I hate this stupid fucking "war on drugs" getting force fed to American citizens. I happen to be highly educated on this subject and am now making an attempt to see how many people are already on my side and how many are going to attempt to crush me under their heels.
I'll kick off the argueing with a brutal list of facts I pulled off my website that you can draw some conclusions from. Then you can come to the website and read the rest of everything.


TALKING POINT #1: Decriminalizing marijuana frees up police resources to deal with more serious crimes.
60,000 individuals are behind bars for marijuana offenses at a cost to taxpayers of $1.2 billion per year.
REFERENCE: Marijuana Arrests and Incarceration in the United States. 1999. The Federation of American Scientists' Drug Policy Analysis Bulletin.

Taxpayers annually spend between $7.5 billion and $10 billion arresting and prosecuting individuals for marijuana violations. Almost 90 percent of these arrests are for marijuana possession only.
REFERENCE: NORML. 1997. Still Crazy After All These Years: Marijuana Prohibition 1937-1997: A report prepared by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) on the occasion of the Sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. Washington, DC; Federal Bureau of Investigation's combined Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the United States (1990-2000): Table: Arrest for Drug Abuse Violations. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC.

The state of California saved nearly $1 billion dollars from 1976 to 1985 by decriminalizing the personal possession of one ounce of marijuana, according to a study of the state justice department budget.
REFERENCE: M. Aldrich and T. Mikuriya. 1988. Savings in California marijuana law enforcement costs attributable to the Moscone Act of 1976. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 20: 75-81.

New Mexico's 2001 state-commissioned Drug Policy Advisory Group determined that marijuana decriminalization "will result in greater availability of resources to respond to more serious crimes without any increased risks to public safety."
REFERENCE: New Mexico Governor's Drug Policy Advisory Group. 2001. Report and Recommendations to the Governor's Office. State Capitol: Santa Fe.

Marijuana arrests have more than doubled since 1991, while adult use of the drug has remained stable. During this same period, the number of arrests for cocaine and heroin fell by approximately 33 percent.
REFERENCE: Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2000. Drugs and Crime Facts. Table: Number of Arrests by Drug Type, 1982-99. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 1996. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Main Findings (1990- 1999). DHHS Printing Office: Rockville, MD.

Police arrest more Americans per year on marijuana charges than the total number of arrestees for all violent crimes combined, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
REFERENCE: Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2001. Uniform Crime Report: Crime in the United States, 2000. Table 29: Total estimated arrests in the United States, 2000. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC.

Marijuana violations constitute the fifth most common criminal offense in the United States.
REFERENCE: Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2000. Drugs and Crime Facts. Table: Estimated totals of top 7 arrest offenses, United States, 1999. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC.

More than 734,000 individuals were arrested on marijuana charges in 2000. Eighty-eight percent of those arrested were charged with marijuana possession only.
REFERENCE: Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2001. Uniform Crime Report Crime in the United States, 2000. Table: Arrest for Drug Abuse Violations. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC.

Almost 5 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana since 1992. That's more than the entire populations of Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington DC and Wyoming combined.
REFERENCE. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the United States (1993-2000). Table: Arrest for Drug Abuse Violations. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington, DC.


TALKING POINT #2: Far more harm is caused by the criminal prohibition of marijuana than by the use of marijuana itself.

According to editors of the prestigious Lancet British medical journal: "The smoking of cannabis, even long-term, is not harmful to health. ... It would be reasonable to judge cannabis as less of a threat ... than alcohol or tobacco."
REFERENCE: Deglamorising Cannabis. 1995. The Lancet 346: 1241. Editorial. November 14, 1998. The Lancet.

According to a 1999 federally commissioned report by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM), "Except for the harms associated with smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range tolerated for other medications."
REFERENCE: National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine (IOM). 1999. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. National Academy Press: Washington, DC, 5.

The National Academy of Sciences further found, "There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs."
REFERENCE: National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine (IOM). 1999. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. National Academy Press: Washington, DC, 6.

More than 76 million Americans have admittedly tried marijuana. The overwhelming majority of these users did not go on to become regular marijuana users, try other illicit drugs, or suffer any deleterious effects to their health.
REFERENCE: Combined data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 1996. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Main Findings 1994. Rockville, MD and 1995. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Population Estimates 1994; Deglamorising Cannabis. 1995. The Lancet 346: 1241. Sydney Morning Herald, February 18, 1997.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 35 percent of adults admit to having tried marijuana. Of these, only 5 percent have used marijuana in the past year, and only 3 percent have used marijuana in the past month.
REFERENCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2000. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. Table G.9. Percentages Reporting Lifetime, Past Year, and Past Month Use of Illicit Drugs Among Persons Aged 26 or Older: 1999. DHHS Printing Office: Rockville, MD.

According to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter: "Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use."
REFERENCE: President Jimmy Carter: Message to Congress, August 2, 1977.

Convicted marijuana offenders are denied federal financial student aid, welfare and food stamps, and may be removed from public housing. Other non-drug violations do not carry such penalties. In many states, convicted marijuana offenders are automatically stripped of their driving privileges, even if the offense is not driving related.
REFERENCE: Section 483, Subsection F of the Higher Education Act of 1998; Amendment 4935 to the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996; U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 1992. Drugs, Crime, and the Justice System. U.S. Department of Justice: Washington DC; NORML's State Guide to Marijuana Penalties.

Under federal law, possessing a single marijuana cigarette or less is punishable by up to one year in prison and a $10,000 fine, the same penalty as possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine or crack.
REFERENCE: J. Morgan and L. Zimmer. 1997. Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence. The Lindesmith Center: New York, 42.

