Should Marijuana be Legal?

[kooldude888]

i think it should be legal for all purposes i have severe depression and when i smoke it actually makes me feel happy for once and I don't see it as a gateway drug, ive smoked for 4 years now and I haven't had a single urge to try anything "harder" just my opinion though

[Sci_Girl]

With that logic we should make texting illegal too

It is illegal here to text and drive because too many people are idiots and crash while paying more attention to their phone than the damn road. And it makes complete sense, if you are impaired from driving in any manner (high, drunk, attention is elsewhere) do not drive.

[Eggy]

The whole gateway drug thing is bullshit. Plain and simple. If anything is a gateway drug its alcohol.

[iizacat]

so since my country americas economy is horrible from importing like 90% of our stuff.... i believe they should make hemp and hemp products our main export... or something so we can be back up in the big leagues

[Austin]

Hell Yeah!
That would be so amazing. Id be high all the time!

[Victoria]

I definitely think it should be legalized. Shit, it's not hurting anyone so why not? Government would probably tax the shit outta it, so not only is it helping the economy by doing this because millions of people would buy, but it would help keep crime down a bit, and less people in jail or charged with misdemeanors/felonies for possession. Sure its illegal now, but personally its only pot. Its been used for quite some time now. Usually people who talk bad about marijuana are those who know nothing about it and only go by what they have read or been taught. Well not everything you've read can be true. Just like the TNT editorial, they say no, don't go to cheating sites because you'll be scammed, or your account will be compromised if you do, now because someone read that, they think its true, same with weed, if someone important or the law say don't do it, usually people don't. I smoke pot every day, it helps calm me down because i have an out of control anger problem and smoking seems to put me at my happy medium. Smoking helped me out tremendously for 3 months not too long ago because i would wake up with the worst stomach pain in the world ( no i dont go to the doctors for the simple fact that everything is wrong with me so i deal with it ) and the only way i could actually get up and go to work in the morning was to smoke a bowl before i left the house. Okay sure, it impairs you, but so does alcohol and that is LEGAL and some people are alcoholics and many have died from from alcohol. You say more accidents will happen if people drive under the influence of marijuana, well how many accidents have their been so far from someone driving impaired from pot? If it was legalized, it doesn't mean more people will go out driving will high then, if they smoke now, they probably either already drive UTI (under the influence - tired of writing that) or stay where they are til they sober up, so it doesn't really matter. People text and drive, drink and drive, jerk off and drive, so that's not really fair that people look at it like that. Shit, do you know how many more mellow people would be on this earth then? If i've gotta deal with stupid people all day and there isn't anything i can do legally to make them shut up, well then i think its only fair to let me smoke pot to calm down before i kill them. My dad argues with me about this, he knows i smoke pot, i hid it from him but hes smart enough to know what i was doing, his first words to me were its not good for you, whoaa please PROVE to me that it is unhealthy for me, cause from what i've read, it does nothing but help if anything, im not hurting anyone, when im out at night with my friends smoking, i make sure i leave around 12-1am and take the back roads JUST incase there is anyone on the road, im an amazing driving UTI but i still don't want to chance it. < so what if people did what i do, sure that would be a lot of people out at 12-1am lol but not everyone is careless and stupid with it.

[Sci_Girl]

Sure its illegal now, but personally its only pot. Its been used for quite some time now.

One must be careful with wording like this. I know what you are trying to say and I know you are only talking about pot but there are things like coca that have been used for quite some time as well and that is the plant for cocaine production, which is incredibly easy to make and by extension crack production. By that same wording you should allow coca leaves and cocaine to be around because "it has been around for quite some time"...the party animals and addicts would love this but the average folk having to deal with their aftermath would not agree. Legalizing is not simply "because it has been around" it is how people react and behave while they are under the influence of said product. If the government decides that not everyone will be a disruption when they are high, much like not everyone is a total mess when they are consuming alcohol, then they will legalize it and place a huge tax on it. What I believe needs to happen if it were to be legalized is the scientific community bringing forth information that marijuana is not some drug that will ruin everyone that consumes it in moderation, the hippies and die hard pot activists will not be taken seriously but the individual with the lab coat, a PhD, and mounds of data will be more-so heard.

Usually people who talk bad about marijuana are those who know nothing about it and only go by what they have read or been taught. Well not everything you've read can be true.

