Should Marijuana be Legalized?

[amanda1983]

no i dont think it should be legal

so like... anybody know about that cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome or...

anyway, in terms of making it legal medicinally, why are non-medical field people even allowed to vote on that

then sometimes i wonder why people try to justify it by saying "well tobacco and alcohol are more harmful and are legal" because like ... do you guys not know that like,,, those two things are a huge part of the economy and like ... straight up banning them isn't gonna work too well since they're already a huge part of many people's lives It's not that simple

Yep I know about Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome. For anyone who doesn't, here's a (detailed) link :

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3576702/?report=classic

In Australia, non-medical people (aka the government) routinely make decisions on this and other issues on our behalf. They don't always (or even often) get things right, but that's our process nonetheless. They set policy on nuclear weapons, asylum seekers (where they notably fail again and again), environmental regulations, and any number of other issues they are not personally expert in. That's generally how democratic governments work, really.



In this particular case, the federal government listened to the experts themselves and it was *only* because of the push from our medical experts that medicinal cannabis use was legalised federally. Our Australian Medical Association (equivalent to the US AMA) published this in 2014 :

https://ama.com.au/ausmed/put-medicinal-cannabis-test-ama

From the article :

He said the introduction and use of cannabis for medicinal purposes was akin to the regulation and use of morphine.

A/Professor Owler said that, while morphine was used in medical application every day, it remained a controlled substance.

?We wouldn't dream of being without it. But we, of course, don't let it out on the street,? he said. ?We don't have people using it in an unregulated fashion, and I think we have to take some of the emotion out of this debate and look at marijuana or cannabis in exactly the same way.?

I won't copy+paste the rest but the reasons for legalising cannabis use in particular circumstances is clearly outlined - and that's just based on information to hand at that time.

 

[Idfldnsndt]

So many people have been unfairly imprisoned for it

"Unfairly imprisoned" if it's illegal and they still do it, how is that unfair ?? It's their own fault

 

[Twisterheart]

I think I get where you're coming from, but I'm a bit confused by your references to not wanting it to be legalised, yet also thinking it shouldn't be criminalised the way it is, nor should people go to jail for it (I assume you mean possession + usage)?

Do you mean marijuana possession and usage should be treated as a misdemeanor rather than a felony? Or that it should be regulated as tobacco and alcohol are (with taxes and proof-of-age purchasing requirements)? Whereby it is decriminalisation yet still controlled

In my state of Australia, Victoria, the maximum penalty for possession (in non-trafficking amounts) of marijuana is a fine of up to $750 on the third - or any subsequent - offense : http://www.lawstuff.org.au/vic_law/topics/drugs

As it stands, it is currently a criminal offense here but the penalties are on-par with those applicable in states where possession has been decriminalised (civil fine rather than criminal sentencing). We are working towards having marijuana decriminalised, slowly but surely.

Most recent reliable state-by-state comparision I could find via google (updated in 2015) : http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2012/04/03/factbox-cannabis-laws-australia

It seems things are quite similar in this regard to the situation in the US where there is significant variation state-by-state : http://www.drugtreatment.com/expose/marijuana-felony-amounts-by-state/

Yes, a misdemeanor

 

[visibleghost]

i dont Care
dont think it will be made legal in sweden. it's just not rly???? something thats up for debate and also it's a drug and it's seen as worse than alcohol. if youre caught drinking not much will happen but if youre caught smoking weed then u r Fricked, my dude. tho i think in denmark they have let people use marijuana for medical stuff and i think that could be allowed here too.

i think the argument that it's not more dangerous than alcohol is kinda Bad bc, like, yeah ok it might not make u hardcore addicted for the rest of ur life while also destroying yor body But high/drunk ppl can be a danger to people aroond them so it's not like it's only about the people who drink or smoke.
also while it would lead to fewer crimes it's not like violence around drug smuggling would just die immeditely. i guess if people never bought from their dealers and only went to the local supermarket the dealers would go out of business lmao But like . idk it's not like it will completely remove drug violence because there are always other drugs that can be sold and stuff

but i dont rly care tbh. it's not something i feel very strongly about at all. i just think ppl who only talk sbout weed and legalizing it are annoying af

also i dont think that prison is the best way to treat or handle people who take drugs in general but that's kind of unrelated so ?\_(ツ)_/?

