Marijuana? Legalize it
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Marijuana should be legalized
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Smoked, eaten, imbibed - or just talked about - it seems the world has a strong taste for cannabis. An estimated one in five European adults have tried it at some time in their lives. Over 13 million Europeans have consumed it in the past month. Globally, nearly 50 000 tonnes of cannabis herb or resin are produced for consumption every year. Little wonder, then, that cannabis has become a controversial cultural phenomenon.
Many people are afraid of drugs. And in a way this is a shame, as this fear from the unknown leaves little room for common sense. This complicates the discussion.
Drug use is not a recent phenomenon. The oldest evidence of drug use has been dated 7000 years ago, but it is suspected that there have always been people using drugs.
Many of these drugs are natural. Hash and marijuana come from the hemp plant. The Peyote cactus provides substance which influences the consciousness as do several fungi. In addition to these (and other) natural drugs there are the synthetic drugs, produced in labs such as LSD and XTC.
Barack Obama Supports Marijuana Decriminalization
What are the risks of drug use?
The effect of a drug is mainly depending on the mood and condition of the user at the time it is being used. Many drugs enhance that mood and sometimes the effects of the drug can turn out differently than expected. Discontentment can turn into depression, fear can turn into panic. A drug can also have undesirable physical effects, such as nausea and vomiting.
The use of drugs is extra dangerous for people who are mentally vulnerable, people with heart and vascular diseases, people with mental health problems and pregnant women. Women breastfeeding their children should be aware that the active components of drugs can be transmitted by mother milk.
Drugs affect the perception and ability to concentrate of the user. Drug use in traffic or at work increases the risk of accidents. Performance at work or school can suffer from drug use.
In the long term sustained drug use can often result in an addiction. Addiction increases the risk of both physical and mental damage.
Brief history on cannabis
In Europe hemp has been used primarily as a fiber material. It has long played only a marginal role as a medical plant. Although there are references throughout history ranging from Herodotus' description of Scythian cannabis-incensed burial rites and Islamic knowledge on medicine. As of the 18th century publications appeared describing the psychoactive effects of cannabis.
During the 19th century the medical application of cannabis increased gradually. It was prescribed in cases of rheumatism, rabies, cholera, tetanus, convulsions and delirium tremens. Cannabis was found to have a relieving effect, sometimes the symptoms (cramps) even completely disappeared.
The therapeutic use of cannabis increased in the second half of the 19th century, but its importance degraded in the beginning of the 20th. Finally a general ban mid 20th century made it impossible to apply cannabis. Recently the interest in therapeutic use of cannabis has increased, especially since in both the US and the Netherlands legislation in this area has become more relaxed.
The effects of cannabis
The psychological effects of cannabis use are euphoria, dysphoria, anxiety, depersonalization, aggravation of psychotic states.
The effects on one's perception are a heightened sensory perception, distortion of space and time sense, misperceptions, hallucinations.
There are also sedative effects, such as a generalized CNS (Central Nervous System) depression, drowsiness, sleep, and an additive effect with other CNS depressants.
Cannabis can cause the fragmentation of thoughts, mental clouding, memory impairment and a global impairment of performance, as well as an increased motor activity followed by inertia and uncoordination, ataxia, dysarthria, tremulousness, weakness and muscle twitching. In acute doses cannabis can increase appetite. With larger doses or chronic use however this effect is reversed.
Obviously cannabis will also have a number of physical effects. With an acute dose the heart rate will increase, the cerebral blood flow is increased and breathe is stimulated. This effect is reversed with chronic use. Among other physical effects, cannabis use results in decreased sperm count and sperm motility in males, suppression of ovulation, complex effects on prolactin secretion and increased obstetric risks.
Consulted resources
- EMCDDA | European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) is one of the European Union's decentralised agencies. It is the central source of comprehensive information on drugs and drug addiction in Europe. - The Trimbos Institute, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction
The Trimbos Institute is the National Institute of Mental Health and Addiction in the Netherlands. It is an independent foundation operating under Dutch law.
Should it be legalized?
