Why the US can't legalize marijuana

[DJ-Keen]

Here it is.

Marijuana was initially made illegal by churches out of pure racism toward immigrants. It's never been an issue of whether or not the drug was harmful. As a matter of fact, it's less harmful then most legal drugs and medication.

I feel one of the main reasons, (if not THE reason,) it's illegal right now, is because it's difficult to legalize something that millions of people have spent a good majority of their lives in jail for.

Let's say you spent 10 years of your life in jail for marijuana, from age twenty, to age thirty. That's most of your prime. If it was suddenly legalized, wouldn't you be outraged and be suing the fuck out of the government?

That's my argument, let's hear yours.

[thedo12]

thats a preety shitty arguement,

"I wont give people personal freedoms becuase someone will be angry/offended"

[marchohare]

At 10/20/08 10:57 PM, DJ-Keen wrote: That's my argument, let's hear yours.

Google "Anslinger Hearst."

Of course, times have changed. Big Pharma helps keep it illegal now.

[Proteas]

At 10/20/08 11:10 PM, marchohare wrote: Google "Anslinger Hearst."

I think it's funny that the entire point of the article is to place the brunt of the blame on people and their "racist actions," and only briefly mentions the bit about Hearst and his paper holdings.

I don't know how to put this into words, so I shall just make a comparitave analogy using a Bill Hicks quote....

"People complain that Playboy causes perverse and sexual thoughts, but they are getting the cart before the horse. Playboy does not cause sexual thoughts, sexual thoughts exist therefore Playboy exists."

[flyingtiger]

At 10/20/08 10:57 PM, DJ-Keen wrote: Marijuana was initially made illegal by churches out of pure racism toward immigrants.

lmao please

I feel one of the main reasons, (if not THE reason,) it's illegal right now, is because it's difficult to legalize something that millions of people have spent a good majority of their lives in jail for.

Let's say you spent 10 years of your life in jail for marijuana, from age twenty, to age thirty. That's most of your prime. If it was suddenly legalized, wouldn't you be outraged and be suing the fuck out of the government?

That's my argument, let's hear yours.

it's not going to become legal because people are afraid of it after hearing years of anti-drug propaganda. it's as simple as that.

[RandomFreak]

I have no doubt that as time goes on and more and more of the arguments against legalizing it are revealed to be ridiculous it will be legalized. It's an issue of how much time that takes. I'm sure it'll be in our lifetime but not anytime in the immediate future.

[Tony-DarkGrave]

At 10/20/08 10:57 PM, DJ-Keen wrote: Here it is.

Marijuana was initially made illegal by churches out of pure racism toward immigrants. It's never been an issue of whether or not the drug was harmful. As a matter of fact, it's less harmful then most legal drugs and medication.

I call bullshit. its because it impairs you.

I feel one of the main reasons, (if not THE reason,) it's illegal right now, is because it's difficult to legalize something that millions of people have spent a good majority of their lives in jail for.

Which would be hispanics and and blacks

Let's say you spent 10 years of your life in jail for marijuana, from age twenty, to age thirty. That's most of your prime. If it was suddenly legalized, wouldn't you be outraged and be suing the fuck out of the government?

Oh boo hoo that is what you get for geting high it's your own fucking fault for being a pothead

[Rose-Vampire]

Just move to holland and stop complaining. Drugs are bad. Smoking kills ya. end of story.

[Minarchist]

To support the continued illegalization of cannabis but not alcohol and cigarettes is very hypocritical.

[oicwatudidthar]

The day the legalise the herb is the day that noone can be arsed to do anything and society collapses. I gave up weed for a reason: IT FUCKS YOUR HEAD UP! Don't come at me with counter statistics, I'm not a fan of empiricism for a start, and I have experienced it first hand, so I don't need to hear about inconclusive studies and all that bollocks.

[FC-Thun-Fan]

Sure weed messes with your head if you use it in excess, but so does alcohol and I don't see a majority of people ranting about alcohol being legal. This is simply because alcohol has been a part of a normal life in society for ages and as the prohibition from 1916 to 1927 in America showed us, people cannot go without it anymore. So the mob took charge of deliveries and was making money out of it, this money could have been flowing into the pockets of the state through taxing instead of going into the gangs' hands with no economical benefit for the state. In the same way, today the mob have all the profit from selling weed, whilst some of your money goes into stopping them with cops. Well guess what? You could be sparing that money to stop them, and the economy, and ultimately you, could be recieving money, from the legal sale of weed, through taxation. "But, no this is morally wrong!", you may say. But how is it less wrong than alcohol, which is at least as damaging, being legal . The problem is weed is referred to as a drug, on the other hand alcohol has somehow escaped the label of "drug" and is deemed more or less exceptable.

