Cannabis, Poll your Views

[Purple Haze]

Yes

Yes

Legalize it

Why? I like hanging around stoners a lot more than drunks, and drinking's legal. Not only that, but selling it legally, taxing it, and using said taxes on education and highways would do a lot more good than using our already-stretched-thin taxes on keeping users and sellers in jail. Besides, has keeping it illegal really saved many lives? It's so easy to find anyway - hell, you can buy some in one of our McDonald's drive-thrus (haven't done this myself, but know of people who have).

[Typhon]

I use cannabis on a daily basis. I have been using it for quite some time now, approximately 10 years. I run a restaurant, have two wonderful kids, I own my house and I'm only 24. It hasn't slowed me down a bit. You can't get stoned and chill in your basement every single day, you've gotta stay active.

@Gary7: You made it sound as if your friend started smoking weed after he put a bullet in his head, but your friend didn't get $150,000k into debt because of marijuana, he was addicted to coke. Marijuana did not force him to snort his first line man, you can't pass blame like that.

What kind do you use?

[Liandros]

yes

yes

LEGALIZE IT!!

as a matter of fact.....im on it now.

[MrKuro]

yes

yes

Legamize it

The only reason I'm not using it, and haven't done so for 3yrs, its because I get paid waaaaay too much money at my current job, and would not want to risk getting fired for drug usage.

[primexx]

no

no

legalize

[Lee G. Veteran]

No.

Yes.

Legalize it.

[megamanXplosion]

Responsible marijuana use and distribution should be legal. Under 21? No sale; no allowed use. 21+? Allowed, provided you don't operate vehicles or heavy machinery. It should be regulated like alcohol, minus the Sunday-sales restriction.

People think criminalization solves the drug problem. It doesn't. Criminalization makes it more accessible to minors because black market dealers don't check IDs. Considering the link between marijuana use by those under 21—those with rapid neuronal development using a drug that effects neutrotransmitters—and increased risk of developing psychosis and schizophrenia, the last thing you want is to make it easier for them to get. Those black market dealers will likely pressure them into trying other, more dangerous drugs too. Criminalization increases marijuana use by minors, pads the pockets of black market dealers and thus gives them greater incentive to sell to minors, increases the odds of minors developing psychosis or schizophrenia, increases the odds of minors being pressured into trying other drugs, and causes anxiety among those who must confess to their illegal actions to get the medical help they need to stop using marijuana; criminalization isn't a solution, unless you're a drug dealer who stands to profit from it.

[Zab]

Exactly my feeling Megaman, (except in canada it should be 18+ or 19+ to get it depending on the province you live in coinciding with the drinking age of alcohol.

[Brodel]

Yes

Yes

Decriminalize

[MGS4-SS]

No

No

Make it legal

[Dc'1]

I have used cannabis, if the chance came up for a puff, I would probably say yes, and I think it should be legalised.

If it is legalised it will be made purer, I'm sure smoking binbag and mud is probably more unhealthy than Cannabis.

[Zab]

what do you mean by made purer? Cannabis if it is cross breeded is still pure, until they mix it with a different chemical or drug it is considered pure. Quality doesn't mean pure or impure.

[RuudJacobs.NET]

Never used it nor will I ever, but I think it should be legalized all over the world, works great here in The Netherlands...

[duritz]

alright i can already tell summer is here....weed smokin boredom LOL

from an economic stand point the legalization of marijuana would free up a lot of government resources to be used in a more important issue. i have actually heard economists toss around this idea....crazy aint it?

[ctebah]

i love the comments of people that say their buddy started using marijuana and then ended up on harder drugs. that is in no way because of marijuana. your friends were dumb and irresponsible and wanted something more than just a simple high.

i have a few friends as well, we used to get high here and there and now after not seeing them for a while i find out they use coke. i've been offered coke but i refused it. every once in a while i end up in a party where all people do is coke and no one smokes weed.....

but who cares, whatever the reason for smoking it, as long as you're responsible and active you're going to be fine.

[tiagosilva29]

Under 21? No sale; no allowed use. (...) Criminalization increases marijuana use by minors (...)

Your solution isn't really a solution as making the sale and use on kids forbiddens acts still does the same, like tobacco or alcohol.

Adults will still sell the stuff to kids. Kids will still be able to able to get it.

