate sunlight. With this amount of control, growers can increase the potency and speed of growth. Because this can all be done indoors, it also means that the whole operation is hidden away and not exposed outdoors.

Hydroponic systems are popular with indoor growers of any plant - not just Marijuana. I'm actually growning three Tomato plants now with an AeroGarden unit (as seen on TV) - same thing.

ishter

Oh ok, thanks for the clarification nibbles. So hydro-weed so to speak, is no worse for you than normal, naturally grown weed?

9INCHNAIL

Hydroponics at work in my Town....

Revealed: The £1m drugs factory in Northampton - Northampton Chronicle and Echo


From my erm... limited (lol) understanding Hyrdo outfits actually produce a higher THC content than the traditional method.Meaning its not only quicker but also stronger.This is why the Powers that want to be have re classified the drug here.
Strains of weed (in particular skunk) have been found to be a lot more potent (5 -10 times) as strong as say the 60's strains.

info is everywhere on it so i wont put another link.

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UKz JoKeR

It should not be legalized in my opinion, it fucks up your brain, makes you paranoid, then puts more people in hospital for claiming they are going off their head, Makes them have a mental illness etc, then all the tax money would be going towards tablets to make them feel non-paranoid or to help hospital in which the people are in. Drugs are just pointless to me in my opinion. I can't see why people take them to get a hit, then just fall asleep after it or make them high. Drugs cause millions of deaths every year also whats the point in taking them, you only live once, so why not stay off the drugs and live for as long as you can live without the effects of dying from toxic shit etc. Also more people on Marijuana killed people while driving than drunk drivers last year. So this is my opinion on why it should not be legalized. Live life to the max without the drugs.

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Voodoo

legal drugs; tobacco, alcohol I (these two especially), over the counter and prescription drugs account for more deaths and harm than those of illicit drugs. I can't be bothered finding a statistic but iirc it is fact, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

All that said, I can see the benefits and the disadvantages of legalising marijuana, but I don't really care, since it doesn't affect me in the slightest, I don't smoke at all.

I think the evidence suggests that legalising it would be more beneficial, although once marijuana is legalised what would be next I suppose.

In terms of harm, there are far more harmful illicit drugs.

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iMac Girl

I belive the first step would be to simply repeal the laws that criminalize anything to do with the stuff. Then bring in regulations to govern it's production as is done with any produce produced for human consumption. Farms are regulated how they produce their crops, the alchol industry is regulated, as is anything we consume or use.

Respectfully, I disagree with this statement as there is no guarantee that the product would be better quality or greater purity. I would think the type of plant grown determins that not the method used to produce a product for sale to the comsumer.

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Voodoo

Government control is always going to be better than home/illegally run manufacture. The government is liable and has accountability, a cartel has none and as such don't care if their product is safe, (relative to what it could be)

In Russia once there was no more state produced vodka people began distilling it in their bathtubs, the unsanitary conditions led to a whole slew of deaths from the vodka, some people drank up to 2L of it a day (I know this sounds like bullshit but I specifically remember that part of the doco because of the absurdity) I think they recently started to control the production of it because it started to get very much out of control.

source is some doco I watched a while back, i'm a bit hazy on details but it was something like the above.

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OzballO

I'm gonna hate myself for saying this but...Just from talking to people who have smoked (I have never and will never) they don't find it any worse than alcohol. That being said I would love there to be some quick test that could determine the amount of weed in your system. This like all other drugs if you do too much you can become way too high for your own or others good. If there could be a certain amount you can take in while in public I would support that. However, this seems highly unlikely this could ever happen but I can wish! Also unlike alcohol you can get high from just being in the area with someone else. Thus you are starting to step on other peoples rights to free air. Therefore I believe you should only be allowed to smoke at a private residence or areas set aside specifically for smoking weed ie outdoors. I don't want to go into a common bar and have to leave because the smell from weed makes me want to puke.

UKz JoKeR

Yeh I agree with what you said. Yeh this is the problem once you legalize one drug it will lead to another, Cocaine, Heroin etc and this is what the government are scared off.The more people who smoke marjuana often lead themself to another drug as they no longer get a hit out of smoking it, more than 75% of people smoked Marjuana before moving to a stronger drug, so I can see why they don't legalize it, I just wonder if it gives people a hit out of doing something illegal though, I don't know Know.

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ishter

Exactly. Government control also ensures consistency, which is pretty important, especially in the context of mind-altering drugs.

Regarding the point made above about paranoid thoughts and "fucking your brain" - there have been no conclusive independent studies that have proven marijuana usage to be detrimental to ones health. Back in the 80's, various government-funded research programs began emerging, and co-incidentally concluded exactly what governments where wanting people to believe..

Contrary to what you mentioned, few people actually experience paranoid behavior/thoughts, and I think only a couple of times i've witnessed either my friends or myself feel anything remotely paranoid-like.

You must consider the medicinal benefits derived from marijuana consumption, and not only the recreational side of it's uses. The ability to temporarily cure or dampen pain is a godsend to some who've been suffering, not helped in the least by modern medicine.

In my eyes and from my experience, the main argument against the decriminalization of marijuana is that of "gateway effect". Many preach that allowing greater access to marijuana will result in a greater number of individuals moving up to more serious, and more danger substances after they've experienced that initial high. Don't get me wrong here, Im not saying the gateway theory doesn't happen - it most definitely does. What I am saying is that the gateway effect only occurs due to the fact that marijuana is illegal, and people must source it from often shady, and profit-graving junkies. They will (speaking from experience) offer you harder, more dangerous drugs that will "fuck your brain".

The very system itself, as currently implemented, is responsible for the gateway effect, and the decriminalization/ legalization of marijuana, would reduce the number of victims of this effect.

Im glad someone opposed the masses, but I don't see any valid reason why it should remain illegal.

Voodoo

They wouldn't, but there is always the possibility :s

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ishter

Gateway effect/ theory, refer to my above post

Voodoo

You ninja'd me no fair

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ishter

Lol sorry =]

I'm pretty sure its legal in some parts of australia to grow a small plant (under 2 feet or something) and strictly for recreational, personal, private use. But I could well be wrong. Im in sydney, and it's not here..

Where abouts are you, and am I correct?

Voodoo

Wikipedia source/citation = NCPIC Cannabis and the Law Factsheet

and I'm from Melbourne

btw I didn't know you were from Aus, I know you played CS: (S??) what division of CEVO were you in?

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ishter

Yea im australian/british but lived in Hong Kong pretty much my whole life until just over a month ago, when i moved back to sydney for uni. Yea I played a half season of cevo-a (from hongkong) but it was the placement tourney (only reason for playing a, where the top 3 teams automatically qualify for p. We were on track to make the invite. Until one of my idiot teamates was caught tracing a guy through the wall on inferno A site. (we had no idea he was cheating haha) which majorly screwed our team.

We played some of the best asia-pacific teams and had some solid wins, sigh i miss css.

Uncleroy

Simple: legalize it... its doesnt make u paranoid or melt your brain or anything outrageous like that.

My argument has always been that 1) alcohol and tobacco are worse and legal 2) decriminalizing it would reduce strain on law enforcement and reduce greatly the cost of the prison system, which in the end would save to government lots of $$$$. Also others but those are my main two.