One situation you guys seemed to have missed...
You're 34, you have three children. Your little girl runs across the street to catch a frisbee. The stoned asshole in the minivan going 68 mph on a residential street hits and kills her.
There's more to this than big corporations' influences guys, there's serious risks. Can you imagine what would happen if 300 million Americans had unlimited access to this? A few of you may be smart, may be able to smoke this without causing risks to everyone else, but on such a large scale, it goes beyond personal rights and infringes on the rights of others. Cigarrettes? They don't make you high. Alchohol? DUI is illegal. My Government teacher had an interesting insight. Think about your high school cafeteria; think about the people; the shouting, the stupidity. Imagine that amplified by pot.
And pot smells like shit.
The smell must be a matter of opinion, even so, that is no reason to keep it illegal.
In the frisbee accident, who's fault is it? The person not watching their child? The child's? The driver's? It is really hard to say, and it's not any one persons fault. Um... I don't ever see stoners speed 68 mph through a residential area... It's not cocaine man..
Also, people who smoke weed, smoke it regardless of the law, there are already people doing it, and in increasing numbers... I support legalization, REGULATION and EDUCATION. Regulation can be a tax, laws for driving, for owning certain amounts, etc. Education will teach people the dangers as well as the positives.
Have you seen people high? It doesn't make them stupid, they may slip up a few words, but it doesn't make anyone stupid, loud or obnoxious unless its in their own personality. A cafeteria full of high people won't be louder than a sober one, probably quieter..
It's too easy to grow. Tobacco and alcohol are hard shit to make, especially considering what a nutrient sucking fuck-plant tobacco is.
If you can grow it in your own basement with nothing more than some water and a lamp, how is the government going to tax it?
It's a stupid, stupid world.
It's not nutrient sucking.. It has a VERY important role in the nitrogen cycle, it is one of the few and precious plants in this world that produce nitrogen.
The government can tax the seeds you buy, the weed people sell at shops, papers, etc. Even if it doesn't turn out to be a ridiculous amount (though it will be), the U.S. government will have far more spending money from less need to fund this fucking "War on Drugs".
I never said marihuana would make people self-less, but it does indeed help in my opinion.
Maybe we should give the world a chance to let people smoke weed as much as they desire without worries of being ridiculed or put in jail. Only then can we see it's true effects on society. I am quite certain there would be important progress on creating an open society (even if that progress simply comes from the fact that people would then have their own freedoms).
Great plan. I've got another. Lets increase the penalty for all felonies (and some misdemeanors) to death. Then we can see it's effect on society, and nobody would be put in jail. I am quite certain there would be important progress on creating a more open and more good society.
Besides that, if you legalized marijuana, it would be impossible to reverse.
Increase in penalties is not working towards an open society. Think of it this way, why do people go to jail? Because of the failure of government and society to keep people happy. An open society will reward good behavior and avoid bad behavior by teaching people from a young age how much they have to be thankful for and how important it is to share.
People will not stop smoking weed because of worsened laws, besides, why would you make worse something that is already THE FUCKING PROBLEM? People go to jail for years for smoking weed. I don't think you understand how utterly ridiculous and "downpressive" that is..
And regarding making it illegal, I have two comments: 1) Why would we need to make it illegal again? 2) Weed used to be legal, why couldn't it be made illegal again?
None.