Well for those who know me well I like weed... However I am pro for legalization and the use of hemp i will try to make this OP as unbiased as possible (correct me if i am being biased). Condensed Marijuana Arugments
I'm also going to refer Marijuana as Weed.

Marijuana is a plant that can be tracked back to the 3rd millennium bc. It has been in the past a plant that was cultivated for its spiritual and health benefits and even used as hemp. The wonder plant that could do anything but as people did research they found that it was highly addictive and found very shocking side effects which were more potent the cigarettes.

(Image from Pro - Marijuana Argument

Weed has been used for thousands of years and only now we know the negative effects. Effects of euphoria and anxiety were usually experienced but more chronic users had a wide range of effects on them. Effects such as degraded intelligence and schizophrenia were experienced by chronic users but these tests were never extensive.

Its uses for hemp are very wide and was once called the billion dollar crop. Before the ban of the plants in the 1960's it was used by many figures used the plant such Thomas Jefferson. Its economic potential is astounding even without marijuana but if it were to go to market I'm afraid of the backlash that the side effects will have on our community. People will most likely be less concentrated and by personal uses of it and proof from this test (Super High Me) In the article/movie some parts of your brain are actually improved while others were weakened. I believe this is becuase of less stress and that the muscles in the brain are relaxed to a point where it is difficult for them to learn new information but can remember old information since the memory section of the brain is not as effect by thc the active ingredient of weed.



Medically the weed is a half and half drug; Being that it is accepted by many people that it makes you dumber. But it has a wide range of medical uses such as to dull pain without many side effects. Ulitmatly people who have a severe enough alignment weed is really the only option without too many side effects such as vicodin. And even one of my relatives took weed to dull the pain when he had cancer.



Weed its main argument against it is that weed is a gateway drug as it usually lead people to do stronger drugs. It is also stated that legalizing it allow it to easily come in the hands of children. It is also said that legalization will lead to stronger drugs being legalized. To these things i would say that it weed is no more harmful to cigarettes but the intelligence drain will probably hurt out generation in the future.

Weed should be legalized, people shouldn't smoke weed. It isn't the government's business what vices people have. They haven't illegalized tobacco or alcohol, which are also drugs of a kind; why marijuana and harder drugs?

Well i agree with your statement and to add to that medical uses are legal (mostly) but how about recreation purposes.

Speaking as a fellow that hasn't smoked a thing in his life and has absolutely no plans to ever start . . .

I say it should be legalized. What people do on their own time is their own business and any government that thinks it's all right to waste our resources on prohibition should simply keep their mouths shut. Besides, when's the last time banning anything ever actually worked? Trying to simply ignore a problem and slap 'prohibition' on the issue hasn't worked before and it never will. Promoting responsibility and education is far more important.

Not that our government has the competence to educate our youth, given that education is always the first thing to go when they start cutting corners.

The OP is being reported for having no citations, and also blatant lies.

Legalized, but regulated. Although I pretend to be a libertarian drugs is never something I've been able to bring myself to deregulate and legalize in its entirety. Colorado has legalized the use of marijuana if you have a proper license to do so, but it is incredibly easy to exploit - it isn't hard to find the right 'doctor' who will hand you your license for a back ache. The people that use it recreationally in my opinion are screwing it up for those that need it. And I do think that, just like all pain medication, it should be a choice for patients experience intense pain or other ailments that can be eased by the temporary use of marijuana. I don't like the way medication is prescribed, or what is prescribed. I remember when I had chest inflammation my doctor told me to "take six ibuprofen, and if the pain's still there, take some more." Speaking of dependency, guess what that did for a while? My dentist suggested that too when I complained about the pain I was experiencing from having my wisdom teeth pulled. It only gets worse when you get into more complicated problems - this drug causes a death inducing reaction when mixed with that, this won't work with this, this causes dependency but we can't do that because it'll kill the patient...and in those cases, if marijuana alleviated pain, while decreasing the risk for side effects, I say go for it!

However, just like with any substance that risks abuse, dependency (mental or physical), or exploitation, I think it should be regulated. Did you know that poorly made vodka can make you go blind? I find this to be similar. While I doubt that the plant by itself risks physical dependency, I am much more wary of fillers or additives, or even the pesticides growers use to fend off predatory bugs. It is my experience (through those that use it, I have never used marijuana) from those that used it that they were never sure who grew it or where it came from. When you think its just a plant that is (possibly) washed then dried, possibly manufactured in another country that doesn't have stringent rules concerning pesticides you can and cannot use, your risks for a lot of things increase.

Also, some of the things on your top picture - clothes, food, bodycare...products do exist that use hemp. Have you ever tried hemp milk? Its...interesting. Grainy like coconut milk but with an earthier taste. I'm not a fan of it. But that comes from a different part of the plant than that that has medicinal uses.

Can't comment on the vodka, but I know that if you buy moonshine and it's not sealed properly it'll make you go blind. Same concept I'd guess, they're both almost pure alcohol.

I hear banjos...

Its a gateway that you cant escape. The inevitability of being corrupted by a worse drug, that WILL kill you probably, is such a risk that I will never touch the substance, nor do I want others around me using it.

