Is it time to legalize pot and reduce the death rate of tobacco and alcohol?

[thesummerqueen]

Entire industries, more likely, Rev.

[Doubting Thomas]

I've never understood the "legalize pot but ban tobacco" attitude from the liberal crowd. You'd think they'd want to legalize it across the board. I'm all for personal responsibility. Educate people on the potential addictiveness of all drugs and let them make their own choices. Sorry, but you just can't save people from themselves.

[Minimalist]

In truth, I don't care what people use to kill themselves. People have to die of something.

"If I take very good care of myself the best I can hope for is that some day I'll get very sick and die."

-- Rodney Dangerfield

[The Grand Nudger]

There is more money in illegal pot than there ever would be in legal pot. For everyone, from the police state to the grower. While I wouldn't assume that everyone in this chain is somehow complicit in what amounts to a massive price fixing scam, I couldn't ignore the possibility that many very powerful (and very wealthy) people are, and by extension so are those entities which operate as the public face of their private, profitable arm. An arm, which I have to add, is holding a gun no matter which side of the line one is on. It is in the best interests of the business of growing and selling pot for it to remain illegal, and, as we see, they are not beyond the use of deadly force to protect this business.

[Jackalope]

It is in the best interests of the business of growing and selling pot for it to remain illegal, and, as we see, they are not beyond the use of deadly force to protect this business.

This latter point is one of the more compelling reasons for decriminalization or legalization.

Much the same as our experiment in the prohibition of alcohol, treating substance use, abuse, and addiction as a legal problem and not a social / medical one has been an absofuckinglute disaster.

But, yeah - it's not likely to happen any time soon. To many people are getting rich off of prohibition for that to happen.

[Faith No More]

I'd love to have it legalized, but the corporations that stand to lose a lot of money on this will never let it happen.

[Greatest I am]

Totally disagree with you here GIA.

Why?

Have you seen prohibition work anywhere where the pupulation was not completely on board?

And are we on board on this? No.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDt8NXLs1...r_embedded

Regards
DL

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It's really sad that we reached the point of outlawing plants.

Some likely should be but it should be based on harm and the paradox here is that legal drugs are doing more harm than some of the illegal ones.

Regards
DL

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And I think that you cannot guarantee me that pot will kill not more people than tobacco if it's legalized and becomes as widespread as tobacco amongst the masses, especially the lower sections of society?
I think that all such drugs are dangerous for society, if not for the individual, however, tobacco has the advantage of not being a mind numbing drug of sorts. The reason it causes large numbers of tobacco-consumption related illnesses and deaths, is due to it's wide usage amongst the people of earth.
Regarding the "legality", I'd say that using such substances should be legal, however, manufacture, and sale thereof, should not. One should destroy such plantations wherever one comes across them, and deal with the sellers and distributers harshly. However, it's your country, do what you will.

I guess that you missed where the death rates on pot are near 0 even as a good % of the population smoke pot. Increasing the usage then, something that would not happen, would still leave the % at near 0 while we know that tobacco's % is quite ugly.


Regards
DL

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Especially a plant as useful as hemp.

...and that is WHY it is illegal. Many companies stand to lose money if Hemp gains status in America.

I see nothing wrong with channelling savings from stopping our ineffective drug war to those companies. There needs not be any lose and the gain in intelligent laws instead of what we have would help.

Regards
DL

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I've never understood the "legalize pot but ban tobacco" attitude from the liberal crowd. You'd think they'd want to legalize it across the board. I'm all for personal responsibility. Educate people on the potential addictiveness of all drugs and let them make their own choices. Sorry, but you just can't save people from themselves.

We share the same overall policy.

Are you aware of the numbers of tobacco smokers who die yearly?

What % of a user population has to die before the government acts?

Regards
DL

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There is more money in illegal pot than there ever would be in legal pot. For everyone, from the police state to the grower. While I wouldn't assume that everyone in this chain is somehow complicit in what amounts to a massive price fixing scam, I couldn't ignore the possibility that many very powerful (and very wealthy) people are, and by extension so are those entities which operate as the public face of their private, profitable arm. An arm, which I have to add, is holding a gun no matter which side of the line one is on. It is in the best interests of the business of growing and selling pot for it to remain illegal, and, as we see, they are not beyond the use of deadly force to protect this business.

So. Continue with an immoral population killing system to protect business.

Spoken like a true moral man. Not.

Regards
DL

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I'd love to have it legalized, but the corporations that stand to lose a lot of money on this will never let it happen.

By corporations you mean governments right.

They control the market and the U S government is the world's biggest drug lord ever.

Regards
DL

[Faith No More]

Nope. I meant corporations. The pharmaceutical, alcohol, and tobacco companies stand to lose a lot of money if marijuana is legalized, which is why they are some of the largest contributors to the war on drugs.

[downbeatplumb]

Legalize it , regulate it, tax it.

We'd see a fall in prison numbers, an increase in tax revenue and a fall in deaths and diseases caused by doctored drugs.

On the minus side there'd be fewer humerous stories about people buying oxo cubes for twenty quid instead of pot, (which happened to a friend of mine)

[Greatest I am]

Nope. I meant corporations. The pharmaceutical, alcohol, and tobacco companies stand to lose a lot of money if marijuana is legalized, which is why they are some of the largest contributors to the war on drugs.

Yes. I wonder how much they pay for the heads for every Mexican we kill just so they can keep making money?

Regards
DL

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Legalize it , regulate it, tax it.

We'd see a fall in prison numbers, an increase in tax revenue and a fall in deaths and diseases caused by doctored drugs.

On the minus side there'd be fewer humerous stories about people buying oxo cubes for twenty quid instead of pot, (which happened to a friend of mine)

Always lick first.

Regards
DL