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Should Marijuana Be Legal?


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I was wondering what everyone thinks of pot being legal. I think it should be, its less harmful than alcohol. Why should the government be able to tell me what I can and cannot do.

Well, I promised the kids I wouldn't smoke it until it's legal. :rolleyes:

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And have to pay ridiculous sin taxes like the alcohol and tobacco consuming suckers? No thanks!

Pot costs about as much to produce as tobacco. You would pay a lot less with legal pot, and the govt could still rake in a good whack of taxes. Plus growing for personal use would have to be allowed, just like you can brew beer and wine for yourself now.

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Pot costs about as much to produce as tobacco. You would pay a lot less with legal pot, and the govt could still rake in a good whack of taxes. Plus growing for personal use would have to be allowed, just like you can brew beer and wine for yourself now.

But not moonshine. You brew your own wine with companies. Would the government allow unlimited growth in someone's garden.

What if you want to sell your stash tax free? Laws would still apply. Decriminalisation is a nice balance.

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But not moonshine. You brew your own wine with companies. Would the government allow unlimited growth in someone's garden.

I sure hope not. There would be a limit and it's for personal use only, just like it is with brewing beer or wine. I've brewed my own beer, I know lots of people who make their own wine, no companies involved. Those places are just for people that want the easy way. If you're stupid enough to grow pot in your garden, you are unlikely to have much of a crop left come harvest time, and the quality will likely be poor to.

What if you want to sell your stash tax free? Laws would still apply. Decriminalisation is a nice balance.

No selling without a license. Decrim is stupid - bust the producers but not the users? Note how neither WA or CO have gone that chickenshite route.

I'm not a user, I think using any drug is stupid. But many people seem to want to do so with little ill effect. Actually I'm for legalizing all drugs, tho regulations would be different depending on the drug. Drugs like crystal meth or crack, I don't now how you legalize them, but making them illegal certainly hasn't prevented their use. Would you or anybody you know (except Rob Ford) use those drugs if they were legal?

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I think the government should focus on providing good, objective information on the risks and controlling the potency. Providing people understand the risks, adults should be able to decide for themselves that they put in their bodies. Much has been made of the fact that pot i much more potent than it once was. However, the same thing was happening to liquor during prohibition. Alcohol percentages were going up and booze was being laced with less than wholesome substances. If drugs are legalized, there will be more ability to control what goes into them.

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I am not a user but my libertarian instincts tell me it should be legalized. No getting away with pot addictions though as an excuse for errors while wasted. Same for alcohol, one should be responsible for damage while under the influence. No "too drunk to know what I was doing" excuses or "but I'm addicted" cries for sympathy.

You make your bed and you lie in it.

The truth should be told about drugs though. The government has told too many lies which is why drugs are so copiously around on the streets. The truth is that they alter awareness somewhat, some more than others. Optimumly, your awareness is best unclouded by drugs. You can have more certainty of what you are experiencing whereas under the influence sometimes you black out, or have no clue what's happening.

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I'm so torn on this issue, I can't decide where I fall.

On one hand, I don't think governments should tell grown adults what they can or can't put in their bodies. That goes for food, drugs, or nutritional supplements. On the other, I think we should do far more than we already do to keep harmful things from kids. I don't know what the middle ground is... you can do whatever you want to yourself, but it's still a serious crime to sell it to someone else (especially a minor)?

The other sticky part is our public health system. If we are going allow people to do whatever they want with their bodies, should we still expect everyone else to pick up the tab? For instance, part of me still thinks that perhaps tobacco should be outlawed because of the health consequences. If smoking were illegal, smoking ANYTHING would likely be covered by that, bring us back to where we are with pot, just for a different reason. Maybe the answer is to treat health care the way other insurance is done -- deliberate acts of "bad health" make your coverage get cancelled. For instance, we have socialized insurance for cars in manitoba, and people can and DO get their coverage pulled for bad driving.

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I'm so torn on this issue, I can't decide where I fall.

On one hand, I don't think governments should tell grown adults what they can or can't put in their bodies. That goes for food, drugs, or nutritional supplements. On the other, I think we should do far more than we already do to keep harmful things from kids. I don't know what the middle ground is... you can do whatever you want to yourself, but it's still a serious crime to sell it to someone else (especially a minor)?

The other sticky part is our public health system. If we are going allow people to do whatever they want with their bodies, should we still expect everyone else to pick up the tab? For instance, part of me still thinks that perhaps tobacco should be outlawed because of the health consequences. If smoking were illegal, smoking ANYTHING would likely be covered by that, bring us back to where we are with pot, just for a different reason. Maybe the answer is to treat health care the way other insurance is done -- deliberate acts of "bad health" make your coverage get cancelled. For instance, we have socialized insurance for cars in manitoba, and people can and DO get their coverage pulled for bad driving.

Pot is easier for kids to access than booze, exactly because pot is illegal and dealers don't check for ID.

If prohibition worked, I'd be all for outlawing booze and smokes. They cause a lot of harm. But, it doesn't work, people still get their drugs, just in a less safe way.

As for the medical coverage argument - far cheaper to provide treatment than to deal with the fallout of of not providing it. And with pot, the costs are insignificant, as a BC study showed - all of the social costs associated with pot were for enforcement. Tobacco, otoh, has very high medical costs to society.

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Still keeps money flowing to organized criminals.

