Decriminalizing Marijuana

[Vendetta]

If alcohol is not dangerous enough that it must be illegal to possess or manufacture, then it is completely assinine to proibit cannabis. In every imagineable way, cannabis is safer

[jacee]

It's as simple as this: decriminalize pot and you take the pot market away from the criminals. I recall our illustrious leader Stephen Harper telling Peter Mansbridge that "when you buy that marijuana cigarette you aren't buying it from your neighbour, you're buying it from the Mexican drug cartels." That's quite true, and it will continue to be true with Stevie at the helm.

...

There would be a whole lot less people in jail which would take a lot of strain off us taxpayers, But nope, Harper seems to want to build more jail cells and so he has to find more 20 year old dope smokers to throw in them. Get your wallets out, this is going to be costly. The Mexican drug lords must love Harper.

20 year olds ... and arthritic seniors

Yes, the drug cartels thrive on the war on drugs. Illegal drugs are certainly good for their business.

How about a war on crime?

Legalize drugs.

The crimes are gone.

The criminals are gone.

The public costs are gone, enforcement and justice replaced by regulation and tax revenues.

Increases in use may occur due to tourism.

Legalize and regulate the sex trade.

Put human traffikers out of business too.

[Keepitsimple]

Call me stodgy and old fashioned.....but it's not just about legalizing marijuana, drugs and the sex trade....it's what kind of society we want - what is acceptable and what is not. What we want our children to be taught about their bodies, their self-esteem. It's a very slippery slope.

[Boges]

Call me stodgy and old fashioned.....but it's not just about legalizing marijuana, drugs and the sex trade....it's what kind of society we want - what is acceptable and what is not. What we want our children to be taught about their bodies, their self-esteem. It's a very slippery slope.

Oh they'll call you stodgy.

We have a pretty stodgy society regarding tobacco and alcohol.

I think we need to see how the states in the US handle weed legalization. Would people agree to buying permits to smoke weed? And what punishment will be passed down if you don't have a permit, and what type of enforcement will be implemented to make sure people buy permits?

Lots of questions. Many people smoke weed without fear of criminalization already, So I do support criminalization, I'm not sure about legalization right now, I think it'll make getting weed harder not easier.

[Jerry J. Fortin]

The pot business could represent a new multi-billion dollar industry for this nation. If the government had any brains at all it would see the legislative shift as a tax grab like it does with everything else. These new sources of revenue could be targeted as debt reduction funds, eventually sin taxes should be used as part of a comprehensive debt relief economic action plan of enlightened reformation.

The 800 pound gorilla is national debt. Everything relates to it it in the worst way.

[GostHacked]

We also have many prescription drugs that are quire harmful and dangerous. Where as pot provides many benefits, with very few drawbacks. Also it's lower THC content cousin, hemp, can be widely used as multipurpose material.

Manufacturers hate hemp.

Pharmaceutical industry hates pot.

[hitops]

I'm surprised there are as many 'no' as there are in this poll. Seems like a minor issue, just legalize it and collect the tax dollars. Smoking and alcohol each cause far more personal, professional and economic damage. Not to mention huge costs to the healthcare system. Makes no sense they are legal and pot is not.

It's widely known that high-functioning people often use pot. This is what make it different than other street drugs, which are really not compatible with a successful lifestyle.

[dre]

Call me stodgy and old fashioned.....but it's not just about legalizing marijuana, drugs and the sex trade....it's what kind of society we want - what is acceptable and what is not. What we want our children to be taught about their bodies, their self-esteem. It's a very slippery slope.

I understand what youre saying KIS, but the problem is these policies dont get us the society we want anyways. Take pot and prostitution for example... we have spent billions of dollars on wars against these vices but they are even easier to access then they were decades ago.

So I agree with you... if we could make a policy that would drastically reduce the ammount of drug use or prostitution then I would be all for it. But we cant. Prohibition has completely failed, and resulted in an environment where its easy to get these services/substances than ever before.

[MadX]

Is that your scientific opinion? The gateway drug premise confuses correlation with causation. Fact is, in cases where people started with pot and moved onto "hard" drugs, there were other factors (usually socio-economic) at work that influenced their choices.

The fact is, these people were likely lazy and slovely (BTW, pot doesn't cause brain damage) before tehy got into weed. I know lawyers, accoutants and scientists who smoke pot regularily and function better than most "lucid" individuals.

In cases where pot becomes a problem (because there is certainly such a thing as too much) it should be regarded as a medical condition, and not a criminal matter.

Your opinion is backed up by scientific fact. Pot is safer than alcohol. I hope the OP is also crusading to make booze illegal because one needs to be consistent in their opinions. Booze is way more dangerous than alcohol. How many people died this year as a result of a pot overdose? None.

[MadX]

I am young, and a vivid anti-pot person, thats all I have to say!

Are you also anti-sex and anti-booze?

[MadX]

this poll was started in 2003? I just noticed that.

[cybercoma]

I'm surprised there are as many 'no' as there are in this poll. Seems like a minor issue, just legalize it and collect the tax dollars. Smoking and alcohol each cause far more personal, professional and economic damage. Not to mention huge costs to the healthcare system. Makes no sense they are legal and pot is not.

It's widely known that high-functioning people often use pot. This is what make it different than other street drugs, which are really not compatible with a successful lifestyle.

this poll is almost 10 years old

[hitops]

this poll is almost 10 years old

Good point. Wonder if a new one would be much different.

[socialist]

I love that claim, "I don't want kids doing drugs, so if we make it far, far easier to get (not to mention socially acceptable) then kids will stop using it" I hope he is being facetious for otherwise he is even less clever than I had assumed. If taxes and regulations are too restrictive then the black market will endure, with the only difference being that it shall be even more difficult to enforce laws against it. I would fully agree that the current model is not working, but I would not agree that is because of a "War on Drugs" I find people frequently flaunting their Marijuana use, in public and do not know anyone who has had any legal troubles over it (including acquaintances who have had to go to the hospital, and gotten involved in car accidents whilst under the influence of such drugs). I recently heard over the radio that they were deregulating medicinal marijuana in BC or some such, as I recall there is(or shall be) a store with a doctor accepting walkins and they basically said that no one would be turned away, can that really be called a war on drugs? There are those government subsidised safe injection sites, not to mention cities handing out free needles can that really be called a war on drugs?

[jbg]

Pot has been decriminalized in New York since 1977. The world hasn't ended. New York has gotten better. Not because of decriminalization or in spite of it.

There's just no reason to make it a crime, other than reactionary, nanny-state, control freak behavior.