People who take weed, will under the current circumstances, as well as if it's legal. The difference is, if it were legal the economy would profit and the dealers would lose, but as it is not the opposite is the case.

I would say that America is definetly still quite far from legalising it. As it is still very conservative compared to pretty much every European country.

Something that might be of interest to you is that in Switzerland (where I live), the people are going to be voting on whether weed will be legalised or not in November this year. If it is I probably will make a thread.

Legalise

[FatherTime89]

At 10/21/08 12:11 PM, Rose-Vampire wrote: Just move to holland and stop complaining. Drugs are bad. Smoking kills ya. end of story.

Criminalizing pot is stupid, takes away our liberties and enforcing it is a waste of money. End of story.

Oh and telling people to move because they don't like the laws of the land is dumb. Doesn't democracy exist so we can change the government to suit our liking? Wouldn't it be better if we stayed here and tried to change U.S. for the better.

[FatherTime89]

At 10/21/08 01:50 PM, oicwatudidthar wrote: The day the legalise the herb is the day that noone can be arsed to do anything and society collapses.

A lot of people got drunk the day prohibition ended and society didn't collapse, what makes you think it'll be different with pot?

[Tony-DarkGrave]

because it fucks with your head!

[Musician]

At 10/21/08 03:54 PM, Dante-Son-Of-Sparda wrote: because it fucks with your head!

Yes, my head. It's none of your fucking business what I put in my body.

I swear to god, drug abolitionist arguments are only second in stupidity to creationist arguments.

[FatherTime89]

Lots of things fuck with your head, like alcohol for instance. It doesn't make any sense for alcohol to be legal and weed not to be.

[aninjaman]

At 10/21/08 01:21 PM, Minarchist wrote: To support the continued illegalization of cannabis but not alcohol and cigarettes is very hypocritical.

Yes weed, alcohol, and cigarettes are all terrieble for you weed is acually healthier then cigaretteres because it has no added chemicals is is healthier then alcohol because it does not cause liver damage.
I do not do drugs, or smoke, or even drink but banning things like these that people use all the time ends up with to many people in jail for something not that bad.

[Helicopterz]

It's illegal because it's NOT bad for you.

[Helicopterz]

And it would put, as someone already mentioned, lots of pharmecutical companies out of business. You don't need headache medicine if you have a plant in your backyard, etc.

[Helicopterz]

In addition, legalizing it would destroy the backbone of the criminal finances.

If you have a weaker crime syndicate, you don't need as many law enforcement people. So that wouldn't be good for Uncle Sam either. We "need" our police.

[AnorexicPuppy]

The logic behind substance abuse policy is centered on whether the said substance can impair judgment. Though marijuana is completely harmless, it screws with your reactions and emotions. Really, the only reason alcohol is legal is because of the long-standing cultures surrounding it.

[kraor024]

At 10/21/08 09:46 PM, AnorexicPuppy wrote: The logic behind substance abuse policy is centered on whether the said substance can impair judgment. Though marijuana is completely harmless, it screws with your reactions and emotions. Really, the only reason alcohol is legal is because of the long-standing cultures surrounding it.

As opposed to the short lived culture around marijuana?

[Shaggytheclown17]

Sup everyone, jist dropped in to have a look around.

I hear weed is pretty legal in some states, you could have a small portion of it n only get a small fine if caught with it.

In my opinion I wouldn't worry about it, ppl can do what they want, I dont see smoking weed as very bad n I've done it myself a few times.

[marchohare]

At 10/20/08 11:10 PM, marchohare wrote:

Google "Anslinger Hearst."

At 10/20/08 11:51 PM, Proteas wrote:

I think it's funny that the entire point of the article is to place the brunt of the blame on people and their "racist actions," and only briefly mentions the bit about Hearst and his paper holdings....

I take it you meant the O.P.'s article? Because I just said Google those names.

Anyway, yes, you're right: Hearst was involved because advances in hemp paper technology were threatening his holdings in wood pulp, although Hearst was undeniably racist. I never had the impression Anslinger was though. He was primarily just a government bureaucrat ensuring the continued existence of his phony-baloney job.

Racism and religion still play a part, but racists and religious fanatics were--and are--only pawns. The primary reasons were economic, and they still are, but the major players have changed. Today, Big Pharma has a bigger interest in keeping marijuana--and all other drugs save what it's allowed to manufacture itself--illegal.

People keep talking about how tobacco would also be illegal in a sensible world. Watch out what you wish for, because that's the direction Big Pharma is taking us. It wants nicotine to be a Schedule II, like opiates and cocaine, so it can be the only industry allowed to sell it.

