Political Discussions:Legalization of Marijuana?

[frigileFrieda]

Yes, but if a drug can pull a trigger that hard, it's pretty dangerous. But ok, maybe it would have happened on alcohol too...

[Col.Brandon_ha]

Or maybe it wouldn't happen due to any "trigger" but his mental illness. Stop looking for an easy answer to what is clearly a very serious mental illness. Saying "it was because of pot" or "it was because he was drunk." ignores the obvious of HE WAS BATSHIT INSANE!

If you really believe that pot leads to cannibalism you're so far out of touch with reality I have to question whether you take responsibility for anything. Someone so quick to write off such egregious action as being "due to weed" is the kind of person who doesn't understand cause and effect and doesn't understand the complexities of mental health.

Additionally a sample size of one would get you laughed out of any serious scientific discussion.

[frigileFrieda]

No, i don't believe pots leads to cannibalism, but every drug lowers the borders for bad behaviour and i do think the world just don't need another drug hwho does exactly this.

[Col.Brandon_ha]

Too bad, you can't put the bullet back in the gun. Its already out there, it can't be gotten rid of, 70 years and hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide has proven that. The illegality is what causes problems, not the substance itself, making criminals out of otherwise law abiding citizens and throwing them in prison for harming absolutely no one is a barbaric and childish response to a social issue. Reasonable measures should be made to ensure kids don't get access to it, but no more so than cigarettes or alcohol, considering either of those kill thousands directly and pot has killed no one in the history of ever.

[frigileFrieda]

I don't know what you mean with your first sentence but even defending a drug as harmless or good is not even right.

[Col. Communicator]

Why don't we legalize theft? Can you imagine how many billions of dollars are spent arresting, trying, and defending thieves? Drug users are LAWBREAKERS (at this point). They are not law abiding citizens. They abide by only the laws they agree with. For you to call them LAW ABIDING is ridiculous. Then you made another ridiculous statement. "and pot has killed no one in the history of ever." Really? Another unprovable statement. Some researchers say cannabis has the same if not more chance at causing cancer as tobacco. So if someone smokes both and dies from lung cancer, was it from pot or cigarettes? I'll bet you say its from cigarettes. Can't prove which one caused it. Both sides of this subject at least agree that as time goes on and more and more people use pot, you'll start to see pot related cancer cases. Your putting carcinogens into your system, that can't be good for you. They're putting more and more regulations on cigarettes and smokers then they ever have before. And I'm all for it, but to now allow another form of drug use to become legal is also ridiculous.

Marijuana Dangers (from The American Council for Drug Education- of course you recognize this SOURCE either). Notice how you don't recognize sources that are against your opinion?

Impaired perception- Diminished short-term memory-Loss of concentration and coordination-Impaired judgement-Increased risk of accidents-Loss of motivation-Diminished inhibitions-Increased heart rate-Anxiety, panic attacks, and paranoia- Hallucinations-Damage to the respiratory, reproductive, and immune systems- Increased risk of cancer-Psychological dependency

[Col.Brandon_ha]

Again failed to provide any link to a source, I dont object to your sources on their basis, I object to your inability to actually cite them. Provide a link, like I have done, rather than cherry pick and copy and paste.

Marijuana has not been linked to increase in cancer rates (source)
Source 2
Shrinks brain tumours
"Marijuana Smokers are at a Significantly Lower Risk of Carcinogenicity Relative to Tobacco-Non-Marijuana Smokers: Evidenced Based on Statistical Reevaluation of Current Literature"

Unlike your sources, which are not scientific, mine are peer reviewed, yours are special interest groups. That actually does make mine more reliable.

[Col. Communicator]

Damage to short term memory from cannabis link...
[url]http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg17723812.800-dont-add-e-to-cannabis.html[/url]
Cannabis link to mental illness link...
[url][u]http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3098-cannabis-link-to-mental-illness-strengthened.html[/u][/url]
Psychotic symptoms more likely with cannabis users link...
[url]http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6745-psychotic-symptoms-more-likely-with-cannabis.html[/url]
Cannabis use linked to cognitive decline link...
[url]http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528801.900-teenage-cannabis-use-leads-to-cognitive-decline.html[/url]
Inhaled cannabis is more toxic than tobacco smoke link...
[url]http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19626354.200-inhaled-cannabis-is-more-toxic-than-tobacco-smoke.html[/url]
Oh by the way...ALL of this info is off of your own source's website.

[Gen.Jersey]

Look, nobody can make the claim that marijuana (or any other drug) is harmless. Alcohol, nicotine, THC, cocaine, LSD, heroin, ecstasy, psilocybin, ketamine, and every other drug in existence can and do cause harm. But if the punishment for possessing a drug causes more harm than the drug itself would, then the drug laws are bad and need to be changed.

I and many others feel that this is painfully clear, at least for marijuana. It causes no more harm (and arguably less harm) than either alcohol or tobacco. So why do we continue to send marijuana users to prison for years -- sometimes decades -- when our prisons are already so overcrowded that violent criminals are often let freed after serving only a fraction of their sentences while they still pose an extreme threat to society?

[Col. Communicator]

That's all true Jersey. However, I don't believe we send "users" to prison for many years. Maybe suppliers and even dealers, maybe, after many, many arrests for the same thing. Marijuana possession in NYS is only a violation, not even a misdemeanor. (unless its over a certain weight) No one goes to prison in this country for a violation anymore, at least that I know of. Damn, the maximum sentence on a misdemeanor is 1 yr in NYS. So if someone is doing a VERY long prison sentence in NY then its most likely for a felony. And that is a trafficker. Trafficking in pot can get you 15-25 yrs. So to say that a small time user(everyday Joe) got a long prison sentence is inaccurate. That is maybe they want everyone to think, but they were most likely caught trafficking or bringing it into this country in large ammounts.