DEBATE TIME: Should weed be legalised?
 

So I see a few states in the US are looking at decriminalising weed and more are going to allow its use for medicinal purposes. Even the chief Obama himself has publicly stated that weed is no more harmful than alcohol.

What do you chaps and chapettes think?

Also - I stumbled across this article in the Huff and found it really scary. I might be reading it wrong or be naive and these dudes are up to all sorts that hasn't been reported but surely if they're following state laws, federal can't just roll in and hammer them? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3837618.html

I think The Netherlands have the right attitude to cannabis. It isn't legalised, but it is decriminalised. I suppose if you completely legalised it then it should be taxed the same way tobacco is - and you'll eliminate a big chunk out of the drug dealer market. Which is only a good thing on society.

Negatives for legalising it - main issue is mental health. Seen so many people fall victim of mental health offset by weed. Also it can lead onto the use of harder drugs - so perhaps in the short term a big chunk is taken out of the dealers' market, but eventually this will be replaced by a harder underground market.

Not fazed either way about weed being legalised or not. What everyone should focus on is creating a cigarette that is healthy and cheap and makes my hair grow and gives me muscles and my wife lets me smoke. Maybe this reply should be in the drunken post thread.

There's no evidence at all that weed use leads to the use of harder drugs.

That's like saying having a few beers leads to drinking brake fluid.

I have always thought that weed should be legal. I could use the old argument that considering the damages that alcohol does, weed is lightweight. But even without using that argument, I don't understand a government that says I cannot use (in any way or form) a naturally grown substance. This stuff grows all over here in Northern NJ - empty lots, the NJ Transit right of way along the tracks etc.

Once the government finds a way to take a hefty tax bite from you - you can bet that it will be legal in more than 2 states. Yes this is my cynical self talking.

I'm actually amazed that governments around the world haven't jumped on it for taxation already.

I would imagine the vast majority of the population couldn't care either way if it was legalised given how little an issue it is compared to the other social ills of alcohol, hard drugs and bad diets so I really don't understand why it hasn't come to the fore before now.

It's quite interesting that a socially conservative country like the US is taking these steps - I wouldn't imagine many places will be far behind.

I wouldn't start smoking weed if it was legal because I don't really have any interest in it, but I think it should be... Have seen first hand that the effects of alcohol are often much worse.

I ****ing hate the smell of weed, disgusting.

You probably mean grass. That shit stinks.

Aloha !

I'm not quite sure what to think of this just yet. When I was still in graphic school there was a coffee shop just around the corner. I bought weed there one time for a classmate (no seriously :)) because he was too young to buy some. Didn't think much of it back then.

A few years later though, at least half of my classmates sat in class stoned at least once, and several got addicted to the stuff, much like some get addicted to cigarettes. The effect of them being addicted to weed was that several failed class and obviously couldn't deal with weed being "everywhere". I had friends of suffered from short term memory loss all thanks to weed. It was the typical local country boy goes to school in the big city story.

Considering the amount of tourists in Amsterdam not being able to deal with the "free" weed out there, I'm kind of curious what it'd be like would it actually be fully legal here, or anywhere for that matter. Their problems are relatively small (can't find their hotel etc.). If they'd suddenly be exposed to it every day, and get addicted, they just might never find their way back home anymore. Much like with alcohol and Korsakoff etc.

Every generation here in Holland is being raised with the thought of it just being out there and there's a select few who can't deal with it. Yet the general attitude towards it over where I live, is much different compared to other parts of Holland, where people seem to think it's drugs, thus evil. All saying this while chain smoking or binge drinking every weekend, obviously.

I don't think you can just legalize something when in a country like Holland there's still people being so uneducated about it. Americas ridiculous policy doesn't make much sense to me either though. I don't think you should go to prison for being in posession of marijuana, but just legalizing something when people don't really know what the consequences of taking it are, isn't the solution either.

Considering how people still drink and drive when thinking "the effects of being drunk have faded", and me seeing first hand how someone who smoked a joint thought that several hours later he was up for driving, I'm not quite sure how to control either one of these things. Seeing how 14 year old kids can still get alcohol from the supermarket here right across the street, I kind of wonder what it'd be like if weed would be legal everywhere.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Some interesting points Seb.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm sure studies have shown that folk in Holland as a % of the population consume less weed on average compared to many other countries in the EU (certainly in Britain anyway)

And of the issues you surmise (people giving up on college, memory loss, doing daft stuff like forgetting where they're staying) is this a big issue over there already? If not then why would it be an issue anywhere else where it was decriminalised? Plenty of folk flunk out of college and uni for a whole host of reasons.

