Legalization of marijuana

[The Lorax]

How is that racist?

It's not. Disliking jazz does not make a person racist, but in Anslinger's case, his distaste for the music really did stem from a hatred for all things black and he was familiar with jazz's origins. This hatred played a big part in his anti-marijuana campaign as well:

"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men." -- Harry J. Anslinger

"...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races." -- ibid.

...It is depressing to ponder how much U.S. drug policy may have derived from one man's fear and hatred.

[Eliyahuw]

The evidence is proven by many examples, one of which I gave with regard to promescuity leading to increases in STDs and abortions. Do I really need to cite those sources to you?

People have sex without drugs get std's without drugs and have abortions without drugs.

You gave the example of Denmark but didn't mention the fact that there are only about 5 million people there - total. That's roughly the same number of people that inhabit Los Angeles (In fact I think more people are in L.A.). Plus the fact that you didn't cite any sources that show that there were significant decreases in drug trafficking and crime directly related to a change in policy regarding drug usage.

LA has over 12 million people in it.

Atlanta has 5 million.

You want a source, go google denmark drug statistics and it should pull up plenty of info

And yet with the increase in availability even the most critical and intelligent thinkers are likely to "experiment." Alcoholics aren't addicted to alcohol because one day they woke up and said, "I think I'll destroy my entire life by drinking booze like a fish for the next 20 years."

You would be wrong on that. intellegent people don't do drugs.

Joe kills a family of five after driving under the influence. Joe gets take to the hospital to get treated for his minor injuries. Joe gets arrested, put in jail, arraigned in court, sent to jail and supported by my taxes for the next 20 years - or better yet, for only 13 years, after which he's required to attend drug rehab classes supported by my tax dollars also.

But hey....it's all "Joe's business" right? "Riiight"

the laws apparantly would work if he goes and does time.

Same thing happens with DUI. As long as they don't make someone a victim then joe could do all the dope he wanted til it killed him

So....sending a few million local, state and federal officers to the unemployment line is a good thing, right?

I have NO PROBLEM With that!! THeir doing nothing as it is and were paying them to do NOTHING. Then they sieze property from people that are innocent and these people suffer losses because of the greed of the "officers"

And you seriously believe that the government would send us all a "refund check" in the mail through this process? Aside from the tax breaks we've gotten under Bush (Yay for him), can you name me the last time you got a "refund" from a social program that's been eliminated? Here's an example: Bill Clinton cut military spending drastically during his presidency. There were bases closed and research programs scrapped. Did you get a single dime in the mail from all that "savings" in the budget?

Yeah it would happen. take 1/3 and stop spending the rest on war on drugs. Lower taxes. ITs happened quite a bit. In fact, implement fair tax!

[sweetycakes]

I absolutely say KEEP IT ILLEGAL

Unless it is prescribed and regulated by your doctor, in low doses, for medicinal purposes!

I have first-hand experience (on many fronts), about the dangers of marijuana.

Seems like anything goes these days................If it feels good, do it!!.........

But they don't see the consequences!

[Guest LadyC]

You would be wrong on that. intellegent people don't do drugs.

YOU would be wrong on that actually. many intelligent people DO use drugs. a more accurate statement on your part would be SMART people don't use drugs. there is a vast difference.

intelligent people who abuse drugs include doctors, lawyers, and plenty of other career fields that require a high level of intelligence and education.

one can be extremely intelligent and yet be utterly stupid.

[dakota190]

after you all finish playing with your smoke and mirrors, and i truly mean this with a lot of respect and love and fear for some of you and your friends. someone send me #6. i am one off the 6% of meth (and a host of other drugs) addicts that is staying clean. by the grace of God. "he whom the son makes free is free indeed. i was a terrible methamphetimine addict for about 9 years. so i am not talking theoretically and i don't need your statistics. i have lost a career, a family, and a private business, to drug usage. by the grace of God i never served a day. before i go on you need to know that marijuana is part and parcel of the drug world. where you find one you will generally find the other. not always,. but generally. if not for my widowed mother at the time i would have been living under a bush in the streets and starving. i managed to work usually, had to change jobs a lot, but i generally made enough to buy my drugs. of course i couldn't pay any of my other bills.

and as my addiction progressed, i would have fought any all of your friends, in a heart beat, for nothing. if someone wants the whole story i will be glad to sit down and post it. it is ONE of my testimonies of a gracious Lord, and if i thought i could get away with it i would probably have stolen you blind. depending on how i felt about you.

it is an ugly story and some need to hear it, obviously. i have one question for some of you. why would a christian want to make marijuana legal for the general public. why does a christian want the ability to get high with some of their lost friends.? that will not save your friends, they will drag you down before you ever pull them up. why would someone that wants to or claims to be living for the Lord care about marijuana being legal so the unsaved could get high.

if somone is stoned can he effectively be witnessed to? can he really make a heartfelt decision for the Lord? will he?

the laws of man as they concern this, are of man. God's law has already addressed this under the wine and hard liquor proverbs, and is several places otherwise.

let me know if anyone wants the whole and entirely relevant testimony of a healed drug addict. one of the 6%

your brother in Christ!

Dan Shamrock

[Eliyahuw]

Methamphetamine causes psychosis. Many addicts require psychiatric treatment for life, and most can't afford it. That means they burden social programs funded by our tax dollars.

....So let's make it legal.

Sorry but they don't get help from social programs either. there is no help out there for a methhead.