In several states, marijuana offenders may receive maximum sentences of life in prison.
REFERENCE: NORML's State Guide to Marijuana Penalties.

A recent national study found that blacks are arrested for marijuana offenses at higher rates than whites in 90 percent of 700 U.S. counties investigated. In 64 percent of these counties, the black arrest rate for marijuana violations was more than twice the arrest rate for whites.
REFERENCE: J. Gettman. 2000. United States Marijuana Arrests, Part Two: Racial Differences in Drug Arrests. The NORML Foundation: Washington, DC.


TALKING POINT #3: Decriminalization does not lead to greater marijuana use.

Government studies conclude that marijuana decriminalization has had virtually no effect on either marijuana use or beliefs and related attitudes about marijuana among American young people in those states that have enacted such a policy.
REFERENCE: L. Johnson et al. 1981. Marijuana Decriminalization: The Impact on Youth 1975-1980. Monitoring the Future, Occasional Paper Series: Paper No. 13. Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.

Citizens who live under decriminalization laws consume marijuana at rates less than or comparable to those who live in regions where the possession of marijuana remains a criminal offense.
REFERENCE: E. Single et al. 2000. The Impact of Cannabis Decriminalization in Australia and the United States. Journal of Public Health Policy 21: 157-186.

There is no evidence that marijuana decriminalization affects either the choice or frequency of use of drugs, either legal (such as alcohol) or illegal (such as marijuana and cocaine).
REFERENCE: C. Thies and C. Register. 1993. Decriminalization of marijuana and demand for alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. The Social Sciences Journal 30: 385-399.

States and regions that have maintained the strictest criminal penalties for marijuana possession have experienced the largest proportionate increase in use.
REFERENCE: Connecticut Law Review Commission. 1997. Drug Policy in Connecticut and Strategy Options: Report to the Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut Assembly. State Capitol: Hartford.

Rates of hard drug use (illicit drugs other than marijuana) among emergency room patients are substantially higher in states that have not decriminalized marijuana use. Experts speculate that this is because the lack of decriminalization may encourage the greater use of drugs that are even more dangerous than marijuana.
REFERENCE: K. Model. 1993. The effect of marijuana decriminalization on hospital emergency room episodes: 1975-1978. Journal of the American Statistical Association 88: 737-747 as cited by the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base, 103.


TALKING POINT #4: Criminal laws prohibiting marijuana possession do not deter marijuana use.

Marijuana use remains consistent despite a high level of enforcement, and there is no detectable relationship between changes in enforcement and levels of marijuana use over time.
REFERENCE: J. Morgan and L. Zimmer. 1997. Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts: A Review of the Scientific Evidence. The Lindesmith Center: New York, 46.

Marijuana users believe that their behavior will go undetected; thus fear of arrest is usually not a factor in people's decisions whether or not to use it.
REFERENCE: Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse National Working Group on Addictions. 1998. Cannabis Control in Canada: Options Regarding Possession. Ottawa.

Marijuana laws have no "specific" deterrent impact on drug taking behavior. Studies show that marijuana offenders continue to use marijuana after their conviction at rates equal to those prior to their arrest. No relation between the actual or perceived severity of their previous sentence and subsequent use has been found.
REFERENCE: P. Erickson. 1980. Cannabis Criminals: The Social Effects of Punishment on Drug Users. Addiction Research Foundation: Toronto.

In surveys, most individuals cite health concerns and family responsibilities rather than legal concerns as their primary reasons for ceasing (or never initiating) marijuana use.
REFERENCE: National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine (IOM). 1982. Marijuana and Health. National Academy Press: Washington, DC.

A California police officer's study concluded, "The reduction in penalties for possession of marijuana for personal use does not appear to [be] a factor in people's decision to use or not use the drug."
REFERENCE: California State Office of Narcotics and Drug Abuse. 1977. A First Report on the Impact of California's New Marijuana Law. State Capitol: Sacramento.



Sounds like a pretty huge waste of tax payer money doesn't it? It's completely boggeling to know that the government spends more money anually arresting harmless marijuana smokers than they do on NASA. What's worse is that there's no good reason for it.

Oh yeah... the website.

http://www.freewebs.com/themarijuan...egalization.htm


Go there.... My colleague and I make several very good points you neigh-sayers hopefully should agree to, unless of course you are bound by your ignorance.

Thats nice..

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More die from Legal prescription drug reactions/overdoses/abuse than from ALL illicit drugs combined. Staggering diff.

Alcohol kills about 5 times THAT number every year here in the USA.

Few die from coke,pot,crack,heroin,XTC,etc
The users of these drugs keep the prison complex industry running well.
Lots of $$$ generated out of the taxpayers earnings.

Drug War is a Ruse.

there is no solution to societies problems. laws wont solve the problem. absence of laws wont solve the problem. you just wasted a lot of time, thats about all you accomplished with that. give it up... live your life how you want. its not that hard to do

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The problem is that tax dollars are being incinerated by something that is useless.Our economy would get a multi billion dollar boost if the DEA judicial system would just stop these shananagans.

All i'm saying is that the money is going to waste. We could be doing something much much better with it.

Well....it be offset by the massive money in the penal system lost due to jobs and contracts to run/build/maintain them.
People outta work arent spending money and people not spending money hurts everyone.
Or am I wrong?

No, thats accurate. The only reason I can think people would want to keep the war is because so many people are dependant upon it for jobs. I'm not saying get rid of all the seriouse drugs that cater to addiction, physical deprivation, and psychosis... I say get those drugs the fuck out of here. But some thing as harmless as marijuana should be legalized. Especially since the only way it can ruin your life is because of the conciquences for having smoked it.

