Thats the same with alcohol, and ANY OTHER TYPE OF DRUG.
anything can ruin your life if you choose too duh.

that doesnt make it any better. my friends chose that path yes, but it still doesnt make ME feel any better about it. and when/if they come out of that haze they'll regret it too.

certain things are illegal because most people arent responsible enough to use it as such.

in my opinion the best way to keep yourself on the straight and narrow is to be sober of everything. unless you can handle youself.

i used to think smoking pot was okay. but i was one of the people who couldnt handle it. I used it as a crutch as so many people do.

blaming it on the drug is stupid. how can you blame something that isnt alive? im not blaming anything on the drug. im blaming people not being responsible with a drug. in that sense you are right. it is peoples fault. but if they hadnt taken that first drag they never would of had to deal with the hardships of addiction

Do you lose brain cells when you hold your breath underwater? If you answered that question "No" then you have the same answer for smoking pot! you know what DOES kill and IS addictive? Tobacco and alcohol. Pot is:

Non-addictive
in order to overdose, you would have to smoke 30,000 marijuana joints. NOT POSSIBLE IN A MONTH!
It does have all the negatives that smoke in general does but it does not destroy brain cells any more than holding your breath underwater does.
It also greatly enhances all of your senses, AND your hunger too lol.
It is no way nearly as bad as the over the counter drugs you buy at the store which contain chemicals you can't even pronounce let alone know what they do.
And yes, I believe it would solve almost all of our BIG problems right now if it was made legal.

DARE would have you brainwashed into thinking that pot is bad. YES. Other drugs are bad such as cocaine, heroin, LSD, PCP, and many more. They actually do kill you. They are also MAN-MADE. Pot is not. It is grown.

Not everyone has enough sense to step back and say 'wait this is hurting us' and some just don't know
Others just don't care i guess

Or, you know, they've made an informed decision based on actual "facts" instead of bullcrap propaganda on the level of Reefer Madness or things they just made up because it sounded logical and have decided that it's something they want to do, that has few real risks (besides legal consequences), and so they're going to do it.

I like how you're going for the whole "stupid stoner" angle, though. Haven't seen that one in awhile.

I think pot is all about choice. I myself will never do it because I have never been interested in getting high (I'm random and strange enough as it is). But I've always thought that the US should just make it legal but the tax the hell out of it. People are going to smoke pot either way, so why not make a buck out of it?

Oh, that logic couldn't possibly lead anywhere bad. :roll:

Okay, so, people should go to jail because you think something they do is icky. People who are in pain should be denied one of the most all-around effective pain relievers because they're not in enough pain, in your opinion.

You're not making your side look particularly good.

Pot is an herb. Period. no If and or buts. A MEDICINAL plant. Valued for its medicinal qualities since recorded history. Not just by the Native Americans, but in Vietnam, Thailand, ect. Its like super charged Green Tea. And now a list of herbs used in every day cooking that are potentially deadly:
Basil
Bay leaf
Garlic
Cloves
and some other things that you consume that can be deadly:
Bananas
Vingar
Caffine
Food in general(yes people you can eat your self to death)
The only addiction like power pot has is in the mental workings of your mind. At that point that person needs some kind of therapy for mental instability or just trying to get attention. Period.

Personally, I'm not a fan of mind altering anything (Pot, Alcohol, Nicotine)

I've never seen the appeal in using them. Reality is something to be embraced, not run from. Good and bad alike need to be taken head on.

Recreationally, I can understand and somewhat approve. I am fine with a glass of wine on New Years or Thanksgiving, so I wouldn't get on someone's case over Pot for similar occasions. But constant use, not matter how much "safer" it is then Alcohol, is still constant use. Whether you come home from school and have a Bud or smoke a joint is just as bad in my eyes. However, it's a person's choice, and that is a choice they are entitled to.

i always wondered this too. people say its not that bad because its natural. poison ivy is natural but no one thinks its good. i wish people wouldn't be so stupid. i like my brain cells and the rest of my body too much to go and do something as bad for me as pot. i don't smoke or drink either. i've never seen the appeal of any of that.

I really don't support marijuana. I know a lot of people who use it regularly and they're different. Not a good different, mind you. They're zoned out a lot, slower, even when they aren't high. I know they could achieve a lot more.

I understand why some people do drugs, because maybe they're having a shitty time and need a boost. But when my friends are high, they aren't themselves. I hate to see them laugh so stupidly, I hate to repeat things four or five times before they answer. I don't like that people feel they have to rely on something else to make them feel good or even normal.

In my opinion, legalizing pot sets a dangerous precedent. Hey, if pot is okay, then why not shrooms? Shrooms grow naturally, just like pot right? Nature meant it that way, right? Well, if shrooms are fine, then why not acid? Psychiatrists invented acid, and they're doctors, they know what's good for you right? It should be legal too. Then hell, what's wrong with cocaine? Ecstasy, meth? People are gonna do it anyway, why not make it legal as well? It'd be muuuuch safer if they sold it at Wal Greens.

NO!

I could also understand why people would want it legalized for medical use. But I feel that it would set the same precedent.

Despite what ALL my peers seem to think, despite the pressure and opposition, I hold my position against marijuana, it's growth (commercial or private), it's use, and it's legalization.

Pot should be legalized only because if it is, most people would stop using. It's a matter of the majority of those using are only doing so because it's illegal. if it's fully legalized then it'll lose it's thrill and people will stop using.

