Absolutely. You hear a lot of BS about marijuana being a gateway drug, and it is, but not because of anything inherent to marijuana.

Marijuana is a gateway drug because once kids meet someone who smokes it, and is a happy, productive, well-adjusted, profitable member of society, then they think back to all of those "this is your brain on drugs" ads and realize they were full of s**t. At that point, they start experimenting with harder stuff.

When we fail to distinguish between something as harmless as pot and something as harmful as meth, how can we expect our kids to make the distinction?

but there are also people who are addicted to caffiene to the point that is they do not have a can of soda every hour, they start shaking, with withdrawal.
The point here, is not whether or not it is addictive, it is whether or not it would be beneficial to introduce it into society as a legal substance.

Let's look at beer for a moment, so I can prove my point. In America, we have a major problem with drunkeness and drunk drivers. I don't knwo the stats to quote to you, but we have a problem, for sure. Our legal age of consumption is 21 whether it be beer or hard liquor doesn't matter.
Germany has very little issue with drunkeness and drunk driving. Yes they have some (there will always be stupid people out there), but over all they have very little problems with it. And you know what? Beer is legal at age 16 in germany.
The difference is in the mentality behind the substance. Germany approaches it with a responsible attitude and does not try to make it taboo. America on the other hand is all about partying, and getting drunk (irresponsible behavior) on one hand, and making the very subject taboo on the other hand.
If we would just open up our eyes and be responsible, then there would not be a problem with misuse.

Very well put. And thank you for the clarification you made in a nother thread. As I had stated, I do not know a whole deal about it, and was obviously under the wrong impression. Now I know.

no, mind altering drug. You can drink without getting drunk, you cant really smoke without getting high.

bullsh*t

Yes you are right. You CAN drink and not get drunk. HOWEVER just one drink and you ARE impaired, even if it is just for an hour. And pot is not a mind altering drug.

Let's be honest about it. Paxil, zoloft, lexapro as well as many many others are "mind altering drugs". However, they are a legalized, yet controlled substance. You have to have a prescription for them. They mellow you out. I know from experience. I have been on all three.

Then you have St. John's Wort and Gingko Biloba, just to name a couple of the over the counter, legal mind altering substances. What is the difference between these 2 substances and marijuana? Only one difference that I can see. They are all natural herbs, they are all so called "mind altering". Yet marijuana is illegal.

The only reason that marijuana is illegal is because they have not yet found a way to "control" it's distribution so they can tax it. If they can't control distribution they cannot tax it, therefore they "will not" make it legal because everything that is legal has to be taxed. How can you control something when all they have to do is grow it in their home in order to obtain it? The government has to have control of everything as well as to tax everything. Otherwise it is illegal.

Natural herbs should not be illegal and we need to get rid of the stigma surrounding it. Sure it causes a brief "high feeling". However, that feeling is very brief in comparison to the "high" you get from alcohol. Which, by the way, is a man made substance.

The people that act as if they have lost their senses when smoking marijuana, are doing so because it is drummed into their heads that this is such a bad drug. It is not a drug, it is an herb, a natural herb.

That is my opinion.

me too and koolaid

Are you trying to say that the feeling you get from an antidepressant is the same as getting high. I think not. Either way if you are saying marijuana for medical purposes I think thats ok.

It its all about control like you said then it would be illegal to grow your own fruits and vegetables but its not.

Do you think it's okay for someone high on pot to drive a car?
It slows the reflexes.

That's really funny. Food is a necessity for living. Therefore, your argument is moot. Besides, if you noticed, there are many states that don't tax food, ohio being one of them. However there are some that do tax food but only slightly, like here in Georgia, there is a 3% food tax which is considerably less than they tax everything else.

So like I said, that argument is irrelevant.

The honest truth is that yes, when you first start taking antidepressants, for whatever reason, they do give you very near the same effect. The same applies for when you stop taking them. They alter your mind. I was on paxil 2 years ago for anxiety because I was stressing out too much. I could no longer afford them and when I stopped taking them I went through some severe withdrawals, that is also when I noticed that my children were literally walking all over my rules. I was too layed back when I was taking the meds. They got away with almost everything. They zone you out. Withdrawal was a dizzy, lightheaded feeling 90% of the time for about 2 weeks.