 

[piichinu]

Yep I know about Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome. For anyone who doesn't, here's a (detailed) link :

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3576702/?report=classic

In Australia, non-medical people (aka the government) routinely make decisions on this and other issues on our behalf. They don't always (or even often) get things right, but that's our process nonetheless. They set policy on nuclear weapons, asylum seekers (where they notably fail again and again), environmental regulations, and any number of other issues they are not personally expert in. That's generally how democratic governments work, really.



In this particular case, the federal government listened to the experts themselves and it was *only* because of the push from our medical experts that medicinal cannabis use was legalised federally. Our Australian Medical Association (equivalent to the US AMA) published this in 2014 :

https://ama.com.au/ausmed/put-medicinal-cannabis-test-ama

From the article :

He said the introduction and use of cannabis for medicinal purposes was akin to the regulation and use of morphine.

A/Professor Owler said that, while morphine was used in medical application every day, it remained a controlled substance.

“We wouldn't dream of being without it. But we, of course, don't let it out on the street,” he said. “We don't have people using it in an unregulated fashion, and I think we have to take some of the emotion out of this debate and look at marijuana or cannabis in exactly the same way.”

I won't copy+paste the rest but the reasons for legalising cannabis use in particular circumstances is clearly outlined - and that's just based on information to hand at that time.

haha im not entirely sure what the paragraph of quotes is supposed to be telling me but i don't really care. i know that's how democratic governments generally work, but i still don't think unqualified citizens should have a say in what medicine works or not and then vote on it.

- - - Post Merge - - -

ps im american i have no interest or knowledge of what's going on australia so I'm referring to my own country only

- - - Post Merge - - -

"Unfairly imprisoned" if it's illegal and they still do it, how is that unfair ?? It's their own fault

he means in the way that they get heavy sentences in comparison to much worse things
also that drug addiction shouldn't be treated by throwing people in jail

 

[amanda1983]

haha im not entirely sure what the paragraph of quotes is supposed to be telling me but i don't really care. i know that's how democratic governments generally work, but i still don't think unqualified citizens should have a say in what medicine works or not and then vote on it.

- - - Post Merge - - -

ps im american i have no interest or knowledge of what's going on australia so I'm referring to my own country only

- - - Post Merge - - -



he means in the way that they get heavy sentences in comparison to much worse things
also that drug addiction shouldn't be treated by throwing people in jail

I agree completely that no government should actually be making medical decisions. Dunno how that could possibly happen in practice but it's the ideal. What happened in my country and I'm sorry I was not clear in my meaning (whether you care or not lol) : my government decided to essentially green-light the decision made by the medical community. This was something doctors here have been telling us we need to allow for years, it just took until last year for the government to actually listen.

I don't know the situation in the US as well as I do my own country, but from what I've seen there's an increasing push from the medical community for further research and legalising cannabis usage across the country for medical purposes at least. I've read that your AMA is keen for further trials to take place to establish efficacy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amph...nd-more-doctors-want-to-make-marijuana-legal/

 

[idiotdoomspiral]

i think it should be legalised. most things like this have consequences, but comparing this to alcohol or tobacco i think they have worse consequences.
there was a study about how marijuana damages brain cells, they tested this on monkeys. but what they didn't tell us until later is that they deprived the monkeys of oxygen and basically replaced it with weed, so of course they would suffer severe brain damage. another thing is personal experience with my half-sister who let her friends smoke weed in front of their newborn. again, you shouldn't do this with alcohol and certainly not tobacco anyway.

 

[Kitsuragi]

i don't care as long as it's not offered to me or smoked around me. i find it totally disgusting.

 

[Soda Fox]

i don't care as long as it's not offered to me or smoked around me. i find it totally disgusting.

To be fair if someone offers it to you you could just turn it down. I get this if you mean someone who knows you hate it constantly offering it to you but an acquaintance you just met at a party or something offering it without knowing your opinion is just trying to be friendly. Most pot smokers are willing to share but would rather have more for themselves.

 

[Corrie]

"Unfairly imprisoned" if it's illegal and they still do it, how is that unfair ?? It's their own fault

I'm guessing they meant that the years of prison are far too long compared to what it should be. The best examples are how in the US, a person can have more punishment than a murder and that in itself isn't right.

