should cannabis be legalised?
821980
It should be reduced to a misdemeanor offense. By doing this we could cut prison populations in half.\nUS has the highest prison population per capita of any nation on earth
736693
I agree. I don't smoke marijuana but think it should be legalized. Think of how much money the government would save/make.\n1 The government spends loads of money to try and prevent people from using marijuana. With advertisements and all.\n2 the government has to spend tax money to build new prison's, because so many people get arrested for possession.\n3 Government could tax it similar to how they tax tobacco and alcohol, so they could potentially make Millions maybe even more.\n4 police could spend time actually helping people rather than trying to bust people for smoking a little marijuana every now and then.\n5 could create new jobs and stimulate the economy with people buying and selling.
1042834
I think it should be legalized....you don't hear of people getting stoned and killing someone...whether driving or not.  Stoned people just want to chill and eat....legalize it now and start dealing with the true drug problems like meth, coke, and heroin
444740
It should be legalized, but natural plants and herbs can't be patented, so the government stands to make more money off of it being illegal...through tickets and citations.  We manufacture and even market drugs with for worse effects and side effects in commercials and in magazines everyday.
404222
DRUGS SHOULD BE LEGALIZED\n\n1) Govt. would make more money than they do off ciggs\n2) If it is legal not so many people will do it (for all u anti-drug ppl)\n3)It will open room in our jail cells for real criminals instead of users\n4)If it is legal you can set rules and regs. on them along w/ no driving if you are on them (which doesnt always work but it does sometimes, and if it doesnt work, it wont work while they are illegal either)\n5) The drugs are getting done either way, people are doing the same things while they are on the drugs either way, and the money being made off them is going to ppl to make more drugs OR TO TERRORISTS! so by legalizing these drugs the money will go to the U.S and we know that the terrorist groups are getting no money and we can put the money towards something usefull.\n6) NO ADVANTAGES TO HAVING DRUGS STAY ILLEGAL...LEGALIZE THEM!!!
1134454
Should Governments Legalize and Tax Marijuana?\nExamining a Recent Study on Legalization\nThe war on drugs is an expensive battle, as a great deal of resources go into catching those who buy or sell illegal drugs on the black market, prosecuting them in court, and housing them in jail. These costs seem particularly exorbitant when dealing with the drug marijuana, as it is widely used, and is likely no more harmful than currently legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol. There's another cost to the war on drugs, however, which is the revenue lost by governments who cannot collect taxes on illegal drugs. In a recent study for the Fraser Institute, Economist Stephen T. Easton attempted to calculate how much tax revenue the Canadian government could gain by legalizing marijuana. \nThe study estimates that the average price of 0.5 grams (a unit) of marijuana sold for $8.60 on the street, while its cost of production was only $1.70. In a free market, a $6.90 profit for a unit of marijuana would not last for long. Entrepreneurs noticing the great profits to be made in the marijuana market would start their own grow operations, increasing the supply of marijuana on the street, which would cause the street price of the drug to fall to a level much closer to the cost of production. Of course, this doesn't happen because the product is illegal; the prospect of jail time deters many entrepreneurs and the occasional drug bust ensures that the supply stays relatively low. We can consider much of this $6.90 per unit of marijuana profit a risk-premium for participating in the underground economy. Unfortunately, this risk premium is making a lot of criminals, many of whom have ties to organized crime, very wealthy. \n\nStephen T. Easton argues that if marijuana was legalized, we could transfer these excess profits caused by the risk-premium from these grow operations to the government: \n\nIf we substitute a tax on marijuana cigarettes equal to the difference between the local production cost and the street price people currently pay--that is, transfer the revenue from the current producers and marketers (many of whom work with organized crime) to the government, leaving all other marketing and transportation issues aside we would have revenue of (say) $7 per [unit]. If you could collect on every cigarette and ignore the transportation, marketing, and advertising costs, this comes to over $2 billion on Canadian sales and substantially more from an export tax, and you forego the costs of enforcement and deploy your policing assets elsewhere. \nOne interesting thing to note from such a scheme is that the street price of marijuana stays exactly the same, so the quantity demanded should remain the same as the price is unchanged. However, it's quite likely that the demand for marijuana would change from legalization. We saw that there was a risk in selling marijuana, but since drug laws often target both the buyer and the seller, there is also a risk (albeit smaller) to the consumer interested in buying marijuana. Legalization would eliminate this risk, causing the demand to rise. This is a mixed bag from a public policy standpoint: Increased marijuana use can have ill effects on the health of the population but the increased sales bring in more revenue for the government. However, if legalized, governments can control how much marijuana is consumed by increasing or decreasing the taxes on the product. There is a limit to this, however, as setting taxes too high will cause marijuana growers to sell on the black market to avoid excessive taxation. \nWhen considering legalizing marijuana, there are many economic, health, and social issues we must analyze. One economic study will not be the basis of Canada's public policy decisions, but Easton's research does conclusively show that there are economic benefits in the legalization of marijuana. With governments scrambling to find new sources of revenue to pay for important social obje
522707
think about it this way... i feel marijuana should be legalized due to the fact we are putting away pot heads for possession and stopping this drug from being on the streets and spending all of this money putting them away when there are TONS of cocaine dealers, crack dealers, meth heads, pedifiles, murderers etc still out there... yet our government is so convinced that marijuana is this horrible gateway drug... what about alcohol? in most cases kids now a days are more suseptable to drinking and then smoking pot than it being the other way around... but anyways. do you often read about people gettin arrested for being stoned out of their mind and killing someone from smoking and driving??? it happens occassionaly, but not as often as being being drunk and driving... do you hear about pot heads robbing gas stations to fund their habit? noo... usually that is cocaine addicts and meth heads... if the government was to legalize pot, they could put their own tax on it, and it would be just like alcohol, except for the fact you cant get "marijuana poisoning" well...you can, but to receive a lethal dose of thc you would have to consume 900 joints in a day... sure it causes cancers, but so does alcohol, so does smoking cigarettes...  so based off of how much we are spending on sending pot heads to jail, as well as keeping this so called "drug" off the streets we would make twice that if it were legalized... so yes, i feel people in the states should have full rights to smoke marijuana as they do in amsterdam.  but our government is to damn stupid to realize this potential and is just continually spending our tax dollars on throwing these TERRIBLE people, aka pot heads in jail...
