BeemerBoy Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Honestly, I doubt the government really cares that much about the abundance of "recreational" users. The only reason you'll probably never see it legalized is because the federal government doesn't have the perfect solution for regulating and taxing it. Let's say it's suddenly legalized. Is that really gonna solve all the problems the drug creates? Not as long as people continue to try and skirt the law. Think about it, how are the feds gonna regulate something that can be grown or cultivated in anyone's backyard or linen closet? And as long as marijuana has varying levels of quality, there will always be sellers promoting their stuff as "better than anything else on the market." Maybe I'm off on that assumption, but to me, this issue is very similar to online poker. The industry brings in billions of dollars these days, and yet any of the top online poker rooms are operated offshore. Why? Because it's technically illegal to operate, and in many cases, play it in the US. And why is it not legal in the US? Because your government hasn't found a way to have a hand in it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCFreak Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 I say legalize it, even if its not for me. This goes for me as well. Like Wes, my poor lungs can't handle smoking anything (even hookah sends me into coughing fits) but I haven't tried it any other way as it just doesn't really appeal to me. Maybe if it becomes legal, I'll try a brownie, but I doubt I'll see myself get addicted as I don't even like to get drunk very often (but man do I like to drink!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 I just want to hit on a single point of this conversation. The entire concept of these long sentences for "minor" drug offenses is really not the true story. I can tell you that seldom do we send "minor" offenders to jail. It would be such a strain on our system to attempt to send all these people to jail, that it just can't be done. If you pick up a possession charge for a small amount of marijuana, you're going to get a citation, a drug offenders class, and generally 10-20 hours of community service. Now when you come back over and over with the same charge, it is going to tell the court that you respect the law, and then things are going to start getting worse. Most of those "minor" offenders in jail have either continued to defy the court and refuse to obey the law, or they were not that minor of an offender to begin with. Lower-level jails in Texas, where low-level drug criminals would go, have approx 40% of their inmate population incarcerated for drugs. The serious offenders, ie the Nate Newtons of the world, which you are saying are the only ones who get real jail time, only make up 17% of the state prison population, which they share with murderers, rapists etc tdjc pdf This isn't even talking about county and city jails which have people booked in for drug charges daily, even if they only sit in a cell for a few days at most. There are still far too many people in jail for marijuana. Unless they hurt others, they shouldn't even be bothered by the police. Last I remember, Texas has enough issues to deal with, including Mexican drug cartels and their heroin/cocaine/whatever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenA07 Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 I'm not saying that nobody goes to jail for it. If you're doing any kind of dealing, or have a large enough amount on you, then yeah you're going to be heading to jail (or prison depending on how much you have) for a while. I can also tell you that other drugs are likely to land you in jail here for a while. Possession of marijuana is generally just a slap on the wrist the first time, it's going to be repeat offenders that are going to end up in jail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameron Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 ^^^ I'm the same way, I can't stand smoking in any form. I actively like the affects of pot, but almost never smoke it simply because I hate smoking so much. I don't have any problems with other people smoking, so put me down in the "should be legal" column. The effects of being high of marijuana are far less dangerous than that of alcohol. Being high tends to make people lazy, which means none of the out of control behavior that results from drinking too much. Yes ... how many times do you think cops have to bust-up "pot-head" brawls, compared to the number of *drunken* brawls? (I'm by no means suggesting making alcohol illegal). If you need pot to solve your problems, you need some SERIOUS help. I know you mean well, and get fed stuff like this through DARE and other programs, but you're really not in a position to comment on KrakenKing's situation. Many people turn to caffeine, or alcohol, or sugar, or prozac/xanax, etc to help them cope with various situations, it's not something that should be mocked or looked down upon. For example, I need Claritin because of my allergies. Don't smoke pot, or marijuna. It'll ruin your life. Too much snow-skiing will ruin your knees, too much sitting (or standing) will give you hemorrhoids, too much citrus can give you kidney stones, too much weigh-lifting can stunt your growth .. anything can be bad for you if you totally over-do it. The idea is MODERATION. Making pot legal doesn't suddenly create a world of pot-heads, a person with an out of control and addictive personality is going to have problems with any substance (legal or not). We should just make people illegal and be done with it, the Universe would be a much better place Cameron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phazan Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Some of my thoughts on it.. I once read something about how I think 16% of people in the Netherlands at the age of 25 said they've used marijuana at least once in their life..In America, I think it was 66% of people have admited to it. (Of course you should know that it's legal in the Netherlands) I thought that was interesting. They do have to deal with the douche bag druggies who go over just to get stoned. As for regulating it..it's easier to make alcohol in your closet than it is to grow marijuana. Just get some juice without preservitives, add sugar and yeast and let it ferment. But how many people really do