Well, holy fuck. There's a veritable mountain of evidence that making the possession of marijuana a criminal offence is a really really terrible idea??? This is such a new and radical idea that I think I'm going to pass out from the enlighenment. Thank you for your powerful educative words.

If you want to impress me with your erudition, put on your psychologist's hat and tell me why it's still illegal.

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Surely thats the same for every single drug, by that logic; crack, heroin and all the others should be legalised, because you're only gonna get harmed if you use any of them.

Drugs don't just affect the user though, they affect the people around them too- behavioural changes during and after administration, changes due to dependancy etc.

I agree completely. But the world just wouldn't be as fun without the bitching. Differences (and hatred for those differences) make the world go 'round. So, with this topic, I...eh, who am I kidding. I don't give a shit.

Haha I was going to post some long-winded rant about it all, but Shimbolla and transient said it all really.

Sane know's what he's talkin' about....

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right now the thing is see as scary is the war on drugs and the war on terror combining by virtue of the patriot act, that'll be fucked

narco-terrorism?

Not true, I stated that the only reason marijuana seems to harm anyone is because of the conciquences of having used marijuana. I can't think of one instance where marijuana has ruined anyones home life. And you can call a hospital to confirm that no one's ever overdosed on it. Not to mention the fact that it lacks any addictive chemicals or chemicals that are harmful to your brain. It actually attaches to "cannabinoid" receptors which are only there for chemicals with similar composition with THC, CBN, CBD, and synthetic cannabinoids. I guess you could say your brain is made to take weed.

The reason it's still illegal is because thousands of jobs hinge on it's criminalization. I suppose the goverment couldnt just force people to go out and put those people out of jobs with a good conciounce.

I shit earlier and now my asshole hurts.

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Black Sabbath - Crazy Train
:Lhdevil: LSKD!JJ! @OOOOO! WOO!

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What about the millions of people around the world that get on fine without it. Get a fucking life then you won't need to have drugs to keep yourself interesting.

And the thought that is only illegal just to keep jobs is fucking stupid. Grow up, you uneducated american twat.

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I haven't smoked marijuana in over a year for those of you who think i'm just an idiot, uneducated stoner. AGAIN I will re-inerate to those flaming me that it should be legal because it's a rediculouse waste of tax payer resources.

go holland!!!


why is it illegal still, simple answer:

Americans are dumb enough already, they don't any more help in becoming stupid!!!!

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^

I second that

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I'm a dutchy. You can just buy it in a shop here if you want some

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So it takes up a lot of taxpayers' funds and what are you going to do? Legalise it? It costs a lot of money and far more man-hours to solve/investigate murder cases but are we going to legalise it to save money? Your logic is flawed.

And as for marijuana being harmless... they thought that about cigarettes in the 50s. Everybody thought cigarettes improved ones health but there have been several high profile cases where tobacco companies have been sued for pedalling this misinformation.

There are a whole host of nasty effects from marijuana usage. I detail just a selection in another thread about drugs so search for it.

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Or just go watch an episode of "The Ozzbournes"

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Or do the following google searches:

"Syd Barrett"
"Leah Betts"
"Jimi Hendrix"
"Layne Staley"

Oh, here's a thought: If drug users are using the fact that it costs too much to conduct the war on drugs as a reason to legalise them, then the simple solution is for them not to take them and thus save society the fiscal worry.

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I love it when people bring police resources into the arguement for weed.

Dude, it's their fuckin' job, no matter what the law they uphold, to be used to the full extent of their resources...end of that one. If you want an arguement for weed, then I'll state this again.

Weed is far less leathal than alcohol & cigs, (those Legal drugs), end of.

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reasons for legalization,decriminalization and medicinal legalization being a bitch for lawmakers
1>hemp would be an instant cash crop and threaten many industries, the us legalization of weed would open up a world market for hemps resourcefulness, im sure theres a strong lobby against all initiative by industries whether its medical weed ballots or decriminalization ballots, coz it opens the gateway for total legalization little by little

2>just the logistics of the demand for growing medical marijuana would be a nightmare. think about containing the amount that would have to be grown for ONLY merdical purposes. and not letting it fall into the hands of recreational users

3>any medical marijauna initiative will be scammed,bilked and abused entirely, everyone will seemingly suffer from headaches and backaches to try and get it, everyone will share thier script, patients will get the funny idea to grow thier own so as to not pay for it. its the whole give an inch, they'll take a mile perspective that creates this total wierdness about it

ALCOHOL versus MARIJUANA

An unbiased analysis of the effects booze and pot! (I, correctly, consider my analysis unbiased because unlike our Drug Czar, John Walters, I have tried both substances. I can honestly say that I enjoy the effects of both equally and that I would never trade one for the other ).

Here's how it will work:

I will present FACTS and personal anecdotes about alcohol and marijuana in 10 distinct categories. It is your job as the reader at home to judge which substance you consider worse in each of the ten categories.

So get a pen and piece of paper and write down the following ten topics and then keep your own personal scorecard, just like a ringside boxing judge at a Heavyweight 10-round showdown between: BOOZE and POT! The categories are as follows:

1) Lethal Dosage~

2) Potential for Addiction~

3) Health Risks~

4) Should You Drive an Automobile?~

5) Effects When Consumed in Excess~

6) Who the Substance is Marketed Towards & Who is Using~

7) Medicinal Uses~

8) Potential to Incite Violence and Aggression~

9) Substance's Affinity Towards Sexual Assault and Rape~

10) Hypothetical Situation: Put 100 People in a Room~

All right get your scorecards ready, here we go!



