do you

[rangerfan523]

i dont consider weed a drug even though it is i just dont think it should be illegal does anypne have the same opion

[Ryandel]

My thoughts on it vary... But it is much safer than cigarettes, health wise. But I do think it should be like normal smokes... Age limit and ID. I dunno just a thought... A thought.


-Alex D
S.N.

[WEO]

Yes I agree with you. I think it should be legal but with an age limit. especially for medical reasons.

[Techno Monster]

It should be legal.

[Underground_Network]

It's safer than most drugs, and possibly even safer than tobacco, but it's addictive and it opens the door to other drugs, so I say it should be illegal. People eventually get bored of marijuana and move on to harder stuff, which is why I don't think it should be legal.

[Nihilus]

It's safer than most drugs, and possibly even safer than tobacco, but it's addictive and it opens the door to other drugs, so I say it should be illegal. People eventually get bored of marijuana and move on to harder stuff, which is why I don't think it should be legal.

Great post. Marijuana has more (i think it is) lcd and nicotine in it.
I think it should be illegal....
Rep plus Underground network

[Oblivion]

It's safer than most drugs, and possibly even safer than tobacco, but it's addictive and it opens the door to other drugs, so I say it should be illegal. People eventually get bored of marijuana and move on to harder stuff, which is why I don't think it should be legal.

Very much agreed

Of course cigarettes should be illegal too
But that harder since millions of people smoke

[DarkWingedAngel]

well the thing is it can still mess u up but in a way it is nothing like tobaco it should be leagal and it is leagal if u have cancer

[WEO]

Great post. Marijuana has more (i think it is) lcd and nicotine in it.
I think it should be illegal....
Rep plus Underground network

??

Well you thought wrong. Marijuana doesnt have nicotine in it?. It is NOT physically addictive in any way only psychologically(asin you like it and want to do it again..) but if u have a little self control you dont have to worry about that.

also the marijuana = gateway drug i think thats BS

edit: oh and yes smoking it obviously isn't good for you lungs etc. but by eating marijuana it eliminates the carcinogen effects( the stuff that can be harmfull to you when you smoke it) and the high lasts longer :P

[Underground_Network]

^^Of 10-15 people I know that have tried marijuana, 8-12 of them have moved onto a harder/worse drug.

[Oblivion]

WEO.
Marijuana is like a cigarette.
You have one the first day.
3 a day the next week.
5 a day the next week.
A pack a day the next week.

Except each time the amount goes up, with marijuana, it turns into a worse harder drug.

[Rutherford The Brave]

My thoughts on it vary... But it is much safer than cigarettes, health wise. But I do think it should be like normal smokes... Age limit and ID. I dunno just a thought... A thought.


-Alex D
S.N.

Sorry it really isn't alex, it does more damage to your brain and nervous system. Which in the long run will kill you faster than any heart damage will. Still it should not be legal its illegal because people abuse it its as simple as that.

??

Well you thought wrong. Marijuana doesnt have nicotine in it?. It is NOT physically addictive in any way only psychologically(asin you like it and want to do it again..) but if u have a little self control you dont have to worry about that.

also the marijuana = gateway drug i think thats BS

edit: oh and yes smoking it obviously isn't good for you lungs etc. but by eating marijuana it eliminates the carcinogen effects( the stuff that can be harmfull to you when you smoke it) and the high lasts longer :P

See your wrong as well, it is physically addiciting. It truly is just not as much as nicotine. Eating marijuana isn't good it often is tampered with and has added drugs so don't do it.

[Ryandel]

Sorry it really isn't alex, it does more damage to your brain and nervous system. Which in the long run will kill you faster than any heart damage will. Still it should not be legal its illegal because people abuse it its as simple as that.


In comparison to cigarettes yes. But ya you're right about the nervous system. Can't believe I forgot about that. (I need more sleep) But the legal part ya, what if there where laws placed upon it, such as age restrictions, ID, and limitations per person. Would that be a better solution or no?

-Alex D.
S.N.

[DarkWingedAngel]

totaly no question about it

[serial-thrilla]

Sorry it really isn't alex, it does more damage to your brain and nervous system. Which in the long run will kill you faster than any heart damage will. Still it should not be legal its illegal because people abuse it its as simple as that. Marijuana being illegal does not help the situation of anyone "abusing" it. The war on drugs has been a complete failure thus far. Making people who use drugs, go to jail is not helping the situation what so ever.

