I've been hearing a lot lately about the legalization of marijuana, and I would seriously like to know...what's the point? I guess I can understand if it's necessary for medical purposes but I know for a fact that plenty of people who are trying to get it legalized, to be frank, just like to get high. They may argue that it is a stress reliever but I don't see how marijuana could be someone's only option or even their best option for relieving stress. Taking a walk on a nice day, reading a book, painting a picture...anything that could be considered a hobby could be used to relieve stress. So why are people so adamant about its legalization?
I've actually become involved in arguments with people who claim that marijuana has never caused anyone's death. I will say that if someone smokes pot and drives under the influence that if they hit and kill someone that marijuana is a direct cause of this death. I have been told that this theoretical death would not be the result of marijuana but the result of someone being too irresponsible to know that they should not driving after or while smoking...and all I can say is "thank you for proving my point." If marijuana causes people to make more mistakes while driving and also screws around with their decision making then why legalize it?
Some people argue that since alcohol is legal that marijuana should also be legal, as alcohol causes more accidents than marijuana. Well, I'm sure that if marijuana were legalized that more people would smoke and the people who already do would smoke more often, therefore causing more accidents.
If someone has any good reasons against what I have said tell me. But please, not pettiness. I've dealt with enough of that in regards to this subject.
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I have smoked before but don't agree with you but in a way do. When people smoke pot most times they don't want to get up and do ANYTHING let alone drive. Also alot of people are more aware of their surrounds when they smoke so they drive ok because they get paranoid. But no one should really drive on pot anyway. Plus people are using up our tax money to be put in jail for pot. The police could spend more time on dealing with more dangerous people rather than people who had pot with them. People may see legalizing pot as a bad thing because they would wonder what else will they legalize? You have to remember that long ago all illegal drugs were legal because they didn't know the damaging effects of them. They used to sell cocaine as a miracle drug. I believe that it is not so much a bad thing to legalize it besides the driving under the influence but other than that alcohol really does kill more people than I believe pot ever will.
Something people should know about:
http://www.progressiveu.org/032913-lupus-uncureable-wait-what
I think you bring up a good point. (about the tax and also what you said about how people are if the smoke pot then drive). I really don't know much about the subject because I don't have any firsthand experience. I just feel like if someone who smokes pot (so I'm not meaning you) thinks that tax dollars are being used to lockup people who smoke pot when they could be used for catching dangerous criminals that they shouldn't be spending their money on buying pot. I guess I just don't understand why people smoke pot or do drugs. I mean, of course I see the how it can happen but I just think there are so many alternative ways to relieve stress or feel 'high.'
And I also know some people who basically only smoke pot while they are driving. I guess that's who I was thinking of when I wrote my blog.
(I meant to click reply to the comment before this but I didn't and I could only come back and edit this, but not delete it.)
I don't smoke pot anymore because it made me feel...metally challenged and I like to know what I am doing. I haven't smoked in a very long time(years) because of that fact.
People smoke (some people I guess) to have a release from reality. I understand what you mean by people doing other things to releave stress but sometimes stress is so bad you almost need something to get away for alittle while. No one can fully understand why people like to do certain drugs unless you are going through or went through what they have. People deal with things differently so that could be why. I stole some of my mom's pain meds when she was in the hospital because she was very sick and it was hard to deal with. We were there for 10 hours waiting and I guess I did that to to pass time also. Yeah smoking pot or drinking while driving is dumb. But after my mom passed away I didn't resort to any of that so I guess it just depends on certain people. I don't see a problem in legalizing it because I always believe alcohol will kill more people. But I understand where you are coming from.
I am here to inform and help:
http://www.progressiveu.org/032913-lupus-uncureable-wait-what
Love comments? I do too!
Wow - I really don't know many people that smoke pot and then drive or smoke while they are driving. How old are they? I think maybe kids who still live with their parents may smoke in their cars just because they don't have many other places to go to smoke.
I do think that there are way too many people in jail on marijuana charges. I have never met a violent pot smoker, so I do not see them as any sort of physical threat on society. Most pot smokers are fairly mellow. I don't see the point of spending so much government money to keep marijuana dealers locked up. Jails are overcrowded enough as it is.
I'm not really sure where I stand since I'm not a smoker myself, but I don't really see the harm of making it legal, unless there are a ton of people out there driving while they are stoned. I don't like anyone being out on the roads endangering the lives of others while drunk or doped. But I don't think the number of stoned drivers would increase with its legalization unless a bunch of pot bars started opening up.
whats the difference between marijuana and alcohol, or cigarettes
"my first name must be, "He aint sh@t", cause everytime I come through, yall be like "He aint sh@t"!....I'll be dat" --Redman
"Anything that can go wrong, Will go wrong"----Murphy's Law
Just because alcohol and cigarettes are legal it doesn't make marijuana a good thing. Obviously cigarettes are bad and alcohol is bad when it's abused. I'm not saying that they should be illegal though. With the point at which our society is now, we cannot make either of those substances illegal. It just wouldn't work. However legalizing marijuana isn't going to make anything better.
but it should be about making ALL things fair. If there is no SCIENTIFIC evidence to support marijuana being illegal, as opposed to alcohol and cigarettes, then why is it illegal. The personal thoughts of citizens, politicians or whatever shouldnt sway legistlation away from science.