Lethal Dosage

Alcohol: Approximately 50,000 deaths each year are attributed to alcohol poisoning, a statistic which excludes alcohol related deaths such as drunk driving accidents and other drinking related accidents. Alcohol is toxic, which means that it is a poison. If a human being drinks too much the stomach will attempt to vomit up the toxin. In some cases, a person can fall unconscious before the body can regurgitate enough alcohol. This can lead to alcohol poisoning, which can result in death even if the individual's stomach is pumped in an emergency room.

Marijuana: No known lethal dose of marijuana exists! Scientists have estimated that a human being would need to smoke between 20,000-40,000 joints in a single sitting for a dosage to be fatal. As smoking that much in one sitting is prohibited by time constraints alone (it could take days to smoke that much) no human death has ever been attributed to a marijuana overdose. The United States Government has unsuccessfully funded extensive and expensive studies to demonstrate that a lethal dosage does exist. In one cruel instance chimpanzees were forced to breath marijuana smoke directly from aviator masks for hours on end. Although the U. S. Government initially reported that the chimpanzees had fatally overdosed on marijuana, numerous scientific authorities refuted this claim on the grounds that the subjects obviously died of asphyxiation. Amidst international pressure our government has since retracted the erroneous findings of that particular study, yet the United States refuses to declassify marijuana's status as a Schedule I drug. You will see how CRAZY categorizing marijuana as a Schedule I drug is, if you simply read the definitions of Schedule I and Schedule II drugs from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) of 1970. It is on the basis of these definitions and categorizations that the DEA justifies allocating enormous sums of money to wage a war on marijuana:

Schedule I Substances and Drugs: Drugs with a high abuse potential and no acceptable medical uses in the United States. Examples of Schedule I drugs are heroin, marijuana, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and methaqualone.

Schedule II Substances and Drugs: Drugs with a high abuse potential and an accepted medical use in the United States. Examples of Schedule II drugs include morphine, methadone, oxycodone, hydrocodone, amphetamine, methylphenidate and pentobarbital.

These definitions have been copied exactly from the FDA's own "Manual of Policies and Procedures." Can't believe it? CLICK HERE.

How can marijuana be classified as a Schedule I drug? I'll tell you how . . .there is a blatant conspiracy to needlessly fund the DEA's "war" on marijuana. In fact, there are Schedule classifications I-V, with Schedule I being reserved for only the most dangerous drugs (alcohol is not even a controlled substance so it is not in any of the five categories!). Marijuana has no lethal dosage! In addition, it does not truly qualify for either of the two classification criteria of the CSA. (See below for reality: marijuana has a LOW potential for abuse and has MANY acceptable medical uses).

If you're interested these links will bring you to the Drug Enforcement Agency's own complete categorization of every illicit drug (controlled substance): Complete list of Schedule I drugs, Complete list of Schedule II drugs, Complete list of Schedule III drugs, Complete list of Schedule IV drugs, Complete list of Schedule V drugs



Potential for Addiction

Alcohol: Although less addictive than cigarettes and other illicit drugs, alcohol has clearly demonstrated a potential for addiction and dependency. Alcoholics consider their condition a disease and many Americans check into rehabilitation programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) every year.

Marijuana: At best marijuana can be described as mildly habit forming. The vast majority of pot smokers never develop any dependency whatsoever. There is a consensus among medical authorities that marijuana is far less addictive than alcohol or nicotine. Compared to other seriously dangerous and addictive drugs such as heroin and oxycontin, the habit forming potential of marijuana users has been likened to the potential of chocolate or caffeine.



Health Risks

Alcohol: Alcohol poses a wide variety of well-known health risks, in addition to dangers the individual may encounter resulting from the impaired judgment and coordination it produces. Long-term alcohol use can seriously damage your liver, resulting in problems, such as Cirrhosis. Excessive alcohol use increases the likelihood of some forms of throat and liver cancer. Women who drink during pregnancy transmit alcohol into the unborn baby's bloodstream, which can result in a variety of birth problems and even miscarriage.

Marijuana: Smoking marijuana poses health risks similar to smoking cigarettes. It is true that marijuana smoke contains higher levels of cancer causing agents, known as carcinogens, than cigarette smoke does. However, the levels of carcinogens in marijuana and cigarette smoke are comparable. The heaviest marijuana smokers (Vanderbilt Kappa Sigmas, for example) smoke an amount of marijuana equivalent to the amount tobacco smoked by light cigarette smokers. As a result, numerous studies have demonstrated that cigarette smokers are far more likely to develop lung, throat and mouth cancer than their marijuana smoking counterparts.

An extremely important point that is frequently overlooked is that all of the health risks associated with marijuana exist only when it is smoked! Consumption of the active ingredient in marijuana, THC (tetra-hydro-cannibinol) by other means, such as by eating "pot brownies", poses no serious health risks. The criminalization of marijuana on the grounds that it poses health risks similar to those of the legal substance tobacco, are only justifiable for smoking marijuana. The United States could easily legalize marijuana consumption in food, a compromise that would satisfy the majority of marijuana users, who smoke the drug for its effects, not the for act of smoking itself.