[Eliyahuw]

I'm not advocating the government making the drugs. I am only advocating the legalization of it, and not making the govt the providors. they can tax it without providing it.

not possible. it's still putting the responsibility of producing and providing it to the public.

do you know much about that drug? i think i asked you that once already.

for the government to control it, to tax it, etc., means they would have to regulate it in one way or another. have you got any idea what chemicals are in meth?

the government DOES already control/tax legal forms of amphetimines. they authorize certain people to manufacture it, and certain people to prescribe it, and still other people to distribute it. understand this... there is no way to control/tax something that is sold on the street without regulation.

this is NOT the same thing as alcohol being legal. alcohol is a natural product which has been fermented. and it IS regulated. strongly regulated. you can't legally produce it for profit without being authorized by the government. anyone authorized to produce it is required to remain within strict guidelines regarding the strength of the alcohol. anyone who distributes it is subject (in most states) to limitations on when and where it can be sold, and to whom... and how MUCH can be sold to an individual. anyone who buys it is subject to limitations regarding age and other criteria as the government deems appropriate. (i.e. someone on parole may be legally prohibited from even entering a bar, much less purchasing an alcoholic beverage.)

so how is the government supposed to implement regulations on meth? "oh, you can manufacture it as long as you only use THIS much liquid drano in the formula"... "you can only prescribe it if the person is working long hours and can't get their work completed in the allotted time, forget the whole hippocratic oath, we know you'll be doing harm to your patients, but that's ok, we won't prosecute"... "you can only distribute the deadly chemicals for consuption if you give us a kickback via taxes... we don't mind taking the tax dollars to see people drop dead, it's more money lining our federal coffers"... i can see that working out real well.

I never said regulate it. I have consistantly said get out of the drug business like they are in. The governemtn doesn't belong in it period. I would eliminate the useless FDA too if i could. Their for sale to the highest bidder.

[Eliyahuw]

Methamphetamine causes psychosis. Many addicts require psychiatric treatment for life, and most can't afford it. That means they burden social programs funded by our tax dollars.

....So let's make it legal.

did you know that the success rate of a meth addict staying clean is only 6%? i'd be willing to bet that every one of those who fall into the six percent know God. i honestly do not believe it is possible for a meth addict to stay clean for life without Him.

just a little bit of trivia.

Actulally no you would be wrong on that. i know many that are clean that don't believe in God.

[Eliyahuw]

First of all it doesn't cost 150.00 for a simple office visit. In addition if a person had a condition that warranted the use of medical marijuana they would likely be under the doctor's care already. In states where medical marijuana is legal they get a note from a doctor giving them the okay to grow their own marijuana they do not have to purchase marijuana at a high price as you have insinuated.

First of all you obviously haven't been to a doctor lately. 150 dollars is one of the cheapest doctors i go to. secondly, I don't know why there needs to be a distinction between medical marijuana and regular. the only reason its illegal is that the cotton industry got it demonized and made illegal to stop competittion. UP until they achieved this, It was required to grow. In fact our forfathers made it law to grow it for clothing, rope, oils, all kinds of useful products. My grandfather grew it, grew 100's of acres every year. The crops paid for the taxes on the property and fed the family for a year.

Nobody has absoulute freewill nor should they as that would be anarchy. When it comes to drug use the government does have an interest in the matter if our nation was taken over by drug users it would destroy our nation because it would affect productivitity as people would basically become pot heads.

Where is the threat? Oh i see, they might storm the mcdonalds and fry themselves to death....

And in addition are we stopping at marijuana what about meth, LSD, cocaine, heroine, etc.,

Nobody has an absolute right to do anything they want in regards to freewill.

Lets see why not!? It doesn't hurt anyone but the user. AND if the user hurts someone in the use of their "Drug of Choice" there are laws already on the books to handle it.

I don't particularly like the intrusive war on drugs but don't really believe legalizing marijuana is any good either.

But as a Christian I would have to say it would be wrong to legalize it.

OC

why? What does being a christian have to do with legalizing a herb that God gave us to use?? he did make every seed bearing herb for mankind to use didn't he??

On this I agree with you, that the government is abusing it's power in the way they prosecute the war on drugs. Seizing property amount to government theft and that practice should be ended. As you don't have to make drugs legal to stop the abuse of power.

Well its one way to stop drugs. The only other way to stop drugs is to execute the drug user

[Eliyahuw]

I have prayed and sought God's guidance, and the following verse keeps coming to mind:

Gen. 1:29 "And God said 'See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed...'"

As far as I know, marijuana is classified botanically as an herb.

I was looking for outside perspectives on this, and hadn't seen this topic posted here.

Christians who are pro legalization of marijuana always use this verse. Would you also then take poison hemlock? It is an herb. Your verse is pre-fall from grace. Since the fall, not everything is of benefit for humans.

Actually yes i would take hemlock. its a medicine too. this is what it is used for

On account of its peculiar sedative action on the motor centres, Hemlock juice (Succus conii) is prescribed as a remedy in cases of undue nervous motor excitability, such as teething in children, epilepsy from dentition. cramp, in the early stages of paralysis agitans, in spasms of the larynx and gullet, in acute mania, etc. As an inhalation it is said to relieve cough in bronchitis, whooping-cough, asthma, etc.

Here is what marijuana is used for.

---Medicinal Action and Uses---The principal use of cannibas in medicine is for easing pain and inducing sleep, and for a soothing influence in nervous disorders. It does not cause constipation nor affect the appetite like opium. It is useful in neuralgia, gout, rheumatism, delirium tremens, insanity, infantile convulsions, insomnia, etc.

The tincture helps parturition, and is used in senile catarrh, gonorrhoea, menorrhagia, chronic cystitis and all painful urinary affections. An infusion of the seed is useful in after pains and prolapsus uteri. The resin may be combined with ointments, oils or chloroform in inflammatory and neuralgic complaints.