Weed

[Nine]

0% no? Thought there was a diverse crowd here?

[Chuff]

Bill Hicks says it better than I ever could

[Nine]

His mouth moves funny when he speaks. Funny tho

[Napoléon]

No, but the fact is that they are two separate issues, just as owning guns and shooting people are two separate issues. Some people use guns responsibly, others use them to kill people. Likewise, some people use drugs recreationally and are perfectly fine, others abuse them and that leads them to abuse others.

The government treats alcohol and alcohol abuse completely separately, as we should with all drugs.

Hmm that is a good point. At the end of the day I think it should be treated the same as all other drugs and I agree with you on that.

[Violet]

0% no? Thought there was a diverse crowd here?

We're diverse, sure... but we get to hang out with various admitted potheads here, plenty of which are members of our staff.

It would be very hard to spend much time here, hanging around some of the coolest members of the community, without becoming at the least apathetic to marijuana.

[Nine]

We're diverse, sure... but we get to hang out with various admitted potheads here, plenty of which are members of our staff.

It would be very hard to spend much time here, hanging around some of the coolest members of the community, without becoming at the least apathetic to marijuana.

Still I expected at least one vote against.

[Doubting Thomas]

I don't see anything wrong with legalizing marijuana, but I'm against the harder drugs. When have you ever seen a heroin addict being a productive member of society? Crack is supposed to be highly addictive from the first hit. I'm also against legalizing methamphetamine, because it is so toxic, not to mention the byproducts. For every pound of meth produced, there are 9 pounds of toxic waste chemicals which must be disposed of.

Legalization may not be the answer, but rather decriminalization. Don't allow legal manufacture & sales of hard drugs, but don't criminalize their use and instead focus on getting those people treatment for their addiction.

If you want a good laugh, go rent the movie "Reefer Madness." It was a 1930's propaganda film produced to show the public how evil marijuana use is, but the acting is so outlandish that today it's become a parody of itself. Apparently if you smoke weed, it will make you kill your friends.

[downbeatplumb]

Got listening to some reggae and it made me think of weed.

My thoughts are, why is weed illegal? When I've never heard of anyone dying from it. Surely alcohol and cigarettes are far more damaging to someone's health than weed?

So I did a quick search on the internet, found plenty on how many people die each year from smoking (http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Smoking-The-Facts.htm) but strangely no real facts on marijuana.

I sure know weed does affect people, but it doesn't look anywhere near as harmful in comparison to current legalised substances.

So, anyone got any fact or figures to back up this? Or any that contradict?

Your thoughts?

Although some weed is not harmfull growers in europe have been breeding for potency for decades,which has resulted in at least one of my firnds frazzling his brain on the stuff. So much so that he was commited to an asylem for a while.

Before weed he was a little odd, after, complete paranoid psycho.

[Erinome]

I've smoked weed almost every day for the last 13 years, and I don't want to live without it. The only real victims of the war on marijuana are the people who get arrested/punished for possessing it. I have smoked it before every major academic test I've ever taken, and I always score amazingly well. I smoked it through 4 pregnancies, all of my children are geniuses (2 are gifted on paper), and the oldest of them could tell you all about marijuana facts, and make a nicely articulated case for why it should be legal.

I smoke it because I like smoking it.

[MrSkeptic]

I've been an avid dope smoker for over 15 years and really don't see the harm in it. There are a few countries in Europe at the moment who experimenting with decriminalisation and early results look promising. Its annoys me because similar to what Chuff said, I have a good job, my own home, loving partner and two gorgeous little girls. I like to think of myself as a decent citizen who would help anyone in need yet according to the law I am a criminal! Most people I know have a few glasses of wine after a long day at work, I chill with a few joints, I don't see what i'm doing wrong in all honesty!

The war on drugs just isn't working, a new approach is needed. I'm reluctant to say legalise it all but criminalising people who have an addiction problem isn't the way forward in my opinion. The problem is, drugs have a very taboo image, its ingrained in the psyche that they are 'evil' and 'immoral' and so no politician will dare stand up and advocate legalisation.

I know first hand how futile the status quo is. I normally wouldn't openly admit this but the internet affords me a level of anonymity. When I was younger I had a pretty serious heroin problem, between the ages of 17-25 my sole purpose in life was the acquisition of money to score my next fix. It was a horrendous existence and something which really is a cancer on society. I was lucky and managed to break the cycle, I got myself educated, got a good job and never looked back, have been clean for nearly 10 years now but still I have to be very careful who I associate with as its a short trip back to the bottom. Because of my experiences with heroin I could never advocate legalisation of such a powerful narcotic, better treatment sure, but making it available to the masses would be an unmitigated disaster!

I know some of you may think less of me having said what I've said but its part of my past and its made me who I am today. Infact if I never had been a heroin addict I probably would never have gone on to university and acquire a greater understanding of the world