Should marijuana be decriminalized?

Should marijuana be decriminalized?

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#26
#26
volinbham said:
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.
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That is why I don't even think the financial aspect of it should be argued. The stance of legalization or decriminalization stands on its own merits.
 
#28
#28
i'm sure it would be taxed at twice the rate of alcohol and tobacco. i don't think billions a year should be discounted.
 
#31
#31
Glutton said:
The main problem with weed is laziness.. look at the countries that have legalized.
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The main problem with your argument is that the substance is already readily available anywhere in the US and widely used anyway, so if that was a drawback we are already suffering from it as well as the drawbacks of having it illegal, and without the upsides legality would bring.
 
#32
#32
IPorange said:
The main problem with your argument is that the substance is already readily available anywhere in the US and widely used anyway, so if that was a drawback we are already suffering from it as well as the drawbacks of having it illegal, and without the upsides legality would bring.
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i'm sure without the legal implications and just the availability factor that MJ use would go up considerably if legalized. yes if i really tried i coudl find someone to sell me weed, but that is a huge difference between just being albe to walk into my local 711 and buy it.
 
#33
#33
dantheman617 said:
Exactly. We are talking about a multi BILLION dollar industry. How can they be over looking this?
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Bascially because the gov't will have to admit defeat in their "War of Drugs". This would also require them to eat a HUGE amount of crow in being responsible for the billions of dollars wasted on this "war".
 
#34
#34
SWIL said:
Bascially because the gov't will have to admit defeat in their "War of Drugs". This would also require them to eat a HUGE amount of crow in being responsible for the billions of dollars wasted on this "war".
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oh trust me, I understand this. It seems at this point it is the goverments pride (ahah those words together makes me laugh) that is keeping them from decriminalizing it. It would save $$$, earn gvt $$$, and cut down alot of this stupid "war" on drugs. They should be spending more on crack heads and meth.
 
#35
#35
dantheman617 said:
Exactly. We are talking about a multi BILLION dollar industry. How can they be over looking this?
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First of all let me say that I am on the fence on this issue. I have seen studies that show both the benefits and drawbacks of MJ, I think it could produce some revenue but that is a poor reason for legalization. Any money that is made from taxing MJ will just end up being spent anyway. Instead of encouraging our leaders to spend more money we need to make sure they spend less.

I have seen studies that show the both the benefits and drawbacks to using MJ. There are some serious implications to legalization, of that there is little question. I don't think they are overlooking it at all. I think it is more a matter of people wanting to be sure the benefits outweigh the risks.

I think the reason you see more government officials willing to take a look at this is more a product of desperation due to the economy. They government is looking for any way to make ends meet in some areas of the country. Once you legalize MJ there is no turning back, prohibition showed the country this much.

The government sticks it's nose in all kinds of affairs for the public good, some are legitimate and some are not. I think the best case you can make for legalizing MJ is that the government has no business telling people what they can and cannot do with their bodies. Of course if that is the case then all drugs should be legal.

My final thought is that if we tall the government to stop meddling in our daily lives then we must also be supportive of a businesses right to refuse employment to anyone who uses drugs. I wonder how many drug users would complain when they were denied employment because they used a legal substance that their potential employer had a policy of no tolerance on?

Just some thoughts, please feel free to comment.
 
#36
#36
I would understand if employers still didn't want to hire MJ users. That is totally up to them and the applicant should understand this before applying. Unfortunally it wouldn't be that easy, cause some people are...umm....not smart. Someone operating machinery, driving, healthcare, etc obviously shouldn't be stoned when going to work. I am sure there would be some growing pains if they decriminalize it, but if alcohol is legal so should MJ
 
#37
#37
KB5252 said:
My final thought is that if we tall the government to stop meddling in our daily lives then we must also be supportive of a businesses right to refuse employment to anyone who uses drugs. I wonder how many drug users would complain when they were denied employment because they used a legal substance that their potential employer had a policy of no tolerance on?
.
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i'm fairly sure you can already deny them employment for a variety of reasons i.e. if they drink, smoke, etc. now someone might sue, but that doesn't mean they will win.
 