[Zab]

In highschool, it was easier for me to get weed than Alcohol or Tobacco (unless our little city of 35000 went dry)

In Order easiest to hardest

Cannabis

Tobacco (not that hard at all)

Alcohol !!!!!!!! SUPER HARD TO GET (unless your friends brother is 19+ :D)

Edited May 10, 2008 by Zab

[megamanXplosion]

Your solution isn't really a solution as making the sale and use on kids forbiddens acts still does the same, like tobacco or alcohol.

Adults will still sell the stuff to kids. Kids will still be able to able to get it.

I didn't present a "solution" to stop marijuana use among children. If anyone expects government laws to entirely prevent certain behaviors, they're unrealistically optimistic. I merely presented a way to lessen its use. On average, minors find it more difficult to purchase alcohol than marijuana because, unlike most tobacco and liquor stores, they don't need to wait in the drug dealer's parking lot for an hour to find someone "cool enough" to buy it for them.

[leesmithg]

Drugs like this only make one want a bigger fix thus, moving onto stronger things.

If you want to smoke your stinky weed, then be my guest, do it in your own space and don't walk around the streets and try impose it

on others.

I am glad our parliament has moved cannabis back to a class b drug.

I see in Britain in 20 years half the population 25-65 with severe mental issues and bloated livers as this socialist government

has allowed the electorate to smoke and drink themselves into that situation.

Another thing when you want to get off your stinky drugs then pay for your own treatment.

[Zab]

lee, you dont' have a clue about it, I have never wanted a bigger fix, you don't get addicted to marijuana at all comparable to something where you need a fix. (Some people have been known to be sold Cannabis mixed with other drugs without knowing it which is the only time something like this would happen)

And we are not imposing it on anyone, thats like saying if someone walks down the street with a smoothy they are imposing it upon you to buy one.

also marijuana doesn't cause SEVERE mental issues unless that person already has a susceptibility to it due to an already existing problem.

It is just like alcohol, you don't drink it if you have a bad liver or have an addictive personality or a really violent person, or you die, become an alcoholic, or are an extreme violent drunk.

don't smoke Cannabis if you have a mental problem, or it very possibly will cause you harm

Lee, you are uneducated on Marijuana and it's effects on people. I come to this conclusion from your first line:

Drugs like this [Cannabis] only make one want a bigger fix thus, moving onto stronger things.

Edited May 10, 2008 by Zab

[_bobcat_ Veteran]

No drugs kill. A good friend of mine went over 150,000 in debt on cocaine and ended up putiing a bullet in his head. He started smoking pot. So no, I will never support the legalization of any mind altering drug.

He would have put a bullet in his head if he had worked in investment banking and lost that much money or if he got addicted to gambling instead. The fact that he moved on from pot to cocaine is not the fault of cannabis. It is the fault of your friend who made that choice. It's only this lack of personal responsibility that really justifies keeping things controlled/illegal.

Also, plenty of mind altering drugs are already legal. Alcohol and many prescription medications. Do you think cancer and surgery patients should be denied morphine and anesthetics?

Never used it, never will. I am opposed to any drug use simply because it is a major cause of a lot of violence and most people just use it to escape their true life/problems, which in the end is just wasting time you could be using to fix those problems.

How do you know this? Evidence?

Alcohol can make people volatile but cannabis does the opposite.

How do you know why other people use drugs? I think making such assertions is a bit ignorant, as is the judgement that escaping your worries for a while is necessarily a bad thing.

....

And we are not imposing it on anyone, thats like saying if someone walks down the street with a smoothy they are imposing it upon you to buy one.

also marijuana doesn't cause SEVERE mental issues unless that person already has a susceptibility to it due to an already existing problem.

....

If you smoke in a public place other people *will* end up inhaling it, just like cigarette smoke. Therefore you ARE imposing it on others. If someone can smell it then they must be inhaling at least some chemicals from it.

I find it strange that you think psychosis and schizophrenia are not severe...

[Zab]

In public is not imposing it upon someone as long as they aren't inhaling it, did i say they were? You can be in public and make sure others aren't inhaling it. as well "I" do not believe to smell it is to inhale it when it comes down to the physics of it, but i am not a physicist so have no right to argue that point.

