should marijauna be legalized and if so should it have the same regulations as drinking alcohol?
108428
Yes it should be legal. The prisons are overcrowded, and they keep sending people there for possessing drugs. In order to make room for these people, they let other more violent criminals out. Don't seem right to me. And a lot of people learn how to do worse crimes while there. They can regulate it and tax the he11 out of it. Think of all the money the government would collect, not to mention how much they would save from the so called "war on drugs" (which they are losing). \n\nLaws would be the same. You need to be 21 to buy it. Driving while intoxicated will still be driving while intoxicated. A previous poster said one drink donk impair you but one joint does. The laws say nothing about how much you consume, but how intoxicated you are. Employers can fire you for being stoned on the job like they can for being drunk on the job.
609502
I'm against it- people dont know how to regulate themselves- besides, we have enough problems with alcohol- adding another addicting drug that alters your emotions and motor skills to the legal list is a bad idea.
562151
If you look at this question from a purly historical standpoint, I would say that we should legalize drugs based on the lesson we learned during the alcohol prohibition.  During that time we had HUGE increases in gang (Mob) crime.  There were people who obsessed so much about getting it they stopped their legal pursuits in order to obtain more.  When alcohol was legalized again, that problem was gone.  When was the last time you heard of a fight over who was selling beer in who's hood?\n\nIf you look at this from an environmental (And business (How often do you hear those two used together in a positive way)) standpoint, it is said that hemp is one of the best plants pound for pound in the production of oxygen.  It is also a great sourse of paper (and renews much quicker than a tree), clothes (Lasts longer than cotton), pharmacuticals (already used in many proscribed drugs), and other things.  If we had the ability to grow hemp legally I think we could help correct some of the abuse we are creating on our environment.
761198
Marijuana smoking should be legalised everywhere.\nIt is a simple natural herb, which provides pleasure and relaxation, and has many beneficial medicinal properties. It relieves stress, reduces pain, and certain studies show that it can disipate asthma, and be beneficial to alzheimer's patients.\nThe reason it was made illegal in the first place was because the oil from the seeds can be used to fuel an engine, and so the oil lobby, along with the media who were making profits from cutting down trees, found a way to make it illegal. The law was passed as a part of the tax law, which introduced the name marijuana, so that nobody would realise that they were restricting the use of hemp.
995801
Yes Yes Yes 1,000,000 times YES!!!!\n\nAlready answered one like this today, but here goes again...\n\nIt is no worse than alcohol or tobacco,, both of which are LEGAL products.\n\nIt has NEVER caused even ONE death, ever.\n\nContrary to popular belief, it does NOT cause cancer, and it may actually have preventative effects.  (according to a recent study at UCLA, link below)\n\nIt should be legal for adults, just like alcohol and tobacco.\n\n"High" driving would likely still be a crime (even though a new study shows it is not a factor in driving accidents, link below) \n\nPot smokers are non-violent.  The most they'd do is eat all the food out of your fridge.\n\nMOST pot smokers can use it responsibly.  It is not physically addictive.  SOME people might become psychologically addicted, but these people are more susceptible to addiction and would likely become alcoholics or addicts of something else.\n\nThat enough reasons for everyone?
1129278
Well.. I am Dutch and I could ask the same question for my country. It is tolerated for more then 30 years in the whole of the Netherlands (so not just the city of Amsterdam), but still not legal. That's mainly because of pressure from other countries and the European community, even if we have the lowest amount of harddrug addicts because of our drugpolicy.\n\nI find it completely ridiculous that it is still illegal to smoke a plant!\n\nSo, if it is still not legal here after such a long time of tolerance, I don't know where you come from but if you are Americain I wouldn't bet on a quick legalisation.
49791
I would prefer marijuana over alcohol.