Fact is that cannabis still is the drug most widely produced worldwide in spite of the ban. This indicates that banning the product will not keep people from using it. My personal opinion is that it (along with all soft drugs) should be legalized for two main reasons:
Banning hypocrisy
As we have seen cannabis has both physical and mental effects, especially when used excessively. But then again, almost any product when used excessively has negative effects. Looking at the health problems in most ‘developed' countries, one can see that obesity has become a real problem. Yet food in general and junk food in particular are not banned. We (and I think that's good) assume that each person will take responsibility for his or her own health. The use of a lot of products with a psychoactive effect (tobacco, alcohol, coffee) is legal.
Control
By legalizing cannabis in particular and drugs in general governments will be able to control the production and distribution, as well as the quality of these drugs. The criminal side effects of the illegality of drugs can be minimized.
Mind you, I'm not saying that the use of cannabis should be promoted. I think it is important to provide information about the risks involved. As with anything people have a responsibility for their own health and they should be supported in assuming that responsibility. However, as the use of cannabis does not inflict any damage to people other than the users, what's the rationale to ban it?
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Comments
Thank you CJ, I agree. As with alcohol (which is legal) care should indeed be taken. Making it illegal also makes it interesting, after all the fobidden fruits are the nicest.
OMG, an invitation do fly into my 'hemp rant'--I can't believe my good fortune. Now that I think of it, I'll have to do a hub on it too Of course it should be legal, and the least of all the good reasons it should be legal is its medicinal and recreational purposes. On that score, what CJ said, all of it---plus, we waste a TON of money on law enforcement officers and other criminal justice employees whose sole purpose is to chase down pot smokers and burn marijuana plants. Why not grow them legally ourselves? Christ we NEED the money, and its an unbelievably useful plant.
Here's the thing: HEMP IS NATIVE TO THE US and can be made into almost anything you can imagine, except maybe a car or a refrigerator.(I'm not sure of that though--there may well be a hemp refrigerator out there somewhere.) But what do we grow instead? TOBACCO, which is labor-intensive, expensive to grow, not native to the US, and can be made into cigarettes, period, which kill people.
Great hub. I will continue on with it in one of my own, this is one of my 'tapes' (maybe I'll throw in my buffalo 'tape' too). Thanks for an insightful hub.
You're welcome, PGrundy :) I'm already looking forward to reading your hub on this subject. You've also got a couple of strong arguments. A lot of money IS spent on law inforcement and depriving people of their pleasures and relief.
Legalization is overdue. Great hub, thanks for the info. C.S.Alexis
Thank you C.S. Alexis. Why would legalization be overdue?
Ananta legalize it, and make it free, =)! I was wondering if antone has done a article on this or not. I woke up tis morning and I check around a little and then I see your article, and I must say you caught me off guard a little bit. I've smoked chronic for years and years in fact I stopped one day just because I got tired of smoking it. I know to some folks you will wonder how do you quite because of that reason.All I can say is I just did. I don't have anything against pot. It cost money like the other dope, and maybe I got tired of spending money on it, but It should be legalized because not only would it be ~cool,~but because it would boost the economy," now give me my reefer " Good hub Ananta,done very professional.
Excellent hub. Legalize and regulate: the best way to curb the growing drug problem in our society. Sometimes it seems that more people have quit smoking cigarettes due to affordability issues than have quit (or never started) smoking pot due to illegality. In my state, cigarettes run upwards of $5 a carton, marijuana is less expensive per oz. They are equally accessible, should you put forth the minor effort to find a contact for marijuana. The best way to curb drug use is not to make it illegal -- it is to legalize it, tax it, and regulate useage.
Thank you oberbreckling. I used to smoke it at times, when spending a Saturday evening with friends. And still, occasionally I can enjoy a good joint.But if I smoke four times in a year, that's a lot. So I know from experience that it is possible not to get addicted. And by legalizing it, there would economically be a win-win situation. People producing it could make an honest living, people using it wouldn't pay as much and the government would receive the tax income.
Thank you too, that one girl. I agree, regulating is much beter than criminalizing it.
I myself have never tried marijuana because I have no interest. One thing I could tell you though is many people in California openly admit to having tried or to currently smoking marijuana, which means there is a lot of illegal activity going on around something that does not cause cancer like tobacco cigarettes. So if tobacco can be legal, why not marijuana? It could be highly taxed like cigarettes and it might be a good source of revenue. There used to be a section in the paper for daily arrests in the mountains and many of these were for growing marijuana. It seems a lot of the illegal activity regarding this and the desire to have it would go down if it were legalized. Once again I do not drink, smoke, or do drugs so it has no appeal to me, but it would take a big bite out of the crime rate if it were legalized in a safe fashion.
