Legalize this! (1152 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: 1.24 on 29 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Kraven <heckler420.at.gmail.com> (View user info) at 2005-02-10 10:19:17 EST
A guy posted a review asking who gave out drugs to high-school kids. I am note going to post a submission to clarify for him that I was not a high-school student when introduced; I was just a little 8th grader. Instead lets debate here a little more.
Marijuana, seemingly the most debated drug in its stand on legality. Should it be legalized or not? This post will clearly explain my reasons for being pro-legalization for marijuana. The following are my key points: Medical, Environmental, Alcohol, and last but not least, economical.
Lets take a deeper look into the medical reasons for the legalization for this drug. Over the last couple of years doctors have been prescribing marijuana for such things as;
Relief from nausea and appetite loss, reduction of intraocular (within the eye) pressure, reduction of muscle spasms and also as a relief from chronic pain. Other illnesses that marijuana can be used to help relieve symptoms are the following; Aids, Glaucoma, Cancer, Multiple sclerosis, Epilepsy, and once again certain cases of Chronic pain.
Now you might be wondering how Miss. Mary Jane can help out our environment. Well, think of this, Hemp paper, need I say more? Why waste trees on paper, it takes years for a tree to mature to the point of good use. A good harvest of marijuana can be used to help cut down on the paper use, save some trees, grow some green.
This leads me right on to my next point, economical reasons. Hemp can be made into many useful products. Hemp rope, hemp clothing, and hemp paper, on top of taxation for the purchase, and or importation of the product in the United States, it would have some impact on our economy. What better way to create new jobs by introducing a new product, one that no other company has yet to do?
I don't want to bore you too much, so we'll discuss the last point, alcohol.
Once legal, then illegal, than legal again, Why? What caused such a commotion that made the movement to make alcohol illegal? Well, there were a lot of reasons for it, decrease in judgment, impaired reactions, and delayed motor abilities, these are your abilities to do your everyday activities, walk, talk, drive etc.
Most people today don't stop and think about the differences on how each narcotic, stimulant, uppers, and downers affect the body and your abilities. I for one am a typical twenty one year old male; I smoke pot and drink beer. Thus knowing first hand the differences the drug and the alcohol has on my system.
Marijuana, they say when your high on marijuana your reaction time is slowed, not necessarily. Someone may shout your name and it may take a second to decide to say what, or pretend you didn't hear. Imagine it like a fork in the road, you see the split coming, do you want to go left or right, you have to make a decision but its not that difficult. When it comes down to it you'll make your turn, who wants to ride into the ditch.
Now lets step over to the boos groupies. These are your typical accident starters. Not only when drunk is your judgment, vision, but also your reaction time impared. You over correct when swerving off the shoulder, inducing a higher risk of losing control. If you are driving on marijuana, paranoia sinks in and your alert and paying attention to only the road. Now you may say, well when I get high I want to pass out, that's ok. Use your own judgment, if the drug renders you unsociable stay at home or wait till you are at an operable level.
If you're looking for some interesting facts to look up, look up drug related deaths. If you want to tell me marijuana is as bad as the rest, compare the deaths per year to cocaine, acid, LSD, and even alcohol. A few years back I took part in a group presentation on why marijuana should be legalized, this was in high school. We received an A, what makes it more ironic, the teacher was a retired cop. Imagine that, speaking of drugs at a school, to a retired cop, promoting the good that it can do, must have done something right.
There are so many facts that you can find that will show you marijuana is far les harmful than alcohol. Yes it is a drug and can have serious effects on your body, but so can Alcohol, and even cigarettes. Yet cigarettes are still legal and claiming many of lives each year. How many people do you know who have died from smoking marijuana.
I hope that the information provided here will at least open your mind to the facts. If you are not a drinker would you vote liquor to be outlawed, or would you remain indifferent and adhere to the wants of others. Marijuana can be used for far greater good than any alcoholic beverage, or any cigarette on the market. Hell if a doctor can subscribe it for a patient treatment, it can't be all that bad.
I do not ask of you to agree with every statement, and I do not expect you to accept the drug. I only ask that you allow yourself to be more open to the possibilities and to the potential of it. Although, I do ask of you to try not to judge a person on the basis of their choice on marijuana, chances are you parents hit the old herb pipe every now and then, and you turned out fine, right?
Thank you for taking time to read and review my post, feel free to stop in and debate your ideas in the review space below. I'm always interested on what other people have to say or what they think about marijuana. Who knows if everyone where high, maybe we can achieve world peace.