798840
Although I don't support it, the war on drugs is not over, it continues to this day.\nI do think they need to change the definition of illegal substances. Pot is not any more harmful than beer. throwing people in jail for having a small quantity of pot is ludicris. It overcrowds the jails and bogs down the system, it also destroys lives. A person caught with a few grams of pot is considered a criminal like a person caught with a pound of heroin. It's a joke (the war on drugs).
23242
Yes, the health effects of marijuana are no more harmful then tobacco and alchohol.  Personally i would much rather deal with people that are high, then people who are drunk
312683
I definately think it should be legalised for medical use but it really can mess up your head if you use it all the time....it totally slows down you reactions, can make you paranoid and so on....i don't think once in a while hurts but if it is legalised in needs seriously regulating so people dont go too far.\n\nHope yr good now
627716
good grief. ive seen nothing but lame answers so far except for a few. let me break it down for ya. they are planning on legilization of drugs in mexico. yes and it is all drugs. so yes some mexican guy can walk around all geeked up on coke. is it the mob taking over? no. vincent fox is signing the bill into law to crack down on the gangs selling the drugs. these are the same gangs fighting each other for the lucritive US pipeline. they did propose limits on how much you could carry on your person without being bothered by the police which i can tell you is not much.\n\n\noh and far as legalization in the US. hard drugs i say no. marijauna i say yes. i dont even smoke the stuff but i think it should be legal. its only a gateway drug for people who just want to get F****** up. the highschool health classes are filling your heads with a bunch of lame crap. to all the young teenage kids out there, you havent began to see life for what it really is so what im saying probably wouldnt make sense to you. but anyways if marijauna were treated like alcohol it would work in the system.
919340
I think there are several approaches to this Q.  Any law has to be sold to the masses and it also has to be appealing.  Here are my selling points:\n1) It has abundant medical uses and it is cheaper than current prescription choices\n2) As a recreational drug it is less deadly and problematic than alcohol and/or cigarettes\n3) It can be highly taxed bringing in a new source of gov income\n4) People who profit from marijuana sales could be properly taxed for their income\n5) Land degradation and pollution by illegal growers would be easier to prevent\n6) Control of the substance and substance abuse would be easier to identify\n\nAnd Now for the controversial argument.... Religious...  God made all plants to be used by people as needed/desired.\nGenesis 1:29-30\nThen God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food."
602533
No, it should be decriminalized as it is in The Netherlands.\n\nMarijuana is not a gateway drug. There has never been a legitmate study proving it is.\n\n"Despite the legalization of soft drugs, use of cannabis in the Netherlands is not higher than most other countries in Western Europe: 9.7% of young males consume cannabis at least once a month, which rates the Netherlands 7th in the EU after Cyprus (23.3%), Spain (16.4%), United Kingdom (15.8%), France (13.2%), Italy (10.9%) and Germany (9.9%).[1]\n\nSome critics say that the legalization of soft drugs often leads to quicker consuming of harddrugs. Yet, the percentage of the population which ever consumed cocaine in the Netherlands is still lower than that of the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy. The situation is similar for other hard drugs."
1034253
I think it should be legalized, controlled, and taxed just as alcohol is.
882849
Sorry about your luck.\n\nThey need to legalize the stuff.  It's a lot less dangerous than alcohol!
1113858
I like to smoke weed every now and then. I think it should be legal. I think it is gods gift to the world!!! I think liqueur  should be illegal and weed legal, no one I know of has ever woke up not knowing where they were or who that ugly guy beside them was from smoking weed. lol
1055796
no it wouldnt change about marijuana because it should be legalized it is a calming drug that when used responsibly can be very effective in clearer thought and action cigarettes have no poitive side effects so they should be made illegal with the proper guidelines and limitations on legalized mariijuna the profit would be huge the risk a minimum compared to cigarettes and people would be much happier but we live in a world run by soccer moms and protestants who a long ass time ago decided everything should be made illegal, eventually we chose alcohol to be brought back but not marijuana because of the racist attitude towards native americans and it has sadly stuck here in america marijuana should be legalized and cigarettes should be outlawed