Why Marijuana SHOULD Be Illegal

[Zappa]

Originally posted by Marijuana Matt:
It's basically legal in holland, and do you know what happened there? PEOPLE GOT BORED OF IT!
I seriously doubt this one.
The main argument the opposition brings up that people will assume its safe and that they will start other drugs as well. (at least, that is my experience)

 

[Love In Vein]

The only reason why pot and any other drug is illegal is because the government is in the business of crime.
The government is in the business of society agrees it needs a centralized organization to maintain order. Every society has a government that reflects it's values. When the government no longer reflects the values of the masses, the masses overthrow the government and create a new one.
The United States government is not run by a seperate elite subrace of humans. It's comprised of people who are not any different than your own parents or next door neighbors.

The main reason why you hear cops saying weed shouldn't be legalized is because they are afraid of losing their job. Less crimes, less police officers, it's simple logic.
Hmm.. that's funny. I've never heard a police officer say anything even remotely close to that before.
Why don't you just tell us the truth? You got home from school one day and started smoking some shwag out of your little Chillz pipe. You get a little high and decide to play Grand Theft Auto on your Playstation 2. You're thinking about what a great time you're having. But then the cops in the game start chasing you. And you start shooting them in the game and you're like "man, the cops are always after me! fuck the police! i feel so good right now. i don't understand why weed is illegal! stupid cops. weed is just illegal so cops can keep their jobs and bust hardcore criminals like me that sit around and talk shit instead of doing homework!"

 

[cractout sundaze]

Originally posted by Thirdeyeopen:
The only reason why pot and any other drug is illegal is because the government is in the business of crime. The more crimes that find (or make) means the more business they receive.
I totaly agree. The goverment makes too much money off pot being Illegal to legalize it. First they bust the user. This makes money in fines. Second they get a scared kid to snitch on their dealer. This makes even more money in fines. Now they have a lot of money and a large stash of weed. Do you really think they just destroy it? No, they send it back out on the streets with Narcs, So they can bust more users and dealers. Consiquently creating more revenue. It's a seamless racket. They couldn't make anywhere near that kind of money by legalizing and taxing it.
[ 05 January 2003: Message edited by: cractout sundaze ]

 

[Dacocks]

Marijuana should be illegal. IMO it is far worse than tabacco and alcohol put together. It gives people cancer and causes people to go crazy and shit.
I saw this one fucked up dude once, smoking away. I went over to him and he went nuts, like kicking the bench and stuff. I dont know about kicking the bench, I stay away from the reefer, but apparently its common from weed-addicted know it all, but really know nothings, 's to do it.
Ever since my buddy quit he said his rape impulses went way down. Pretty much cause weed makes you not care, not even care about the trees that give us air. I dont give you air the trees do. Plus my friend used to spill his bong water and it would smell.
Weed should be class A or maybe A+ because it deserves its own category for the people who it drains and destroys their impulses and motivations.

 

[dovesmajik]

I personally agree with weeds illegality. WIll get into why later, dont have time to now.
*Note* If weed was to ever become legal here in the good ole USA. I would seriously consider moving to another country BLA'

 

[Virty]

Originally posted by cractout sundaze:

I totaly agree. The goverment makes too much money off pot being Illegal to legalize it. First they bust the user. This makes money in fines. Second they get a scared kid to snitch on their dealer. This makes even more money in fines. Now they have a lot of money and a large stash of weed. Do you really think they just destroy it? No, they send it back out on the streets with Narcs, So they can bust more users and dealers. Consiquently creating more revenue. It's a seamless racket. They couldn't make anywhere near that kind of money by legalizing and taxing it.

Damn, looks like someone saw "Conspiracy Theory" quite a few too many times... :D
Do you realise how far fetched this is? If not, complete and utter nonsense?
First of all, the costs of arresting, tialing and, perhaps, putting a small time marijuana smoker in jail will cost a hell of a lot more then what the government will receive in fines. Same goes for small time weed dealers or any dealers for that matter.
Second of all, the police does destroy evidence, especially drugs. No way the police force is putting the weed right back on the streets, that would be drug dealing, which is illegal. Besides, they'll just undo all the work they did before, which is stopping the use of dope. Putting the weed right back on the streets will only help themselves losing their war on drugs. The government is not that stupid.
[ 06 January 2003: Message edited by: Virty ]

 

[PiLL_PiMP]

If weed were legalized, it would be taxed ridiculously by the god damn government. These tax dollars would then be used to increase the power of the god damn government; money=power. I don't think anyone here wants the government to have any more power over us, it's already got way too much!
[ 06 January 2003: Message edited by: PiLL_PiMP ]

 

[cractout sundaze]

Originally posted by Virty:

