On the Legalization of Marijuana

[Love]

Not really. It doesn't create jobs we need. It creates more service industry jobs. Jobs anyone who barely got out of high school can obtain. There are plenty of those out there. Both Canada and the USA lost thousands and thousands of factories. The manufacturing sector in North America has eroded because of the lack of anything really being made here. We need the manufacturing sector to prosper again, not more service industry jobs. Soon we will be a tertiary stage production country. There are so many much better alternatives to revitalizing the economy then marijuana.

The crime will not really decrease. Do you think those drug dealers are going to suddenly go away? Honestly?

I personally would never hire anyone who is under the influence of any drugs. Especially if they are operating machinery.

I do tend be concerned about the slippery slope of adding control by the government, but I also am concerned about the slippery slope of legalizing weed.*

It's always been called a gateway drug, is legalizing just a gateway to legalizing everything? There are some illegal drugs that are truly dangerous, will any of those be the next step?

This is not a simple problem, even though many like to make it seem as if it is.

And besides, I can see it now. People using their food stamps to buy marijuana. It's happening with alcohol....

You have your point. And yes, you can name 1000 reasons WHY or WHY NOT to legalize it in my opinion.
However, remember the alcohol ban of 1900s (forgot the date), what happened due to that? The Mafia prospered and crimes shot up that were alcohol related.If you subtract the amount of marijuana users, there would be less people involved in the drug trade thus hypothetically speaking, less crimes.

At the end, you have to choose the lesser of the two evils.
It's like Bush going to war for oil. Economists will say yes, human rights group would say no.
I guess really, we will never know the effects to the economy by legalizing marijuana but one thing's for sure, jobs will be CREATED due to that and taxes will be collected.

Some say its a gateway drug. No doubt about that. At the end of the line, its only the addicts who continue to use despite consequences. By making it available like how Amsterdam did, the effects were shown : The crime rate in Amsterdam is lower than MOST US cities.

[jenlanes]

In my opinion, the war on drug is only benefiting the drug cartels. Legalize marijuana and allowed it to be state controlled, such as alcohol is.

It's funny how people say marijuana is a gateway drug... that argument is flawed. Typically, alcohol is the first drug anyone ever tries, and generally it is the gateway drug to other drugs, yet people don't go around saying "Alcohol is a gateway drug" even though it is. Alcohol is known for it's ability to drastically lower your inhibitions among other things. Many people seem to forget that alcohol is actually considered a drug, so when people say that they wouldn't hire people on drugs.... obviously you wouldn't hire someone who is drunk on the job, much the same way as you wouldn't hire someone who's high on the job. It's just not a valid argument.

People say that it causes people to become addicted losers... really? According to that logic, alcohol and nicotine should also be banned.

[DarkByte]

Legalize it of course!

There literally fights every week/day in town near me due to alcohol and cigarettes will kill you , there still legal. It would benefit many industries , glass blowing tourism ect....

Usa are doing great work on this I know theirs alot of debate in different states right now , but here in U.K theirs no debate really at all. No one is pushing for a law change so at least you guys are on the right track. U.K generally copies every cool U.S.A does , so I am hoping for full legalization over there .

[Emiley]

I have two reasons on why it should be legal or illegal.

My reason for it being legal:
Because if marijuana is legal, then the government wont have to waste money on making people go to jail just for being in possession of marijuana. They also wont have to waste resources on building more jail centers if a jail ends up being filled. I also heard that marijuana can be good for medical causes so marijuana could be used to help the sick people.

My reason for why it should be illegal:
People who smoke marijuana cant stop smoking it because its a hard addiction to end just like smoking cigarettes. Just using my imagination. Making marijuana legal could possibly cause trouble too, like people would rob marijuana vending machines if there was any and they would take advantage of it.

[John]

I have two reasons on why it should be legal or illegal.

My reason for it being legal:
Because if marijuana is legal, then the government wont have to waste money on making people go to jail just for being in possession of marijuana. They also wont have to waste resources on building more jail centers if a jail ends up being filled. I also heard that marijuana can be good for medical causes so marijuana could be used to help the sick people.

My reason for why it should be illegal:
People who smoke marijuana cant stop smoking it because its a hard addiction to end just like smoking cigarettes. Just using my imagination. Making marijuana legal could possibly cause trouble too, like people would rob marijuana vending machines if there was any and they would take advantage of it.

LOL, do a bit of research first. Marijuana is non addictive. Vending Machines would be high security, and things that are already legal get robbed all the time anyway. People take advantage of everything, legal or illegal, people abuse alcohol all the time and that is legal, invalid argument.

[Spurs]

I think it should be legalised tbh. I can see and understand/agree with both sides of the argument on this one. My argument is not bias either, as I've tried weed in the past but I don't smoke it now and haven't for about 4 years.

