How Bad Is Marijuana Really

[Melissaisme23]

Weed is the least of the concerns in the country. Doing time for a weed offense seems over the top

[jstlove]

LEGALIZE IT! Stop putting non-violent offenders in jail. The war on drugs is complete ignorance, the system has never worked time for our government to mature

[Jethro Tull]

The "gateway drug" theory is flawed. Tobacco and Alcohol are uses just as much, if not more than marijuana. How come they aren't the "gateway drug?" I would say that tobacco tends to lead to harder stimulants.

[gg12]

im going to have to agree pot is really not that big a deal compared to these other drugs and more realer cigarettes are more addictive then pot with worst after effects.

[Lady27Dre]

yeah, pot should be legalized before alcohol.
damn society!

[Vssjayden]

I would actually rather have a drink then smoke pot,but I don't like pot I don't like how it makes me feel,so I will take the drink over the smoke any day! Pot does and can ruin lives. I watch it done everyday!

[You'remyheart]

I think pot should be legalized and we should focus on people out there selling meth and herion and coke and people that are murderers and rapist and all of that.

[MrsKrueger0728]

I disagree with the notio that Pot is NOT addictive, my husband used to say that till he detoxed in prison... He was really bad apparently. He said it was like coming off of meth or pills. I know when he was out of prison and didnt have any for a few days he was unbearably bitchy and I couldnt stand to be around him. So I think it is as addicting as anything else mentioned here especially if you have an addictive personality!

Him selling pot lead to him selling cocain and catching the charges he is currently in for.. At the time we didnt get evicted and I didnt lose my son but look where he is now!

I do think it should be legalized, I see nothing wrong with someone smoking a joint every now and then to relax IF it were legal! Same as i view alcohol, a drink every now and then isnt going to hurt anything... But then you have your alcoholics and your pot heads... They OVER do it! My husband was so bad that he was high ALL day long he ALWAYS was smoking THAT is an addiction...

BTW I have been nicotine free for a month now!!! YAY me!!!!

[UserNamesRCrazy]

I believe whole heartedly that if my sons parole officer would NOT have said it was okay for him to smoke pot - he would still be alive today. My son was an addict, he started smoking pot ... which led him right back to the other drugs, and now he's dead.

[Mark Stolberg]

OK well what a great thread.

Lets set some facts straight.

1. Incarcerating people for pot is a crime. When you lock someone up, and in effect destroy their lives, without a single victim and no violence its creating another crime not justice.

2. Mass incarceration of non-violent drug offenders has not lowered drug use one bit.
This is the primary response in the "Drug war". You cannot make war on your own population and "win".

3. I smoked pot for many years, and NOT ONCE came across "laced" weed. I know many other folks who also smoked pot for many years and NOT ONCE came across laced weed. Basically its a myth spread by the "anti" pot people when the reality that weed is just not that harmful cant be denied. OK yes I know that there have been cases of "laced" weed, not like it has NEVER happened, but its extremely rare AND from a consumer/seller point of view all the things you would "lace" weed with are either more expensive or would so totally screw the user over, or change the "high" so much that they would never return to that seller. WHY would you poison your own customers? Many times I'm sure folks lied about "laced" weed because they took some pill and/or Od' on some other drug and wanted to "blame" some mystery laced weed as the culprit to make it seem less their fault/stupidity.

4. The vast majority of drug users have jobs and stable lives. The myth that they are all out robbing liquor stores and committing violent acts to support their habits is complete bs. NOW understand, the vast majority of drug users are as follows in order of USE.... COFFEE....TOBACCO....ALCOHOL.....PRESCRIPTION PILLS.....MARIJUANA.....then all the other substances.

5. Gateway drug use is completely bogus. Almost all the pot people I have known NEVER went on to other drugs in fact most don't even smoke cigarettes or use alcohol. Its another tool to "demonize" pot. NOW AGAIN has a pot user gone on to other drugs sure, is it the "norm" absolutely not. The difference between physical damage/financial damage and the high between pot and virtually all other drugs is substantial. Pot is mellow and relaxing with little to no physical side effects, besides a bit of lethargy. NOW take alcohol/coke/lsd/meth/heroin/ecstasy/pills you certainly cannot say the same.

6. Making pot and in fact all drugs illegal is "Prohibition". PROHIBITION WAS A COMPLETE FAILOR PERIOD. It like the "drug war" failed to lower usage IN FACT QUITE THE OPPOSITE! Make chewing glass illegal and kids/people will be on the roof tops with bottles in minutes! The amount of "death/crime/suffering" caused by the failed "Volstead act" (Prohibition) in the 20's+30's has only been surpassed by the "drug war" (modern Prohibition). Learn from our mistakes!