The government is not that stupid.
[ 06 January 2003: Message edited by: Virty ]
I never said they were stupid. They have an enourmous collective intelligence. That's why it is impossible to prove any of these things. Where do you think they get the dope, to get in cool with people in the know, so they can get to the big dealers? They certainly aren't going to buy it, when they already have as much as they need in evidence from closed cases, that would be "stupid". And do you really think just because the police enforce the law means they are always going to abide by it? If you believe that, then you are living in a dream world. Police officers are only human, and suceptable to temptation, just like you and me. Have you ever gotten out of a speeding ticket, just because the cop liked you or was just feeling nice that day? I have, and that was illegal on his part, but I wasn't going to complain. Also, have you ever been to court? Either for a case dealing with you or just for the heck of it to watch the court work. I've done both. And I have watched them rake in thousands and thousands of dollars from drug offenders. And that's just what I have witnessed. So you can imagine what they make,day in and day out, over a months time. I'm sure just a small percentage of that covers the over head of arresting,filling,
and hearing these cases. As for jail. Who told you
the goverment pays for the whole bill? Around here they charge the offender for their stay at the county Hilton.
[ 06 January 2003: Message edited by: cractout sundaze ]

 

[cractout sundaze]

Originally posted by Dacocks:
Marijuana should be illegal. IMO it is far worse than tabacco and alcohol put together. It gives people cancer and causes people to go crazy and shit.
Worse than tobacco, yes. But I have to disagree with you on the alchohol. For one thing alchohol kills brain cells. And contrary to popular belief marijuana does not. It only slows the firing of the synapse in your brain. Which can be bad, but it will go away with time if you quit smoking. Dead brain cells, you never get back. And another thing. I have seen more people go crazy on alchohol, than I ever have on weed.
I have seen people who have a major beef with each other, sit down, smoke a joint, and become friends. On the other hand I have seen people drinking,usualy wiskey, Beat the hell out of a perfect stranger just because they looked at them wrong. I personaly, don't drink, just for the fact it makes me want to go on a rampage and do a bunch of dumbshit. I do smoke weed, however, And am quite peceful most of the time.
Edit: After reading your post again. And reading
mnmguy's response. I have come to the conclusion that you are in fact parodying the "war on drugs."
If not, and you are serious, you have got to be burnt.
[ 06 January 2003: Message edited by: cractout sundaze ]

 

[Cimora]

Statistically if you look at americas own drug abuse stastics group (whatever theyre called), ull see that tobacco kills more people per user than ANY other drug, its also nearly as addictive (use once=use regularly) as heroin, only 5% difference. Anyone who says cannabis is as harmful as tobacco is plain insane, dumb or running a moral agenda.
Alcohol has a high associated violent crime statistic, and is inlvolved in something like 60% of violent crime.
You prolly just said all that to get a bite on your line anyway, no-one could be that in the dark could they?
And the goverment wont tax cannabis, or make it commerical like tobacco. The closest any1 has come to this is holland, and even theyre thinking of stepping it back to legal for (and growth for) personal use only. Even there the price fell to approx the same as ciggerretes.
Trust me tax has nothing on danger money! (ciggerrettes are taxed to the hilt, and there still way cheaper than the easier to grow and cure marijuana)
In adelaide its decrimed (150 buck fine for up to three plants). Everything goes one 100% as normal, ud never even know, until you buy and smoke their cheap as primo weed. (half the normal price)
Prohibtion is mainly just a pointless waste of time, other systems are barely that different, except for the people in jail, paranoid, and jilted by society because they smoke pot - plus you get less other crime as well, but most wouldnt notice this, and the gateway effect is diminished. Travel around, ull see plenty of proof of all this, the proof is in the pudding.
America has many problems with drugs while other more liberal countries have imporved there situation.

 

[EJ]

I found this on another message board. it didn't, and I don't have references and sources to back up the exact numbers it supposes, so sorry about that but the reasons for it being illegal are definately there...
Politicians aren't idiots. They know exactly what they're doing. They protect their own interests and the people who fund their campaign's interests.
You have an annual budget for the war on drugs of $20+ billion. Almost every government agency gets a piece of it.
You have pharmaceutical companies celebrating in profits garnered by the 10-12x increase in drug costs over the past 10 years. Medicinal marijuana would be a threat to their profits since it would be out of their direct control and isn't patentable.
You have a drug testing industry that has gone from nothing to over $5 billion annually in the past 10 years.
You have a treatment industry that finds 37% of its drug abuse patients ordered into its system by court mandate. 57% of its marijuana abuse patients are by court order.
You have politicians in key states with alcohol and tobacco as industries protecting their interests. Legalization of marijuana would be a threat to their revenue stream by providing a legal alternative.
You have politicians in paper and cotton producing states pondering the impact of a hemp industry if it were ever to gain a foothold in the US.
You have a prison industry in place that receives $50 billion in annual revenue to construct and manage our prison population. Drug-related offenses account for one-quarter of prison populations.
Lastly, you have a military sector that gets to sell the government herbicides, helicopters, surveillance equipment and mercenary services. The US spends $2 billion annually on foreign interventions stemming from our war on drugs.
That all amounts to a TON of money.
I suppose on one level I can't blame them all for fighting to maintain the status quo. This is the land of opportunity and the free market after all. Unfortunately, none of them suffers the fallout of the war they sanction. They don't pay needlessly inflated prices for drugs. They don't fear losing their job if they fail a drug test from their employer. They aren't affected by the violent crime that is a direct result of prohibition. In alot of ways you could almost call it cultural prejudice. They don't use these drugs, or they don't have to fear prosecution for their usage, and refuse to consider the fact that a large proportion of their constituents have at one time used or continue to use drugs despite them being illegal. They don't want to listen to facts such as the death rates from alcohol, poor diet and tobacco are 5x, 15x and 20x higher respectively when compared to all illicit drug use, both legal and illegal. They don't want to look at the staggering difference in usage, addiction and crime rates in a country like the Nethlerlands when compared with the US.
Lastly, let's face it. The US isn't the land of the free these days. As of February 2000, the US surpassed 2 million people behind bars. This amounted to 25% of the entire global prison population. That sucks when you sit down and think about what it means.
When you read all that crap it sounds alot like paranoia and my only reply is....Occam's Razor.