First off, the plant called "hemp" which produces the fiber of many uses is NOT the plant whose dried leaves are smoked or otherwise imbibed to get "high".
The hemp plant does contain a teensy-tiny bit of THC, and for this reason alone cannot be legally grown anywhere in the U.S. However, it's *not* illegal to import raw hemp frm other countries, which makes absolutely no sense, as hemp could be a cash crop in areas where no other crops will survive.
Ironically, its cousin the marijuana plant is acknowleged by most U.S. states to be their biggest (albeit illegal) cash crop, and has been for many decades. Considering pot cannot be grown openly in large fields like wheat and corn can, its illegal status is the reason for its inflated price.
Marijuana should be legalized. I smoked it on average once or twice a week in my twenties and thrities and preferred it to alcohol, as it never gave me a hangover like alcohol always did. In fact, I'd awake the next morning feeling quite "refreshed".
The potheads I knew, meaning those whose only recreational drug was pot, did not beat their wives or girlfriends, or kill or maim other drivers while driving home from a bar. If anything, potheads had to remember to drive a little faster so as not to draw attention to themselves while behind the wheel.
At the very least, it should be legal to grow or possess marijuana for personal consumption, same as it's legal to make one's own wine or beer. It defies common sense that a person can go to prison for years if caught with even a small amount of marijuana, but a drunk driver can rack up DUI after DUI, never spend a day in jail, and even with a suspended license, go right on driving.
Thank you, Sweetiepie.
And thank you for your elaboration, JamaGenee.
Knowing th strict and firm attitude of the US government on drugs, I would have expected much more 'resistance' against this hub. But there almost seems to be general concensus.
AS a sufferer of Ankylosing Spondylitis, i regularly use marijuana ..It-does not help reduce the pain but does relive the mental stress of pain..
I think Amsterdam has got the answer the way they operate things...This country UK, is too stuck up its butt with political correctness and will never ever be legalised!..If your caught with a small amount you would get cautioned..Larger amounts could result in a prison sentence, but cannabis is still a "petty crime" in the eyes of the police and judges compared to the many other crimes and harder drugs available!....
If the goverment here was to start legalising, controlling and selling cannabis, via doctors, chemistsm, cafes, etc. then armed robbers, and other criminasls who have stopeed these crimes in favour of dealing cannabis would resort back to these crimes which would increase the crime statistics dramatically. Cannabis crime and dealing does not have as many statistics as the other crimes..
its a no win situation...
anywayzz a very interesting read!
Ananta65,
Over due for the facts you stated in your hub here. Our govt. would have control over the product, be able to make profit from taxing and not be spending money to stop the illegal trafficking, just for starters. C.S. Alexis
If Marijuana was legalized would we be able to claim it on our taxes at the end of the year. (business exspense)
A great question and hub, Ananta. While my perspective comes from a Canadian point of view, I think it bears considerable relevance. It's only been in the last few years that possession of up to an ounce resulted in a fine but does not appear on one's criminal record. Mind you, if what you're carrying is broken down in gram baggies, that's a completely different story..."possession for the purpose of trafficking". Obviously it is no longer for personal use and I do agree with that. Like legalizing gay marriage up here, decriminalizing its use was a hotly debated topic. The medicinal aspect can't be ignored and fortunately, it wasn't. A friend of mine suffers from glaucoma and smoking weed is an immense relief to him. Another is on a vicious HIV cocktail that makes him ill almost constantly and the only way he can stir up an appetite is by smoking a bit of weed in his little pipe before trying to eat solid food. I used to enjoy smoking a good doobie almost daily but made a personal decision that it interfered with other very important parts of my learning and development and I think this is a key component to this issue...personal choice. And one other aspect is worth considering as well: I have never run a cross a person who indulges in a few joints and then goes out and picks fights, sells themselves for another gram or decides to rob a store or another person to get another gram of weed. It just doesn't happen, at least that has been my experience. As the comedian said, "The only attack I consider after smoking a joint is a Big Mac attack." At present, the Canadian government offers special licenses for people to grow pot for medicinal purposes but I hope this is just a