You are talking about the published material and scientific readings as true right?...since they are not public thought but nit picky molecular details.

whoaa please PROVE to me that it is unhealthy for me

Unfortunately for pot smokers there have been studies done that seem to find correlates between cannabis use and brain damage, some studies show long term damage correlates. The main way pot works is by activating CB1 receptors. CB1 receptors are mainly present in the brain and they play a role in memory, hunger, movement, coordination and other functions. During the prime developmental period of 14-17 years of age proper brain development needs these CB1 receptors to be functioning well and proper. Continually using marijuana will activate CB1 receptors to the point that they will lose their effectiveness, this is called desensitization and hence a larger stimulus (more pot smoking) would be needed to activate those CB1 receptors to the same level as prior usage. During neural development if those CB1 receptors are not kept in tip top shape it will affect how neural structures form. Since heavy use of cannabis can desensitize CB1 receptors those neural structures can be improperly formed due to the lessened function. The result is things like the corpus callosum (bridge of fibre tracts between your left and right hemisphere) will lose it's integrity, the hippocampus (plays a major role in memory formation) will lose volume, and imbalances in the neurotransmitter systems in the CNS (central nervous system) can occur. Losing hippocampal volume and corpus callosum integrity for instance means less function of memory and cognition, impairments in such can lead to difficulties in school as an example. Difficulties in school can lead to more issues in life.

A few studies done on cannabis use and related brain structure damage and effects:

Ashtari, M., Avants, B., Cyckowski, L., Cervellione, K.L., Roofeh, D., Cooke, P...Kumra, S. (2011). Medial temporal structures and memory functions in adolescents with heavy cannabis use. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 45(8), 1055-66.

Arnone, D., Barrick, T.R., Chengappa, S., Mackay, C.E., Clark, C.A., Abou-Saleh, M.T. (2008). Corpus callosum damage in heavy marijuana use: preliminary evidence from diffusion tensor tractography and tract-based spatial statistics. NeuroImage, 41(3), 1067-74.

Downer, E.J., Campbell, V.A. (2010). Phytocannabinoids, CNS cells and development: A dead issue?. Drug and Alcohol Review, 29(1), 91-98. doi: 10.1111/j.1465-3362.2009.00102.x


Personally I am not completely sold on the data that is provided in these studies however I understand the importance of adolescent neural development so I cannot completely ignore the findings of such examples. That said for any one study that says it can lead to issues I can find another paper that defines medicinal benefits of marijuana use, it really is not difficult because the evidence is there. However more studies are needed to quantify the dangers, if any, that are association with marijuana use particularly with heavy or long term usage. As of right now, based on data in studies, I do not believe anyone would ever come to the conclusion that marijuana consumption will absolutely cause a detriment to development that cannot be overlooked. Maybe in the future there could be a response that really is a problematic thing but as of right now there are so such findings. There could also be in the future a resulting study finding that cannabis has benefits that were never considered or possibly overlooked, we just do not know and only the future will tell us if there is anymore information to be found.

[Gir]

I believe it should be legalized. People are going to do it either way, so why not just allow it?
Doing so would be very beneficial to the economy. Government could tax it, sales would be through the roof if sold for the right price.
By doing so we would also cut the tax money being spent jailing people for growing marijuana, possession, etc.
We spend way too much on inmates as it is, why spend more on people that are there for stupid reasons?
Save money by not needing to jail people anymore, increase sales for stores that sell it ("mom and pop shops" could form from this and would stimulate the economy), government would make some money.
I agree with whoever mentioned the US exporting it. Why don't we get ahead of the game and be the biggest producer of marijuana? I mean, it may not be the best thing for our country to do because I would imagine we would be seen as the biggest pot head country xD, but hey, money talks, and if you can sell it, do it.

[Mango]

Its a plant let it be free to grow and be free to smoke.

[Evelsaint]

The reason it is classified as a gateway drug is all politics and no science.

By making it illegal, you would have to go to the dealers in order to get access to the marijuana, usually the dealers deal the more hardcore drugs as well. By initiating contact with them, it increases the risk of getting hooked to cocaine or heroin.

The government can't tax what people can grow in their backyard next to their tomato plants.

Marijuana is ridiculously easy to grow.

And no, i do not speak that from experience