The THC in finely ground pot is easily dissolved into butter and could be incorporated into a variety of foods other than the traditional "pot brownies". Imagine using the butter to make pot cookies or cake, or pouring pot-butter over popcorn. Lobster could even be dipped into weed-butter for a truly delicious delicacy. Bistros and bakeries could specialize in cooking with marijuana butter, developing many other delicious recipes, which surely would be successful. Just as marijuana makes music sound better, it makes food taste better. In addition, weed increases one's appetite. Getting "the munchies" at a marijuana specialty restaurant could produce a viscous cycle that surely would be a very pleasurable experience!

The most common propagandistic health risk associated with marijuana is memory loss. This risk is exaggerated incredibly! Although I am taking a break from smoking pot during the whole month of July for personal reasons, I started smoking when I was thirteen, I have smoked pot virtually everyday of my life for the past three years. Sometimes I smoke at night. Sometimes I smoke in the morning. I go to class high all the time. My point is I smoke a lot, more than most pot smokers, yet I'm attending a prestigious university and kicking ass academically. The fact of the matter is, John Walters (the U.S. Drug Czar/Biggest asshole since, I don't even know who), you, or anyone else, for that matter will never be able to convince me that other people, who don't smoke pot, have a better memory than I do or are more intelligent than me, a daily pot smoker. I am living proof that contradicts the alarmist claims that marijuana rots your brain. I don't need anymore evidence than that. I suggest you try smoking pot, if you don't already, and decide for yourself. Don't just swallow what you were spoon-fed during anti-drug classes in middle school. The harms of marijuana have been incredibly exaggerated. The exaggeration harms society more than the pot itself as we lock people in jail for smoking because most of the population has been brainwashed into thinking pot is dangerous and immoral. As a responsible adult I weigh the benefits and costs of pot-smoking and I have decided that the positive side of marijuana greatly out weighs the negative FOR ME. As a responsible adult you should assess your life and make a similar decision.

Ask any civil libertarian, any homosexual, or any masturbator, for that matter . . . and they will tell you that you simply CANNOT legislate morality! And smoking marijuana in my opinion is certainly not immoral, while the health risks are minimal.



Should You Drive an Automobile?

Alcohol: NO! Absolutely not! You should never drink and drive. Most state laws allow individuals over the age of twenty-one to drive an automobile as long as they have only consumed a few drinks (measured by a person's blood alcohol level) I would recommend that if you plan on having a single drink DON'T DRIVE. I try my best to live my life by the "any drinking means no driving" rule. While nobody is perfect, especially once they have started drinking (alcohol impairs judgment), it is very dangerous to drive after consuming alcohol. Alcohol slows down your reflexes and coordination, two fundamental skills required for safe driving.

My good friend Darren Gallup, one of the nicest kids ever to walk the face of the earth, lost his life two years ago in a car accident involving alcohol. He was a semester away from graduating high school. He had already been accepted to Harvard, where he was going to play football. My little brother was with him the night he died and I know it has been the most tragic event in both of our lives (R.I.P. Darren, #21). It seems as though everyone can recount a similar alcohol related accident affecting their lives. The pain drinking and driving causes is an unjustifiable tragedy that we, as a society, need prevent at all costs.

Marijuana: No! It is unsafe to smoke marijuana and operate an automobile. You should never get high and drive or smoke weed in a car while someone else is driving. That being said, studies conducted in Canada and Britain have conclusively demonstrated that driving on marijuana is significantly safer than driving while intoxicated on alcohol. If I were forced to put my children in a car with an individual, who had been smoking or an individual, who had been drinking, for me the choice would be obvious. Common sense and our own personal experiences have taught us that driving high is not nearly as dangerous as driving drunk. However, I would like to reemphasize that if you are high your reaction time can be slowed down and your best bet is to just wait to you come down. Go watch a movie, play a video game, do anything other than drive for an hour or two, then drive. Unlike alcohol an individual will come down from marijuana and be able to function normally after only a short wait. It is better to play it safe .



Effects When Consumed in Excess

Alcohol: Many of the effects of binge or excessive drinking have already been catalogued. Since there are so many (and since most of us know them well) I will mention them in list form: Impaired judgment, loss of coordination, balance and reflexes, dehydration, vomiting, inability to perform sexually, "blacking out" and possibly DEATH! Alcohol can be lethal when mixed with over 150 seperate types of prescription drugs. Alcohol is very dangerous when mixed with many other illicit drugs. The combination of ecstasy and alcohol could lead to collapse from dehydration and possibly death. Alcohol is dangerous to combine with all types of stimulants from ritalin to methamphetameines (speed), and especially when mixed with cocaine, alcohol can induce heart attacks, which you guessed, result can in death.

Marijuana: There are virtually no dangers of consuming marijuana in excess! (I have conducted extensive experiments on this subject). Once you are high you cannot really get much "higher". Smoking addittional marijuana will sustain the high for a longer period of time, but it is generally agreed upon that the effects of marijuana plateua and excess smoking is just wasting your sack. Unlike alcohol you can smoke until the cows come home, and if you either don't have cows or if the fools don't come home, you still won't even wake up with a hangover. When mixed with other drugs (prescription or illicit) marijuana produces few addittional dangers other than those of the "other drugs" taken by themselves. When combined with alcohol, marijuana is often said to give people the "spins", but again the health risks are slight (as long as you don't get behind the wheel). In my personal opinion (ask your physician and he or she will agree), marijuana is the safest drug to consume in excess.



Who the Substance is Marketed Towards & Who is Using (Please read this one if you are skimming).