beginning. As several on this hub have pointed out, this is a very real stream of income and taxation that governments would have access to, instead of locking up somebody for a couple of grams of personal weed. The cost alone to keep somebody locked up just doesn't make any sense. I may not smoke weed anymore but I firmly believe that one can hardly compare getting high on pot with heroin, crack, ecstasy, ice or even alcohol....actually, especially alcohol. Unfortunately, too many "old-school" hardliners hold the reins of power, especially in your government, who are deathly afraid of losing their control over the minds of the general public. As a number of other people have commented here, when something is illegal or preached as being bad or evil, it's like a beacon to others who feel it is their right to smoke or eat what they want...and the government should not have a say. Until there's a clean sweep of this corruption and bigotry at the highest levels, in Canada as well, the "church" mentality will always prevail. One of our greatest Prime Ministers, Pierre Trudeau, when first confronted about the gay sex issue, had calmly replied, "The government has no place in the bedrooms of its citizens"...it did not endear him to the older generations..lol. Similarly, what one does, in the comfort of their own home should not be regulated by outdated and antiquated laws or mind-sets...provided, of course, that it does not cause harm or injury to another.
Anata, I thought there would be some controversy here, too, but I'm not quite as surprised as you. I am an activist in the field, and I've been following its politics for a long time.
The "tough on drugs" people want us to believe that public opinion is still on their side, but it's not. Surveys show rising acceptance of Cannabis use as the truth about its safety and usefulness finally comes to light.
Cannabis just doesn't scare people the way it used to, and thank God for that -- fear is a terrible force when it comes to shaping public policy!
Compu-smart. In Amsterdam (and Holland for that matter) things have changed. The 'tolerant' policy, weher it as illegal but there was no active enforcement has been formalized into a set of laws that don't make sense at all. One is allowed to posess a cannabis for personal use, but the supply (to coffeeshops) has been restricted. Interesting point on crime, I must say. Although I think that keeping cannabis illegal just to 'cover up' the criminal statistics does not seem the way to go.
I get your point, C.S. Alexis. I too think that the costs of law enforcement in this area are much higher than the 'crime' justifies.
Oberbreckling, if you can currently claim alcohol and tobacco on your taxes, I guess that would be the same for marijuana then :)
bright_sorcerer, I couldn't agree more, especially with your final statements about that people should be free to do whatever they feel like in their own homes, provideed indeed, that it doesn't harm others.Thanks for your extensive comment.
I hope so, Sterling Sage. Here in the Netherlands it seems to be not much different: a confessional government that seems to go into a stricter direction than ever before. Any incident (we have had a few with the use of fungi) will raise the call in the parliament for even more penalties :(
Forgive me, Anata. I fell into that common American trap of asssuming everything is about my country. We have so much inertia here that it's taking DECADES to correct some really stupid laws.
I have heard that your part of the world is going in a different direction, though. Maybe if the U.S. stops trying so hard to keep a lid on Cannabis here (no pun intended), we'll also stop trying to tell the rest of the world what to do (Canada, most notably). I think things may get a bit better after our presidential election here. I can only hope.
Pot is very dangerous. It is called the gateway drug for a reason. It lead me to do extremely stupid things that got me in a lot of trouble. It leads a person to make horrible decisions and takes them to places that they shouldn't be. The Bible says to be sober and vigilant, because the enemy the devil is moving about looking for people to devour. The devil uses pot to lead people down a slippery slope. That's also why it is called the devil's drug.
bright_sorcerer, it's my experience too that pot-users don't commit REAL crimes while stoned. In fact, a friend who moonlighted as security at an indoor rock concert venue said he and his colleagues routinely ignored any pot found during the requisite inspection of purses and bags at the entrance...because it made their job MUCH easier if the audience was stoned, rather than drunk or high on hard drugs.
The U.S. government once blew $650,000 on a year-long study which determined...surprise!...that smoking pot restored the appetites of cancer patients undergoing chemo. A fact that could've been learned in a few minutes from any pothead for the price of a Big Mac or a 2-lb bag of Oreos.
