Why is marijuana illegal again?

[Powerman]

I'd like to hear some reasons why marijuana is illegal and alcohol and tobacco are not.

Any takers?

[darin]

Marijuana 'sounds' worse. People legalize and make illegal things which 'sound' bad. (shrug)

[Mr. P]

I'd like to hear some reasons why marijuana is illegal and alcohol and tobacco are not.

Any takers?

$$$$$ Big liquor companies would lose big $$$$$

[Powerman]

$$$$$ Big liquor companies would lose big $$$$$

Would they?

People can already get marijuana very easily. Particularly the underage

[Mr. P]

Would they?

People can already get marijuana very easily. Particularly the underage

Not legally. The price would drop like a rock and consumption would skyrocket if it were legal. IMO

[Powerman]

Not legally. The price would drop like a rock and consumption would skyrocket if it were legal. IMO

Perhaps. But if it were legal, then private companies could invest in it. So why wouldn't the alcohol companies just invest in marijuana?

[Mr. P]

Perhaps. But if it were legal, then private companies could invest in it. So why wouldn't the alcohol companies just invest in marijuana?

That I don't know. I think it would be tobacco most likely to invest though. IMO it's stupid that it's illegal now.

[-Cp]

Er.. could it be that it's a Gateway drug to other things whereas Tobacco and Alcohol aren't?

New research confirms that marijuana is a gateway drug for most teens who use it.

Some will tell you marijuana is a harmless drug, but the Journal of the American Medical Association isn't one of them.

Young people who smoke marijuana are two to five times more likely to move on to harder drugs. That is the formal opinion of researchers, who published their conclusions from a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

It is also the informal conclusion of two recent high school graduates who talked with Family News in Focus. The two, who asked that their names remain anonymous, said they no longer smoke marijuana, but that most of the kids they smoked pot with in high school went on to harder drugs and aren't able to hold jobs.

One of the young persons said she started smoking pot because of peer pressure, but she stopped out of concern for her parents.

"I realized how bad it disappointed my parents," she said. "My dad cried and so I stopped."

The JAMA study followed 311 sets of identical twins — one smoked pot while the other did not. Twins were chosen to help rule out a genetic or social explanation for the gateway effect. Almost half of the young people who started smoking marijuana before 17 went on to use harder drugs later in life. The study is the latest to suggest the link between marijuana and other drugs like cocaine and heroin. However, Howard Simon, of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, said regardless of the evidence some still dispute the findings.

"But the one thing everyone should be able to agree on is that for young kids, to be even 'dabbling' with marijuana is just not a good idea," Simon said.

He added he still thinks "Just Say No" is the best policy.

"Regardless of the first drug that is used, what we want to see is kids choosing not to use any of these substances," Simon said.

But experts say a good drug policy isn't enough. They say parents need to be open and consistent with an anti-drug message.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a non-profit group founded by the nation's advertising industry to fight drug use among teens and children, has a Web site with information for parents.

The Journal of the American Medical Association is a subscription-based periodical. Temporarily, the online version of the Journal is offering free access to the drug study article. Please be advised that JAMA, however, reserves the right to change free access to paid access at any time.


http://www.marijuanaaddiction.info/news-left.htm?aid=49

[Roomy]

Because it stinks like fucking shit.

[Yurt]

Ganja is no more a gateway drug than booze. Sheese, they both fuck up your mind if you do to much.

The debate is about $$$$, not gateways. Please, the drugs that make people sick are meth, coke, whatever, not ganja, those guys are too stoned to do anything....


Making marijuana illegal is a joke, it serves only to feed the drug czar's budget.

Silly.

[Mr. P]

Er.. could it be that it's a Gateway drug to other things whereas Tobacco and Alcohol aren't?

New research confirms that marijuana is a gateway drug for most teens who use it.

Some will tell you marijuana is a harmless drug, but the Journal of the American Medical Association isn't one of them.

Young people who smoke marijuana are two to five times more likely to move on to harder drugs. That is the formal opinion of researchers, who published their conclusions from a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

It is also the informal conclusion of two recent high school graduates who talked with Family News in Focus. The two, who asked that their names remain anonymous, said they no longer smoke marijuana, but that most of the kids they smoked pot with in high school went on to harder drugs and aren't able to hold jobs.

One of the young persons said she started smoking pot because of peer pressure, but she stopped out of concern for her parents.