[krystalm]

it's a drug, are you kidding me? do you not know the definition?i agree it should be decriminalized, but it's still a drug.

[Maverick]

Debates about the legality of drugs belong in the debate forum. Moving.

P.S. There are legal drugs. Just because something is called a drug doesn't mean its illegal.

Edit: Oops, didn't realize krystalm (http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/member.php?u=9000) said that already.

[CaptainObvious]

...I'm floored by some of the things said so far. There's a lot of common misconceptions about drugs, and unfortunately a lot of them are getting repeated here:

It's safer than most drugs, and possibly even safer than tobacco, but it's addictive and it opens the door to other drugs, so I say it should be illegal. People eventually get bored of marijuana and move on to harder stuff, which is why I don't think it should be legal.

This is not strictly true. Statistical studies have shown that marijuana has a very weak gateway drug effect; the same studies have shown that the most statistically powerful gateway drugs available are the legal ones: alcohol and tobacco.

More importantly, the fact that past marijuana users statistically use more hard drugs may or may not be relevant. What if they were predisposed to using drugs anyways? Why do you automatically assume causation without any necessarily good evidence for it?

Great post. Marijuana has more (i think it is) lcd and nicotine in it.
I think it should be illegal....
Rep plus Underground network

...what? Marijuana has no nicotine in it. Nor does it have any LSD (which is what I assume you meant by lcd, given that lcd is a type of TV..). The active ingredients in marijuana are the cannabinoids, including THC, cannabinol, cannabidiol, and so forth. I'm interested, where are you getting your information?

WEO.
Marijuana is like a cigarette.
You have one the first day.
3 a day the next week.
5 a day the next week.
A pack a day the next week.

Except each time the amount goes up, with marijuana, it turns into a worse harder drug.

This is untrue. First, marijuana is far, far less addictive than nicotine (nicotine is similar in addictive potential to heroin), and less addictive than almost all other drugs of abuse - the only drugs less addictive than marijuana are LSD, ecstasy and the like. Second, marijuana is not physically addictive. It is psychologically addictive - sometimes significantly - however.

Bottom line, it is simply not correct to compare marijuana's addictive potential with that of a cigarette, as repeated study has showed.

Sorry it really isn't alex, it does more damage to your brain and nervous system. Which in the long run will kill you faster than any heart damage will. Still it should not be legal its illegal because people abuse it its as simple as that.

Does more damage to the brain and nervous system? Yeah, probably. Especially since tobacco actually appears to confer some protective benefits on its users with respect to mental health and brain function.

However, it is entirely erroneous to contend that the kind of mild brain degradation THC can cause kills people faster than tobacco. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in most developed countries, with cancer right behind. And guess what risk factor is, on the whole, most powerful in those diseases? Tobacco smoking. Marijuana just doesn't even come close to comparing on the metric of total deaths.

See your wrong as well, it is physically addiciting. It truly is just not as much as nicotine. Eating marijuana isn't good it often is tampered with and has added drugs so don't do it.

I heartily endorse the message about making sure your marijuana is clean before doing anything. That said, it's very hard and uncommon (at least in North America) to adulterate marijuana - adulteration is normally cutting, and since marijuana is plant material you basically can't cut it unless you find some other plant with similar visual properties. Other things like ground glass and metal have been discovered as adulterants in the past, but they are often easy to detect. Generally, marijuana adulteration is not as big a problem as it is made out and thought to be.

---------------------

So, with a lot of misinformation answered, what's my take?

I think all drugs should be legalized. Every single one. The problems that prohibition creates (criminal elements, drug misinformation and dampened research, public health problems like Hep C and HIV/AIDS, and exploitation of the vulnerable through artificially high prices) are much bigger than the one it gets right: reducing use somewhat.

Is it worth it from an amoral, harm reduction perspective? No chance. So between that and the fact that according to the principles of liberty I hold dear it is an undue infringement on people's lives, I am strongly against drug prohibition.

[Rutherford The Brave]

...I'm floored by some of the things said so far. There's a lot of common misconceptions about drugs, and unfortunately a lot of them are getting repeated here:



This is not strictly true. Statistical studies have shown that marijuana has a very weak gateway drug effect; the same studies have shown that the most statistically powerful gateway drugs available are the legal ones: alcohol and tobacco.

More importantly, the fact that past marijuana users statistically use more hard drugs may or may not be relevant. What if they were predisposed to using drugs anyways? Why do you automatically assume causation without any necessarily good evidence for it?