that? It's a lot easier to just buy it or get someone who's over 21 to buy it for you, so I don't really think the fact that people can grow it would be a big problem. Growing it takes months, you have to know a lot about gardening to get some good yield, you have to properly dry it out before it's any good etc... I think that some of you, should learn a little more about it (some posters on the 1st page) before you go into a debate. Marijuana can mess up things in your life, once you let it become a habit. I see it with some of my friends who smoke daily, they aren't interested in anything, nor do they care about anything. But honestly, that's their problem if they just want to smoke and eat on their free time. Who's it hurting?? I just don't see the whole population turning into stoners. It's not like once you smoke, you crave more of it.. It's not that kinda drug. For someone like me who likes to be clear headed, I could never let myself get stoned all the time...But on occasions it's a really fun thing to do with some friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 As for regulating it..it's easier to make alcohol in your closet than it is to grow marijuana. Just get some juice without preservitives, add sugar and yeast and let it ferment. But how many people really do that? It's a lot easier to just buy it or get someone who's over 21 to buy it for you, so I don't really think the fact that people can grow it would be a big problem. Growing it takes months, you have to know a lot about gardening to get some good yield, you have to properly dry it out before it's any good etc... How many people bottle their homemade beer for resale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkTrips Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Ooh there's one I can answer! Very few. Most do it for their own personal consumption, and to share with friends and such. Most homebrew can't stand up to commercial beers, which is more than anything why so few people do it. Very few do it well enough to sell it.. much like growing marijuana I have no problem with people selling weed.. as long as they pay their taxes on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
black sabbath Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 I think we need to legalize it as well there are so many benefits. CA could really use the tax money and it would really cut down on crime, especially at border cities. And besides, I really don't see many people at all rushing to go buy it if/when it becomes legal. I think that becuase it is SO easy to get, those who WANT to smoke it ALREADY do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phazan Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Well what I was saying is that it's easy to make alcohol at home. I wouldn't see a problem with people growing their own marijuana and selling it without taxing it, because of what Park Trips just said. The people who grow marijuana professionally will grow such good marijuana, it would take a lot of work to grow weed that's up to standards. So it's not really like it's easy money or anything.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Should it ever be legalized, you're still gonna have the underlying problem of making sure everything that is produced is done so under federal regulations (i.e. able to be taxed by the feds). Regardless of how big your weed growing operation is, there's still gonna be a TON of people willing to try and avoid paying taxes on it, and consequently, a huge law enforcement budget dedicated to regulating it. The government doesn't want to legalize something they can't comfortably control and profit from without too much opposition. And I just don't see this ever happening that way. Scott "C.R.E.A.M." B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Thrill Dragster Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 I say legalize it. I believe the government has no right to dictate what you can and cannot put into your body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuakerOaties Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Although I do think marijuana should be legalized, there are certainly a few concerns that I have. Legalization should be done in a way that does not encourage people to become recreational users. Legalization should include provisions to increase public health services to treat people who become mentally dependent on marijuana to prevent marijuana from having a negative effect on society. Yes, most people can use marijuana without detriment to their daily lives, but some cannot and it is important to provide some sort of protections to those people. I also think ethical concerns arise when any governing body legalizes a vice to generate tax revenue. State governments have successfully taxed alcohol and tobacco without encouraging their use in society, and it is essential that marijuana is treated in a similar way. Aside from those concerns, I think legalizing marijuana is a solid idea. It would reduce drug cartel activity and violence, reduce strain on the justice system, expand its use in medicine, and allow Americans to have more control over their bodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phazan Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 ^^ And see, that's my point, phazan. Should it ever be legalized, you're still gonna have the underlying problem of making sure everything that is produced is done so under federal regulations (i.e. able to be taxed by the feds). Regardless of how big your weed growing operation is, there's still gonna be a TON of people willing to try and avoid paying taxes on it, and consequently, a huge law enforcement budget dedicated to regulating it. I just don't see any true solution. I disagree though. I never really hear of people making alcohol at home and selling it, cause store bought alcohol tastes better, and they invest a lot of time, money and work into making it better than what you could make at home. You also never hear of people selling homegrown tobacco without tax..Because of the fact there are huge companies who know how to grow good tobacco and have machines to make good tobacco products. I think it would be the same with weed. Yeah, people could grow it and sell it without tax, but growing GOOD weed requires a lot of knowledge, and expensive equipment. I think they would have to go to great lengths to match the quality of company made weed...And it would probably be easier to invest all that work into something that's legal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 "I believe the government has no right to dictate what you can and cannot put into your body." (Top Thrill Dragster) When its use can affect other people (like people driving under the influence), then yes they should. This is why medical marijuana should be used under strict supervision until its effects wear off. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hercules Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Though I'm not an advocate of smoking the stuff, if legalized, I will love to see some of the businesses that will be popping up around the country: "Rico's Pot, LLC", "Weed Inc.", "YousupplythePandMwe supplytheW.com" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netdvn Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 WOW! I'm surprised this thread has gotten this far without a flame war or a locking. I guess it helps that almost everyone is on the same page with the debate. Anyway, my opinion... Legalize it. Sure its bad for your health and could be used as a "gateway" drug, but other "legal" drugs like alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine have similar addictive and dangerous effects on the body. Legalizing it would cut down on crime rates and give the police more time to focus on worse crimes than selling illegal drugs. I also believe it should be treated like alcohol and there should be legal limits to prevent people from abusing it and endangering themselves and others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenA07 Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Just for the record since I don't think I ever mentioned it, I'm very much against the legalization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 ^ I'm not opposed to legalizing marijuana strictly for medical use (in places where it isn't already), but as I keep saying, its use needs to be supervised. One concern is that some people may want other drugs like cocaine legalized as well. To me personally, having alcohol abused and misused is bad enough. (I'm all in favor of new vehicles coming equipped with mandatory breathalyzers that could prevent vehicles from starting should the would-be driver be under the influence. I say that, though, not knowing what that would cost/entail, if someone could devise a way around it, etc.) To me it's not about your personal right to use marijuana; it's about how your use of it could impair you and what damage you could cause to others by being under its influence. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcjaco Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Ooh there's one I can answer! Very few. Most do it for their own personal consumption, and to share with friends and such. Most homebrew can't stand up to commercial beers, which is more than anything why so few people do it. Very few do it well enough to sell it.. much like growing marijuana I have no problem with people selling weed.. as long as they pay their taxes on it In some cases. OUr homebrew club has lots of awesomely good stuff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phazan Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 ^ I'm not opposed to legalizing marijuana strictly for medical use (in places where it isn't already), but as I keep saying, its use needs to be supervised. One concern is that some people may want other drugs like cocaine legalized as well. To me personally, having alcohol abused and misused is bad enough. (I'm all in favor of new vehicles coming equipped with mandatory breathalyzers that could prevent vehicles from starting should the would-be driver be under the influence. I say that, though, not knowing what that would cost/entail, if someone could devise a way around it, etc.) To me it's not about your personal right to use marijuana; it's about how your use of it could impair you and what damage you could cause to others by being under its influence. Eric Cocaine is made from a plant, but has gone through a process to make it's effects much stronger. It's also really really addictive, which I think is the main danger with it. Marijuana isn't addictive though, so it doesn't have that potential to make you a slave to the drug. Unless of course, the user is the kind of person that has a problem breaking habits. So what I'm trying to say is, I doubt there would be much support for legalizing cocaine. And look at Amsterdam, where marijuana is legal. It doesn't seem like people are pushing for more drugs to be legal there. They actually recently banned magic mushrooms, I believe.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phazan Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Ooh there's one I can answer! Very few. Most do it for their own personal consumption, and to share with friends and such. Most homebrew can't stand up to commercial beers, which is more than anything why so few people do it. Very few do it well enough to sell it.. much like growing marijuana I have no problem with people selling weed.. as long as they pay their taxes on it In some cases. OUr homebrew club has lots of awesomely good stuff! I'm actually suprised at how easy it is to make decent tasting hard cider. My friend, who is definitely over 21 made some in his room once and was suprised at the results! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astroworldfan1 Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 I'm sure if it's been illegal for decades, it'll remain illegal. If a bunch of people say that their doctors say raping someone would make them feel better, would people be rallying to legalize rape? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Thrill Dragster Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 ^No Rape is a violent and cruel act and smoking weed is not. You are not harming any one when smoking weed responsibly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 I'm sure if it's been illegal for decades, it'll remain illegal. If a bunch of people say that their doctors say raping someone would make them feel better, would people be rallying to legalize rape? This is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever read. Anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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