-=Kraven
User Reviews
Submitted by consuelo212 (user info) at 2005-02-11 05:43:02 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/
Submitted by rad1101 (user info) at 2005-02-11 05:24:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Ballskid43 (user info) at 2005-02-10 17:16:04 (#)
Ranking: 2
Our government could make a fortune off this shit, if they heavily taxed it like cigarettes, our country could get out of debt.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++==\\
Another example of why you are a moron ballskid
Submitted by Auron (user info) at 2005-02-11 05:08:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Look, If it was legalised then people like me would have serious business problems. If the government took over the purchase and resale, then where would your green dealer be? I can tell you now that if i couldnt make a profit on green anymore, then I would move up to selling other substances more often such as coke, MDMA and pills.
Green will also be shit. The government or unamed company's tried and tested marajuana will be utter crap.
So in reality, If you legalise marajuana then you will create a boom of Class A dealers from all the green dealers.
Legalisation is a bad Idea. Its good as it is.
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2005-02-10 20:35:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
the reason alcohol is legal is because it was being abused more when it was illegal. If they were to ever legalize pot they wouldn't be able to criminalize it again. Too many people would have the prohibition attitude of well it was good for me a few years ago, so it must still be ok. Right now the attitude is well, hopefully we'll keep the numbers of it down so that it's not as big of a deal instead of having to integrate it into society. Besides if pot was legalized, LSD and others would surely follow. And...wait am inute, ubermurder results?!?! Gotta run...
Submitted by Kraven (user info) at 2005-02-10 20:06:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Only now if i could find the write place or the right person to get the ball rolling, unfortunatly i dont have money nor political ties of any kind.. Any Senators/Chairmen or anyone of political power read uber?
Submitted by Ballskid43 (user info) at 2005-02-10 17:16:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Our government could make a fortune off this shit, if they heavily taxed it like cigarettes, our country could get out of debt.
Submitted by Girlwithaclue (user info) at 2005-02-10 17:09:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I graduated from my college with 2 degrees, a 4.0 average and was also the honor graduate...
I was also a moderate pot smoker. I honestly believe that it depends on the person.
I am all for the decriminalization of marijuana, but I think it should be regulated just like alcohol and cigarettes.
Keep up the good work.
Submitted by Kraven (user info) at 2005-02-10 16:28:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by CoreaPeekay (user info) at 2005-02-10 16:13:46 (#)
=====
Thanks for the support, i am also one of those people who honestly do things better high. I had to take a speech class at a community college for co-op my senior year, nothing more intimadating than being 18 years old trying to convince people 10 years older that your speech is good. If not for weed i would have buckled down and cried, instead i was to stoned to realize i was nervous.
Maybe tomorrow i will do a rant post on how much i hate people deciding whats good or bad for ME. That is way to related to this case, becuase yuppie conservatist bastard think they knows whats better for everyone, who the fuck gave you permission to tell me what i can and cannot do with my life.
If only i knew where to start, i would fight this one untill they shut me up with a bullet in the back of the head while sipping coffee at an adult coffee shop.. Do they have those? If not, im going to make one and fund my own campaign.. It'll be "Decriminalization, funded by Cock-n pop, coffee house, where we meet all your...wake up needs" Sound like a winner?
Submitted by CoreaPeekay (user info) at 2005-02-10 16:13:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by AlwaysAnEagle (user info) at 2005-02-10 10:36:47 (#)
Ranking: -1
What, no math?
Saying slowed reaction time is no big deal is just plain dumb, especially in the view of driving. It's fine to say that you take a few extra seconds to decide which side of a fork to take...if you're the only person on the road. But that isn't the case, 9 times out of 10. Slow reaction time can mean you crash into the ass end of the guy in front of you who puts his brakes on to avoid hitting a deer. It means hitting the deer yourself because you couldn't get it together in time to slam the brakes on...or hitting the child running out in the road for the same reason. If you've ever been around seriously high people without being high yourself, you'll realize that while they can be amusing, the decision-making skills are not what one would call top-of-the-line.
*I believe the 'slowed reaction time' is a case-sensitive sort of deal. I myself never have problems with my reaction time when I'm stoned. Hell, I do things more effectively when I've been smoking alittle here and there.. Some people definitely can't take it and therefore shouldn't drive when they're stoned. Oh wait, people can drive after drinking! Drinking is legal!!! What?!?! more people drive while being stoned and have less accidents than people driving drunk.. but alcohol is legal? I know DRIVING while intoxicated is illegal.. well why not apply that to drugs too?
