I don’t have a problem with decriminalization, nor particularly with legalization but the way I see it I don’t want to live in a world where there’s a “pot smoking section” at the Villa.

And yes, it seems to be addictive and dangerous.

anon: yahoo answers is hardly a reliable source. it operates on the same principles as wikipedia and is far less regulated.

as far as you being an American for 17 years, i’m not really sure where you’re going with that. congratulations, you’re the same as everyone else on this board. there are a few people who have been around here for quite a bit longer, they’re called native americans.

Matt, I know an eighth in two sittings is a VERY liberal amount to estimate, but I would rather guess higher than guess a low amount and have somebody say, “Well, these are the facts, and you are wrong!” To anon, don’t just trust Yahoo Answers. That person could be just as wrong as you or me.

to anon, although it may not be a long time tradition with the founding fathers, there is no doubt that people have been smoking marijuana for thousands of years. Scientists have concluded that pot has been smoked since 5000 bc. I think pot should not only be decriminalized, but legalized as well. There are several reasons for this. First off, legalizing pot would get rid of the gateway effect. The only reason pot is a gateway drug is because it is illegal, and people who want to smoke have to obtain it from drug dealers, who eventually lead them into trying harder drugs. Secondly, legalizing pot would greatly downsize the amount of organized crime in the united states. The main way of financing organized crime is through drug trade, and by legalizing pot, you eliminate their main source of income. This would not only lower crime rates throughout the United States, but also by putting drug smugglers out of buisness, you reduce the amount of harder drugs available on the streets, which would also diminish the idea of pot being a “gateway drug.”

Also pot is much safer than alcohol. that is a fact that cant be argued. In a country where thousands of people die each year from alcohol poisoning, i see no reason for pot to be illegal when 0 people die each year worldwide from thc overdose. Also unlike alcohol, pot does not cause people to lose motor functions and inhibition, making it much safer.

and lastly, i dont believe the government should have any say in what someone chooses to put in their body. If someone is allowed to go everyday to mcdonalds and eat 5 big macs, they they certainly should be able to smoke as they please. (and i can guarentee you in the long run 1 joint isnt nearly as bad for you as a double quarter pounder with cheese.)

Though some anti-drug campaigns have stated that one joint contains four times as much tar as a cigarette, let’s look at some other numbers. Someone who smokes marijuana twice a week (a very liberal number) will be smoking possibly eight joints a week. Smokers who smoke four packs (a conservative number) a week will still be inhaling more than twice as much tar. Think about what anti-drug campaigns say, think about the facts, and make the decision for yourself. Don’t mindlessly believe that whatever the government tells you is true. That leads to stuff like Nazi Germany.

Basically, the people the police arrest get thrown in jails, which are already overcrowded, and leads to worse people getting out sooner, just because the government needs more room. How inane.

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it is the same

Pot is MUCH more addictive than previously thought.

Tobacco is a long-cherished tradition in America, while grass is a South American import consumed mostly in the 60s and 70s and now just by teenagers and small-time criminals.

Say what you will about the tenets of smoking pot, at least it’s an ethos…

truth: tobacco is worse for your body and mind than marijuana is. it is addictive – pot isn’t. i’m not saying that smoking in general is worse. no matter what you’re smoking, it will damage your lungs and your brain. but pot is not physically addictive and there are less artificial additives. one drop of pure tobacco is enough to kill a person instantly. pot – not so much.
an ounce of marijuana is all a person needs (or should have). for the most part (almost always), anyone with more than one ounce of marijuana is up to something bad, eg. dealing. if pot was sold legally, more teenagers would have brighter futures, the economy would be better, and (you know it’s true) there would be less hate crimes.

Okay, look at the sentence you said there ANON. Decriminalizing an item may not mean that it is legalized, but it certainly means that in both cases the punishment has either A) been lightened or B) been removed. Lrn2vocab. Rich people want things to stay the way they are!?!? What kind of an assumption is that? Marijuana in NO way effect the rich people. In fact it may help them. I do support making alcohol illegal, and I do support keeping all doses of marijuana illegal, that do not help a patient feel less nauseous during cancer, or other treatments that require/use chemotherapy, or heavy doses of radiation therapy. Or other ongoing illness’ that may remove pain from certain physical anguishes. Anyways, government propaganda??!?!? Dude, take a look at the statistics.
“According to statistics from the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, the younger a child starts smoking, the more addicted s/he becomes.” There is no age limit for one to use marijuana, and anyone now in Massachusetts will be able to just get some marijuana to “feel good”. Plus, how does economic health play into this, it may actually help the flow of money, but in a bad way. So please, ANON, check the facts before you spurt them out.

Anon/gif/, you are an idiot. decriminalized != legalized. marijuana being a gateway drug is government propaganda. and its only illegal for the same reasons smoking tobacco is legal- the US’s economic health, and the fact that really rich people want things to stay the way they are.

I know of many arguments that have been posted. None have appeared because moderators are censoring them. Remove this debate, or allow the comments through. Censorship of a debate that has been opened defeats the purpose of the debate. Now for my point, I support the decriminalization of weed for economic reasons, not for personal reasons. The legalization of marijuana could be equated to the end of prohibition. Legalization could bring in upwards of $2 billion dollars in annual profit and taxes. Also, it is wrong for someone to have their future ruined, simply because they were in possession of a joint. Even if they did not smoke it, their future would be ruined. That is wrong and unfair. Anyone who carries over an ounce at a time is obviously selling, so the law is fair in that aspect. Decriminalize, and stop wrongful censorship.

Yes.

Our state is spending so much money on putting people who were caught with an eighth of ounce of marijuana in jail. It is a waste of time, and the minor drug offenders aren’t causing that much trouble. People need to understand that marijuana will still be illegal if this is passed.

I do not think that Marijuana should be legalized. As everybody has learned, marijuana is a gateway drug, and it can help make illegal drugs more accessible to anybody. It is a waste of time to un ban it, and it should be against the law because it is and always has been an illegal drug.