Alcohol: Despite what the beer and liquor industries may claim alcohol is aggressively marketed towards the youth of society. Pay attention to the next Coors Light commerical you see with Kid Rock singing about how he "loves to party hard" almost as much as he loves twins with big boobs. Kids find those commercials funny and appealing. Kids listen to Kid Rock. I have worked in a liquor store for two years and I have bartended for one year. These are my opinions from my own experiences as a kid surrounded by alcohol advertisements. It is true that alcohol is not advertised on saturday morning cartoons, but it is advertised on TV, on the radio and in the print media with incredible frequency. Just like the tobacco companies say they don't market to kids, you have to see through their bullshit. Adults already smoke cigarettes, adults already drink alcohol. The tobacco and alcohol industries require new consumers to sustain their respective industries.

Think back to your high school parties . . .what kind of beer did everyone drink? Bud Light? Miller Lite? Coors Light? Adults drink mixed drinks, obscure wine and foreighn beer. Kids are the ones who consume the alcohol that the advertising industry bombards them with.

On a side note, don't EVER purchase Coors products! While Coors markets their product as "hey let's all get drunk and party!" they take a huge slice of their profits and fund conservaitive, Christian fundamentalist, crazy-right-wing lobbyist groups in Washington. These lobbysit groups aggressively fight against womens' rights ( in the workplace, to get an abortion, etc.), homosexuals' rights (to get married, to EXIST!) and programs designed to help minorities, such as school funding, housing programs and affirmative action. Big up to my boy, Kurt Bennett, for alerting me to how fucked up the Coors company is way back when we were in high school (before I became a bleeding-heart lberal ).

Marijuana: I concede that marijuana, like alcohol, is aggressively marketed towards the youth of society. But not by legitimate companies, rather by peers and drug dealers. If you don't already know, know this: It is a fact that teens in the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal, smoke weed at significantly lower rates than American teens where marijuana can be purchased only on the black market. Don't believe me? CLICK HERE for a striking contrast between USA and the Netherlands.

If marijuana were to be regulated by the government and sold on the legitamite market it would be much more difficult for kids to get their hands on a sack of weed. Kids have great difficulty buying alcohol because you get carded every single time you try to purchase any booze. The same is true of cigarettes. Every gas station you walk into has signs up everywhere saying "We Card!" or "Under 18? No Tobacco!". The fact of the matter is that PROHIBITION DOES NOT WORK. It certainly didn't work with alcohol, in fact, for the brief period of time that the U.S. made alcohol illegal organized crime sprang up all over the country to distribute alcohol on the black market. When we made alcohol legal again the power of those criminal groups was virtually eliminated. Why? Because there was no longer any profit to be derived from the black market. This seems so obvious to me . . . want to get rid of drug-related crime? Regulate its distribution instead of failing miserabely at prohibiting its production. Duh.

How effective could regulation, as opposed to prohibition, be? MORE TEENAGERS NOW SMOKE MARIJUANA THAN CIGARETTES! CLICK HERE for the most effective arguement (in my opinion) in this entire post! Too lazy to click my link? then I'll just tell you: Over the past ten years from 2003 to 1993 teen use of cigarettes (defined as use within the last 30 days) fell from 30.5% to 21.9% a decrease of nearly one third over a decade! [because of strict regulation]. While teen marijuana use (defined as use within the last 30 days) rose nearly five percentage points to 22.5% [providing striking evidence that prohibition does not work better than regulation at preventing teen substance use]. OK, so in review 21.9% of teenagers are smoking cigarettes, while 22.5% are smoking marijuana in the year 2003. But who came up with these findings, you ask? One of Mike's bogus marijuana special interest groups like NORML, MPP, or SSDP (those are all links, by the way)? Nope. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the statistics as part of their biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey. So why didn't you hear about this powerful finding in the news?

Like I've been saying for the past seven years: There is a blatant conspiracy to keep marijuana illegal because so many people have a vested interest in it staying that way. Law enforcement and the pharmacutical companies are just two of many industries whose livelihoods have come to depend on marijuana prohibition. I'm not lying when I tell you that if marijuana were to be made legal, like in the peace loving Netherlands, a lot of cops would be out of work for two reasons: Smoking marijuana would no longer be a crime worthy of needlessly throwing huge sums of money at AND drug-related crime (due to marijuana's status as a black market commodity) would cease to exist. Literally thousands of cops might be put out of work, but, you know what, I don't care! Fuck tha police. Fuck them in their crime perpetuating, authority mongering, power hungry faces.

The fact of the matter is that marijuana is too easy to grow (all you need is a $1 pot, a seed, and some dirt). In any free society law enforcement will NEVER be able to prevent its presence on the black market. Due to marijuana's illegality the potential profit yields on the black market are incredibly high (see Eric Schlosser's Reefer Madness, a few posts down on my reading list). Every time the DEA busts a grow-op (marijuana growing operation), they get the media to saturate the news with claims of another victory in the "War on Drugs". The sad truth of the matter is that due to the profit potential of the black market they have created, as soon as one grow-op is busted, another takes its place. To view an inciteful television commercial that contradicts the bogus post-9/11 super bowl commercial which claimed that marijuana smokers support terrorism CLICK HERE.

