Should Marijuana be Legalised?

[Lucifer]

(This thread was made from the ashes of a conversation passed in the general chat.)

The war against drugs was a pretty big deal for a long period of time. Some countries have totally banned the use of drugs, whilst others have control over them.

Either way, here's a question

Do you think marijuana should be legalised?

You can either talk about your country or the world in general in this topic, doesn't matter.

It'd be nice if you can add some citations if you have any statistics you want to bring to light!

Have fun!

 

[Luc]

Should they? That depends. What is your end goal?

I have heared many arguments on both sides. Personally it seems to me that the 'legalize' side makes more sense. But it is such a complex matter. We should weight the pros and cons. No matter what they say, marijuana is not innocuous, as it is a cause of a whole plethora of diseases and health problems. But so are alcohol and tobacco.

In any case, the ramifications of such a seemingly simple decision are way too many for me to analyze. So I leave it to the experts.

 

[not home]

I'm a seventeen-year-old girl who has never been intoxicated in her life, but after research on the internet, and also a bit of input from people I know, my conclusion is as follows:

TLDR: Weed not worse than alcohol, so why alcohol legal and weed not?

Marijuana comes in varying types, is grown and bred in different ways, and therefore can vary in strength.
For the stronger end of the weed spectrum, I can understand it being perhaps punishable to have, due to the increased chance of 'whiteys', where taking too much can cause nausea, paranoia, pallor, and unconsciousness, which I can see leading to accidents.
However, and especially for weaker strains of the drug, I believe putting a black spot on one's criminal record - thus lowering their chances of getting a job because of it - is retarded.

Marijuana, if taken before or during puberty, can stunt brain growth. It can also cause lung problems if used heavily and long-term - though apparently not cancer - and can be psychologically addictive. If you take too much, you have a 'whitey', the effects of which I've previously described. However, if you don't fall and hurt yourself during the whitey, 99% of the time, you recover fully. The 1% are usually those who are idiots who went waaaayyyyy too far and should probably be punished for their stupidity anyway???
Also, as far as I know, marijuana doesn't give you hangovers, or affects your driving as much as alcohol does. There are also little to no reported cases of people dying, or having unwanted pregnancies, directly due to weed. Alcohol, however, claims lives and virginities somewhat regularly.

So, purely from research and what I've gathered, as long as you don't take it before you're eighteen, and do it in moderation, you're basically fine. And when you do get high, you get giggly and relaxed and get the munchies and are generally pretty chill.

Why does this give people a criminal record just for having and using it if alcohol is legal?

Alcohol also comes in varying strengths and types. It also causes stunted brain development if taken from an early age, and can be psychologically addictive. However, whereas abuse of marijuana may simply only lead to whiteys and non-cancerous lung issues, alcohol abuse poisons your mind, your liver, your bladder, your digestive system, gives you a beer gut, and increases the risk of multiple cancers.
Also, the effects of getting drunk can be anywhere between becoming the life of the party, or an aggressive and whiney asshole, rather than the guaranteed 'pizza and guitar jam woooo haha' that weed grants (provided, again, you don't go too far and have a whitey - and even then, you just become afraid and feel ill, not potentially punch up someone or do the dirty dance with no pants without protection).

As long as you take alcohol in moderation - as with weed - none of the nasty long-term effects should pop up. But weed seems to be more forgiving if you do decide to take it a few steps too far.

So, to conclude: Weed does have its bad points, as with all drugs, recreational or not. However, considering that alcohol, which can be equally or more dangerous than marijuana, is legal, I don't see why alcohol gets special treatment.


... Sorry, that was almost a rant. I have no intentions of becoming a stoner, I swear. Just trying to contribute via informed decisions. X3

 

[Craig Leo]

You bring up a lot of good points. When you compare the negatives of marijuana and alcohol, it's hard to wonder why one of them is legal while the other one if illegal.... though, we can look back at the days of prohibition and understand what happens when you take away people's alcohol. All you do is make the substance more dangerous and give more power to the criminals that can take advantage of the open market.

Also, according to some of the studies I've done, the war on drugs has actually made them cheaper and far more potent than they used to be. Which kind've makes you wonder why we're wasting so much money on a 'war' that we can't win and is having the opposite effect.

There's also the idea of medical marijuana. I think people that don't like the concept of recreational use for it may have a harder time fighting against its medical advantages. I don't know how many videos of people suffering from seizures or tremors so bad that they can barely do anything by themselves, but the moment they started to take THC, they have a lot less seizures and their body stops shaking. It also helps cancer patients who are going through chemo treatments.

 

[not home]

People with depression also self-medicate with it, too. Whereas I don't know how many health benefits alcohol has. They say a glass of wine a day is good for your heart?

And yeah, the war on drugs isn't going very well. Some countries have the right idea in providing more rehabilitation and safe environments for drug users, which seems to show some lovely low and happy numbers and statistics about drug use and related diseases/accidents, etc.

 

[Nilum]

Legalize it. In fact, while you're at it, legalize all drugs--cocaine, heroin, so on. Firstly, it's pretty infantalizing to say that if it were all legalized tomorrow, that everyone would become a cocaine addict. Alcohol is legal, not everyone is an alcoholic. Secondly, with a legal means to acquire drugs, you cut down on the fear of admitting to drug use, which allows more addicts to step out and get help before they die. Third, you cut the throat of organized crime, as you take one of their main profit generators and make it safer and easier to acquire legally. Fourth, you can tax it as you do alcohol and cigarettes, allowing you to compensate the cost to the medical system and justice system.

I could go on, really.

 

[Kaos]

Honestly. like prohibition, it just seems to profit criminals more to be illegal. Legalization hurts criminals by cutting in their income? Excuse enough for me.