"I realized how bad it disappointed my parents," she said. "My dad cried and so I stopped."

The JAMA study followed 311 sets of identical twins — one smoked pot while the other did not. Twins were chosen to help rule out a genetic or social explanation for the gateway effect. Almost half of the young people who started smoking marijuana before 17 went on to use harder drugs later in life. The study is the latest to suggest the link between marijuana and other drugs like cocaine and heroin. However, Howard Simon, of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, said regardless of the evidence some still dispute the findings.

"But the one thing everyone should be able to agree on is that for young kids, to be even 'dabbling' with marijuana is just not a good idea," Simon said.

He added he still thinks "Just Say No" is the best policy.

"Regardless of the first drug that is used, what we want to see is kids choosing not to use any of these substances," Simon said.

But experts say a good drug policy isn't enough. They say parents need to be open and consistent with an anti-drug message.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a non-profit group founded by the nation's advertising industry to fight drug use among teens and children, has a Web site with information for parents.

The Journal of the American Medical Association is a subscription-based periodical. Temporarily, the online version of the Journal is offering free access to the drug study article. Please be advised that JAMA, however, reserves the right to change free access to paid access at any time.


http://www.marijuanaaddiction.info/news-left.htm?aid=49

Tobacco and alcohol aren't legal for kids now but they get it. MJ is not legal for anyone now but they get it. This Gateway claim has also been proven a myth.

[-Cp]

Tobacco and alcohol aren't legal for kids now but they get it. MJ is not legal for anyone now but they get it. This Gateway claim has also been proven a myth.

Proven by whom? LINK plz..

[-Cp]

Making marijuana illegal is a joke, it serves only to feed the drug czar's budget.

Silly.

I don't agree - could you imagine how much the gobment could make if they legalized it? Good lord, the could tax the snot out of it...

[Nuc]

I can prove alcohol is more dangerous than pot.

I never woke up next to an ugly pig because I smoked too much pot!

:alcoholic: :wine:

[Roomy]

Marijuana :laugh2: why not spell it mariwarna?

Users are predisposed to try other more dangerous drugs.Like cattle, they just have to chew the cud.

[Mr. P]

Proven by whom? LINK plz..

By many in the past, and it's just been in the new lately too. Studies find MJ has no long term effects, it's not addictive and is less of a danger to health than alcohol or tobacco.

[Roomy]

By many in the past, and it's just been in the new lately too. Studies find MJ has no long term effects, it's not addictive and is less of a danger to health than alcohol or tobacco.

Hardly, it is mostly taken in conjuction with tobacco and or alcohol, imo.

[Yurt]

I don't agree - could you imagine how much the gobment could make if they legalized it? Good lord, the could tax the snot out of it...

And your tax dollars are doing what now, with regards to the leaf? It is the same my friend, the same. The dollars are used there or they are given here.

[Mr. P]

Hardly, it is mostly taken in conjuction with tobacco and or alcohol, imo.
Yeah well, you guys drink tea too! Go figure.:poke:

[Roomy]

Yeah well, you guys drink tea too! Go figure.:poke:


Not me buddy boy, hardly, anyway.:laugh2:

[Nukeman]

Proven by whom? LINK plz..

Here ya go, some links


It is hardly a revelation that people who use one of the least popular drugs are likely to use the more popular ones - not only marijuana, but also alcohol and tobacco cigarettes. The obvious statistic not publicized by CASA is that most marijuana users - 83 percent - never use cocaine. Indeed, for the nearly 70 million Americans who have tried marijuana, it is clearly a "terminus" rather than a "gateway" drug.

http://www.marijuanalibrary.org/gateway.html


A spokesman for the UK charity Drugscope backed the study's findings.

He told BBC News Online: "Sixty per cent of young people aged 20 to 24 have used cannabis, but only 1% of that age group have used harder drugs.

"So the idea of cannabis leading people in that direction is misleading."

He criticised the gateway theory, and backed decriminalisation of cannabis use.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2538065.stm

[Kathianne]

Er.. could it be that it's a Gateway drug to other things whereas Tobacco and Alcohol aren't?

New research confirms that marijuana is a gateway drug for most teens who use it.

Some will tell you marijuana is a harmless drug, but the Journal of the American Medical Association isn't one of them.

