Legalizing marijuana

A

Awake

Just BE!
Registered Senior Member
I think this is the right place for this thread....

I, personally, am not a big fan of marijuana. True, I have tried it. But my question is this....

If gov't were to legalize it then it could be controlled (import/export). They could tax it, like alcohol and cigarettes. There would be a system for quality. They could drop the crime rate considerably (many crimes are due to the illegality of it). They could increase employment (people who sell it could become very good businessmen, look at the current networks they have). We wouldn't have to pay farmers not to grow stuff (how good do you think it would grow in the mid-west?) With the taxes they collect a national defecit would be a thing of the past.
 
Only one problem...

"They could tax it, like alcohol and cigarettes"

If I have to pay more for my weed then I'd prefer to keep the status quo.
Oh and the customer is always right.
Dee Cee
 
DeeCee said:
Only one problem...

"They could tax it, like alcohol and cigarettes"

If I have to pay more for my weed then I'd prefer to keep the status quo.
Oh and the customer is always right.
Dee Cee
Click to expand...

Legalization would also mean that you can grow it yourself for your private use (see the Netherlands).
 
If you legalised it, you run a great risk that more people would start to use it... no problem there, but, being so freely available and accepting that a fair percentage of people are gluttons, you would have a rise in abuse of m, ie. more dysfunctional, doped up members of society, which would equate to worse and less safe services and production for the rest of us. I think this is the main reason, govt's refuse to consider legalisation... how long, this can last however, is anybody's guess.

It is my view that the existing laws will have to be changed over the next 10-20 years to accomodate the reality of drug use.

Although m is the most widely used drug of choice, it is by no means at the root of most crime, though it certainly plays a role, along with every other illegal activity you can think of. If anything is at the root of all crime, it is the availability of cash, but that is another thread.

There are so many otherwise respectable, hard working people using m, that the fairest way to deal with them I think, would be to decriminalise cultivation and possession of it.

The gov't could sell a 'growing licence', for say, $500-$1000 renewable anually, allowing the holder of it to cultivate up to say, half a square metre, indoors only with only one lamp. An experienced grower would easily be able to provide enough dope for his own use with that setup, but not a great deal more. Selling it would still be illegal, though it won't stop people from selling it of course, but at least control of it would have been taken away from the gangsters. the gov't could make a very healthy profit from the existing users and it wouldn't have to be in society's face, available in every 7 11, as it might be, if it were legalised.
 
It was legalized in the Netherlands will no negative repercussions whatsoever.

"If you legalised it, you run a great risk that more people would start to use it... no problem there, but, being so freely available and accepting that a fair percentage of people are gluttons, you would have a rise in abuse of m, ie. more dysfunctional, doped up members of society, which would equate to worse and less safe services and production for the rest of us."

So, the purpose of government is to protect us from ourselves? It already is readily available everywhere, so there would be little change there. I question that it causes one to become dysfunctional when not in use, and besides, would that be so bad? It is an antidote to the voluntary slavery we subject ourselves to that is the result of the industrial revolution.

The real reason it is illegal is that it is in the interest of those in power to have a pretext for search and seizure. Our government wants it to be illegal because it makes it easier to control its citizens.
 
There may be a fair number of political reasons why it was banned in the first place and sure, the authorities can use it as a pretext because it's an illegal substance, but they would use anything at their disposal wouldn't they?

It's not legal in the Netherlands, it is decriminalised and tolerated only in certain parts of Amsterdam and possibly Rotterdam.

Drugs, including m, are like sugar to the brain. The brain wants some please, just like Oliver Twist. More more more. Many m users think that they can take it and go do their job as efficiently as if they'd been straight, sometimes, even more efficiently. Now I don't doubt that m could be an enhacer of ideas in certain proffessions or situations, but you don't really need your bus driver to be toking at the wheel, or somebody spaced out on weed running your business. This happens already... so imagine, if Everybody could get hold of it without fear of the law, down at the local drugstore... how many more instances of company inefficiency and serious accidents and misadventures involving innocent others might we have then?
 
It's that way with alcohol already. It is against the law to drive while intoxicated. It doesn't stop it but there is definitely a decrease because of laws. M could be the same.
 
I think tabl... hit the nail on the head.

I've wondered what the purpose of "legalization" is. What about decriminalization? Has anyone considered that? I mean, I know quite a few people who use m; they have no problem getting it, they have no problem rolling-up and smoking when they want - excluding public places but then again you can't smoke a cig in any public place anymore - they are not considered criminals of society so my question is - excluding the tax and regulating argument which could hardly be the main thrust of any m smoker - why legalize it? Have laws really hindered any pot smoker from smoking pot, besides the criminal label bestowed upon pot smokers "caught" with pot?
 
Why legalize it? So, the millions of Americans that use it are no longer labeled as criminals, and hemp can be used in industry.
 
spid...

You can eliminate the "criminal label" by decriminalizing it. As far as hemp is concerned.....whatever.
 
Fuck marijuana, I want opium fully legal. I want to go to a shaddy part of town and sit in my nice big chair and smoke in an opium den!!! And I want a sitar player nearby!!

Anywho. Okay this is an old arguement and it's probably appeared over a hundred times since I've been at sciforums. But, here's my opinion in short.

legalization would be super
- but tyler, wouldn't that increase use?
- possibly, possibly not. There's really very little proof that it would increase use. See the examples of Sweden and Amsterdamn for that example.

- but tyler, isn't it logical that the more readily it's available, the more people will do it?
- not necessarily. Alcohol is extremely readily available to me and I don't get trashed all that often. There are other drugs I could get very, very easily and I don't have any desire to do them. The point is, something being available and legal does increase the desire to do it - if anything, it has the reverse affect.