Reasons for it being legal;
It would create jobs. People could be specifically hired by the Government or whatever to be legit growers and the Government could purchase from these and market the weed at a price that is acceptable. These earnings would be taxed, therefore it contributes to the economy.

As @(you need an account to see links) said, the number of people in jail would most likely decrease, especially for something as stupid as minor possession w/ no intent to supply or whatever. This means there would be more free spaces to lock up genuine criminals, as well as freeing up resources that could be better allocated within the justice system - more cops, improved resources etc.

It benefits the economy in other ways - tourism, for example. Amsterdam makes a ridiculous amount of money from the tourist trade, especially in Europe, because they have legalised and controlled the usage of marijuana. People visit the country/place, buy weed but they are also most likely going to do typical touristy shit e.g. in the UK = Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace etc so this generates increased revenue for the areas tourists are visiting.

Alcohol and cigarettes are legal and controlled, and they're no better than weed. People say weed is a gateway drug but I think this depends on the mentality of the user, and not everyone who smokes weed is going to end up as a crack addict or a cocaine fiend. From what I've seen, there are no major negative effects of smoking weed (like I've said, what I've seen, obviously except like cancer and shit) such as tiredness, excessive laughter etc, whereas alcohol can make people aggressive, violent, anti-social and unable to make reasonable and logical decisions if consumed in massive quantities.

On the other hand, there are reason why I think it's hard to/shouldn't be legalised.

The unemployment rates probably won't see too much of an increase. Yeah there might be more jobs created through it, but that's not to say the unemployed users of marijuana will get these jobs - they're too stoned, too lazy, can't focus etc.

There will always be drug cartels/gangs who will undercut Government sellers to line their own pockets. This will never go away - you can still get imported tobacco/cigarettes, or fake tobacco because it's a fair amount cheaper than the legit stuff, even though it's easy to just go and buy a pack of cigs or whatever.

It could alienate the usage of marijuana in young people - they may think that just cause it's legal, it's okay to do. This could mean they ditch school to get high and other shit, although I knew people at school who ditched to get drunk so it's not a different case, just a different variable.

That's just my take on it, and no doubt I've missed a few. Overall, I think legalising and controlling the distribution and usage of marijuana could actually be a good thing, and I know that if I was a user, I'd rather buy clean, pure marijuana from a Government-owned distributor than a shady batch of shitty marijuana that's been mixed with other substances to increase the weight of it, even if the second option is cheaper.

[Josh]

LOL, do a bit of research first. Marijuana is non addictive. Vending Machines would be high security, and things that are already legal get robbed all the time anyway. People take advantage of everything, legal or illegal, people abuse alcohol all the time and that is legal, invalid argument.

How is it not addictive? There is no physical addiction, but there is a mental addiction. Ive been through the addiction. It was easier for me to stop using the pills/hard drugs, but Ive relapsed on weed many times. I know a lot of people who are the same way.

[Sci_Girl]

Weed does not give a physical addiction, there is no neurophysiological part that shows it behaves as other hard drugs do when it comes to an actual chemical addiction. Those addictions are both mental and physical, that individual depends on that high they cannot get through a day without that high, their brain chemistry is actually dependent on those chemicals. Pot smokers do not have that sort of substance abuse or dependance, they have a more or less a behavioral dependence. Because there is no chemical aspect that can be blamed for an actual debilitating addition what is left is choice. People choose to smoke it because they like to, they like that feeling of calm nothingness that feeling of zoning out. That is far different than having a real physical substance abuse addiction. They go back to pot because they like to smoke it, or they give into peer pressure, or maybe they are curious again after x amount of time. But what is not at play in a person who smokes again and again is a substance abuse addiction guiding physiological need and desire in such a way that real hard drugs do.

[John]

How is it not addictive? There is no physical addiction, but there is a mental addiction. Ive been through the addiction. It was easier for me to stop using the pills/hard drugs, but Ive relapsed on weed many times. I know a lot of people who are the same way.

Just because you like it too much to stop, does not mean that it is chemically addictive.

[Shichibukai]

I have two reasons on why it should be legal or illegal.

My reason for it being legal:
Because if marijuana is legal, then the government wont have to waste money on making people go to jail just for being in possession of marijuana. They also wont have to waste resources on building more jail centers if a jail ends up being filled. I also heard that marijuana can be good for medical causes so marijuana could be used to help the sick people.

My reason for why it should be illegal:
People who smoke marijuana cant stop smoking it because its a hard addiction to end just like smoking cigarettes. Just using my imagination. Making marijuana legal could possibly cause trouble too, like people would rob marijuana vending machines if there was any and they would take advantage of it.

Lol... The government is not cheap or poor or in need of money. If something is not good for a person making it legal just to save some money is the stupidest argument I have ever seen. You have totally missed out the main points on why people want it to be legal or illegal...
You shouldnt even talk about this because you have no idea what is going on, there are other simpler topics that you can try posting at