Furthermore, using the argument marijuana should be legal because illegal drugs cause more deaths than it does is pure foolishness. Yes, cocaine, acid, LSD, etc., etc., etc. cause a lot of deaths...that's why they're ILLEGAL. As far as alcohol related deaths, I tend to consider alcohol exempt from consideration in this argument because it is so widespread and accessible, and furthermore, most of those deaths stem from an ABUSE of the product, not plain and simple use. (And abuse does not have to be chronic to be abuse. When you down two handles of vodka and a sixer of the Beast, it's abuse, even if you do it once in your life.)
*Alcohol exempt? Pot is just as easily acessable as Alcohol is, I can't buy either of them but I can get high or drunk any day of the week that I want to. And suddenly you draw a line between 'use' and 'abuse' ? Well maybe the dude that crashes is alittle TOO stoned. Same with the drunk driver... See where I'm going with this one?
I'm not against the legalization of marijuana. In fact, I think we should legalize it, and tax and regulate it just like we do tobacco, and make some money off of it. But not for your reasons. It should fall in the same category as alcohol...a regulated substance.
*There you go. I think thats what everyone wants.
And before you get all excited about your group presentation, I am going to point out that your retired cop teacher was probably grading your WORK, not necessarily condoning your theory. That's a teacher's JOB. To grade the WORK their students do. In high school I wrote a 40 page paper on the reappearance and motivation of the extreme right wing in America, in which I rationalized why there had been a resurgance in past years. I got an A on it and presented it at several seminars in the area...that's not my teacher approving of Neo-Nazism in America, it's her realizing it was a good research paper.
*Yes, and as far as I know retired officers are hard-headed enough to tell you that you're wrong just because they want to be right, no matter what the facts are. You didn't write about how nazis were good, you wrote about how they came back. The kid wrote about the legalization of drugs, researched it and made a damn good statement. If he can come up with enough reasoning to legalize something illegal then it must be pretty damn good, no?
You sound like a smart enough kid. Maybe if you applied yourself to something worthwhile, you'd really get somewhere.
* This is something worthwhile. Its very descriminative against a specific group of people and its happening for absolutely no reason. The consequences are nearly the same, if not less, than certain legalized substances. Look at perscription drugs and Alcohol and you'll see that with regulation anything can be worked out. There are tons of Addictive and easily abused substances (my aunt by marriage was just officially 'caught' stealing 240 pill perscriptions of perkaset from my grandmother who needs them to sleep at night due to immense pain from a few places in her body. Alcohol is widely used *and abused* by the people.. well its just pointless to have a bunch of things and then leave one out, no? Its not very fair.
Just to say, I'm not a stoner, I've never owned a piece in my life and collectively I've probably never paid anything at all for drugs. If anything, charges for possession should be abolished or the govt should regulate. I don't think theres anything wrong with it at all. Bah.
Submitted by Rawrg (user info) at 2005-02-10 15:59:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I agree, but it's practically legal now. All you have to do is not own more than the possession limit, which is normally at least few ounces: more than enough to get you by for a while. If you do get caught, you might get a ticket and a court appearance. Sure, your dealer may go down hard, but no one likes that price raising asshole anyways...
Submitted by someone (user info) at 2005-02-10 15:54:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by big_wigger (user info) at 2005-02-10 13:53:49 (#)
Ranking: 2
It's not legal?
Submitted by Umbilical_Cord (user info) at 2005-02-10 15:49:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
As long as there's a religious right wing who can vote, its not going to happen.
Submitted by big_wigger (user info) at 2005-02-10 13:53:49 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
It's not legal?
Submitted by Kraven (user info) at 2005-02-10 12:30:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Im glad to see the support from you guys, in all out honesty if i could pull together a team of researchers, one thing im clearly not to fond of, this is one issue that i would take full heartedly. My dream is to some how get a "pot head" into the head office, thats right presidancy. Most people automatically assume that a pot head cannot take on the full responsibilites as someone who chooses not to. But i dont find that 100% true, i find myself refering alot to high-school, im only 21 so i've yet to experiance other things i.e. work related, that i can compare to.
You think of your valadictorian, a smart clean sharp shootin go getter. The valadictorian of our school was a good friend of mine, she had damn near a 4.0 every year, and she was a HUGE pot head.
We all react differently to everything, substances in general. Whiskey brings out the worst in some people, making them violent, kind of like capt'n for my brother. I do agree with the guy who said for every one person who can handle it there is 10 who cant. But same thing holds true for un-intoxicated people. If anything, talking on cell phones should be illegal while opperating a vehicle. Theres more of a chance of him coming across the line or rear-ending someone than the stoner driving 5 under.