And having worked in Mental Health Care hospital, (one in our town, as well my mom worked there, and i ended up there as well, but not anymore) I have never met a case that Cannabis alone induced these mental illnesses upon people WITHOUT preexisting problems. and this is by todays standards a huge mental hospital, though they have been removing wards and moving them to London Ontario to close this one down because of the cost of running it (Very old building yet REALLY BIG, most people think it's a bad decision).

[megamanXplosion]

Drugs like this only make one want a bigger fix thus, moving onto stronger things.

One could argue the same for caffeine.

If you want to smoke your stinky weed, then be my guest, do it in your own space and don't walk around the streets and try impose it

on others.

Do you agree to legalizing or decriminalizing it so people can smoke their stinky weed in their own space?

I am glad our parliament has moved cannabis back to a class b drug.

The reasoning behind the reclassification was moronic. The main argument was about the link to increased odds of developing psychosis and schizophrenia. What is their solution to that? Oh yes, sending people to prison for even more years with thieves, rapists, and murderers! I must ask your parliament: what increases the odds of developing psychosis and schizophrenia more, inhaling marijuana smoke or living with thieves, rapists, and murderers? (Clinical depression, psychosocial stress, and sleep deprivation are some of the leading functional causes of psychosis while social disadvantage, poverty, racial discrimination, unemployment, and poor living conditions are some of the leading functional causes of schizophrenia, and all of these effect prisoners.) The reasoning behind the reclassification consisted of downright stupidity plus a willful ignorance of the opinions of those on the advisory committee on the misuse of drugs (i.e. the experts); in short, it was moronic.

Another thing when you want to get off your stinky drugs then pay for your own treatment.

The reason the government pays for treatment is to help people become more productive members of the work force again, which leads to the government getting its money back in the form of taxes. Stopping treatment would accomplish nothing, merely causing people to remain unproductive and letting them become drags on the economy.

lee, you dont' have a clue about it, I have never wanted a bigger fix, you don't get addicted to marijuana at all comparable to something where you need a fix. (Some people have been known to be sold Cannabis mixed with other drugs without knowing it which is the only time something like this would happen)

I agree completely. I have also never wanted a bigger fix. I don't even take aspirin unless it's necessary. People too easily confuse personal choices with chemically induced behavior. The people who generally want a bigger fix are those suffering from clinical depression or some other mental ailment. Drug use shouldn't be approached as a criminal problem, it should be approached as a medical problem.

I can also testify to marijuana being mixed with other drugs and chemicals. That is how I lost two front teeth. There was something other than mariuana in what I smoked, which caused my stomach to feel knotted and I became so lightheaded that I fainted, falling off the back pegs of my friend's bike and smashing my face into the street pavement. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in the hospital with a swollen, bloody face. I have fake teeth in the front now, that sometimes taste like metal. Anyhow, criminalization was partly responsible for that incident. If it were legal, the contents of the marijuana could be regulated and there wouldn't have been rat poison or pesticide (commonly used around plants) in it for me to inhale.

[tiagosilva29]

If anyone expects government laws to entirely prevent certain behaviors, they're unrealistically optimistic. I merely presented a way to lessen its use. On average, minors find it more difficult to purchase alcohol than marijuana because, unlike most tobacco and liquor stores, they don't need to wait in the drug dealer's parking lot for an hour to find someone "cool enough" to buy it for them.

Or they haven't met /don't have decent decent enforcers / punitive / penitentiary action. That's what's wrong with in most countries; corruption and/or lack of punishment/reeducation.

It isn't uncommon for someone to commit violent offenses or risk time for a lot of money. They'll be inside a literal hotel for X amount of time, courtesy of my taxes and the ****ty laws.

Compared to your country and Canada--- all it's very easy to get (alcohol, tobacco, drugs). There are very few places that actually check citizen cards, people still believe in desenrascan?o>* of their peers, and the moneybringers. Your suggestion couldn't work here.

Desenrascan?o is a Portuguese word used in common language in Portugal, to express an ability to solve a problem without the adequate tools or proper technique to do so and by use of sometimes imaginative resource fullness when facing new situations. Achieved when resulting in a hypothetical good-enough solution. When that good solution escapes us we get a failure (enrascan?o -entanglement). Most Portuguese people strongly believe it to be one of the their most valued virtues and a living part of their culture./i>

[megamanXplosion]

Penitentiary and punitive action are not solutions. In the case of marijuana use, they are bigger problems than that which we're trying to solve. Education is important, and it falls under the "medical problem" approach I endorse.