 

[Drugpert]

Originally posted by Thirdeyeopen:
The only reason why pot and any other drug is illegal is because the government is in the business of crime. The more crimes that find (or make) means the more business they receive. The main reason why you hear cops saying weed shouldn't be legalized is because they are afraid of losing their job. Less crimes, less police officers, it's simple logic.
Thats horribly wrong. Thats probably the dumbest reason I've ever heard for why its illegal. Really, that was horrible. Just think about it, marijuana isn't the only crime-causing thing in society, there are still TONS of other felonies being commited that the police never catch. The fact is that keeping it illegal is distracting the police of other crimes in progress.

 

[cractout sundaze]

Originally posted by Drugpert:

Thats horribly wrong. Thats probably the dumbest reason I've ever heard for why its illegal. Really, that was horrible. Just think about it, marijuana isn't the only crime-causing thing in society, there are still TONS of other felonies being commited that the police never catch. The fact is that keeping it illegal is distracting the police of other crimes in progress.
Yes, but there's a difference between a crime that is moraly wrong and a crime that is created by the Goverment to further their agenda. I agree with you on the fact that marijuana prohabition distracts the police from other crimes. These are the moraly wrong crimes. But the goverment has a large part of America brainwashed into thinking if it's illegal, then it's wrong. So once a law is on the books, then it is really hard to get it off. And if you haven't noticed, most of the clean and sober people think Marijuana is just as bad as Cocaine or Heroin. This is also a result of goverment brainwashing.

 

[snap]

Pot should remain illegal because....
It's more fun to sneak a smoke.
Some of my fondest memories are of sneaking around like James Bond in High School and finding creative ways to smoke a bowl. Anybody here ever make a pipe out of an apple?

 

[FunkyAlfonzo]

^ LOL, I know what you mean. I did notice that when I hit 18 and was legally allowed to drink, a lot of the fun went out of it

When you read all that crap it sounds alot like paranoia and my only reply is....Occam's Razor.
I think this thread needs Occam's Industrial Hedge Trimmer...

 

[Brown Acid]

One aspect of the pot decriminalization is the government's profit. Yes they would profit but one user could grow enough marijuana for themselves to last a life time. Most people would start out buying their own from stores and stuff but eventually a lot of people would start growing their own to cut back on money. And it'd be too hard to regulate with laws because it's easy to grow without getting caught in the act, if you know what you're doing.
I want very badly for marijuana to be legal and I'm sure that issue can be worked out in some form of law system but I can understand the problem from the government's point of view.

 

[Tradeskilz]

I used to be against the legalization of marihuana in my country because allmost all my friends smoke weed and hash 24/7 if they can.
But then i realized that the only time they get agressive and shit is when they cant score any more or dont have any money. Atlest if it was legal they could cruise down to the local hash bar and get some instead of bitching and acting pshycho and shit.
Before i visit one of my friends house i make sure to call before and ask if they have any weed. If they do its smooth sailing.
Im telling you guys its scary to watch.

 

[FunkayRavin]

im gonna make a parasite that destroys all THC bearing plants.. then ill make all you cut your hair and get jobs, damn hippies!
if weed was legal, yes the govt. would tax it, but there would be competition for the sale of weed.. companies would try to grow the best pot, and sell for the best price. it would probably end up alot cheaper

 

[Dr. J]

One of the inherant problems with marijuana versus alcohol and tobacco is that its side effects last much longer.
A study performed a couple of years ago tested the responsiveness of commercial airline pilots. A baseline was established, followed by a "standard" dose of marijuana. It took an average of 13 days for them to reach their original baseline.
Speaking from personal experience, I know that if I have a week of tests or papers to prepare for, I cannot smoke weed. However, I have no such limits on alcohol, for example. Regardless of what anyone says, marijuana clearly affects one's abilities.
So, if you would feel comfortable with your commercial airline pilot, or your kids' bus driver getting ripped the night before work, then more power to you.
And, while the government would be able to tax the hell of it, the high taxes will simply put people in the position of obtaining weed elsewhere, tax free, similar to the smuggling of cigs to states with outrageous tax rates.
While I hate the idea of governmental control, I think full legalization would just open up a can of worms.

 

[Citrus]

Can you cite the reference for that claim Dr J.?
- Citrus