7. Law enforcement+incarceration costs 10 times the amount to put people in rehab or provide counseling/rehab services. So ask yourself this and this goes out to the people who have lost or had loved ones destroyed by "harder" drugs. If the government put 1 10th the amount they put into incarceration and law enforcement and basically anyone with a drug problem could receive care wouldn't that be the sensible answer? NO ONE is rehabilitated in prison it is solely for punishment. Punish our people our cure them for 1 10th the amount?

8. People need to stop saying "They need to make pot illegal or decriminalize it"...WE ARE THE THEY! Take action, put some spine in your representatives MAKE THEM decriminalize it. Seriously the vast majority(AND look it up if you doubt it, its a fact) of the U.S population are for decrim or legalization.

Whew.....tired after my tirade. Lets hear what folks say in response.

[JasonJames]

+1 to Mark

[micha3lsgurl]

I agree. Pot smoking is not what makes you into harder drugs. They do it to them selves I know lots of people who only smoke pot. I actually met a person a couple months ago and they were seriously into doing meth she was pregnant and due at any time when Met her. She was all strung out talking bout how she's never smoked pot but is concedering it. Needless to say she gave birth and lost her son little did I kno this was the second child she lost in the last year bcuz of meth n she's now preg. Again and ganna lose this baby as well. I've never heard of things like that with pot I've never seen anyone od on weed or really had any major issues or to cause any harm to anyone. I really believe when it comes to weed it's the person that makes the choices not the drug. Yea sometimes u may get hungry and have the munchies like a mo fo and get tired sometimes but nothing severe. U kno there are amazing death rates for drug use and addictions but never was there a death caused souly to weed. Peanuts are more dangerous then pot.

[cbsmom]

Addiction is addiction. Some people have personalities that are addictive period. Addiction is associated with pleasure, gratification, anything that brings some form of satisfaction. It could be food, shopping, drugs. etc. Take food. Normally, a benign substance. Over eating can be a serious matter that leads to obesity, death, diabetes, etc. and other sorts of severe medical consequences. These conditions put an overwhelming burden on the medical systems. Especially financial.

Should we mandate laws that put obese people in prison? How about shop a holics, who encounter such debt they must claim bankruptcy. Should they go to prison too?

How about people who are hypocondriacs, who go from doctor to doctor, insisting they be prescribed this or that pain or mental meds for anxiety. More people die each year from legally prescribed drugs than illegal ones. More often than not, the drugs RXs are written. Should these people go to prison?

The real issuse is ignorance and a lack of self understanding. Anything can be used and enjoyed safely, drugs, food, alcohol, and marijuana.

[Real Checker]

Criminally speaking I think it should be legalized. I don't use it myself because it IS illegal and also because it makes me not care about important things and ignore my responsibilities.

[toppingcb]

marijuana prohibiting marijuana, to me, is about the same as prohibiting alcohol back in the 20s to early 30s. it failed miserably then, its failing miserably, now. obviously the government didnt learn its lesson. also, isnt it a basic human right to control what does or does not enter our bodies? its our choice. the government cant tell me to not have a triple baconator at wendys [which isnt OBVIOUSLY bad for my health on a routine basis] so how can they tell me not to smoke pot once in a while? and if the argument is that smoking pot would be a detriment to society because of the possibility of me driving while under the influence of pot, well the same theory goes for alcohol...its legal to manufacture, sell, and consume, and people drive drunk all the time. but for every stupid person driving drunk, how many are out there drinking responsibly? a lot. same goes for pot. theres obviously going to be those who do stupid stuff out there while high, but many of them do the same dumb stuff without being high. also, drinking lowers our inhibitions and makes many people wild, marijuana may lower inhibitions, but as far as i know, no ones gone wild stripping off their clothes or gotten angry...they all just got really lazy and super hungry.

back in prohibition crime rates went up, the mobs controlled all the speak easys and people were still getting their alcohol fix while the government lost out on tax dollars. now, the cartels and gangs control everything, crime rates are up, and the government is losing out on an opportunity for tax revenue while people still get their fix. and contrary to popular belief, once pots legalized, not everyone will be getting high...just as not everyone drinks alcohol and not everyone uses tobacco.

it seems to me the government doesnt trust its people, but were supposedly a government made up of the people. while not everyone is law-abiding [obviously, or PTO wouldnt even exist] the majority of people are...and, again, were supposedly a government of the majority rules. there would also be less of a burden on the court system, and thusly the prison system...and, overall, the tax-paying peoples.

id have more points to spell out here, but then id just sound like a lobbyist. lol.

[MrBW]

it's just like the alcohol prohibition and it's amazing how that can't be seen. and the sad part of it is that pot is much less harmful and actually helps a lot of medical issues that we currently give out pharm industry junk to which in the long run destroy people. With the hwole eating organic movement u would think people would start to come around to this idea. sad that we let people who don't know the first thing about pot decide what the rest of us do with it.