As long as their are things that are illegal, there are criminals that will try to make money trading that illegal product.

If it's not pot, it'll be something else. There are people that think all drugs should be legalized but those people are in the vast minority. Whey else would people freak out about the Rob Ford crack smoking thing. Most people see using those type of drugs as a character flaw.

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As long as their are things that are illegal, there are criminals that will try to make money trading that illegal product.

If it's not pot, it'll be something else. There are people that think all drugs should be legalized but those people are in the vast minority. Whey else would people freak out about the Rob Ford crack smoking thing. Most people see using those type of drugs as a character flaw.

The same could be said for anyone having a glass of wine or a beer, regarding character flaw. Or having a cigarette.

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As long as their are things that are illegal, there are criminals that will try to make money trading that illegal product.

If it's not pot, it'll be something else. There are people that think all drugs should be legalized but those people are in the vast minority. Whey else would people freak out about the Rob Ford crack smoking thing. Most people see using those type of drugs as a character flaw.

I'm not opposed to legalizing all drugs.

Still don't see your point with not legalizing marijuana though. It's a fairly safe drug that could bring in a lot of money to provincial/federal coffers. I'd rather government have the money than dealers. Plus there are people who end up on other drugs because they're not able to get weed or because the dealer is pushing stuff on them.

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I'm not opposed to legalizing all drugs.

Still don't see your point with not legalizing marijuana though. It's a fairly safe drug that could bring in a lot of money to provincial/federal coffers. I'd rather government have the money than dealers. Plus there are people who end up on other drugs because they're not able to get weed or because the dealer is pushing stuff on them.

I'm not opposed to legalizing marijuana.

But like others here, I see how government makes alcohol and tobacco use such an expensive vice to have that I don't really look forward to seeing sin taxes added to pot.

Also I don't really want to live in a society where Pot smoke is as common as cigarette smoke. It's something that's fine if done privately at home or in a backyard but I would oppose having people walking down the street smoking pot in the middle of the day or smoking pot on a patio.

It is a very potent drug and you can't do normal tasks under its influence.

Edited by Boges
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I'm not opposed to legalizing marijuana.

But like others here, I see how government makes alcohol and tobacco use such an expensive vice to have that I don't really look forward to seeing sin taxes added to pot.

Also I don't really want to live in a society where Pot smoke is as common as cigarette smoke. It's something that's fine if done privately at home or in a backyard but I would oppose having people walking down the street smoking pot in the middle of the day or smoking pot on a patio.

It is a very potent drug and you can't do normal tasks under its influence.

And alcohol isn't? Maybe we could have a law where people need to do it in their own homes or yards or at special "coffee shops", My opinion is it should be treated like alcohol. Marijuana doesn't impair one's judgement the same way alcohol does. Driving under the influence of pot is less dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol. Still I wouldn't recommend anyone drive while under the influence of any drug. Marijuana is one of the safest drugs out there, have you even smoked pot before?

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And alcohol isn't? Maybe we could have a law where people need to do it in their own homes or yards or at special "coffee shops", My opinion is it should be treated like alcohol. Marijuana doesn't impair one's judgement the same way alcohol does. Driving under the influence of pot is less dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol. Still I wouldn't recommend anyone drive while under the influence of any drug. Marijuana is one of the safest drugs out there, have you even smoked pot before?

People can usually consume a single beer or wine and see little or no impairment. As little as 2 puffs of weed comes with impairment. People don't always consume alcohol to achieve impairment. With weed, that's 100% the case. Why would you smoke something that harsh if you didn't want impairment.

I like to have a beer when I go out to cook on the Barbecue. I would never think of bringing out a joint.

And in Ontario there are laws about where you can consume alcohol. That's why there isn't as fun an environment at Football games. You can't just tailgate in the parking lot, like you can in the US.

Also the whole process of smoking something that goes into your lungs is a question. If you're doing that daily, there's going to have some effects on your health. Also smoking tobacco has been stigmatized by society already, I would see no difference to the treatment of weed. Do you think smoking a joint on a restaurant patio would ever fly?

Edited by Boges
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People can usually consume a single beer or wine and see little or no impairment. As little as 2 puffs of weed comes with impairment. People don't always consume alcohol to achieve impairment. With weed, that's 100% the case. Why would you smoke something that harsh if you didn't want impairment.

I like to have a beer when I go out to cook on the Barbecue. I would never think of bringing out a joint.

And in Ontario there are laws about where you can consume alcohol. That's why there isn't as fun an environment at Football games. You can't just tailgate in the parking lot, like you can in the US.

Also the whole process of smoking something that goes into your lungs is a question. If you're doing that daily, there's going to have some effects on your health. Also smoking tobacco has been stigmatized by society already, I would see no difference to the treatment of weed. Do you think smoking a joint on a restaurant patio would ever fly?

Weed is actually less dangerous than cigarettes. Besides, there are safer ways to consume marijuana, such as using a vaporizer.

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Weed is actually less dangerous than cigarettes. Besides, there are safer ways to consume marijuana, such as using a vaporizer.

You going to carry a vaporizer around with you? What makes cigarettes dangerous is that nicotine is more addictive and the filters have toxic ingredients.

Cigars should be fine, you can't even inhale cigar smoke.

But again you can smoke a cigarello and cigarette and not achieve a noticeable form of impairment. Not so with THC.

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