If the government is going to regulate marijuana and people possessing it as a heinous crime... then I think the government should do the same with alcohol.

I am being sardonic... but what is the huge difference between those that use alcohol versus those that use marijuana?

9/1/2012 11:42:54 PM

it's not legal because the gov cannot benefit from it being legal.

if it were legal everyone would just grow their own instead of buying it for the inevitably high tax markup.

9/1/2012 11:55:25 PM

This is a new and eye opening thread that contains interesting and thought provoking opinions never before discussed in the history of humanity. Thank you oneshot, the Socrates of our time.

9/1/2012 11:56:27 PM

alcohol being legal means more people end up with anxiety and depression which is good for the government.

if weed was legal less people would get medications for insomnia, pain, anxiety, depression etc and the pharmaceutical companies would lose a lot of money.

9/2/2012 12:48:48 AM

Synthetics are still a safer route then natural remedies though.

9/2/2012 12:52:40 AM

Quote :

"If the government is going to regulate marijuana and people possessing it as a heinous crime... then I think the government should do the same with alcohol. I am being sardonic... but what is the huge difference between those that use alcohol versus those that use marijuana?"

The answer is simple: Too many politicians drink alcohol to give it up.

The answers you seek are just a simple history lesson away since Alcohol certainly WAS prohibited in America for a decade long time.

9/2/2012 12:53:21 AM

for once you finally sound like a GeniuS

9/2/2012 2:17:28 AM

What about raw cows milk?

9/2/2012 7:29:52 AM

Quote :

"This is a new and eye opening thread that contains interesting and thought provoking opinions never before discussed in the history of humanity. Thank you oneshot, the Socrates of our time."

9/2/2012 11:05:29 AM

Quote :

"it's not legal because the gov cannot benefit from it being legal. if it were legal everyone would just grow their own instead of buying it for the inevitably high tax markup."

Like everyone makes their own booze or cigarettes?

The reason pot isn't legal is because it makes you lazy.

9/2/2012 11:16:44 AM

The reason given by the government for why pot is illegal is because it is classified as a gateway drug.

9/2/2012 11:44:25 AM

^^ that's no argument for singling it out over alcohol.

The reason is that there isn't enough political gain to justify the political risk involved in making a move towards legalization. There's no incentive for Congressmen to stick their necks out for a relative handful of potheads.

Now, there are a whole bunch of people who think it should be legalized, or would be OK with doing so...but most of them aren't particularly bent out of shape about it being illegal; it's not a hot-button issue for them.

9/2/2012 12:10:48 PM

you guys are such sheep. Almost every post in this thread seems to be based on the idea that the government actually acts based upon our well-being.

Everything they do socially is based on this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmaceutical_lobby

9/2/2012 12:51:25 PM

the war on drugs kills thousands of people every year plus all the needless incarcerations. it's fairly obvious it causes more problems than it solves. it sucks money and power dictate policy and not liberty

9/2/2012 1:46:27 PM

At this point only a national referendum will make weed legal. There is far, far too much money built into policing for profit, housing prisoners, and continuing the drug war. Do you really think police unions would be in favor of reducing the need for cops? Do you think small towns whose biggest employer is a prison want to see that place emptied out?

Sure, we might one day see weed decriminalized, but full legalization of drugs, even marijuana on a federal level won't happen until the baby boomers die out at the very earliest.

9/2/2012 4:08:04 PM

A national law against drugs is unconstitutional, FYI.


I don't know why we tolerate it other than it's forced on us.

9/2/2012 4:50:57 PM

Quote :

"Sure, we might one day see weed decriminalized, but full legalization of drugs, even marijuana on a federal level won't happen until the baby boomers die out at the very earliest."

This could be said for way more than drug laws. This is one of many reasons why I don't really have a problem with not going into massive debt to keep the older generations alive while they suck the life out of the younger, working generations.

9/2/2012 6:30:22 PM

Weed will be decriminalized one day. Just not by the first black president, or it would also make him the last black president.

9/2/2012 6:33:12 PM

Yeah, I've said it before and I'll say it again, our grandparents were The Greatest Generation, our parents were The Worst Generation, and we're The Fucked Generation.

It's going to be on us to fix this mess that our parents have laid at our feet and decide whether to save this country or not.