Taxing marijuana would be a bad idea if people are allowed to grow their own. Do you REALLY want an inspector poking around in your backyard, or worse, in your house, to verify that you're only growing the two plants you claim? Think about it.
I am allergic to cannabis, so everyone please just keep it where I cannot smell it. :)
Will do. Hubbers, hide the weed when Patty's in the "room". =)
Thank you so much for answering my request. You have many wonderful points, as do all of the others who have been commenting.
Sterling Sage, I sure don't want to blame the US for the legislation over here :) We can thank our confessional, often right-winged governments for that. And as we can derive from the facts provided by the EMCDDA it seems that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel, now that the US and the Netherlands have at least allowed for more research and use of cannabis for medical purposes.
Jeff, I think it's unfair to blame pot for the things YOU have done. I have also smoked pot and it lead me to none of the horrors you suggest. It's all one's own responsibility. I use xtc only twice a year, at two big dance festivals. Two times in a year I take some pills and I consider this to be in a responsible manner. I don't OD, I don't give in to addiction. After those festivals I leave xtc for what it is. I treat pot the same way. Maybe four times per year I smoke some. It doesn't lead me to anything. Because I choose not to be lead by them. In fact, alcohol does much worse things to people.
I can only subscribe to what bright_sorcerer and JamaGenee say. The people I know smoking pot (including myself once in a while) are peaceful and easy going. At the dance festivals I Mentioned, it is a known fact that the majority of the people are taking pills and security tolerates that for the reasons JamaGenee mentioned. Drunks are much more aggressive than pot-smokers.
As far as taxes are concerned, I agree that it is hard (and maybe undesireable) to tax the home-growers, but as most of the cannabis (at least in the Netherlands) is sold by coffeeshops, it should be possible to put VAT on that.
Patty_Inglish: I think you shouldn't bother other people. So just like with smoking, if blowing is done in the comfort of one's own house or in designated areas, there shouldn't be a problem. I'm not propagating that it should be allowed to smoke pot anywhere.
You're welcome, renigma :)
Evan29, just as with alcohol it is not wise to smoke pot and drive. Legalizing marijuana does not mean that it should be lega to use it anywhere , under any circumstance.
It may be “nit-picking” to say that marijuana should be de-criminalized (slightly different from "legalized"). The point is that marijuana has been “legal” for more time than it’s been illegal. But illegality happened; some people with more time on their hands than sense in their head figured that they had the right to deny all sorts of things to their neighbors. Or maybe denial was supported by tobacco people or who knows!?
That said, I am afraid of ingesting marijuana. Also, I’m afraid of ingesting Aspartame, Sucralose, hydrogenated oils, most prescription drugs including such as Lipitor, and even aspirin. I am afraid of a lot of things, including the “protection” that government provides (at a fee, of course). But that’s another dirty story.
'Will do. Hubbers, hide the weed when Patty's in the "room". =) '
GamaJanee - that's exactly what people say. hahaha
"people with more time on their hands than sense in their head figured that they had the right to deny all sorts of things to their neighbors." I like that way to put it and you have touched a point of frustration. Many of the rules (here in the Netherlands) seem to have the purpose of denying people things, rather than protecting the general public. Many rules are there to protect us from ourselves. Which is in fact denying us to take our own responsibility.
Indeed, it has been observed that the voting citizenry of most countries have surprisingly weak commitments to individual liberty, tolerance of diversity and freedom of expression. Rather, most policies are expressed in simplistic, emotional-laden terms in order to relieve the citizenry from the drudgery of thinking. That’s why freedom in most western “democracies” is more a slogan than an actuality.
well , it is a "green" product , and ( humans aside ) doesn't seem to have any harmful emissions , so maybe the "green" people will ask to have it legalized.....
Well, well well. Guess I would have to agree with almost everything I have read here. (Sorry Jeff, you are the exception. But it pays to see the negative with the positive.) Anyway, I better get that old petition back out.
(What was I sayin?) Oh yah, nice Hub!
Of course it should be legalized. If alcohol, prescription medicine, and cigarettes are legal, by the way all three kill more people than all illegal drugs put together, something as simple as weed shouldn't be an issue. Most crimes in all of our communities are caused by alcohol murder, dui, public intox, robberies not smoking weed. Weed may change your perception of reality but you don't ever here of someone getting stoned and beating their wife and kids. Hmm now what would cause something like that??? Ohh yeah the governments legal drug ALCOHOL.
