POLL - Legalization of marijuana? Opinions?

" @Gorillawhat: Truth.  I have some crazy smart friends (I mean biochem, pre-med people) who smoke. They don't say anything like  "Let's get baked and watch Family Guy all night!" or anything. It's more like "We've got some work to do, let's chill, smoke, and play some music while we study."  They do well for themselves *cough*straight A's*cough* so I'm not one to think it makes you stupid unless you already were before you started. "

" @Alex_Murphy: Link to the source of those figures and tell me how it was proved that tobacco was the clear cause of that many deaths of off with your head. "

The cost to put a single drug dealer in jail is about $450,000, composed of the following:

The cost for arrest and conviction is about $150,000.

The cost for an additional prison bed is about $50,000 to $150,000, depending upon the jurisdiction.

It costs about $30,000 per year to house a prisoner. With an average sentence of 5 years, that adds up to another $150,000.

The same $450,000 can provide treatment or education for about 200 people. In addition, putting a person in prison produces about fifteen dollars in related welfare costs, for every dollar spent on incarceration. Every dollar spent on treatment and education saves about five dollars in related welfare costs.

I couldn't care less if people want to smoke weed while theyre at home. Im all for people growing a few plants for themselves or whatever, as long as people aren't selling it or growing tons of it in their basment because thats just dangerous and stupid.
 
My issue with this whole idea is that inevitably as soon as you legalize pot, you are going to have a ton of people walking around smoking it. I would hate that, I really do not like the smell of pot at all, its just skunky yaknow, you don't really mind or notice it if your smoking it, but if you have to sit beside some dude whos baked and reeking at a movie for 2 hours its really frusterating.
 
So legal as long as its away from public places or just in your own home or whatever is totally cool with me. Just don't get high and sit beside me in a movie theatre, or ask me for some of my popcorn. >_>"

It's good for you if taken seriously.
 
It's my alternative to dealing with my scoliosis pain.
 @Xeiphyer: The smells doesn't stick as much has the smell of cigarette. The smell of cigarette clings to you for hours/days, weed stays for 10-30 minutes and it's gone.

I voted C because in all honesty it wouldn't have any direct effect on me.  It's the shitty, loudmouthed, (often) snot-nosed culture that comes along with it that really angers me.  The whole "420" after your SN, bands singing about smoking it, and bragging about how people smoke it ticks me off.
 
As a side note, I have a sneaking suspicion that a significant amount of the people voting yes and stating their reasons as "taxing it and helping our economy" are full of shit and just using that line as an easy way out of the debate.  Again, not that Iam going to debate anything...

" I think it should be legal myself, but what do my fellow Giantbombers think about it? "

Legalize far more pros than cons. There are no fatalities attributed to marijuana and significant amounts for alcohol and tobacco. Right now we are in a state of prohibition much like that of alcohol and we all know how well that worked out then and we can see the same now. Legalize and tax, its a simple and effective plan.  Oh yeah and on the gateway theory. " CASA announced that marijuana users are 85 times more likely than non-marijuana users to try cocaine. However, as pointed out by NORML board members Drs. John P. Morgan and Lynn Zimmer, this figure is close to meaningless. It was calculated by dividing the proportion of adolescent marijuana users who have ever used cocaine by the proportion of cocaine users who have never used marijuana. The high risk factor is a product not of the fact that so many marijuana users use cocaine, but that so many cocaine users used marijuana previously.[8]

"It is hardly a revelation that people who use one of the least popular drugs are likely to use the more popular ones -- not only marijuana, but also alcohol," noted Morgan.[9]" 
http://www.ukcia.org/research/gateway.htm 

" @MrAwsum:  I know people who have ruined their lives because of cough medicine....should robotussin be made illegal? @natetodamax: Pot Is hard to grow, a lot harder then a patch of begonias, believe me i know people who have tried.  Not all places are  able to grow it, and strictly regulating timed lights and grow chemicals is to big a task for most people to grow.  I dont think that it would be an issue, not to mention the countless amounts of people that make their own brandy or wine, or hell, brew their own beer.   With that being said, pot should be legal, a plant that has never directly killed anyone should be allowed to be used by anyone of a reasonable age *18 or older/ 21 or older*  especially in a country where alcohol kills countless amounts of people weekly. to the people who were making comments about "smoking safely"..there is no way to smoke safely, but there is vaporization..which is AWESOMEE "

"  @Alex_Murphy said:

 Alcohol kills about 80,000.

Last year 150,000 people died as a result of alcohol (US) "

Legalize it, tax the shit out of it, finance our deficit.

Well I'm going to say when I did try it, it had really bad effects on me and I will never try it again but for most people it seems like a relaxant, so why not?