...what? Marijuana has no nicotine in it. Nor does it have any LSD (which is what I assume you meant by lcd, given that lcd is a type of TV..). The active ingredients in marijuana are the cannabinoids, including THC, cannabinol, cannabidiol, and so forth. I'm interested, where are you getting your information?



This is untrue. First, marijuana is far, far less addictive than nicotine (nicotine is similar in addictive potential to heroin), and less addictive than almost all other drugs of abuse - the only drugs less addictive than marijuana are LSD, ecstasy and the like. Second, marijuana is not physically addictive. It is psychologically addictive - sometimes significantly - however.

Bottom line, it is simply not correct to compare marijuana's addictive potential with that of a cigarette, as repeated study has showed.



Does more damage to the brain and nervous system? Yeah, probably. Especially since tobacco actually appears to confer some protective benefits on its users with respect to mental health and brain function.

However, it is entirely erroneous to contend that the kind of mild brain degradation THC can cause kills people faster than tobacco. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in most developed countries, with cancer right behind. And guess what risk factor is, on the whole, most powerful in those diseases? Tobacco smoking. Marijuana just doesn't even come close to comparing on the metric of total deaths.



I heartily endorse the message about making sure your marijuana is clean before doing anything. That said, it's very hard and uncommon (at least in North America) to adulterate marijuana - adulteration is normally cutting, and since marijuana is plant material you basically can't cut it unless you find some other plant with similar visual properties. Other things like ground glass and metal have been discovered as adulterants in the past, but they are often easy to detect. Generally, marijuana adulteration is not as big a problem as it is made out and thought to be.

---------------------

So, with a lot of misinformation answered, what's my take?

I think all drugs should be legalized. Every single one. The problems that prohibition creates (criminal elements, drug misinformation and dampened research, public health problems like Hep C and HIV/AIDS, and exploitation of the vulnerable through artificially high prices) are much bigger than the one it gets right: reducing use somewhat.

Is it worth it from an amoral, harm reduction perspective? No chance. So between that and the fact that according to the principles of liberty I hold dear it is an undue infringement on people's lives, I am strongly against drug prohibition.

This statement is totally ignorant. If we do in fact make it legal we will suffer from things like violence, drop in population, a drop in people willing to work in the medical field, I could go on for ever. Plus your post have really become a nuisance to a few of us. Keep your smart alleck comments on the D-low got it?

[Whisper]

I don't do illegal drugs
but i firmly believe that pot should be legal in Canada
and the government should put a massive tax on it just like they do to alcohol and smokes
Canada's the pot capital of the planet we smoke more than they do in the Netherlands...and its legal there
Have the same rules apply to it that apply to smokes
as far as driving while high that happens allot anyway we have a seperate law just for driving high
we have a ton of commercials to discourage driving while high already
yJTD3UjW8W0
i couldnt find the other ones


the tax money that comes in from that could probably pay for a huge chunk of the universal childcare program many Canadians dream of

[serial-thrilla]

This statement is totally ignorant. If we do in fact make it legal we will suffer from things like violence, drop in population, a drop in people willing to work in the medical field, I could go on for ever. Plus your post have really become a nuisance to a few of us. Keep your smart alleck comments on the D-low got it?
why will we suffer from more violence? No more DEA clowns breaking down peoples doors. Whats wrong with a slight drop in population? We are quickly becoming overpopulated. Why would people want to stop being doctors because drugs are legal? thats just ridiculous. please go on further. Drugs being illegal is dumb and causes more harm then good to our society. I for one dont like the idea of our tax dollars going to some pot dealer in jail who got busted. I definatly think their are better ways to deal with drugs then punishing the people involved in them with jail.

[CaptainObvious]

This statement is totally ignorant. If we do in fact make it legal we will suffer from things like violence, drop in population, a drop in people willing to work in the medical field, I could go on for ever. Plus your post have really become a nuisance to a few of us. Keep your smart alleck comments on the D-low got it?

Care to provide any evidence whatsoever for any of your assertions, as opposed to just dismissing what I say with absolutely no evidence? For example, please explain how legalizing drugs would cause a drop in people willing to work in the medical field. Or how it would cause a drop in population.

Or, even better, explain how removing the criminals from the drug supply and distribution pipelines could possibly increase violence. Yes, there may be more addiction-related violence, but there will be massively less violence from drug dealers fighting, extortion to pay for drugs, conflict between organized crime syndicates... I could go on.