- but tyler, I still think it being legal would mean more users!
- well super dooper for you. In all honesty, I don't even see the problem with this. That more people would smoke pot really doesn't mean a thing to me. So what? Zeppelin and the Beatles become more popular and pizza places make a few more bucks.

- hey now, what if your bus driver starts smoking pot?
- what if he drinks? I'm fairly certain driving while intoxicated is illegal in your country, it is in mine. I don't think legalizing pot is going to mean more people will drive while high. And I'm also about 100% sure that if it was legalized, it wouldn't be legal to smoke up at work or anything. Once again, it would function something like alcohol - smoke at home or at a designated, licenced place.

- so why not just decriminalize?
- that would also be good, but not as helpful. For one, my government would likely make a shitload of money from selling pot - some of the most reveered marijuana in the world is from B.C.. Secondly, there would be the added business of the 'coffee shops'. Third, decriminalizing doesn't in any way help to get 'bad pot' or tainted stuff off the market. Plus! The hope would be that legalizing it would mean over the following years the major drug dealers would stop making the money, thus reducing one area of funding crime.

- tyler, isn't it immoral?
- shut up

- tyler, I regularly enjoy a puff or two (of course, only in the Netherlands and other areas it is legal to do so) -- wouldn't legalizing it and having the government sell it make it cost more?
- oh shut up. For one, if the Netherlands are any indication - no, not really. Secondly, I'm willing to pay the extra dollar or two if I know what I'm smoking and, ya know, get to chill at a coffee shop!

- tyler, I like phish.
- awsome, pm me.

- dude, marijuana's a gateway drug. Legalizing pot means more teens doing harder drugs!
- Again, not if the Nether... More importantly, it is a certain type of person who gets into harder drugs. Your average pot smoker does not want to snort cocaine. And this has nothing to do with the laws. Even more importantly, if you take away the money that is used currently to find/catch/prosecute marijuana growers/sellers/smokers you have shiiiiiiiiiiiite loads more money to deal with the other drugs.

- tyler, how will this affect my country?
- depends what country you live in. For instance, if my country - Canada - were to legalize it without the U.S.'s permission (literally), we would be killed. The States would simple bully us around trade-wise. They already threatened major issues if we decriminalized it. If you live anywhere outside of this, it likely wouldn't be that big a problem, but then again I don't know European drug policies all that well. What I do know is that even in right-wing Italy there were merchants on the street pushing bricks of hash in my face. So I think drugs are a bit more open there than North America!

- tyler, aren't you wrong?
- no, sorry
 
Thanks for your input. I agree with what you say. I just wanted to see how other people would articulate the point. Like I said before, I've tried it, I can get it anytime I want (with no threat of getting busted), yet I choose not to. And I have heard something recently about the bc bud. Supposed to be the best of the best. Thanks again.
 
Let's be honest for just one second. Our drug laws destroy many more lives than does any drug. No citizen of the United States of America should spend as much as one minute behind bars for smoking pot. And anyone in the U.S. waiving their right to a jury trial for a drug charge may as well travel to the Arlington national cemetery and take a long wet piss on each and every white cross planted there.
 
tablariddim said:
It's not legal in the Netherlands, it is decriminalised and tolerated only in certain parts of Amsterdam and possibly Rotterdam.
Click to expand...

Being Dutch and all and having lived in Holland for 28 years I can confirm that this statement is not true.

There are coffee shops everywhere (I personally visited one in the city of Tilburg, which is no way near Amsterdam or Rotterdam - yes, I am a prime witness in this matter), and everyone is allowed to have it and grow it (for personal use).
 
Monkey,
I'm sure I read just recently on the BBC News site that it wasn't actually legal in the Netherlands apart from designated areas of Amsterdam, maybe I'm misinformed, unless, it's just that the Dutch authorities prefer to turn a blind eye.
 
tablariddim said:
Monkey,
I'm sure I read just recently on the BBC News site that it wasn't actually legal in the Netherlands apart from designated areas of Amsterdam, maybe I'm misinformed, unless, it's just that the Dutch authorities prefer to turn a blind eye.
Click to expand...

I don't know. I never saw the article.

I haven't been in holland for 4 years or so, except for short visits, but I doubt they made it illegal in the meanwhile. That would cause a rebellion probably.

Anyhoo. Coffeeshops (that's where they sell it) are all over holland. I was in the summer in holland and saw plenty of these in Utrecht. That is also not quite amsterdam.
 
could they not extract/synthesize the active ingredients and manufacture a pill form for medicinal use? then it would just be regulated as any other pharmaceutical drug. then marijuana use would fall into the prescription drug abuse category. you'd take mj pills along side your vicodin.
 
DeeCee said:
Only one problem...

"They could tax it, like alcohol and cigarettes"

If I have to pay more for my weed then I'd prefer to keep the status quo.
Oh and the customer is always right.
Dee Cee
Click to expand...

I just wanted to say this, do you realy think your dealer is selling you weed at a nice and fair price?

With large commercial cannabis plantations along with commercial import and transportation the price for shipping the stuff would drop drasticaly. If sold in store-based consumer outlets, the supply and availability would increase drasticaly pushing the prices further down. With the item sold regularly in stores there is no need for store owners to put a 50+% increased sales price on the item as your regular dealer does...

in other words, should it be leagalized it would in the most likely case become considerably cheaper even if it were verry heavily taxed by the G.
 
Hey Exsto
I pay £50 for an ounce of pollen two days ago.
How much cheaper can the G sell it for?
Dee Cee
 
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