This is all i have to say...

http://cdn.photos.natuba.com/bsm7uBL...0&v=1210885971


Oh i lied!! i so have more to say!!

I have a grandma that smokes weed... and ya know what she is the shit!! She is amazing!! and not just because she is a stoner...haha. She has smoked weed for as long as i can remember and ya know what she is no worse for wear now.. so all of you people who say it effects you over long term use can just stick it! I am 24 now and she has been in my life off and on since i was born... so if it hasnt effected her yet i dont think its going to start any time soon!!

I know a lot of people who smoke weed and ya know what i have never seen a change in them either... well unless you count the crazy laughter that issues when they are high... but that's very entertaining... you should try watching hyper active stoners play rock band OMG SO ENTERTAINING!!!

I also like how Pineapple Express shows a reason on why they banned good ol Marry Jane!! If nothing else you should watch the first 20mins of the movie just for that!!

The simple fact is, is that while weed might be a drug and do harm to your body...there are also other drugs and substances that are more harmful and more impairing that ARE legal. So the question is...why not pot? Cigarettes do more damage to you and are more addictive. Alcohol is FAR more impairing than marijuana will ever be. How often do you hear of stoned drivers killing folks? Not nearly as often as drunk drivers. But yet, the government has not banned alcohol, excluding the 1920s.

It should be made legal because if the government is going to trust my judgment when it comes to alcohol, the same should hold true for pot. I'm not saying don't restrict it. Slap all the same restrictions on it as alcohol. Age limit, no driving, no working, etc, etc.

I actually heard once that the government eventually made it illegal in the US because they couldn't find a way to tax it. Don't quote me on that, not sure if it's true (the TV does lie afterall). But I think at this point, if they could find a way to tax it then making it legal would actually help the US. Hello national debt, anyone?! Why not give the US something new to make money off of?!

As one of my professors once said: "The quantity makes the poison."

This applies to ANY substance (even water!)

But first, a history lesson.

Marijuana was legal in the U.S. for a very very long time. It was used for a lot of things--clothing, paper, etc. Then, in 1935, a paper company pushed legislation to make it illegal. Not because it was bad for anyone, but because paper made with wood pulp was too expensive to be able to compete with hemp paper! Hemp is easy to grown and doesn't take as long as, say, growing a tree. (so, as a response to some comments I've seen, it had NOTHING to do with taxes or the fact that it could be smoked).

So, during this campaign, two things happened:
1) The term "marijuana" became popularized. Before this campaign, everyone knew it as hemp. When "marijuana" started to get thrown around, citizens didn't connect the dots. They largely didn't know that marijuana was the same thing as hemp.
2) The legislation passed, and all hemp use was rendered illegal. No more hemp rope, hemp paper, hemp clothing, or anything like that. This is completely outside its use as a recreational drug.

That said, at the very least, we should ease restrictions on using hemp for manufacturing products. There is currently research being done on making car bodies out of a hemp-based compound (instead of fiberglass). This is extremely difficult to do in the U.S., and needlessly so.

Also, hemp is no more harmful than alcohol or tobacco. We saw what happened with prohibition, so neither of those is going away, so why restrict a substance that is arguably less harmful?

Be careful. Thats the bottom line. I'm on probation right now. No it had nothing do with weed and no I don't smoke but yes I used to. My po told me in her opinion it should be legal because she has no one on her case load for what they di under the influence of it. When there are domestic vilolence cases is it ever the pot smoker on the couch eating doritos or is it the blacked out drunk, the spun out meth head, the junkie whos coming down?

Really though!!! Come on I know SOOO many people who smoke or used to. They are chill laid back and just want to hangout or go out and eat or imagine just floating the river with a doobie. Sorry if this sounds like I'm attacking anyone but this is just a really strong subject for me....I understand not smoking since I don't but it is such a peaceful plant with so many positive aspects.

Even the uses of hemp. It can be used to make paper, clothes, surfboards, skateboards. It can be used instead of trees and it grows faster. Think about it, it has more positive traits then negative.

This is probably everything I had written out, so I guess I'll just agree with you. :)

For one, pot is a natural substance unlike cigarettes. I smoked it; although I never seen the appeal of it. I didn't get a "high"....I was actually quite disappointed....

I personally believe that if the government legalized it then just taxed it, people would probably stop using it. There would be no "rush" of doing something illegal any longer. Well, not totally stop using it, but the rate of people in jail for minor crimes will go down, meaning no over crowding in prisons and jails.

Okay, I need you to explain this. :)

Alcohol is a drug.
Tobacco products are drugs.
Drugs are body/mind altering things. Which can be over the counter prescription or even the Tylenol you pick up for headaches.
A lot of people make excuses for why you shouldn't have it. Such as "It kills brain cells." So does paint fumes. "It gives you lung cancer." So does cigarettes. "Its already illegal leave it that way." Which, is also known as a conservative argument with nothing to back it up.
I wish that society kept up with what the romans and greeks did with throwing their deformed and mentally handicapped children into the pit for them to die to purify the world. That way there would be less close-minded assholes running around trying to preach their 'gospel' and tell me how my opinion is fucked up and theirs it the only right way. But, too bad they discontinued that back when they started letting people have free will. :roll:

Why discourage the thought of people having the free will to choose for themselves? Why take away our rights one by one to choose what we want to do with our body. And please, before you sit there and tell me "It doesn't just effect you." Please take into consideration there would be age limitations too this drug, like there are every other drug, which means it would come with responsibility. Unless of course your argument is to really that away free will and responsibility from people. Then I am completely on the wrong page.