Thanks again for all those positive and good comments. We're shifting topic a bit, Budwood, but I agree to what you say. Freedom is not much more than the right to vote every four years, so it seems at times.
I do think it's important to take Jeff's comment to heart. It shows that we should not neglect our own responsibility. There are risks involved. In our cry for legalization we might forget that, but it is important to keep the effects in mind and use it responsibly.
Personally, I tried it in college, but I found out quickly that marijuana wasn't for me. I've seen the effects of long term usage i.e. memory loss and lethargy from friends of mine so overall, I don't agree with legalizing it because of the effects it has on people. One argument that I can give to legalize is that weed would become something else the government could tax and I know that would be a few million dollars more to help lower the deficit.
Yes, it should have been legalized long ago. In my opinion alcohol is worse than weed. Think of all the money the government could make, and all the new jobs. Hell, everyone would become farmers. We could start making paper from hemp and save some trees. Maybe we could make hemp fuel insted of using corn. The possibilities are endless. Do you think hemp clothing would be itchy.
tasty buds for everyone.
Here in South Africa we have an interesting mix of first world and third world. Marijuana (called Dagga here) is a problem drug with the first world component using it responsibly (illegally of course) and the criminal elements using it as an emboldening drug prior to a heist, car jacking or armed robbery. some of these criminals believe that smoking the weed gives them supernatural powers and they are "protected" from harm when "smoked up". We also have a large rastafarian following who use the weed as part of heir religious beliefs. One of the other issues is that Dagga is mixed with Mandrax creating a "white pipe" which leads its users to have a higher and often more aggressive high. This is the "gateway problem" referred to by Chef Jeff. So the problem is somewhat more complex here. There is also, of course (legal) medical use for chemotherapy patients and other ailment related problems .
So the issue is considerably more complex than simply legalising or decriminalising Marijauna. I also believe that the South African Dagga is of a stonger variety (referred to as Durban Poison in some cicles) than some of the other strains that are grown.
Good interesting thought provoking hub.
@ talented_ink:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=nl&q=long+term+eff
http://www.google.com/search?hl=nl&safe=active&q=l
Just two examples. I’m not propagating the use of cannabis and marijuana. But if the (long term) effects on people were the criterion to rule out a substance, the list of illegal products would probably be endless.
@ moefry47:
I agree. In the current situation a lot of innocent uses of hemp are made impossible.
@ sixtyorso:
It’s not a simple issue, I agree. But I do think that looking at and blaming the substance is wrong. We should rather focus on people’s behavior. Legalizing marijuana does not imply that aggressive behavior is legalized, does it?
Ananta65 i agree with your last comment. I was merely highlghting some of the complex isues viewd from a crime-ridden country's perspective, where certain elements misuse the drug (and alcohol and illegal hand-guns and knives and automatic weapons).Point taken.
The debate is perhaps, in our ountry, more a focus on deciminalisation of Canabis rather than legalistion.
I can't say anything about the situation in South Africa, of course, but here in Holland I would say that legalizing cannabis would be a giant step in decriminalizing it. If honest famers and business men would be able to grow, distribute and sell cannabis, there wouldn't be much left (in that area) for organized crime.
Man! You struck it rich with this topic! Took me forever to get down here to this box to comment! Well, there doesn't seem to be much left to be said. I agree wholeheartedly. I would much rather have someone who had smoked driving on the highway than someone who has had alcohol. Alcohol tends to make people feel invincible. My observation about pot is that someone driving who has smoked tends to slow down and enjoy the ride more. And, if drugs were legalized, maybe less elderly women waiting for the bus will get mugged and beaten for drug money.
Legalize pot and make the punishment for other drugs so insanely strict that people will think twice about moving on tto the harder drugs. The punishment for having crack or heroin could include, loosing all your possessions and maybe some fingers. I guess I just really hate the affect cocaine has on people. I've seen cocaine make people steal from there best friend just to get more. I've never seen anyone do that for weed.