#38
#38
droski said:
i'm fairly sure you can already deny them employment for a variety of reasons i.e. if they drink, smoke, etc. now someone might sue, but that doesn't mean they will win.
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Very few places test for alcohol and none test for nicotine. If they did and someone was denied employment because they drank at home or smoked at home there would certainly be a lawsuit and they would in all likelihood win that case.
 
#39
#39
SWIL said:
Bascially because the gov't will have to admit defeat in their "War of Drugs". This would also require them to eat a HUGE amount of crow in being responsible for the billions of dollars wasted on this "war".
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I think there is a lot of truth to this statement but to be fair we have not seen what the results would have been had we not fought a war on drugs. We simply don't know what the result would have been. I'm not saying money wasn't wasted, after all this is the government we're talking about here, they waste money like none other.

I do think that one of the very important implications of not fighting drugs would have been cartels and dictators using drug money to prop themselves up like we haven't seen before. In all likelihood we would have many more socialist dictators that would be much more powerful than those we see today knocking at our back door. Surely we would be spending close to the same amount we spent on the drug war as we would countering and fighting them?
 
#41
#41
Let's assume for a moment that this board represents an accurate cross-section of America.

A full 90% of people support decriminalization/legalization.

Politicians would never pass a bill supported that strongly by Americans in general. It simply makes too much sense.
 
#42
#42
the last polls i've seen show about 55% in favor and 35% against and i guess 20% undecided?
 
#43
#43
#44
#44
dantheman617 said:
I would understand if employers still didn't want to hire MJ users. That is totally up to them and the applicant should understand this before applying. Unfortunally it wouldn't be that easy, cause some people are...umm....not smart. Someone operating machinery, driving, healthcare, etc obviously shouldn't be stoned when going to work. I am sure there would be some growing pains if they decriminalize it, but if alcohol is legal so should MJ
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This is about what it boils down too. If alcohol is legal, so should MJ. And just because it is legal, doesn't mean employers still can't discriminate based on drug test results.
 
#46
#46
KB5252 said:
First of all let me say that I am on the fence on this issue. I have seen studies that show both the benefits and drawbacks of MJ, I think it could produce some revenue but that is a poor reason for legalization. Any money that is made from taxing MJ will just end up being spent anyway. Instead of encouraging our leaders to spend more money we need to make sure they spend less.

I have seen studies that show the both the benefits and drawbacks to using MJ. There are some serious implications to legalization, of that there is little question. I don't think they are overlooking it at all. I think it is more a matter of people wanting to be sure the benefits outweigh the risks.

I think the reason you see more government officials willing to take a look at this is more a product of desperation due to the economy. They government is looking for any way to make ends meet in some areas of the country. Once you legalize MJ there is no turning back, prohibition showed the country this much.

The government sticks it's nose in all kinds of affairs for the public good, some are legitimate and some are not. I think the best case you can make for legalizing MJ is that the government has no business telling people what they can and cannot do with their bodies. Of course if that is the case then all drugs should be legal.

My final thought is that if we tall the government to stop meddling in our daily lives then we must also be supportive of a businesses right to refuse employment to anyone who uses drugs. I wonder how many drug users would complain when they were denied employment because they used a legal substance that their potential employer had a policy of no tolerance on?

Just some thoughts, please feel free to comment.
Click to expand...

Well said.

I cant believe we are debating this. This thread is not a cross section of america. How many of you are parents? Every parent tells their kid not to do drugs, even when some of the parents did it as a child. Marijuana is something people do when they are young, until they grow out of it and realize how stupid it really was. Making Marijuana legal has no benefit. Don't tell me money is a benefit.. when the gov't gets to spend more, and grows larger it is no where near beneficial.
 
#48
#48
It doesn't have to have a benefit. There is no logical reason for it to be illegal in the first place. You might as well make bananas illegal.
 
#50
#50
666 said:
It doesn't have to have a benefit. There is no logical reason for it to be illegal in the first place. You might as well make bananas illegal.
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Are you seriously saying bananas pose the same health risks as marijuana?
 
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