9/2/2012 6:46:55 PM

Quote :

"Almost every post in this thread seems to be based on the idea that the government actually acts based upon our well-being. "

It's just amazing how obviously wrong this statement was.

9/2/2012 7:35:30 PM

^^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss-Howe_generational_theory

^ Most glaringly to include my previous post that immediately preceded his.

9/2/2012 8:34:05 PM

dont go down this road, you vindictive fagpots


the point is to get a wrong UNDONE, not destroy more freedoms with revenge minded retribution.

Because you know why? It's easier ban more shit than to free it. ANd thats exactly what we do now.
We dont fix the pothole on mainstreet, we petition city hall to have a pothole installed on the next street over. And it fucking HAPPENS


[Edited on September 3, 2012 at 4:53 AM. Reason : fukin xanax]

9/3/2012 4:51:27 AM

The federal government should just step aside from all regulation on marijuana, and just ban it from being imported.

Does smoking weed contribute to lung cancer? I do not know, I am asking.

9/5/2012 12:24:07 AM

I would think that inhaling any kind of smoke is bad for your lungs.

[Edited on September 5, 2012 at 2:52 PM. Reason : -]

9/5/2012 2:52:29 PM

Wasn't there some new study recently, one of the biggest of it's kind that said it doesn't decrease lung capacity, and in some cases, actually increases it? i forgot if it said anything about cancer.

9/5/2012 2:59:05 PM

Quote :

"it's not legal because the gov cannot benefit from it being legal."

Except in certain parts of Europe, where the government benefits from taxing it and then puts some of that money into drug rehab.

What people don't realize about the "OMG they will just grow it on their own" Response to legalizing pot is that you can brew beer MUCH MUCH easier than growing your own weed, but people still spend a ton of money on buying beer cuz they just don't want to go through the hassle of brewing.

Basically not legalizing pot is all about this country being too conservative and unwilling to progress to a more socialized civility. I have never even smoked pot before, but it should be legal and taxed for drug rehab.

9/6/2012 9:33:39 AM

Quote :

"What people don't realize about the "OMG they will just grow it on their own" Response to legalizing pot is that you can brew beer MUCH MUCH easier than growing your own weed, but people still spend a ton of money on buying beer cuz they just don't want to go through the hassle of brewing. Basically not legalizing pot is all about this country being too conservative and unwilling to progress to a more socialized civility. I have never even smoked pot before, but it should be legal and taxed for drug rehab."

Strongly agree. The moment it's legalized, I fully expect the emergence of some sort of "big weed". Sure, you'll have little niches of premium marijuana grown similar to how you have craft brewers and home brewers, but in the end, most people will probably buy their weed from a few large entities (my bet is probably big tobacco as they already have the distribution and packaging networks for a similar product).

As for the taxing, you have both the European precedence of successful taxation of marijuana related business (coffee shops and the like) and a successful model of Americans taxing both small businesses and regulated substances. The currently underground growers and quasi-legal distributors have every incentive to enter into the American business system so they can expand their businesses as well as receive the financial and legal protections it provides.

9/6/2012 11:00:05 AM

Quote :

"The moment it's legalized, I fully expect the emergence of some sort of "big weed"."

Our "big tobacco" companies sell the product in one of the most harmful delivery methods possible - the cigarette.

Honestly, there's a problem with weed where it gives too much of a high at too little of a physical consequence. Alcohol causes all kinds of health problems and people to die on the roads. Tobacco is the gold standard for a vice that inevitably leads to physical harm.

Pot doesn't fit that narrative. That's a bad thing, not a good thing, for its legal status. Use of pot is at least somewhat founded in the idea of experimenting, and it's not culturally bound to the delivery mechanism. Water bongs are already relatively healthy compared to cigarettes and they're a cultural mainstay. Many medical marijuana dispensaries give people big balloons produced by a centralized machine that minimizes the tar and particulate manner.

Don't you see, that kills the political case. The ethos it needs to fit is drugs = bad. If cheap and legal pot vaporizers could be found in many places, then people would have no choice but to question the drugs = bad narrative. The damage that would do to the global war on drugs would be irrevocable. The idea couldn't be sold anymore.

I've shown that reasonable legalization of pot is mutually exclusive with the continuance of the war on drugs, while the current status of tobacco and alcohol is not. All the relevant national governments intend to continue the war on drugs. QED.

9/6/2012 11:13:44 AM