As for "being a nuisance" and not posting... no. If you don't like being disagreed with, then you should probably stay out of debate threads.

[Rutherford The Brave]

Care to provide any evidence whatsoever for any of your assertions, as opposed to just dismissing what I say with absolutely no evidence? For example, please explain how legalizing drugs would cause a drop in people willing to work in the medical field. Or how it would cause a drop in population.

Or, even better, explain how removing the criminals from the drug supply and distribution pipelines could possibly increase violence. Yes, there may be more addiction-related violence, but there will be massively less violence from drug dealers fighting, extortion to pay for drugs, conflict between organized crime syndicates... I could go on.

As for "being a nuisance" and not posting... no. If you don't like being disagreed with, then you should probably stay out of debate threads.

The reason why we will see a drop in the med care field is because THE DOCTERS AND NURSES WILL BE SICK AND TIRED OVER TREATING THE SAME OVERDOSE PATIENTS FOR THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT A BARTENDER MAKES AND THREE TIMES THE HOURS. There will always be fighting over dealers and such because people will always cheat each toher out of money and or drugs.

[CaptainObvious]

The reason why we will see a drop in the med care field is because THE DOCTERS AND NURSES WILL BE SICK AND TIRED OVER TREATING THE SAME OVERDOSE PATIENTS FOR THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT A BARTENDER MAKES AND THREE TIMES THE HOURS.

Where do you live that doctors make the same as bartenders for that many more hours? It certainly doesn't work that way here (and I work in a hospital, so I know this stuff, in case you're wondering).

More importantly, I disagree with your postulate. Repeated study has shown that legitimizing drugs actually decreases overdoses; places like the safe injection site in Vancouver have saved a number of people from emergency medical care for overdoses. This is something you would know, had you done the research.

There will always be fighting over dealers and such because people will always cheat each toher out of money and or drugs.

Yes, there will be - unless drugs are legalized and production becomes legitimized and subject to the same laws as other products. Then there will be no fighting. Wasn't that the point? Notice how during prohibition crime increased massively related to alcohol smuggling? How gangs became massively more powerful by operating sources of alcohol? And how after prohibition was repealed, both phenomena disappeared? Yeah, it works the same way with other drugs too.

[Bobby]

Let's continue with the debate in a respectable fashion.

[Maverick]

oneshyguy you base your arguments on studies. Could you name the studies you are referring to for the sake of your argument? Without naming them we have no proof they even exist nor can anyone dispute their creditability.

[Rutherford The Brave]

Put it this way if you think that making druugs legal is going to decrease overdoses then you'd still be avoiding the fact that there still will be overdoses. So if the doctors where to treat every overdoes patient they wouldn't have time to take care of the PEOPLE WHO REALLY NEED HELP. Then the patient who needed help would die, then the family of the dead could in fact sue the overdose patient. Because of the fact that he couldnt control himself, and because of that their family member died.

[raiders rule]

they call it the gateway drug for a reason

[serial-thrilla]

Put it this way if you think that making druugs legal is going to decrease overdoses then you'd still be avoiding the fact that there still will be overdoses. So if the doctors where to treat every overdoes patient they wouldn't have time to take care of the PEOPLE WHO REALLY NEED HELP. people overdosing don't really need help? thats disgusting to say.

[Rutherford The Brave]

They dont actually I think the should suffer the reprocussions of their actions.

[serial-thrilla]

They dont actually I think the should suffer the reprocussions of their actions. Thats terrible. I dont know how you were raised, but thats wrong. People are in the hospital for various reasons all the time, many of these incidents were their own doing. To say that because "it was their own fault" so they shouldnt get any help is flat out wrong.

[Rutherford The Brave]

Thats terrible. I dont know how you were raised, but thats wrong. People are in the hospital for various reasons all the time, many of these incidents were their own doing. To say that because "it was their own fault" so they shouldnt get any help is flat out wrong.

No one told them to overdose on any drugs. So why in hell's name should take a bed up in a hospital when there are people out there who are dying and have no place to go. I wasn't raised by the way, I taught myself how to fend in this world. They should just get treated or get a cocktail to put them to sleep then shown the door. Oh yeah let me tell you something, My mom died because of a over dose and guess what there wasnt a bed for her int he hospital because of an over dose.

