I personally believe that all drugs should be legal and I'll tell you why. The war on drugs has created a huge black market that creates tons and tons of violence because it's difficult to get drugs here in to the US. Make them legal, and the black market would practically dissapear. Also, since when is it the government's job to police what somebody wants to do to their own body? As long as it's not harming anyone, it's really not anybody else's business. And as far as marijuana goes, this plant is harmless, and has been proven time and time again to be beneficial for some people. In the words of Ed "njweedman" Forchion (a really really great first amendment/marijuana activist) it's not bad, it's just illegal.

hmm very dangerous line there. drugs have social implications as well, not just individual compromise. I think we are overlooking this part of the discussion. almost all drugs alter behavior in some manner, and behavior affects how one relates to their surroundings i.e. other people. this in turn affects families, communities and eventually society.

a heroin addict even if the drug where legal, would reach a state of bankruptcy and likely to turn toi crime to obtain money for the drug. so let us not look at drugs to lightly, sure their ilegality tends to maek them that much more attractive but they are still psychoactive elements that can drastically alter neural pathways affecting behavior and even health.

Hah.. this anti drug talk about marijuna has got me thinking about a assualt rifle arguement...

Very similiar statistics, but many of the people that are for marijuna are so agianst people actually having guns..

I am against restrictions on gun ownership when it goes beyond comon sense.

I think a background check for guns is reasonable, even necessary, but I think that we should be allowed to own them.

I like my guns.

Good North Carolinian!

Well I'm just firmly behind the belief that there is a better solution to the prob.

Look at it this drastically. Everytime the Union executed a Cenfederate soldier, the confederates would execute 10 union soldiers.

You give them that one lil drug, and the next time around the reprocussions are gonna hurt.

Cigarette smoke does more harm to those AROUND the smoker than the smoker HIMSELF.

People who abuse Alcohol tend to injure each others more than themselves.

Like Megil said, most drugs alter behavior. That behavior can lead to the injury of others.

So they can affect others very drastically. Even if not a physical level, than a emotional one. Someone's partnetr probablly won't be thrilled to see them drinking their sorrows away or lighting up a joint to get escape those troubles for a time.

etc.

Alright, the game is changing now...

Drug wars are ravaging our streets, it isn't happening on the other side of the world anymore. Legalise it? No, that isn't the answer, it comes down to families now, not the government, to do their part. Educate your kids, mum, dad, get off your british boat and tell your kids the bare truth. Don't skip on any detail no matter how gruesome, the reason Marijuana is still illegal is because it usually leads to something bigger.

I know when I was involved in dealers and moving (don't ask), I knew that most of the crack, heroin junkies began on something like marijuana. If you could eliminate marijuana you would also have a lot less cocaine and heroin moving overseas. By legalising something small like marijuana you will find that the battle against the more powerful narcotics would escalate.

There is no solution in the near future, it will take time, money and patience.

Cheers
Brood

i agree to 100 percent with that - good example: amsterdam. marijuana is legal there, and guess what, in every corner there are man asking you "cocaine? cocaine?" ... it doesnt stop with marijuana.

For the sake of my mental health I'll stop this, because I know that I could (and I'm thinkin' you probably could too) go back and forth like this forever.

So, I see what you're saying, but personaly I disagree.

weed legalization would free up alot of room in prison. it would make my life perfectly legal.

Did you just say that since you smoke pot, it should be legal?

It would make the vast majority of peoples lives legal. You would be surprised how many closet pot heads are out there. Republican ones too

The "war on drugs" is one big joke the CIA have been selling dope since before most of the people in this forum were born the put LSD on the market legalise everything I say

Oh boy, more conspirasy theories.

They might not be doing it anymore but they put LSD on the market(the only good thing they have ever done?)

I´m not crazy the Illuminatti and the Fremasons and Rockstar North are all making me look crazy so they can send nazi cyborg mutants that are 2/4 robots and 1/4 Alien and 1/4 demon to the moon do make a launch pad for a nuclear missle they are going to laucnh at mars, because there are celtic martians there who are going to ruin the MAx Payne series by giving Max some anti-depression drugs......NOT CRAZY!!!:wacko:

I dunno. On one hand I can understand where the antidrug people are coming from, but my personal point of view is a little more lax on personal freedoms.
Those who want to keep marijuana outlawed (and maybe outlaw other drugs) simply want their children/friends/relatives to be safe. They want the people they know and love to have a nice country to grow up in. Drugs tend to push away already unsocial elements of the population and cause them to do things they don't want to happen. (murder, theft, ect...) I know a person in 11th grade who is in several 9th grade classes. He deals drugs, and I wouldn't doubt that he "samples the merchandise" from time to time. He, obviously, can't control where his life is going, as it is going nowhere fast. I see him in ten years wandering around city streets at night breaking street lights.
On the other hand, several of my friends smoke weed. I don't, at least I have't, and I doubt I will anytime soon, but I would prefer that some drugs be legal. One of my friends does marijuana, and she lives an otherwise (fairly) normal life. Does that mean that marijuana is good? No. Then there are people who need the marijuana for medicene. Should they be told that, just because some people can't control themselves, they have to die/suffer? No.
Here is a quote from a Robert Heinlein book, For Us, The Living. It is a good book, and the law system in it seems like it would be good and work well. My quote may not be exact, but it should be close enough to convey the point. This quote is one of the laws, one of the Amendments to the Constitution.

This doesn't make theft legal, as that infringes on other people's rights of ownership. It doesn't make DWI legal, since that iinfringes on other people's right to be safe. It doesn't make any drugs legal unless the person can control themselves well wnough that they don't do something stupid to other people.

I suggest a compromise. This should be enough to make more people, although not everyone, happy. First, make soft drugs legal, but strictly controlled. Second, make cigarettes/nicotime products and alchohal products, as well as subscription medicines, legal, but all of them under the same controls. These controls are as follows:
1. These drugs shall not be made available to minors, except on the recomendation of a doctor, in the form of a subscription, and the doctor must be liscensed by a medical school in the area he is suggesting the use of drugs for.
2. These drugs are not to be taken in a public setting, or is the person to drive a vehicle for a period of a certain number of hours, depending on the dosage recommended.
3. These drugs shall be made available to any citizen who is not a minor who wishes to partake in their use, but only if thisperson is able to collect several signatures of responsible adults in the area, saying that the person is responsible enough to control their life.
4. The doses made available to citizens who are not minors shall be strictly controlled, and based partially upon an ammount suggested by the persons who sign for them.
5. These people will also not be permitted to use the drugs in a public area, or drive any vehicle during a certain period after the use of the drugs.
5. The period after use of the drugs that the person will not be permitted to drive a vehicle will be based upon the ammount that they are recieving, and will last at least .5 hours longer than their dosage should.

This is just a suggested compromise, feel free to add suggestions.

Now, for how my words should be taken. I am a liberal 14 year old boy living in Northwestern United States. I have several friends who take drugs, including marijuana, some of whom are able to control their use, and others of whom their use controls them. Feel free to regard/disregard my oppinion based on this information.

To be honest it doesnt really matter for me if weed is legal or not, its relatively easy to get, i can smoke it in public with no problems, if cops find it on me they will tell me to drop it and i get a warning. I find the laws on weed pretty light as they are in the UK.

I smoke it to have a good time with my mates, i can control myself when it comes to alcohol and weed, and i certainly wouldnt act violent in any case after having either.