I have notice a number of fellow "pot" smokers on here and thought that this would make for an interesting conversation. I read this on another forum site that I belong to. The benefits of legalizing marijuana. Can you think of anymore? What do you think some cons would be for legalizing it? Please let's try to keep this friendly as may will have different points of views. We are all entitled to our own opinions, whether we agree to them or not.

Legalizing marijuana has many positive aspects, including increased tax revenue through the legal sale of marijuana. There is also the matter of the medical benefits of marijuana to those with illnesses that limit range of motion or induce nausea and pain. The federal government's argument for criminalizing marijuana appears to be based on pressure from tobacco and pharmaceutical industries who find the non-patentable nature of marijuana harmful to profit margins.

Benefits

Many states now recognize the medical benefits of marijuana Many states now recognize the medical benefits of marijuana Legalizing marijuana has many benefits, particularly health benefits for people who suffer from illnesses such as depression, cancer, glaucoma and even AIDS. Marijuana has been proven helpful for inducing appetite and combating nausea. Furthermore, marijuana has also proven beneficial for increasing the range of motion for those suffering from multiple sclerosis. As an illegal substance, many who suffer from debilitating illnesses would be arrested or imprisoned for simply seeking relief from their ailments.

Effects

Legalizing marijuana would significantly decrease the number of marijuana-related arrests and imprisonments in the United States. More than 200,000 individuals are incarcerated each year for marijuana possession, as part of the U.S. government's War on Drugs. Decriminalizing marijuana would also eliminate much of the crime associated with the illegal sale and trafficking of marijuana. Moreover, several states allow legal use of marijuana when prescribed by a physician, yet thousands of dispensary owners and patients are arrested every year by the federal government. Legalizing marijuana could bring in more revenue for states, as well as help individuals receive care who may be unable to receive it otherwise.

Misconceptions

The gateway drug theory is a common misconception about legalizing marijuana. The gateway theory alleges that marijuana users are more likely to engage in the use of other, more harmful substances. This theory has never been proven. In fact, smoking cigarettes is a much better predictor of an individual's likelihood to use harmful drugs.

Expert Insight

Some of the chemical components that make up marijuana have been isolated and made into pill form through government-sponsored research, which directly contradicts the current legal view of marijuana. In fact, the former Surgeon General of the United States Jocelyn Elders asserted that overwhelming evidence exists that marijuana can relieve certain symptoms of pain, nausea and vomiting.

Significance

Legalizing marijuana is an important legal battle for several reasons. First, decriminalizing marijuana would make it readily available to individuals that need it, in safe and healthy way. Cancer patients, AIDS sufferers and many other patients must now obtain marijuana illegally in most states. The objections of the federal government to legalizing marijuana have almost nothing to do with how much harm it may or may not cause--it is a matter of pharmaceutical companies resisting legalization because it will be difficult for them to profit from the legal use of marijuana.

We'll never know unless we try it.




...but it's legal in other countries so you can get a sense of what it would be like.

legal in California, with a scrip

Personally, I wouldn't mind if it was legalized so I could give a pound of it to my nearest competitor, and take over the industry while they forgot to give a sh*t.

http://www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/Marijuana/Marijuana3.html

What's funny is the fact that people call it a "gateway drug" when nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs out there.

The side affects are really no greater than alcohol.

AND it costs us BILLIONS of tax payer dollars a year to fund police efforts to surpress it.

Remember Prohibition? Made the Capones filthy rich. Pot does the same for many other gangs and cartels.

I'm for legalizing it and taxing it. I think you would find crime go down as a result and we'd be saving incredible amounts of tax money.

I would like to add, although i am no medical doctor yet, my best friend is a pharmacist and according to him marijuana does not reduce nausea. It can be used to treat pain though. Just a side thought.

Hi Whisper and everyone else...


Scotty where do you get such cool emoticons ???




The insatiable greed for money these damn pharmaceutical companies have ..
They will go to any length
to getting people hooked on expensive highly addictive narcotics & anti depressants & every thing else under the sun , & below the Earth

and they will stop at Nothing to prevent the introduction
and usage of gentler herbal ways of dealing with pain

and William Randolph Hearst and John Doe became rich

by making pot & hemp illegal & calling it marijuana & spreading lies about it

to favor their own interests and get hemp off the market

Read all about it in the online book

One of our members <<< Scorpio >>> said in one of my threads

that he once met & got to chat with this man Jack Herer

www.jackherer.com

He wrote the book called

<<<< The Emperor wears No Clothes.. >>>>

it is a tragic tale

Although pot is a relatively harmless drug it is a drug none the less and goes hand in hand with other harder drugs.People seem to forget that a great deal of marijuana comes from Mexico and Canada.The people smuggling these drugs into the country always have long criminal records and it is very common for these same people to dabble in illegal gun sales,death and murder,counterfeiting,underage prostitution and many more.Read the story on any drug busts and you will always find marijuana along with cocaine,crack,and amphetimine.Mexicos drug war has already claimed thousands of victims many with their heads cut off.What is these drug lords main money maker?Marijuana and alot of it.

Marijuana is a gateway drug.Although a great deal of people only smoke Marijuana nearly everyone will experiment at some time or another with some other illegal drug such as acid,cocaine,and herion.Talk to anyone who has been a drug addict and their addiction usually started with smoking pot and turned to harder drugs.Even if one person just tries a one time hit of acid or a line of cocaine,you take a million people a year doing that and you have a major drug problem.

Americans love to take things to excess.Legalizing marijuana would create a huge drug market.You would have a all time high of new drug users and those new drug users get addicted to various drugs.This would lead to a spike in robberies,murders,drug gang wars,and many others.

It doesn't work in Canada.Canada has a major drug problem growing every day.As someone who was a regular visitor to one of Canada major cities I can tell you that after the lights when down downtown looked like night of the living dead.Hundreds of people strung out,smoking,drinking,pissing,shooting up and doing God only knows what.Prostitution is legal and not unusual to see 10 or 15 hookers on a street corner in the bad parts of town.


It is estimated that 80% of the people in prison are there for drug problems.

Wow, Thomas, we agree on something again.

And, yes...Canada has a harm reduction meth program.

Feds trump state law though. The Feds shut down the state legal medical marijuana shops in Cali all the time. Until the Feds legalize it or we shift from federalism back to state power, 'legal' is a shifty term in California.

Yeah thats a rarity.

Stranger things have happened.

They'll never leagalize it. If people can grow it at home and smoke it... forget it. The government can't make money off of it that way. If they make some sort of law against growing it w/o permits (which would still be hard as hell to enforce) they may be able to legalize it. Bottom line, if Uncle Sam can't tax the hell out of it, you can keep dreaming.

really? Not in LA, isolate incidents maybe

I agree that is more random and isolated than 'all the time' as I said earlier. I live in the Sacramento area and there is no chance for the shops here because they are shut down quickly. I read about the shops getting shut down in Berkeley a lot too but not as often.

"Legal" is still subjective but the sky isn't falling, eh?

Obama will legalize it!

What part of Canada did YOU visit?