Young people who smoke marijuana are two to five times more likely to move on to harder drugs. That is the formal opinion of researchers, who published their conclusions from a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

It is also the informal conclusion of two recent high school graduates who talked with Family News in Focus. The two, who asked that their names remain anonymous, said they no longer smoke marijuana, but that most of the kids they smoked pot with in high school went on to harder drugs and aren't able to hold jobs.

One of the young persons said she started smoking pot because of peer pressure, but she stopped out of concern for her parents.

"I realized how bad it disappointed my parents," she said. "My dad cried and so I stopped."

The JAMA study followed 311 sets of identical twins — one smoked pot while the other did not. Twins were chosen to help rule out a genetic or social explanation for the gateway effect. Almost half of the young people who started smoking marijuana before 17 went on to use harder drugs later in life. The study is the latest to suggest the link between marijuana and other drugs like cocaine and heroin. However, Howard Simon, of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, said regardless of the evidence some still dispute the findings.

"But the one thing everyone should be able to agree on is that for young kids, to be even 'dabbling' with marijuana is just not a good idea," Simon said.

He added he still thinks "Just Say No" is the best policy.

"Regardless of the first drug that is used, what we want to see is kids choosing not to use any of these substances," Simon said.

But experts say a good drug policy isn't enough. They say parents need to be open and consistent with an anti-drug message.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a non-profit group founded by the nation's advertising industry to fight drug use among teens and children, has a Web site with information for parents.

The Journal of the American Medical Association is a subscription-based periodical. Temporarily, the online version of the Journal is offering free access to the drug study article. Please be advised that JAMA, however, reserves the right to change free access to paid access at any time.


http://www.marijuanaaddiction.info/news-left.htm?aid=49
The gateway is created by it's illegal status. If it were legal and sold at Walmart, it would not be a gateway.

[Dilloduck]

The primary reason for "substance" use is to artificially alter ones' state of mind or feelings. Anything that succeeds in accomplishing that can be a gateway depending on the person, the availability, the price and the cultural stigma attatched to the substance. If the substance is taken away or becomes ineffective for the individual it is only natural to seek out another method of altering ones' consciousness.

[MtnBiker]

What is the purpose of smoking marijuana for a person who chooses to do so?

[Kathianne]

What is the purpose of smoking marijuana for a person who chooses to do so?

Well for me it's been like nearly 30 years, but if I remember it was to be 'cool' and get high.

[Dilloduck]

What is the purpose of smoking marijuana for a person who chooses to do so?

If pot didn't alter one' state of mind, no one would do it other than for some kind of peer acceptance.

[MtnBiker]

Ok, peer influence and altering your state of mind could be including in reasons a person may choose to smoke pot?

[Dilloduck]

Ok, peer influence and altering your state of mind could be including in reasons a person may choose to smoke pot?

I'm all ears for other reasons---those are just the two main ones that come to my mind.

[MtnBiker]

I'm all ears for other reasons---those are just the two main ones that come to my mind.

Same here, I'm not involved in the pot smoking community but I do wonder what other reasons there might be? Other than a perscribe medical condition.

[shattered]

Same here, I'm not involved in the pot smoking community but I do wonder what other reasons there might be? Other than a perscribe medical condition.

Beats the crap out of me.. I've heard it "feels cool".. My only experience with it was the complete opposite.. My entire body felt like jelly, and I no longer had complete control of it..(could barely move off the couch), and afterwards, had the strangest urge to eat like a pig.

Not exactly on my list of "fun" and "cool" things to do...and it definitely did NOT feel good.

[MtnBiker]

Why would someone choose to drink an alcoholic beverage?

[shattered]

Why would someone choose to drink an alcoholic beverage?

Taste.

[Dilloduck]

Why would someone choose to drink an alcoholic beverage?

Same reasons.

[MtnBiker]

Same reasons.

Agreed, there are present some of the same qualities and conditions with alcohol and pot. However are the reasons for someone to choose to drink an alcoholic beverage limited to peer pressure and mind altering atributes?

[MtnBiker]

Taste.

Agreed.

[Dilloduck]

Agreed, there are present some of the same qualities and conditions with alcohol and pot. However are the reasons for someone to choose to drink an alcoholic beverage limited to peer pressure and mind altering atributes?

I think there are celebratory and symbolic reasons for drinking alcohol as well.

[Dilloduck]

I think there are celebratory and symbolic reasons for drinking alcohol as well.