In the 1940s and 1950s kids were not smoking marijuana, or using other drugs for that matter, compared to the rates of today. Now kids are smoking pot and using other drugs all the time. One of the most respected professors at Vanderbilt University, Dr. Becker, the director of undergraduate studies in the Sociology Department, explained to me why this has occurred. His analysis relies on Functionalist Theory, which is drawn on by many disciplines in the social sciences, including Anthropology, Sociology, Psychology and Political Science. Functionalist Theory states that when a society makes a change that change will have both intended and unintended consequences. In the 1940s and 1950s kids were NOT using drugs! Some sub-populations of adults were using drugs at rates which at the time seemed high, but now seem very low, relative to today's drug usage rates. In 1960, New York State introduced the first mandatory minimum sentence for drug dealers, in an honest attempt to curb the availability of drugs on the black market. The intended consequence of the NY mandatory minimum legislation was to deter adults from dealing drugs by threatening extremely long and harsh prison sentences. The unintended consequence of the mandatory minimum legislation was that the black market drug trade turned to individuals under the age of 18 to distribute drugs. Teenagers were exempt from the lengthy sentences, as they were minors and would be tried in juvenile courts. In the 1960s, as is STILL the case today, politicians found it much easier to appear tough on crime and drugs. Soon almost every state in the U.S. had enacted mandatory minimums for drug dealing. Such policy was politically advantageous, yet by no means was it effective at curbing the supply of drugs. As a result of mandatory minimum legislation, kids suddenly had access to drugs all accross America and drug use became wide-spread amoung youths in the 1960s and 1970s (ask your parents). In fact the black market relied primarily on minors to distribute drugs, as it still does today.

Functionalists would interpret the shift in the drug market from adults to youths as an unintended consequence of unjustifiably harsh mandatory minimum legislation. CLICK HERE for another inciteful commercial funded by MPP's initiative to legalize marijuana in Nevada, which will be voted on this November.

MPP current laws don't work Nevada vs Netherlands (Quicktime)

Other sweet commercials I have helped fund are available at www.stopteenuse.com. If you don't have Quicktime, Windows Media Player versions of most commercials are available on this site.

All MPP commercials <------ this is the index site, I donate lots of my Dad's money to this group (Thanks Dad, you're a good person even if you choose not to smoke pot ).



Medicinal Uses

Alcohol: Drinking in moderation might lead to lowered chance of heart disease. Sweet.

Marijuana: SO SO MANY USES! in a 1999 Gallup Poll 73% of Americans wanted to see marijuana legalized for medical purposes, in 2004 that percentage is up to 80%!!

Peep NORML's report on medical marijuana. But as usual, if you are too lazy I'm going to list a few of the medicinal uses of marijuana. Scientific and medical authorities around the world have demonstrated that marijuana helps the following: Those infected with HIV, who are wasting away from AIDS can put on life-prolonging weight just by getting "the munchies". The same is true for Cancer patients, except marijuana can actually be life-saving for those who can't hold down food after chemotherapy (marijuana is one of the most effetive anti-nausia medicines we know of). Marijuana, also, relieves stress on the eye sockets, virtually curing Glaucoma. Other diseases marijuana dramatically helps include: Lou Gherig's disease (Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis), Muscular Dystrophy, all types of Seizures and clinical Depression.

It's a fucking wonder drug! The greatest gift from God to Humankind. When I think about marijuana's classification as a Schedule I drug (remember that means the U.S. does not acknowledge a single medical use) it makes me want to cry. That is not hyperbole on several occassions I've just sat around thinking about all the people with terminal illnesses who are suffering because of George Bush, John Walters and ignorant Americans, perhaps like you, and I have just broken down to teers.

Unlike the other drugs God made marijuana (for those of you who don't know God doesn't make mistakes. So let's not let this wonderful plant go the way of the Do-Do bird as George W. wants it to). So why isn't pot legal? Basically what it comes down to is you can't PATENT marijuana. Unlike the the pharmacutical industry marijuana does not benefit from very rich and very powerful special interest groups to lobby for it (and AGAINST pot), day and night. The only people lobbying for marijuana are grassroots organizations comprised of hippies and Sociology majors.



Potential to Incite Violence and Aggression

I'm sure you all are getting sick of run-on sentences, so I'll make these next three categories short and simple.

Alcohol: Yup. Alcohol leads to aggression and violence. I'm sure you know this.

Marijuana: Nope. I mean not even close. Marijuana induces the exact opposite of violence and aggression actually. Marijuana's affinity is towards peace, love and kindness (and every once in a while excessive laughing). Really think about this one! I find it to be one of the most compelling arguements.



Substance's Affinity Towards Sexual Assault and Rape

Alcohol: Yup.

Marijuana: Nope.

See that one was easy.



Hypothetical Situation: Put 100 People in a Room

Consider this last one as a hypothetical microcosim for society. Then really think long and hard if you need to and choose which hypothetical society you would rather live in. You know where I cast my vote.

Alcohol: Put 100 people in a room they can't get out of with nothing but booze to drink for a whole day and use your imagination to think about what it would be like.

Marijuana: Put 100 people in a room they can't get out of with nothing but weed to smoke for a whole day and use your imagination to think about what it would be like.

...SO WHO WANTS TO SMOKE A BOWL???

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I just did TWO.

fuck ale, fuck weed...where be the frickin' shrooms.

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Fucking hippies...

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So anyone else here like SNACKS!?!?!?!?!?!?

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Its all about the ale! Real Ale is where its at

I was totally gonna post that, but you beat me to it.

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I'm sick of these ridiculous length posts, maybe a link to the page that you copied and pasted it from would suffice

Fuck it.... put the lil red straw from a can of WD-40 up in your sinus and press the button.

Legal...cheap...kills brain cells and undoubtly induces some sort of "buzz"

good plan.

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I just don't see the need to get a 'buzz' from taking any sort of drugs, im quite content with how things are... if i want to get a buzz, i'll go and listen to some good music, take in some scenery and fresh air, or enjoy a fine drink. That said however, i don't dislike people for taking such things, i just don't agree with it

ID RATHER MASTERBATE!!!!

THATS ALL THE BUZZ YOUD NEED RIGHT THERE

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i'd rather fuck....