- - - Post Merge - - -

To be fair if someone offers it to you you could just turn it down. I get this if you mean someone who knows you hate it constantly offering it to you but an acquaintance you just met at a party or something offering it without knowing your opinion is just trying to be friendly. Most pot smokers are willing to share but would rather have more for themselves.

I can confirm that pot smokers are definitely friendly and pretty much always offer you a hit or two. It still blows me away of how generous they are.

 

[carp]

i say no cause of how addicted people get to it

 

[Soda Fox]

i say no cause of how addicted people get to it

Anything is addictive to people who are prone to addictions. Should food be illegal, too? Obesity and food addiction is rampant these days. Should sports be illegal because of how addicted people get to watching or playing?

Weed is addictive to people who get addicted to things. Plenty of people don't get addicted to weed.

 

[Fleshy]

Yes, completely. As long as it's taxed and controlled.

 

[moonford]

This exploded really quickly. XD

 

[Ghost Soda]

I don't see why not. If alcohol is legal, even with all the problems that causes, then I don't see why the same can't be said for marijuana?

 

[lostineverfreeforest]

Sorry, but you cannot use drugs like heroine or cocaine "responsibly"...

Anecdotal tangent here: I've used heroin, didn't like it. I've used cocaine a bunch of times over the years and my life is fairly put together. Of my friends who do it, one is a weekend warrior and does it far more than I'd personally be comfortable with but still manages to maintain a steady job and personal life despite his drug use. Not sure if you have ever used these particular drugs yourself but it doesn't instantly turn you into an crazed addict overnight. I'd definitely agree they have physically addictive properties which makes them more dangerous than say, marijuana, but like with any drug it's not impossible to use them responsibility and still manage a life. Do some people use them excessively/irresponsibility? Yes. As do people with just about every other thing under the sun from food, to video games, to sex. I wouldn't go so far as doing a blanket legalization but I feel regulation, particularly with heroin, would be far safer especially as fentanyl is being passed around as a substitute these days and is literally killing people. There are centers in places like Paris and Copenhagen that allow the use of drugs while under medical supervision with no stigma or strings attached. Harm reduction is ultimately the better solution IMO. Alright I'll stop rambling now.

 

[kayleee]

Anecdotal tangent here: I've used heroin, didn't like it. I've used cocaine a bunch of times over the years and my life is fairly put together. Of my friends who do it, one is a weekend warrior and does it far more than I'd personally be comfortable with but still manages to maintain a steady job and personal life despite his drug use. Not sure if you have ever used these particular drugs yourself but it doesn't instantly turn you into an crazed addict overnight. I'd definitely agree they have physically addictive properties which makes them more dangerous than say, marijuana, but like with any drug it's not impossible to use them responsibility and still manage a life. Do some people use them excessively/irresponsibility? Yes. As do people with just about every other thing under the sun from food, to video games, to sex. I wouldn't go so far as doing a blanket legalization but I feel regulation, particularly with heroin, would be far safer especially as fentanyl is being passed around as a substitute these days and is literally killing people. There are centers in places like Paris and Copenhagen that allow the use of drugs while under medical supervision with no stigma or strings attached. Harm reduction is ultimately the better solution IMO. Alright I'll stop rambling now.

"occasionally using" is a far cry from "responsible"

 

[lostineverfreeforest]

"occasionally using" is a far cry from "responsible"

Would you mind explaining your reasoning?

 

[Bowie]

I'd be pretty scared if anyone close to me did harmful drugs, but I'm completely fine with weed. I don't do it, but a close friend of mine does. The only thing I worry about is him getting caught, so the quicker it gets legalised the better.

 

[PizzaTotinoBoy]

Anything is addictive to people who are prone to addictions. Should food be illegal, too? Obesity and food addiction is rampant these days. Should sports be illegal because of how addicted people get to watching or playing?

Weed is addictive to people who get addicted to things. Plenty of people don't get addicted to weed.

Exactly. I know a lot of people who do it who aren't addicted. They use it because it's helpful to them for various reasons. I mean, hell, my younger grandma would still be really messed up thanks to pills if it weren't for marijuana. People can get addicted, but like you said, a lot of people use it aren't.