Please express your views on legalisation of marijuana in general.
Do you think medical marijuana should be legalised or should all marijuana be legalised. Alternatively would it be best if marijuana was illegal in all circumstances.
Click here for our other popular legalization of marijuana post.
Click here for places in the world, where medical marijuana or marijuana are legalised.
Firstly i’d like to say that the debate on this page is well thought out and healthy. However no one has mentioned the impact the legalization of marijuana will make on the surrounding world. For instance, how would it’s legalization impact the illegal drug trafficing industry, the mob and gang industy, the financial hole our country has dug inself trying to prevent its use, and the extra money now being spend on beefing up the boarders.
It is tru that marijuana can be quite harmful to the subject and the people around the user. However i doubt its legalization will be conducted without a detailed set of new laws regarding its use. For instance a breathalizer, or some other type of device to test a induced driver.
regarding the medical aspect, it is a proven fact that all medicines have different effects on everyone, that is why there are a hundred different medicines for headaces, acne, insomnia, etc. In order to find the most productive “match” for a person medically i think that marijuana should be considered into the pool of prescriptions.
I think that marijuana should be legalized. I am a freshamn in college and have been using marijuana since high school. Never once have a missed a day of work or school because of this drug. If anything it helps me relax from a stressful day.
Think of the economy..the legalization of mary jane would reduce the black market crimes and violence connected to the sale of marijuana.
Think of health..you hear in the news how some kids “freak out” from the use of marijuana. This is normally because the drug is laced with some other drug, which is a very bad thing to do because you can actually die from this. If we made it legalized there would be no chance for it to get laced and they would probably have a set amount of THC allowed to be sold.
And lets just face it many people smoke it anyways and I don’t see what the harm would be if we made it legalized. The same people who like the drug will be able to get it legally and the people who don’t like the drug just shouldn’t purchase it then.
Yes, answering your question, I have tried marijuana, it is hard to think of many people who havent. I’m not going to say it was a bad experience, but that does not mean it should be legalized. And yes, maybe the legalization of it wouldn’t lead to a terrible outcome in society, but it would by no means lead to a more productive one. It is proven that marijuana has more negative effects on the body than it does positive. And for medicinal purposes, there are more effective drugs that have been approved by the FDA to curb illnesses. And whoever said that it has been proven in many research studies that marijuana is helpful for illnesses needs to do their research. Most of the testings done are either inconclusive or biased. I’m sure that you could find some doctor out there that says heroin has medical uses and it too should be legalized. And looking at the “big picture”, have you ever thought what might happen ten years down the road if marijuana is legalized? You all think that it is going to have this wonderful effect, but nobody stops to think of the backlashes it could have. As we all know, marijuana is a gateway drug, please don’t argue this, it has been proven, therefore, more people could start to use it and move to other drugs. Also, what kind of message is this sending to our kids? Smoke marijuana, its good for you? I’m sorry, I just have a hard time believing that smoking a plant, disregarding how far we have come in medical technology in the last hundred years, will solve our problems.
In response to jmgaertner about my hasty assumption (which arguably is based merely upon personal observation and not scholarly research), have you ever tried marijuana? If so, what was your experience with it that has helped lead you to your conclusions about it?
Yes, however, I do agree it can be a dangerous substance from time to time, but not so harmful that its legalization for medicinal or recreational use would be as major a threat to the health or well-being of the general public as some assume. It would be regulated, just as alcohol and cigarettes are regulated, as dangerous as they are. I do not believe, however, it would be the unholy terror its being made out to be if its usage is controlled, as it is in parts of Europe.
Do people actually think it is reasonable to prosecute and fine americans for smoking a plant that is a lot less dangerous than a pack of cigs or a bottle of vodka? Where is the logic? Do people actually enjoy paying tax dollars towards the prohibition and arrests of users who enjoy a good joint from time to time? People need to look at the big picture instead of making laws that are pointless.
Marijuana should definitely be legalized for medical use. It has been shown in numerous cases to help those suffering with serious illnesses. Why should we continue to let those who are sick suffer when there is something out there to help them?
I agree with what the last blogger, Santa, has to say. Everyone else who has written on the blog lacks solid evidence to justify their claims. They are making the inference that if other drugs are legal, and possibly more harmful, then marijuana should be so as well.