Aloha !

Yeah, this is true. Back when I still had friends who smoked the occasional joint they'd mix it with tabacco or would share one with friends. When tourists come over they obviously want to get as much as possible so both will buy several joints or grams and will get as high as fast as possible. I don't really know what the situation is like in other countries is when it comes to sharing or mixing etc. Research however shows that Dutch people aren't that drug obsessed as many people seem to believe. I myself have never smoked a joint in my life and this was hard to believe for some Americans I met.

I'm not really sure on this either. Ever since I left school and got different friends I no longer really hang out with people that smoke as heavily as my friends at graphic school did. Some of my friends used to do so in the past, but have given up on it as they all got jobs and other responsibilities. They still smoke the occasional joint every few months after a party, but that's about it. Then again, I also know of some who, once their life went off track, resorted to weed again and started smoking a little bit too much.

The reason why I think it'd be a bigger problem in other countries is because many foreigners can't seem to be dealing with the free stuff here in Holland. Now I'm not saying the problems with foreigners are huge here, drug problems are relatively small compared to what some parties might like you to believe, but I think that's because we've all grown up with it. If you suddenly expose a person to a freedom, chances are he's going to abuse that freedom.

A pro I forgot to mention though, is that once the stuff becomes legal a lot of the bad stuff will no longer be bought on the street. You get "safe" drugs. A year or something ago they introduced the weed pass over here. What it means is that only Dutch people can get one, have to show it when buying weed and thus foreigners can't buy weed anymore. The logic behind this is that it'll stop drug tourism. It's been a stupid decision, because it gives drug dealers on the street a bigger chance to sell their bad drugs.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

For legitimate medical uses such as this, absolutely. The weed involved in Charlotte's case was not of the "street" variety, but a modified hybrid. It could be dispensed just like any other prescription drug (bad news, of course, for the corporate pharmaceutical industry). And if more medical research with weed can lead to more cures, ABSOLUTELY!

As for recreational use, I'm still on the fence. I can only base it on my own experiences, which for the most part have been negative -- haven't touched the stuff in years. But maybe that's unfair, because while I've had mostly bad weed, I've also had GREAT weed -- the kind that doesn't require a lot and doesn't leave you lethargic.

If weed were legal and regulated and didn't have to be grown in secret, perhaps growers could concentrate on developing the best quality product. THAT would be the kind of recreational weed I could support!

UPDATE: Here's a video about Charlotte's Web:
https://youtu.be/jg2_TXi0YbM

U.S. Federal Government Ends Ban on Medical Marijuana:

Tucked deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending measure is a provision that effectively ends the federal government's prohibition on medical marijuana and signals a major shift in drug policy.

The bill's passage over the weekend...brings almost to a close two decades of tension between the states and Washington over medical use of marijuana...States where medical pot is legal would no longer need to worry about federal drug agents raiding retail operations...

The medical marijuana movement has picked up considerable momentum in recent years. The Drug Enforcement Administration, however, continues to place marijuana in the most dangerous category of narcotics, with no accepted medical use...

Legalize it.... tax the hell out of it like they do cigarettes... give the money to education.

I have to agree with you Becky - use the damn tax money for something good. Unfortunately, it never seems to work out. When they legalized gambling in Calif. in the form of "The Lottery" all the proceeds were to benefit education. I can attest to the fact that since the late 80s there has been less and less money for education in Calif. I have no idea where the money is actually going - but it sure isn't benefiting education.

It's the same in MS. They legalized casinos along the Gulf and the MS River and on Indian Reservations probably 20 or so years ago and the money was supposed to go to education. MS still has the 2nd lowest paid teachers in the nation (only South Dakota is lower). We don't even come close to the Southeastern average in salary, much less the national average. They're trying to get marijuana legalized in MS and I'm for it because A: I won't have to worry about losing my job because I get caught at my best friend's house/car where SHE smokes weed and B: the tax revenue.

U.S. Government Takes Huge Step Forward In Medical Marijuana Research
 

Huffington Post:

The White House took a major step forward...to support research into the medical properties of marijuana...

Currently, marijuana research that is not funded by the government must go through a Public Health Service review -- a process established in 1999 ...It's a process that no other substance classified by the government as Schedule I is subject to and one that researchers and lawmakers alike have criticized...

By eliminating the Public Health Service review requirement, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), also known as the drug czar's office, will help facilitate research into the drug...