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WELL YOU KNOW IM TALKIN LAST MINUTE RESORT BUT YEAH..THAT HITS THE SPOT...

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I think Jamento wasted his time because some of that post is a crock.
I've never met a retarted drinker, or a drinker that's slow as fuck. Beer only makes you dumb when you drink it. Every pothead I've ever met is a lazy assed, slow reflexed dumbass--even when they're not high.

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Drugs should have free use, possession, tender, everything. If your stupid arse is too dumb to realise that they will fuck you up then that's entirely your fault. That's how I feel anyway, I didn't even read the thread.

agreed. drugs aren't for me, but if someone wants to take drugs, i won't physically try and stop them, unless the way the drugs are making them act, is putting me or a loved one in any kind of danger.

And that is precisely why they are illegal. Who cares if a junkie injects him/herself to death? Good, one less burden on society. But when they're robbing people to feed their habit the fact that they are doing drugs is impacting on other people. I know people who've stolen and beaten people up in order to obtain pot, so it isn't restricted to so-called 'harder' drugs.

Jamento's post wasn't unbiased as was claimed. It was quite clear from the post that Jamento is in favour of legalising marijuana ("Wonder drug" was the phrase he used I believe) and there are a hole heap of disadvantages with marijuana that have been omitted, ie, a very much increased risk of mental health problems.

I also have misgivings about the affinity to rape and sexual abuse section of Jamento's argument. "Yup" and "nope" hardly constitute facts and, besides not agreeing with his assertions on the matter, I actually don't see the relevance of this somewhat spurious comparison. Here's some proof: try having a wank when your pissed. As for potential to incite violence. Pfft! Both are as bad as each other and doubly so when combined.

Now for the hypothetical case: I'd rather be in a room with people who are drinking alcohol. A room full of 100 people who are monged off their head and laughing moronically (and incessantly) at nothing? After three hours it would be like being in a room with 100 Downs Syndrome kids. Actually that would be preferable. The alcohol-only room would be immeasurably more lively and social. Like a pub.

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mansley, you my dog

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Well to start it off, I believe that anything that can kill you, or that you can become addicted too, should be illegal, and remain illegal. I'm not supporting the needle drug addicts or anything like that. And as for the increase in mental health problems. There's no physical evidence of any perminent detrimental effects on the brain. What is true is the temporary impairment in subjects who smoke marijuana extensively. The heavy use of marijuana is linked to slower reaction speeds and slower cognitive functioning. Studies conducted by the American Medical Association prove that these findings are true. They also prove that after 2 months time they acheive the same scores in reaction times, etc. That people who have never smoked the stuff in their entire lives have. This proves that marijuana has no long term psychological effects. And it's not like the drug is totally illegal today anyway. It's legal in 12 states for medical consumption and growth. If you do get caught with over 200 grams without a special medical card you get a public citation. Aparanatly those states have made educated decisions.

If your a parent and you don't want your kids smoking weed you should be pro legalization because the drug would be regulated and taxed. This means Harsher punishments for selling your kids the drugs, and it is made much less readily available. For example, 67% of high school seniors in Nevada have smoked marijuana, As oppossed to the 28% in the netherlands. This is because marijuana is regulated and legal in the Netherlands for adult consumption.

-it's obviouse that the system now isn't working at all-

1. Where do you live...under a rock? Most heavy drinkers I know are massively dull and slow when it comes to wits or deep thought....not all...but most that are slaves to it.
2. You havnt met me dear.....there is nothing "lazy" or "slow reflexed" about me I can promise you. Please dont assume ALL potheads are this way.



Me too....but these are the same types that would steal or beat people up for a lighter for a cig or an inanimate object they desire....it's not the Weed that drives these types of people....it's their nature to take what they please.
So....please dont assume marijuana makes people do these things.

I specifically said "every pothead I've...met" for a reason. There is no "all." So there. Do you smoke weed every day?

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Every implies most if not all.....sorry.

Yes...I smoke everyday.

jemento, those approved ballots are overshadowed by the fact that the feds can intervene, its still not safe for marijauna providers and pipe sellers to exist with these medical marijuana initiatives. case in point chong<cheech and chong>is still in jail for running a pipe shop in cali. medical pot comes to be in a marginal ,aggravated climate where everyones not sure if the government will override it and crackdown on everyone, the constitution is regard as toilet paper when it comes to this, alot of people have been arrested,tied up in the system, left to rot in jail. so yeah people are scared away who may be open to these initiatives and law changes, as ashcroft has has demonstrated, the states mandate means jackshit. im not totally read up on this subject but thats the things i read and hear over the years. i dont smoke weed myself but i always felt it<illegalization> was more about hemp production than weeds actual use as a drug, meaning its a bigger harm to buisness than some moral decay, "reefer madness"effect thats expected. i could be totally wrong on this

Does it? In two months it proves that there will be no long term effects?

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I think most people that argue this case are whiny little teenagers anyway.

I know, they should leagise murder because it will result in less murders overall!
YOU FUCKING STUPID SQUIRREL FUCKING BUTT BARRONESS.

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Lol. I think you feel this way because you are not affected by American laws. If you knew how rediculouse it really is then maybe you would be on my side.

And most people "whining" this case are adults. Most teenagers don't care much at all. And if they do then they know illegalization would make it harder for them to get. If they're stoners, this would not be a good thing.

The tests where conducted while they where smoking regularly and then after two months of abstinence. They pushed the experiment further and made the test subjects abstain longer. The findings where consistent.

I think the link is www.jama.org they have all the medical studies logged there.