Well, A. Jill, smoking and driving may be LESS dangerous, but is still insensible, to say the least. I think if you use anything (be it alcohol or pot) that influences the brain you should not drive. As you say, smokers tend to slow, but so does their speed of reaction, which could lead to dangerous situations.
I'm not sure whether stricter punishment would really eliminate the problem, moefry.
Ya, your probably right, it just sounded good at the time.
Let the market regulate itself. Look at what the Federal government has done to sugar. All U.S. soda pops are made from yucky corn syrup instead of from sugar. See here: http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/index.php/2006/0
Go ahead and read it. It will explana a lot to you about how our Federal Government is deciding who succeeds and who fails in the business world.
I do think there sould be a limit to "market regulation". Just because there is a demand for something does not automatically mean that the supply should be allowed. Experiences from the past have shown us, that we do need institutions to monitor the market in order to make sure tha a certain level of quality and safety is met. In general, I think that in this case indeed the market can regulate itself, as long as certain conditions are met.
I don’t have a religious view on the topic, LaineyLou. Anything on this earth can be used for good or for bad. You can use stones to build a house or to cast at someone.
my name is nick and i think they should legalize weed because if u think about all the people but etc like rolling papers blut wraps pipes bongs and etc so think about it tha ecomy is in dept and they kinda make ok money with cigarreets and beet cigars etc and weed on top of that thats a profet and ecomy is saved if they sell it like beer call me tokey
29Then God said, "Behold, (A)I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
30and (B)to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so.
Before someone gets angry I must state that marijuana is often eaten instead of smoked. Also can be vaporized which minamizes adverse health effects.
Pot should be legal which is why I am building and have launched www.medicalmarijuanasociety.org for several reasons, including its medical values. Additionally, too smoke or not smoke should be a personal choice, and the rabid right wing religious wingnuts should stop trying to legislate their morality onto the rest of us.
Like Obama, I smoke pot, and if any one believes Obama has stopped using, they should see a doctor...hell, he probably gets it delivered to the White House on our dime.
Good luck with your web site. I hope you are successful with it.
im from south africa and i think it should be legal.
It must be legal to use it. I did more *&%$#@$ being under the influence of Alchohol..., than using weed...! The problem is..., the weed you buy in the streets are not save. I like to plant my own..., thats save...!
Very well done on the hub everyone has something to say about smoking pot, myself like it very much its like a wine tasting only with rich sweet smoke and believe and hope that here soon it will be legalized!!:-)
HiAnata, I was scrolling through my fan list and I am sorry I never checked you out. Thank you for joining my club. I am grateful I saw that. Your writing flows my friend. I liked this hub.Your are right there are many risks involved. Addiction to anything is not good. Many 'things' and or 'substance's' can become an addiction and harmful. If the risks are written loud and clear why not make it legal? Individuals will get it if they want it. It could generate enough income to get the nation out of debt.:) Of course that brings Greed, which is another can of worms.
I am a hairstylist. Three months ago a medical marijuana dispensary was put in 3 doors down.They are way busy. One day I sat outside and counted the cars that pulled in and out. In 1/2 hour there were over 12. Many individuals have stopped by the Salon to check out our services. It has given us exposure. I have had a few days I wanted to ask if they offered tokes :)(is that the word?) I did not, yet. (kidding) Great to meet you. From the Netherlands way cool.
USA Colorado.
I wouldn't count on it being legalized, but you never know, jabyrd82. And enjoyed responsibly it indeed is like good liquor or wine.
Great to meet you too, skye2day *smile* As far as I'm concerned anything should be consumed in a sensible way (and sensible doses), whether it's food, drinks or drugs.Too much of anything is dangerous.
I was in California this summer and the use of 'medical marijuana', well it drew my attention.*lol* It seemed like it's easier to get pot on Venice Beach than it is to find it in Amsterdam
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CJStone says:
2 years ago
Of course it should be legal. Whenever you ban a drug - such as alcohol during prohibition - all that happens is that it is driven into the hands of the mafia and other such criminal organisations. Marijuana is a potent psycho-active drug. Care should be taken with it's use. This is another good reason why it should be legal. Illegal drugs lie outside the scope of any control mechanisms you might want to apply. Also the plant itself, aside from its medical or recreational effects, is a very very useful plant, being very fibrous, hardy and fast growing. Can we have a vote on this please?