I feel I would have been better off maybe smoking when I started being stressed out, it is a shorter term relaxation but then that is all one really needs is to chill for a few, not to zone out on legal dope 24/7.

No.

As an outlook on the ethics of the situation, I generally believe "to each their own" unless it harms another. Street drugs, legal drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol scarcely ever just effect the user. In many cases it harms everyone around them. Whether it be an intoxicated driver swearving into uncomming traffic, a friend's cigarette smoking increasing your odds of lung cancer each day, or a parent who sets a poor example of parenthood by doing street drugs....who would rather get high than lay a foundation of morals, goals, and "rights & wrongs".

No.

It is all in your way of thinking about the so called drug. If you are doing it just to get high, you have the belief that the use of it is for getting high. Those that actually have a mature look on it know that it is not just for getting high.

I personally haven't smoked it in about 2 years and the only reason that I did then was to aleviate some stress that caused tumors in my back to hurt. I don't believe in recreational use of marijuana. I believe in using it for pain, stress etc. In all actuality it does not relieve pain, it relaxes you so that your muscles loosen up, thereby relieving the pressure of the stressed body.

Yet I know people that use it daily in order to cope with the stress in their life. They don't even so much as act high, they are merely relaxed and more able to handle their stress.

Then I know people that do it just for the pleasure of saying, "I'm soooo stoned, dude." Which I think is extremely stupid.

The difference between the 2 sets of people is the fact that one is responsible about it, while the other is not. Which bring the fact to surface that their are in fact 2 similar sets of people that drinks. One set being responsible about it while the other is not.

Which is why we end up having debates like this to begin with. Those of us that can see the fact that drinking is legal considerably more dangerous than the more docile and illegal natural substance called marijuana.

As far as choosing to get high over taking care of your children. That is pretty much passing judgement. Although you are correct, there are those that value marijuana more than they value their children (my ex is one of them), but that is not always the case.

We can make a debate out of pretty much any subject, everyone has their own belief and opinion.

This is because fruits and vegetables are a food product and food is non-taxeable.

I pay taxes on food at the grocery store.

Marijuana tax stamp, only legal in certain states. Utah, Alaska, and California. I do not know of any other state this is a legal guideline, and I could be wrong.

Study marijuana's effects on the human body, study the effects on the human brain, study the effects on motor skills...you will know why it should be legal. If you want to get into why it is illegal study up on racism of the 60's and you will know why it is illegal.

Thank you, Daniel. I appreciate your willingness to admit when you were wrong, and to learn from it. That is one of the truest marks of open-mindedness and of intelligence.

Twilights - You make some decent points, though none of them go back to the "no"s you bracketed that paragraph with. You also fail to take the point I made above. When we label all illegal substances as "drugs" or "street drugs" and fail to distinguish between them, we are doing our children a severe injustice.

There are MAJOR differences between various drugs, whether natural or pharmacological, and the only effective method of prevention is education. At present your children have a 90+% chance of having a non-tangential relationship with a marijuana-user before the age of 18. At least 80+% of Americans will try marijuana at least once in their lifetime. This is not something that will go away because we say "drugs bad".

I seriously recommend the website www.erowid.org to all teens and parents who might be reading this. Here's a blurb from their website: "Our Mission: Erowid is a member-supported organization providing access to reliable, non-judgmental information about psychoactive plants and chemicals and related issues. We work with academic, medical, and experiential experts to develop and publish new resources, as well as to improve and increase access to already existing resources. We also strive to ensure that these resources are maintained and preserved as a historical record for the future."

Again, education, not taboo, is the only way to control the spread and use, not only of substances such as marijuana, but of far more harmful substances such as crack cocaine, meth amphetamine, ketamine, and heroine.

I have two freinds, two of them, that have become trapped in their own minds. They are totally paranoid about so much crap in the world , and really things that they shouldnt even stress about. I am certian that their heavy pot use plays a role in this.

Furthermore I know my fair share of total burn outs, so don't try and tell me that it doesnt affect the mind.

with that said, I DO think that it should be legalized, Alcohol has done far more damage than pot and its legal, not to mention how much revenue would be lost by organized crime.

Heck if it was legal , I might actually have the occasional joint .

No, I don't believe legalization is prudent or the answer.