Also to the guy who made the comment of the guys in war zones... Ever see platoon, have you ever sat and talked to a vietnam vet? I used to work retail and i would come across alot of people who came in just to get attention, one guy told me if it werent for pot he would have gone crazy, the shit they had takes a strong man to handle, the rest smoked pot. "We sat around smoked doobies and shot at each other all day" I dont care if they are out there risking their lives, let the man get high. And yes i would settle for decriminalizing as a first step.
Sorry for the long review, but this is something i find my self fascinated with.
Keep the posts coming! Also i would appreciate any positive points i could use if ever to present information on the topic. Thanks for your participation.
Kraven.
Submitted by HZRD (user info) at 2005-02-10 12:14:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
I agree it should be legalized, but for medical purposes. And hell, if we decriminalized it, we would have a whole lot less stoners. I mean look at Amsterdam - Marijuana's legal there and the usage (amogst locals) is almost 450% less per capita than in the US. Plus if we decriminalized it, we would have a whole lot less room in jails for real criminals.
***THC has also been proven effective in helping serious ADHD patients, children with extreme learning diablities, and chronic (hehheh) asthma sufferers. Apparently, weed got such a bad rap because it was linked with heroin in the early 20th century. Gateway drug, my ass; if people want to do other drugs, they are going to do them. I've seen people go straight to coke, LSD, meth, ketamine and/or herion, bypassing the fabled "gateway". It's also the fear of "the illegal drug" being conquered with this "gateway": you feel you can try other, harder drugs.
I also agree that alcohol is way more damaging than marijuana, but we don't support social drinking in this country. If we were allowed to drink @ 18, and it was actually accepted in society, kids wouldn't be dying to try it and there would be less binge drinkers, not to mention the reduction of teenage drunk driving accidents if parents let their kids drink and party at home. We glorify the fuck out of the drunken experience, and while it is fun, it's just not done as much as in other countries (at least to the extreme we take it). I think we should also have a better recovery program for reoccuring alcoholics than the Christian-based AA. However, you can become addicted to marijuana according to a Harvard Medical School study, but the addiction rate is less than 5% and withdrawal is something like quitting cigarettes, much easier than overcoming the shakes and other horrible stigmas. Also, have you ever heard of someone that was high murdering someone else? NO. I'd be like, "whoa, chill out", we'd all nervously laugh, and the beef would be fucking squashed. People say you lose brain cells from smoking to much weed but that's not exactly true: it can (but rarely does) permanently damage dopamine receptors, creating a "burn out". You lose over 20,000% more brain cells simply sneezing, and a rounded average 5,000 each time you drink the equivalent of 6 beers. Mmmm brain loss and cirrhosis of the liver.
The problem: no one's going to support ANOTHER product that probably causes cancer. However, there has been no quantity assigned to a joint/MJ cigarette by any government anywhere, and there are so many kinds of weed that it would be almost impossible to compare the two.
Submitted by pantsarestupid (user info) at 2005-02-10 11:46:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Yesssssssss....
New York is working on it...
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-02-10 11:44:43 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by drankallmywine (user info) at 2005-02-10 10:36:38 (#)
Ranking: 1
Though your arguement was not as logically coherent as it could have been, you're never going to hear me speak out against the legalization of pot.
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2005-02-10 11:44:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
well, I'm with your guys....
pssst, you ever look at the back of a twenty dollar bill.... ON WEED?!
Submitted by MickGinny (user info) at 2005-02-10 11:44:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
someone has been listening to Jello.
Submitted by TheSunGod (user info) at 2005-02-10 11:39:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
i agree with your point, but i have seen better arguments than this. most of your statements are generalizations and opinions. however, with a little more research, i bet you could stand up in front of congress and deliver one hell of a convincing speech. good job.
Submitted by WillZone (user info) at 2005-02-10 11:35:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Right on, brother!
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-02-10 11:29:08 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
It should be decriminalized not leagalized
Understand the huge difference.
People cannot easily maunfacture alcohol in thier own homes. (good chance of dying if you fuck up)But any idiot can grow weed. So legalization will lead to mass market flooding.
For every person who can handle their shit there are ten idiots I don't want driving while high
I could go on and on
Submitted by GodChicken (user info) at 2005-02-10 11:23:48 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Don't see anything wrong with the medical use. The recreational use, I have just as many reservations about it as alcohol. The decreased reaction times impairs your ability to make snap judgements, making operating a car/motorcycle or any number of things a risk to others. Don't care about you risking yourself, that is just darwin award fodder.