376403
yes, this is a good idea because peoples health will be better and those who dont smoke will not suffer from second hand smoking. my mother smokes and it bothers me a lot because of the diseases and other problems she can get just from smoking. Also because since all the other drugs such as pot is illegal smoking is also a drug therefore it too should be illegal.
251713
I don't think so.  there's too many people and businesses that would oppose it.  However, I do think that medicinal progress and industrial use of hemp will make small progress over the next 100 years, useage of herb for recreational purposes won't be legal and probably shouldn't be.
24032
Yes, marijuana should be legalized.  If you were to put the stats together, you would see that many, many more rapes, murders, thefts, assaults, fatal car crashes, deadly occupational accidents, and various other crimes have been committed under the influence of alcohol.  Recently, a young man was arrested for murdering his mother. His line of defense was that he was under the influence of Marijuana.  Marijuana does not make one aggressive in the least. Anyone that does or has smoked will testify to that. Marijuana has a relaxing effect, not to mention its medicinal benefits.  As for prostitution, it should also be legalized. It is THE oldest profession in the WORLD. You cannot put a restriction on ones body.  The only way to stop it would be to eliminate one of the sexes. Just my guess, but there would probably be a drop in sex crimes and sexually transmitted diseases if prostitution were to become legal.  THE ONLY REASON NEITHER OF THESE THINGS ARE LEGAL, IS BECAUSE OUR GOVERNMENT CANT FIGURE A WAY TO CONTROL OR TAX THEM. (Like cigarettes and alcohol. Which by the way is two very high contributors to our mortality rate here in America.)  Hence the war against them.
561595
Anything that becomes ill-legal creates curiosity and hunger.so if this issue gets legalised,it shall be more easy to run it as a profession and the crime attached to it shall decrease.The interests of the professionals here shall be safe guarded.
1020062
I think it's a good idea also, but many of the people blocking legislation for it are against it for moral grounds.  If it's legalized, then the government is saying that it's okay and so forth.  There are places in the US where it's legalized, and you know what?  Those places aren't dying of moral blah blah blah. :)\n\nPeople are going to do it anyway.  Might as well make it safer for both parties.
1086319
Yes.\n1. As a popular intoxicant, marijuana is much safer than alcohol and other drugs. If Tobacco and Alcohol are available (tolerated by society), then marijuana should also be tolerated. I would much rather have my child abuse marijuana than alcohol, because afterward they would still have a liver and a brain.\n2. All recreational drugs should be legalized. There is no point trying to regulate personal behavior, which contravenes the American ethic anyway.\nCurrent laws do or can provide penalties for intoxicated problem behaviors such as driving under the influence, so that's covered.\n3. If you want to eliminate the crime associated with "the drugs trade", then legalize drugs. If necessary, make various drugs (such as cocaine) available only at the pharmacist's counter with a valid ID as proof of age.\nBut, no more drug kingpins - drugs will be commodified.\n4. Tax drug sales and get those revenues; and save all the money wasted on the drug war.\n\n5. And of course, as a marijuana user, I would look forward to cheaper product. :)
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.
1151602
You have a valid argument. (And I am not in favour of drugs, to make that quite clear.) There are many bad substances that are legal, and others are not. It is all down to political blindness, or at best tunnel vision.\nIf the now illegal drugs would be legalised, the criminal element attached to them would fall by the wayside. Just as it did in 1933 after the prohibition of alcohol was lifted. Never has there been more alcohol consumed in the USA (for very high prices) as during the prohibition years. That should tell us.\nUnfortunately our politicians never learn anything from History.
229462
Drugs should be legalized, and especially marijuana.  Marijuana grows out of the ground, therefore, it must have a purpose.  It is medically proven to help cancer patients and people with multiple sclerosis, yet the stupid government has this whole issue with controlling people's lives.  My husband was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and did not smoke pot.  He kept having exacerbations and ending up in the hospital.  When he began to smoke, he stopped getting sick!  People shouldn't be punished for using drugs...they should be punished is they commit crimes to obtain drugs!
301944
Yes, because I need a soothing way to relax and I really hate drinking. Cigarettes just don't cut it.\n\nIf the US legalized marijuana it would help our economy so much I can't believe the government doesn't see this. It would create new jobs (growers, farmers, textiles, factory workers, etc) and might actually reduce the amount of alcoholics we have wasting away in this country.\n\nI do believe it should be treated just like cigarettes / alcohol if it were legalized though and that penalties and fines be given to unlicensed growers (just as moonshining is illegal) or people selling to minors, etc.