[serial-thrilla]

No one told them to overdose on any drugs. So why in hell's name should take a bed up in a hospital when there are people out there who are dying and have no place to go. I wasn't raised by the way, I taught myself how to fend in this world. They should just get treated or get a cocktail to put them to sleep then shown the door. Oh yeah let me tell you something, My mom died because of a over dose and guess what there wasnt a bed for her int he hospital because of an over dose. If you want we can continue this argument over pm, I think this has gotten quite off topic.

[hobo]

marijuana and all other drugs should definately be legalized. if we can take all dealers off the street then violence and crime will go down. i agree with everything oneshyguy and serial-thrilla have said as well. and KGTM, all your posts were stupid, insensitive, uninformed, biggoted, unintelligible and lame.

i know someone who has been smoking weed for more than four years and never tried anything else. also, i tried weed about two months ago and haven't done it once since, and acrtic fox's post about how adictive it is is false.

[Rutherford The Brave]

marijuana and all other drugs should definately be legalized. if we can take all dealers off the street then violence and crime will go down. i agree with everything oneshyguy and serial-thrilla have said as well. and KGTM, all your posts were stupid, insensitive, uninformed, biggoted, uninteligable and lame.

i know someone who has been smoking weed for more than four years and never tried anything else. also, i tried weed about two months ago and haven't done it once since, and acrtic fox's post about how adictive it is is false.

Very funny.....Maybe if you could spell "un-intelligent" I would be offended. If you don't like my posts don't say stuff about them, I strongly back my opinions and whatever you say will have no effect on what I say. By the by reporting your post.

[CaptainObvious]

No one told them to overdose on any drugs. So why in hell's name should take a bed up in a hospital when there are people out there who are dying and have no place to go. I wasn't raised by the way, I taught myself how to fend in this world. They should just get treated or get a cocktail to put them to sleep then shown the door. Oh yeah let me tell you something, My mom died because of a over dose and guess what there wasnt a bed for her int he hospital because of an over dose.

So do you believe that someone who gets lung cancer from smoking, mouth cancer from dip, breast cancer due to alcohol (all very clear cause-and-effect kind of illnesses), or diabetes due to being sedentary shouldn't be treated, then? Or do you reserve your contempt for those who die of illegal drug use? And if so, why?

Personally, I think that whether a person caused their own disease or not should have no bearing on how it is treated. One does not refuse to rescue a person from a car accident because it was their fault. It is morally bankrupt to do so.

Put it this way if you think that making druugs legal is going to decrease overdoses then you'd still be avoiding the fact that there still will be overdoses. So if the doctors where to treat every overdoes patient they wouldn't have time to take care of the PEOPLE WHO REALLY NEED HELP. Then the patient who needed help would die, then the family of the dead could in fact sue the overdose patient. Because of the fact that he couldnt control himself, and because of that their family member died.

Of course there will still be overdoses. But there are overdoses now too. So since overdoses overall decrease (a laudable goal, don't you agree?) what's the problem?

As for your random situation, the family in question could in fact not sue the overdose patient, and would get laughed out of court if they ever tried. A patient is not legally liable for the harm that comes to others from his or her use of available healthcare facilities.

oneshyguy you base your arguments on studies. Could you name the studies you are referring to for the sake of your argument? Without naming them we have no proof they even exist nor can anyone dispute their creditability.

Certainly I can.

http://www.vch.ca/sis/research.htm is a quick overview of the research from Insite (the research itself is peer-reviewed and published in other scholarly medical journals).

http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/reprint/171/7/731.pdf examined Insite's (the injection site in Vancouver) effect on the community in terms of disturbance to the public caused by addicts before and after the site was opened, and found that it decreased needle sharing and litter.

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/117967976/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 examined detox and relapse rates, and found that the site resulted in increases in detox use and decreased relapse.

The research is basically unequivocal.

[hobo]

Very funny.....Maybe if you could spell "un-intelligent" I would be offended. If you don't like my posts don't say stuff about them, I strongly back my opinions and whatever you say will have no effect on what I say. By the by reporting your post.

OMFGLOLWTFNOOB.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unintelligible

"not capable of being understood"

I said what i meant, learn to read n00b.

and you have been talking shit about other people's posts throughout this entire thread.

and why would you report my post? all i did was state a well thought out and articulated opinion on your previous post.

also, i don't care what you think, say and/or do. and "by the by" is the lamest phrase ever.

[Bobby]

People, if I continue to see any bit of fighting after this, the thread's going to be locked.

Debate respectfully.