"my first name must be, "He aint sh@t", cause everytime I come through, yall be like "He aint sh@t"!....I'll be dat" --Redman
"Anything that can go wrong, Will go wrong"----Murphy's Law
Life isn't fair. Is it fair that people die after being hit by drivers under the influence of marijuana? No. Is it fair that people die after being in car accidents because of alcohol? No. Is it fair that people die from second-hand smoking? No. Cigarettes shouldn't be legal and alcohol is legal because it doesn't affect people if they don't drink too much. Just because they are legal it doesn't mean that marijuana should be. Like I said, making those substances illegal just wouldn't work. It would cause too much hostility. I just don't see why anyone needs to be smoking pot (or cigarettes or drinking). Why should it be legalized if it's not doing any good for the world? (except maybe for the people who use it for medical reasons)
I just want to say, since I really don't like confrontation, that I really do respect your opinion. There may be something that I'm just not seeing, but I am of course going to have to stick to my belief.
People will argue you into the ground... because everyone seems to believe they are right about everything. I am very open-minded and can see from both sides of a perceptive even if I don't agree. Don't let this bother you because someone will always not agree with what you are saying. Although I don't agree, I can see why you oppose it, there is no point to argue with someone because it will go no where.
I am here to inform and help:
http://www.progressiveu.org/032913-lupus-uncureable-wait-what
Love comments? I do too!
Ugh. Have you ever smoked pot? Can I see the stats on car accidents caused by people being under the influence of pot? Because I've never heard "so and so crashed his car, killing a family of four because he was high on marijuana."
Your arguments are so flawed. How many car accidents are caused by alcohol? Tons and tons and tons and tons. And I don't have to find you the stats on that to prove it's correct. It's common knowledge, something you're probably already aware of.
Lastly, I think it's really annoying of you to say "I respect your opinion" but precede that statement with "I'm only saying this to avoid confrontation." Why even say anything at all?
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
Of course I know about alcohol causing more car accidents than marijuana. I have much stronger feelings about alcohol abuse than I do about marijuana.
When I told someone that I respected their opinion, I didn't precede it with "I'm only saying this to avoid confrontation." What I actually said was "I just want to say, since I really don't like confrontation, that I really do respect your opinion." I understand how this could seem like the same thing. What I really meant was that even though I maybe disagree (in this case disagreed) with someone about something that I see why people have the opinions that they have. I don't want anyone to have hard feelings towards me because of something like this blog. I don't like confrontation and I didn't want our different opinions to cause too much hostility. I know that many of the people using this sight have reasons for the way they feel and I don't want anyone to think that because I don't agree with them that I feel like I'm better than them in any way. Obviously we're all wrong about some things and right about other things. Sometimes no one is right. Thanks to people like that one and my friend I have come to realize that my opinions may not have been as well thought out as I had thought.
I totally know why it would be annoying if you thought I meant it in that way. Seriously, it's like when people say "no offense." I hate that...I mean, it's always followed by something offensive! I hope you understood my explanation just now btw.
I understand
But I still want to see the stats....
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
Marijuana has been proven to be medically beneficial. The American College of Physicians supports its legistlation so it can be perscribed to people who desperately need it.
Please show me some evidence that car accidents are often caused by marijuana.
I have an updated blog about this issue. check it out.
http://www.progressiveu.org/232633-legalization-marijuana-change-heart
I just read your entire blog (Change of Heart) and don't see anything about statistics for car accidents while on marijuana.
Don't promote something saying it's explaining something it doesn't explain. I still want to see stats.
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
The point of this site is not to be rude to people. Seriously, please try to be civil. If you continue to make comments towards me with this implied rudeness I'm just going to ignore them. Obviously if someone smokes pot and then drives it's less safe than if they hadn't just smoked. I'm not saying that smoking pot causing some alarmingly high amount of car accidents or deaths. If you want to see some stats then look them up yourself. And don't share them with me; I'm just going to leave this issue alone now.
...I don't think he was rude. He asked you to back up your claims.
I didn't see anything about the point of the site not being rude, either. Though being nice is always a good thing, it's not exactly required.
"The point of this site is not to be rude to people. Seriously, please try to be civil."
The problem is I was not being rude at all. Don't talk to me about being civil... my job here is to keep people civil.
"If you want to see some stats then look them up yourself."
I would suggest you never make any claims about anything ever again then, if you're not willing to back them up with actual facts. You did imply that driving while under the influence of pot causes a high amount of accidents.
You... well... let's just say that you're not only taking things a little to personally, but your refusing to help someone and answer questions they have about your thoughts and opinions is less than impressive.
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You are the Voice of the Childwen of the Revowution! [Toulouse, Moulin Rouge]
If you want to see some stats then look them up yourself.
Here on ProU, anything you state as fact will be challenged unless you back them up with research. You will get nowhere fast if you do otherwise and say such comments as the one I've quoted above. There are a number of reasons to cite your information, respect here is but one of them.
