Should marijuana be decriminalized?

Should marijuana be decriminalized?

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#3
#3
Legalized, taxed, and sold at the liquor store.

The biggest lie on Earth is, marijuana leads to harder drugs.

The fact that people have to deal with those involved in the blackmarket leads to harder drugs. Take the exposure to illicit drug dealers away, and you actually decrease the use of hard drugs.

Half the people I know that sold weed, had coke, pills, meth etc. for sale as well.
 
#6
#6
The "gateway" drug thing makes no sense at all. You could apply that other things like alcohol, it's an addictive substance and legal. Maybe we should ban it.. wait no we already tried that. Well, how about tobacco since you most likely experiment with that before you start drinking. While we are at it lets just ban all "drugs" like caffeine as well. Then no one will ever dream of becoming hard core addicts, because it will all be illegal. I would rather deal with a guy high as a kite on marijuana, then deal with a slobbering, annoying drunk any day.
 
#7
#7
Just saw a woman on cops get arrested for poessing marijuana and is spending the night in jail. Stupid.
 
#8
#8
I would never touch the stuff, but any argument for pot being illegal is absurd.
 
#9
#9
I say it should be legal. Too many cops now a days looking for the average stoner and profiling people that look like they are even though they aren't. I know several good kids around here that have been searched and have never touched anything drug or alcohol related. The only problem after that is drug testing for it. I don't have a problem with people doing it after they leave work, just don't do that crap on the job. That's all I got.
 
#13
#13
Never tried it, but there is no appreciable difference between it and alcohol. It ruins lives mainly because of it's legal status. We can change that.
 
#15
#15
Decriminalization vs legalization has it's pluses and minuses. Simply decriminalizing it makes it hard to keep out of the hands of kids - something legalization would do a better job of.

On the otherhand, decriminalization is an easier sell.
 
#16
#16
Absolutely. Weed is less harmful than alcohol and cigarrettes.
 
#17
#17
Executive Summary

1. Government prohibition of marijuana is the subject of ongoing debate.

2. One issue in this debate is the effect of marijuana prohibition on government budgets.

3.Prohibition entails direct enforcement costs and prevents taxation of marijuana production and sale.

4. This report examines the budgetary implications of legalizing marijuana—taxing and regulating it like other goods—in all fifty states and at the federal level.

5. The report estimates that legalizing marijuana would save $7.7 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of prohibition. $5.3 billion of this savings would accrue to state and local governments, while $2.4 billion would accrue to the federal government.

6. The report also estimates that marijuana legalization would yield tax revenue of $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like all other goods and $6.2 billion annually if marijuana were taxed at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco.

7.Whether marijuana legalization is a desirable policy depends on many factors other than the budgetary impacts discussed here. But these impacts should be included in a rational debate about marijuana policy.


Costs of Marijuana Prohibition: Economic Analysis
 
#18
#18
At best an 8.6 billion net to the Fed and 5.3 billion to states/local governments (assuming they don't add on their own taxes).

Lower than I thought. I wonder (I guess I could read it) if the savings from enforcement of prohibition factors in the regulatory costs of monitoring legal sales.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of legalization or at least decriminalization but the financial impact looks pretty small.
 
#19
#19
I am for the decriminalization/legalization/taxation of marijuana.

First of all, MJ was never even given the same chance that alcohol and tobacco was. I believe it should absolutely be up to the individual on what they wish to put into their body. If alcohol and tobacco are substances that Americans can choose to use, why not pot?

Keep in mind that marijuana was not always illegal. In fact, "marihuana" was officially illegalized in 1937. Also remember that it was first illegalized in the U.S. on the grounds that it gave Mexicans “super-human strength” and helped African American men “seduce white women.” You can thank Harry J. Anslinger for that.
In 1930, a new division in the Treasury Department was established -- the Federal Bureau of Narcotics -- and Harry J. Anslinger was named director. This, if anything, marked the beginning of the all-out war against marijuana.
Anslinger was an extremely ambitious man, and recognized the Bureau of Narcotics as an amazing career opportunity -- a new government agency with the opportunity to define both the problem and the solution. He immediately realized that opiates and cocaine wouldn't be enough to help build his agency, so he latched on to marijuana and started to work on making it illegal at the federal level.
Anslinger immediately drew upon the themes of racism and violence to draw national attention to the problem he wanted to create. He also promoted and frequently read from "Gore Files" -- wild reefer-madness-style exploitation tales of ax murderers on marijuana and sex and... Negroes. Here are some quotes that have been widely attributed to Anslinger and his Gore Files:
"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others."

"...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races."

"Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death."

"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."

"Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing"

"You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother."

"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."
And he loved to pull out his own version of the "assassin" definition:
"In the year 1090, there was founded in Persia the religious and military order of the Assassins, whose history is one of cruelty, barbarity, and murder, and for good reason: the members were confirmed users of hashish, or marihuana, and it is from the Arabs' 'hashashin' that we have the English word 'assassin.'"
 
#20
#20
ginadivine21 said:
This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.
Click to expand...

and just to think that all these years i thought the key was plying them with alcohol.

my neighbor tells me that there is currently a bill on the floor of the TN house calling for legalization (after purchase of a permit) of the growing of up to 3 MJ plants on one's private property.

any of you TN residents heard about that?
 
#21
#21
The main problem with weed is laziness.. look at the countries that have legalized.
 
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