With even the slightest bit of research one is able to see that there is no evidence proving marijuana is safe enough to be made a medicine. In fact according to Dr. Donald P. Tashkin, “not only does the tar in a cannabis cigarette contain many of the same known carcinogens as tobacco smoke but the concentrations of these are up to 50% higher in the smoke of a cannabis cigarette.” So you must not think that smoking tobacco causes cancer? And there obviously are cells in the body that are receptive to THC, otherwise why would people smoke it? The THC is absorbed into the body and this is what gives the feeling of being “high”. It may not necessarily be the THC that could cause the cancer but the other harmful chemicals that come with the act of smoking. I’m not saying that smoking does cause cancer, but the possiblity still exists and it is absurd to make the statement you did. Not only may it cause cancer but it can weaken the immune system, damage the brain and have reproductive side effects. For example, the National Institute on Drug Abuse research findings indicate some damage to the brain similar to those seen after long term use of other major drugs of abuse. Dr. Sheena Lewis of Queen’s University did a study that showed that THC made sperm less likely to reach the egg to fertilise it and that smoking men have reduced semen volume and total sperm number. These few studies just show that cannabis is not necessarily as safe and you make it seem.
Ok, I agree with your claim that tobacco and alcohol have very negative effects on the body. Marijuana does as well though. And since the first two are legal, why should we legalize the third? Have you ever heard of the saying, two wrongs don’t make a right? Just because tobacco and alcohol are legal does not mean that we should legalize marijuana. And to comment on your limb, it is a hasty generalization to say that all opposing the legalization of marijuana have never once tried it. Your opinion means much in an argument, but don’t start to stereotype people. That just makes you look uneducated.
People are just looking for a legal way to get high…
People already have a legal way to get high. It’s called alcohol, and the damaging effects of legal alcohol far outweigh those associated with marijuana.
Tobacco is another legal way for people to get high. Need we say anything here about the dangers of tobacco?
Caffine, another drug, is basically an “upper” and a highly addictive and unhealthy one at that.
I’m willing to go out on a limb and make the assumption that most of those who support the prohibition of marijuana have probably tried alcohol, maybe even tobacco, but have never once tried marijuana. Prohibitionists should make a truly informed evaluation by understand for themselves (i.e., first-hand) why it should or should not be legalized.
–R.C.
I agree, marijuana has never directly killed anyone, but, it does slow your motor skills. So therefore, marijuana has caused people to get into car accidents, even if you don’t want to believe it. Also, marijuana does have negative effects on the body. First, smoking anything can cause cancer as well as many other diseases. Second, marijuana affects the reproductive system. According to Haibin Wang, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center states,
“Exposure to THC causes retarded development and oviductal retention of embryos.”
Also, marijuana has negative connotations attached to it. Kids today do not think marijuana as being that bad because they believe that it is medicine. This is not true. Marijuana only has one positive medical attribute, THC. So if THC is all that you’re looking for to curb any illness, take Marinol. It is an FDA approved drug that has synthetic THC in it.
All studies done with medical marijuana are inconclusive. People are just looking for a legal way to get high. I do not believe that your support justifies your claim.
I am a freshman in college, and I have been smoking marijuana since the beginning of my freshman year in high school. I want to tell you what kind of student I was. I was brilliant. I got extremely well grades, and I scored a 27 on the ACT.
Marijuana has never made me sick, upset, dependant, or has never caused me to lose one job. I also have consumed alcohol in certain stages in my teenage life. When I have consumed alcohol I have been sick, depressed, angry, emabarrased and hurt on countless occasions.
What I don’t see is the reasoning behind the legal drug choice. There hasn’t been one recorded death by marijuana, EVER, but look how many alcohol and tobacco have. Like the legendary Bill Hicks said, “It’s okay to drink your drugs, we meant those other untaxed drugs. Those are the ones that you can’t do.”
How I see it is that whatever you want to do in your spare time, as long as you doesn’t directly effect anyone else in a negative way, should be fine to do. It makes sense to me, and someone else would seem ignorant to me if they didn’t see the logic behind it.
Yes tabacco is legal, but that doesn’t mean that marijuana should be too. It still is very harmful with not many positive effects. Why do you think it should be legal?
why should it not be legalized? its has been proven less then half as harmfull as tobacco and tobacco is legal is it not?
I do not think that marijuana should be legalized for medicinal purposes. If anyone would like to argue this statement, please post a comment.