Also, you mentioned somewhere else about more people smoking pot if it becomes legal. That's not entirely accurate. Look at the alcohol prohibition of the 1920s. Alcohol was not only illegal, the ban was a Constitutional Amendment, but that didn't stop people from drinking. Underground breweries flourished. Why?
Psychology.
Basically, the same reason why people lust after those that are married (or otherwise involved with a significant other) and one of the driving reasons why high schoolers (and college students, for that matter) enjoy drinking -- because they can't (legally and/or morally) have it. It's taboo, it's "that which must not be spoken of," its dangerous. It's human nature to want what we can't have. The added risk from engaging in something illegal makes it that much more enticing and exciting.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
First of all, marijuana can be used for more then just medical reasons, and just a quick high. If it were legalized the U.S. would be on the right path out of debt. Marijuana can be used for lots of things such as textiles, building materials, food, paint, detergent, varnish, oil, ink, and fuel. The topic over marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol should be a no brainer. Both tobacco and alcohol is worse then pot. combined tobacco and alcohol kill around 500,000 people a year. They are the number 1 and 3 leading killers in the U.S. Marijuana has never killed anybody. Smoke ten blunts, see how you drive. Then drink ten beers and see how you drive. I will bet after the beers will be the worst. The bad thing is that on an average, people usually will not smoke ten blunts at a sitting. People are so worried about tar in cigarettes and weed. The truth is that is not the leading cause of cancer in cigarettes. It is radioactivity; which pot has none. Alcohol makes it to where a person can't talk or walk. There should not even be a comparison to the two. Marijuana is not a bad thing. It is just because people are misinformed about the plant. Yes people smoke it to get high, but it is for the memories that they can make with friends. Some of the best times of my life were with my friends in a circal, smoking some weed.So marijuana is not that bad, people just need to stop listing to what they hear and try to figure some things out for themselves.
Radioactivity in what sense? I can't see cigarette smoke shooting off gamma rays, because I can't see it haven't any radioactive elements in it. It has carcinogens, yes, but those work by messing with your free radicals and depressing your immune system, not by radioactivity...
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
Hello, If you truly want to know why so many people want to reform our drug laws, please visit my blog.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/mccool
It will answer many of your questions.
Save the American Dream of self-government, free of tyranny and oppression! Restore justice in the world; construct science based drug policies about saving and rehabilitating instead of ruining lives. Warriors can get their adrenaline rush increasing public safety; chasing murderers and violent sexual predators.
Mexico's drug war has escalated to the Blood Baths of violence we saw during alcohol prohibition. Juarez today is no different than the roaring 20s in Chicago, prohibition triggers violence in our streets and along our borders.
We need to fight drug abuse with compassion; treat nonviolent abusers as patients not criminals. Fight use with factual evidence! We are diminishing the use of tobacco with the campaign, Knowledge is Contagious, so Infect Truth!
The cumulative effect of current policy is becoming obvious; while we police individual recreational and medicinal use of drugs; murderers and violent sexual predators roam free.
Prohibition fuels corruption of public officials and injustice in our courts. It incites terrorists by forcing senseless policy on other countries. The black market supports despicable people who sell to children and who recruit them to sell to their peers. The statistics reveal that racism is epidemic in the drug war.
Support for the war on drugs is inconsistent with support for individual freedom, Constitutional, small government and the teachings of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Join the easy revolution! http://www.downsizedc.org/
Many opportunities for activism and links to more information and statistics in McCool's blog. http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/mccool
Colleen McCool is a portrait artist, poet and peace activist.
http://mccoolportraits.com/2007rebelwithjustcause.htm
Member - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
http://www.leap.cc/
& Drug Policy Forum of Texas
According to U.S. Surgeon General C. Everette Koop (on national television, 1990) radioactivity, not tar, accounts for at least 90% of all smoking related lung cancer.
Please use the reply link at the bottom of the comment to respond to it. It helps verify who you are talking to, and what you are talking about.
The US Surgeon General, I believe also said that smoking was good for you in the early days of it. In scanning several publications on pubmed, I cannot find one that says radioactivity causes lung cancer in smokers. I also didn't say that tar caused lung cancer... but there are something like 200 chemicals added to tobacco smoke, and hardly any of them are good for you. I, for one, don't see the advantage to smoking formaldehyde, but that's just me.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
Want the highest rated list to change? RATE those blogs, then!
I have been reading on these for about a week now ever since I wrote a paper for college about marijuana. As I read on about it I found that it is mostly tobacco from America that contain radioactivity. It is very technical so I can't explain in my own words but "Tobacco crops grown in the United States are fertilized by law with phosphates rich in radium 226. In addition, many soils have a natural radium 226 content. Radium 226 breaks down into two long lived 'daughter' elements -- lead 210 and polonium 210. These radioactive particles become airborne, and attach themselves to the fine hairs on tobacco leaves."I agree with you about the not wanting to smoke cigarettes. They are horrible for us, and I started to realize that at the beginning of this year. I was mostly ragging on cigarettes and alcohol in the defense of marijuana. Oh yea, Thanks for telling me about the reply. I am new here and don't really know what I am doing.