Look into the anti-smoking movement. Read about the junk science (every bit as fake regarding tobacco as the anti-pot propaganda was in its day). Follow the money.

[Rideo]

At 10/21/08 12:11 PM, Rose-Vampire wrote: Just move to holland and stop complaining. Drugs are bad. Smoking kills ya. end of story.

"End of story" is a terrible way to end your argument. Your promoting the idea that we should question and think about the issues at hand, which is a promotion of unreason, which is a promotion of stagnation and a halting of development and advancement.

Marijuana has probably been linked to less than 50 deaths in modern history. Alcohol killes some 250,000 to 350,000 per year and cigarettes around 450,000 a year, caffeine kills 1,000 to 10,000 people a year and 26,000-30,000 people die each year from prescription drugs.

Marijuana in comparison to the death toll of other drugs is incredibly negligible.

At 10/21/08 12:00 PM, Dante-Son-Of-Sparda wrote: I call bullshit. its because it impairs you.

Alcohol impairs you, that's not illegal. Hydrocodone impairs you, that's not illegal. Caffeine impairs you, that's not illegal. The list of legal drugs that impair you go on and on.

I feel one of the main reasons, (if not THE reason,) it's illegal right now, is because it's difficult to legalize something that millions of people have spent a good majority of their lives in jail for.

Which would be hispanics and and blacks

Oh, so it's okay then right?

Let's say you spent 10 years of your life in jail for marijuana, from age twenty, to age thirty. That's most of your prime. If it was suddenly legalized, wouldn't you be outraged and be suing the fuck out of the government?

Oh boo hoo that is what you get for geting high it's your own fucking fault for being a pothead

Ok, so it's okay that people are being jailed for something because it's against the law?

That's your reasoning? Seriously?

My god we have two posters in this thread who have no ability to think for themselves.

At 10/22/08 01:18 AM, kraor024 wrote:

At 10/21/08 09:46 PM, AnorexicPuppy wrote: The logic behind substance abuse policy is centered on whether the said substance can impair judgment. Though marijuana is completely harmless, it screws with your reactions and emotions. Really, the only reason alcohol is legal is because of the long-standing cultures surrounding it.

As opposed to the short lived culture around marijuana?

You're both right here. The thing about marijuana is that it wasn't a large part of western European culture until recently (it still doesn't seem as popular there as it is in the Americas). We don't even need to worry about legelization, it will happen soon because it's simply taking time to ingrain itself into our society as alcohol did. Once it does no prohibition can stop it's use, no matter how comprehensive.

Marijuana has been in use since 10,000 BC (that we know of) and alcohol first appeared in 9000 BC, so yeah, Mary jane isn't going anywhere soon, it just has to become accepted by Europe and White America.

[Ynek]

If I remember correctly, the reason why weed was banned in the first place is because it is impossible to tax.

Tobbacco is easily taxed because it has to be imported and processed.
Alcohol is very similar (although there are those who brew moonshine in their own bathtubs etc.)

Weed, however, just requires a plant-pot and sunshine. It can be grown ANYWHERE. This makes it impossible to tax. And if you had the choice between being stoned for free, or buying overtaxed intoxicants, which would you choose?

It's the same reason why 'shrooms and hemp are illegal.

But, in saying that, I don't think that BANNING things is the way to go. Prohibition doesn't work. They'd be better off using other methods.

[JackPhantasm]

lol marijuana is in the bible you fucking moron

[Eoewe]

The US Government makes more money of marijuana being illegal then they would if it was legal. That and many companies stand to lose money if marijuana was readily available not to mention all the bigt time growers/distrubutors would lose money as the price would plummet on legalized pot.

[JackPhantasm]

At 10/22/08 12:14 PM, Eoewe wrote: The US Government makes more money of marijuana being illegal then they would if it was legal.

Hahahahahahaha. Source that. because that's the opposite of the truth. Seriously, not even counting the tons of money you'd make off of the pot itself, the war on drugs wastes ton of money, doing what. Losing.

[BrotherJohn]

Smoking is bad for your health. Alcohol is bead for your health. Breathing the atmosphere, driving, brushing your teeth, using antibiotics, drinking water, looking at a television screen, walking down the street, eating food... all of these have attached health risks and some contribute to the development of serious health concerns the more you participate in them. Our number one enemy of our health is the ever-ticking clock. Time is the number one factor that makes ill health and death POSSIBLE! It must be destroying those of you who feel that there should be some legislation enacted to protect each and every one of us from every possible danger we could ever encounter!