I think the alcohol culture is just more established and accepted by western society. We "toast" to things as opposed to smoking to them.

[Sitarro]

Hardly, it is mostly taken in conjuction with tobacco and or alcohol, imo.

Taken?????? You are disqualified from this discussion because you obviously don't know anything about anything.

[Hobbit]

I think this is worth posting again. There's a section about the war on drugs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvsADU2OOWM

Also, if you search for Penn and Teller on Google Video and YouTube, you can find the BS episode about the war on drugs. It turns out that law enforcement turns out to be dozens of times more expensive than rehab if the goal is to reduce total use.

[Roomy]

Taken?????? You are disqualified from this discussion because you obviously don't know anything about anything.

Is your condition life threatening?

[-Cp]

By many in the past, and it's just been in the new lately too. Studies find MJ has no long term effects, it's not addictive and is less of a danger to health than alcohol or tobacco.

Please cite your sources...

[Hobbit]

Please cite your sources...

It'll take me a while to find the stuff comparing it to tobacco, but as far as alcohol is concerned, tell me one person who has died from a marijuana overdose.

[Dilloduck]

It'll take me a while to find the stuff comparing it to tobacco, but as far as alcohol is concerned, tell me one person who has died from a marijuana overdose.

nope---but someone cruising around in society with these symptoms aren't exactly what I call safe.


Psychological effects of a marijuana "overdose" can include racing thoughts, confusion, memory loss, hallucinations, paranoia, depersonalization, nightmares, and depression

http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2298.html

[Mr. P]

nope---but someone cruising around in society with these symptoms aren't exactly what I call safe.


Psychological effects of a marijuana "overdose" can include racing thoughts, confusion, memory loss, hallucinations, paranoia, depersonalization, nightmares, and depression

http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2298.html

All of that can be found with alcohol overdose also, and one other not found with MJ, 'Death'.

[Dilloduck]

All of that can be found with alcohol overdose also, and one other not found with MJ, 'Death'.

I'd never argue that pot was more dangerous than alcohol but don't forget that we are comparing to mighty destructive and dangerous chemical. Saying that it is safer than booze isn't the greatest reason for legalizing it.

[Powerman]

Er.. could it be that it's a Gateway drug to other things whereas Tobacco and Alcohol aren't?

This might literally be the dumbest thing I've ever heard

[Nuc]

This might literally be the dumbest thing I've ever heard

Yeah, alcohol is a gateway drug to nice things like wife beating, hooliganism and tobacco is a gateway to chemotherapy. :lame2:

[Sitarro]

Beats the crap out of me.. I've heard it "feels cool".. My only experience with it was the complete opposite.. My entire body felt like jelly, and I no longer had complete control of it..(could barely move off the couch), and afterwards, had the strangest urge to eat like a pig.

Not exactly on my list of "fun" and "cool" things to do...and it definitely did NOT feel good.

Sounds like you took a valium.

[Gaffer]

MJ is a halucinagen. You don't get high from it, you think you do. Over a period of time you DO get addicted to it. And like any other drug the more you use it the more it takes to get the same feeling of euphoria. It is also not controlable as it can be grown easily anywhere and the government could not tax it easily.

As for a gateway drug, any drug can be a gateway drug. One MJ cigarette is the equivilent of smoking a whole pack of cigarettes. DUe to holding it in the lungs. Regular users might as well become heavy smokers.

If they really want it legalized they just have to prove, with their junk science, that it reduces carbon in the atmosphere.

[Nuc]

MJ is a halucinagen. You don't get high from it, you think you do. Over a period of time you DO get addicted to it. And like any other drug the more you use it the more it takes to get the same feeling of euphoria. It is also not controlable as it can be grown easily anywhere and the government could not tax it easily.

As for a gateway drug, any drug can be a gateway drug. One MJ cigarette is the equivilent of smoking a whole pack of cigarettes. DUe to holding it in the lungs. Regular users might as well become heavy smokers.

If they really want it legalized they just have to prove, with their junk science, that it reduces carbon in the atmosphere.

Your first paragraph is totally correct.

Second one, well it's not necessary to hold it in the lungs. That's something pick think they have to do from watching too many Cheech and Chong movies. Just in the mouth, like a cigar will still get you high. Or you can eat it. Another downside is that it affects your immune system.