As a Biased individual, Ill tell you that I hate the drug because it gives people an unnecessary ego boost that they dont need. Its often more of a symbol or status than actually used what it can be used for, which may be for a small medicinal purpose. Ill say that people like Lady Gaga are full of shit that it gives them creative drive, and without actual scientific proof that it ever lets a person access the Subconscious the way they think it does, I will not give it a rest. And the fact that people can publicly advertise that they USE it and not be arrested for it, letting our youths be shown this stuff is just absurd.

As a not so frequent SD poster, but as someone who'd rather at least have half his post left intact after the wrath of the SD gods, Ill say that it doesnt need to be legalized until people can show they can be mature with the substance. Stop advertising it, and stop doing illegal things with it. Its things like this that may legalize it, not doing it constantly and continuously putting up pictures of a leaf. Though after seeing what the government plans to do with the substance also makes me ill. Tax it? Madness, the government is just trying to squeeze out more money it doesnt need from people, but thats not the subject is it? Of course, drinkers have proven time and time again that people who use mind altering substances do stupid things on occasion, I doubt the government will legalize another way and reason to accidentally burn down a house or hit a telephone pole/other car with your own vehicle.

Now, as a pain suppressor, I completely agree with it being used legally. Just like other things that you cannot get unless you are at a hospital, if it was used like this, I would see a lot less problems with it.

http://www.staredit.net/topic/6467/
http://www.staredit.net/topic/3575/
http://www.staredit.net/topic/1478/

This topic is redundant and should be closed.

Legal or illegal people will still choose to do it.
Marijuana in my opinion shouldn't even be classed as a drug, and, still in my opinion, [current levels of 'acceptable'] alcohol and cigarette consumption are far more damaging to health on a societal level than legal or illegal marijuana will ever be.

So if I can meander onto the topic of legalisation (of most drugs (more precisely: cocaine, amphetamines, hallucinogenics), excepting Heroin which should be stamped out entirely).. The illicit drugs industry is worth billions of US dollars annually, I know I would rather have this money be pumped into advertising (creating jobs), and healthcare/research (through government tax)... Rather than lining the pockets of the criminal underworld as it currently does.

The cocaine industry (Bolivia, Peru and Argentina most prominently feature, as well as some sub-tropical African countries), is a murderous business and stretches far into Europe, Russia, America and beyond. The cultivation and growing of cocoa leaves for processing into cocaine has knock-on projects in people trafficking and arms smuggling... not to mention the various cartels and middlemen who profit as the product makes the trip from production, to processing and finally distribution to street level dealers.

The heroin industry (Middle East, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria and some Northern African countries), is equally as dark and brutal as cocaine. Except, the "street-value" (a term I hate) gram per gram of heroin in 25x that of Cocaine in most western countries. This industry supports arms dealing, people trafficking and an unbelievably large criminal prostitute network around most of Europe. Girls are taken from Western Russia, Turkey and the Balkans and forcibly addicted to heroin, and sold into prostitution, adding immensely to the income of organisations which are responsible for heroin being available in absolutely any large city in the world.

The cannabis industry? Shit. This industry is giving some low-time dealer shiny new alloys for his Ford Fiesta, or letting him buy Gio Gio T-shirts and shiny sneakers.

Anyway, I have meandered enough. As some of you know I regularly indulge in coke and pills (MDMA, Ecstasy and so on)... So, to contrast my view with Riney's (above), I'm pretty much the opposite.

In short, legalising certain drugs would give undeniably bolster the economy. It's simple supply and demand, and currently all the supply is in the hands of criminals.
[edit:] There are countless new 'illegal' drugs entering the system daily. One well known example would be Mephedrone (aka M-Cat, Cat, Bubble etc). It's essentially more potent cocaine in terms of efffect, but no research exists on it so the long term effects are largely unknown.

The other glaring beauty of a legalised drugs industry, would be that you always know what you are buying. A friend of mine overdosed two years ago simply because what he bought was not what he wanted to take. Powders are notoriously easy to cut with all sorts of nasty shit. If society accepted drugs as the inevitability that they are, people won't go around buying 'Afgahn Black Hash' that has been sprayed with powdered glass == instant arterial haemorrhaging of the lungs... or that gram of charlie you just picked up won't be 80% dog worming powder...

@Vrael, those threads are from 2009, 2008, and 2007. It's 2011.


@Riney... status symbol? You don't think that people might recreationally smoke because it's enjoyable? How are you able to comment on the effects of a psychoactive drug without ever even trying it? Lady Gaga is full of shit? Isn't she the one who knows what's going on in her mind? And even if you were to try marijuana, and decided it didn't enhance your creativity in any way, not everybody responds identically to psychoactive drugs.

And really? Youth are at risk? How do you feel about violent video games, then? What about beer commercials? Children see those, right?

Stop advertising it? People are trying to get it legalized. If anything, they want to bring attention to it. They don't want it swept under the rug. And why should they. Regardless of whether it's legal or not, people are showing that it isn't nearly as dangerous as its made out to be.

And let the government tax it. They should. Good for them, it's better that money is going back into the country's economy than to the Mexican Cartels that murder, kidnap, rape, etc. They probably cause more damage and harm than marijuana would if legalized, anyway.

I hate to break it to you, dude, but marijuana isn't the destructive, life ruining drug you think it is. It's no more (and arguably less) destructive than alcohol.


oof it's late.