If legalized it should be regulated just as heavily as both alcohol and tobacco COMBINED, due to the portability characteristics and side-effects.
I for one, am well aware of how much illicit alcohol is smuggled into combat zones by the troops, and I cannot imagine the disaster that could occur due to the lingering aftereffects of smoking up.
"Dude! I got the munchies so bad, and we're out of MREs!"
"Pull the humvee over at that fuckin shawarma shack up there. I want me some kebabs."
Submitted by Tigre (user info) at 2005-02-10 11:00:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
It at least needs to be decriminalized in all the states, then legalized. I'm starting the Pennsylvania Freedom Party. Basically to change laws for the freedom of the people. To make it so cops can't trick you into doing things, marijuana deciminalization/legalization, informing people about the true good and bad of marijuana, expand the rights of doctors to prescribe better medicines, to legalize studies of illegal substances with funding, police criminal logic(i.e. choosing to go after the crack dealer on the corner with a gun, rather than the boy/old man with a gram of marijuana in his pocket/pipe.
Fight the machine.
Submitted by Kraven (user info) at 2005-02-10 10:47:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
So far im liking what i hear, unlike most people i like to be corrected if i have a point that maybe be a bit fubar, and the the uberer below, i do agree that Marijuana should be a controlled substance. Keep the reviews coming, im curious to what else you guys might have to say. And i can probably come up with some math for ya'll too.. but that'll be dificult in this case, there are no innies and outties to represent as numbers here... hehe.. im glad you liked that post.. for those of you who missed My mathmatical logic... heres a link if your interested....
http://www.ubersite.com/m/59119
Enjoy and keep those comments coming!
Submitted by AwesomeJohnson (user info) at 2005-02-10 10:38:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
from hemp.com
The reemergence of hemp is slowly but steadily progressing within the United States. Due to the similar leaf shape, hemp is frequently confused with marijuana. Although both plants are from the species cannabis sativa, hemp contains virtually no THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) (less than .3%), the active ingredient in marijuana. Industrial hemp has no illicit uses, it is the equivalent of non-alcoholic beer.
hemp =! mary jane
Submitted by AlwaysAnEagle (user info) at 2005-02-10 10:36:47 EST (#)
Ranking: -1
What, no math?
Saying slowed reaction time is no big deal is just plain dumb, especially in the view of driving. It's fine to say that you take a few extra seconds to decide which side of a fork to take...if you're the only person on the road. But that isn't the case, 9 times out of 10. Slow reaction time can mean you crash into the ass end of the guy in front of you who puts his brakes on to avoid hitting a deer. It means hitting the deer yourself because you couldn't get it together in time to slam the brakes on...or hitting the child running out in the road for the same reason. If you've ever been around seriously high people without being high yourself, you'll realize that while they can be amusing, the decision-making skills are not what one would call top-of-the-line.
Furthermore, using the argument marijuana should be legal because illegal drugs cause more deaths than it does is pure foolishness. Yes, cocaine, acid, LSD, etc., etc., etc. cause a lot of deaths...that's why they're ILLEGAL. As far as alcohol related deaths, I tend to consider alcohol exempt from consideration in this argument because it is so widespread and accessible, and furthermore, most of those deaths stem from an ABUSE of the product, not plain and simple use. (And abuse does not have to be chronic to be abuse. When you down two handles of vodka and a sixer of the Beast, it's abuse, even if you do it once in your life.)
I'm not against the legalization of marijuana. In fact, I think we should legalize it, and tax and regulate it just like we do tobacco, and make some money off of it. But not for your reasons. It should fall in the same category as alcohol...a regulated substance.
And before you get all excited about your group presentation, I am going to point out that your retired cop teacher was probably grading your WORK, not necessarily condoning your theory. That's a teacher's JOB. To grade the WORK their students do. In high school I wrote a 40 page paper on the reappearance and motivation of the extreme right wing in America, in which I rationalized why there had been a resurgance in past years. I got an A on it and presented it at several seminars in the area...that's not my teacher approving of Neo-Nazism in America, it's her realizing it was a good research paper.
You sound like a smart enough kid. Maybe if you applied yourself to something worthwhile, you'd really get somewhere.
Submitted by drankallmywine (user info) at 2005-02-10 10:36:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Though your arguement was not as logically coherent as it could have been, you're never going to hear me speak out against the legalization of pot.
Submitted by Jeanneee (user info) at 2005-02-10 10:23:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
You're preaching to the converted here.