So what is the first impression you get from this title? Oh great this kid does weed. Well rest assured, I have never smoked marijuana before in my life. However, I like many others, regardless whether or not they do smoke have opposing views on it. Should we legalize it? Should we not legalize it? Personally it is indifferent to me, but could others with stronger views say the same. Recently, in my Media and Democracy class we discussed the commonplaces held by society over the use of Marijuana. It is clearly not portrayed correctly in movies and popular culture. Is it right to make fun of it? Is it wrong to condone it? To answer that question you really need to know its history. I recently watched the movie, Grass to get a better sense of the role of the drug throughout the years in society. I felt I understood the issue more. The controversy it is has caused and the lasting implications of it. Through it, I was able to view the different thoughts of people in society. Some may think, "Hey if I am not harming myself nor hurting others, why should I be told that I cannot do it?" Others may think, "It leaves permanent effects on the human mind and it is a gateway drug to others." Personally I do not think it will be legalized at least anytime soon. The reason for that is that there is no way to regulate it. I do not mean the regulation of it through taxation. I mean the regulation of it in terms of a legal limit that can be distributed or consumed. For instance, breathalyzers are used to indicate the level to which someone is intoxicated when they are under the influence of alcohol. But what is out there to see the level to which someone is high off of weed?.....not a damn thing.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1450016703688449604
I think that legalizing marijuana would have an overall positive effect on society. I am not sure much would change in the day to day lives of most people in the country. People already use marijuana whether or not it is legal. The government would be able to pay down the deficit because of the new tax revenues coming from legalization. Thousands of people would not be locked up for petty drug related offenses. Legalization would also cut down on the influence of drug cartels in places like Mexico and other parts of Central and South America.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if legalizing marijuana would have a positive or a negative effect on society but what I do know is that most people already smoke it. When I go out on weekends certain apartments always smell like weed. If that is the case what is the point of even saying that something of that sort should be illegal. Why stop something that everybody already does? Sure there's no set way of seeing how high people get but then again people drink alcohol way out of its limit as well so why should marijuana matter? Overall, I really don't condone the legalizing of marijuana.
ReplyDeleteSo. Here we are again. The classic debate: to toke or not to toke? Personally, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Seriously. I've read the statistics, the long term effects are scary, yes, but do you know how much weed you have to smoke to get to that place? (it's about 2-3 times a day for 5 straight years) and don't alcohol and cigarettes have equalling damning evidence against them?
ReplyDeleteWhile it is true that pot can be considered a "gateway drug" so can alcohol and cigarettes. The point is, people feel something new (being drunk, being high, tobacco head rush) and they want to know what else is out there. However, the medical benefits that we already know and the potential medical benefits that could be known from legalization (and then of course research) are overwhelming. Who are you (not you in particular, Ben, I was using "you" in the plural) to tell a cancer patient that they can't smoke if it makes their last few years on a Earth a little less painful?
In terms of the first comment here, no, weed will not bring us anywhere near paying off the defecit, but it would help. Many thousands of people who are in jail for smoking a joint on the sidewalk would be released to make way for rapists, murderers and all sorts of other bad nasty people who aren't just getting a little high and we can stop building so many god damn new prisons. The cartel argument is also fairly valid, although there would probably still be significant cartel violence due to marijuana.
As far as your last comment (breathalyzers vs. nothing), this is the most valid argument for anti-legalization as far as I'm concerned. I don't really have an answer to this beyond the fact that there are currently drug tests that can find THC in a human body for up to 90 days after use. If legalization were to happen, I would hope there to be some sort of age requirement as with tobacco products and alcohol and obviously the same DUI rules (I am aware there is no way to immediately test for it). But the fact of the matter is, THC is far less impairing than alcohol. The effect on your balance and reflexes while driving high is much closer to that of a tobacco head buzz than alcohol.
Whew. This is a long comment. I sure hope it publishes the whole thing. I'm gonna copy and paste it just to make sure.
Medical marijuana is already legal, I think it is just a matter of time before the drug as a whole is legal. In my opinion, if you make something illegal, it opens the black market to that product. Since weed is already so common why not just legalize it instead of pushing it through the black market? Many states, like NJ, have already decriminalized marijuana possession and Latin American countires are actually in debate about legalizing the drug to STOP violence. I think legalization would be beneficial. Last thing to think about: what's easier to aquire? A dime of weed or a case of beer? For most underage college students... marijuana is SO much easier to obtain.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would consider a few angles on this one. On one hand, Matt is right: there is lots of revenue to be found by taxing cannabis, and people are going to smoke it regardless of its legality. One downside that few people ever mention, however, is the culture death associated with legalization. With cannabis being illegal, it creates a sort of underground culture and connection between those that smoke it. If two people from entirely different backgrounds with entirely different upbringing both smoke the reefers, they have a political, moral, and recreational common ground on which they can foster a relationship of some sort.
ReplyDelete