Because this site can easily be mistaken for the political hack site "Breitbart", these "what kind of bullshit can I stir up by asking these stupid questions" threads make total sense. I know the first thing I do when I go hang out with people in a group is start asking "what do you think about abortion? religion? racism? drug legalization? prostitution?". People really appreciate that kind of thing, because those conversations are always so civil, filled with insight, and always lead to people switching positions because they're never so incredibly staunchly entrenched in their point of view going in.

Here in Ontario is midaswell be legal no one seems to really care, legal all the way

It's interesting that smoking was once recommended by doctors for health, is now known to cause health problems, and is still legal, yet marijuana has some strong arguments for it's use medically and there's no sign of it becoming a legal commodity any time soon. It's completely backwards.

It should be legal. However i dont think we should just legalize marijuana and leave it at that. I beleive that all drugs need to be legalized.

I'd rather see hundreds of people die from gang related crime every year than see our nation crumble into some sort of liberal wasteland. Fuck drug dealers and fuck drug users.

" @SathingtonWaltz said:

" I think it should be legal myself, but what do my fellow Giantbombers think about it? "

It should be legal because it is not physically addictive and doesn't have many negative effects on people's health. "

  This is medical,whatever about the normal guy walking down the road smoking for recreation but people in pain should be allowed to smoke their heads off,this is something i feel very strongly about.
 
You cant give somebody who is in severe pain morphine all the time because it is just too plain bubbly purple nice,hash isnt as effective but its close enough.
I remember i had gangrene for 8 months but i was off hash and i met an old buddy and he gave me a nodge,it was the first time in 8 months i felt no pain and felt like a normal person,it is a very very good alternitave to morphine.
 
Cancer patients have been pushing for it for a long time,its all well and good to sit in an ivory tower and say drugs are bad,war on drugs etc etc but pain is real tough to live with day in day out. 
Its the right thing and the moral thing.

As a drug, it's relatively harmless and I believe it should probably be legal, even though I don't do that because it can lead to worse things potentially that I wan t absolutely no part of . However, as a fully decriminalized part of society, no, not it is not. It's absolutely uncontrollable. Saying they should simply legalize it is ignorant of the repercussions that action could have.
 
I say be more tolerable of it within society, but set up a series of guidelines where law officials can keep the issue of rampant weed smoking contained and off our streets. Don't sell it at a general store for the love of god, just make society's look at it and subsequent punishment less severe. It's not quite as bad as people would make you think it is, but as a widespread issue it could be. Don't let that happen.

I once read in High Times "Who are we as humans, to say that there is something criminal with nature?"
 
Free the weed.

"   This is medical,whatever about the normal guy walking down the road smoking for recreation but people in pain should be allowed to smoke their heads off,this is something i feel very strongly about.     

 Cancer patients have been pushing for it for a long time,its all well and good to sit in an ivory tower and say drugs are bad,war on drugs etc etc but pain is real tough to live with day in day out. Its the right thing and the moral thing. "

To the people who say tobbacco and alcahol are worse,,think for 2 minutes,,you do realise that arguement wont help legalise cannibas but will instead lead to the criminalisation of tobbacco and alcahol.,We'll have even less freedoms..its the way the world is going.

Should stay illegal.  For every one person that may have a new job, farming and manufacturing  the drug.  Ten will decide to stay home and get high.  Children will be exposed to it, even more so.  Furthering the downward spiral.   Its a DRUG.
 
It will create jobs, but mostly for the people who are most likely to do those types of labor.  Immigrant workers from Mexico.  
 
But I am for extremely restricted and regulated medical marijuana.
 
Edit:  I also strongly believe that the drug will never be fully legal in the US.  Because of the way hippy culture has taken it in.  Hippies have permanently giving pot a bad face.
 
Also, the more people try to rationalize drug use, the more flagrant your denial and selfishness is.  Yes, Herb can be used to make bad cloths, paper and all sorts of other things.  That are already being made.  We should put them out of business, because you want to get high?  The harder someone has to sell it, the more obvious it is.  That it shouldn't be sold.
 
Because lets face, its all about you.  Getting high.  There is more to life the quick fixes, kids.

" To the people who say tobbacco and alcahol are worse,,think for 2 minutes,,you do realise that arguement wont help legalise cannibas but will instead lead to the criminalisation of tobbacco and alcahol.,We'll have even less freedoms..its the way the world is going. "

I don't use it but it should be legal

" Legal.  It is a health issue, not a law one.    It should not be sold for profit though, that should stay illegal,but if you want to grow a plant for your own purposes, it is no business of the government.  I never ever use it and never will and I think it is entirely stupid to use it, but you can't legislate against stupidity and it is none of my business.  Plus, it is far less dangerous to society than tobacco and alcohol, and they are legal and massive profit earners. "

Its just as easy to get it illegally as it would be to get legally. 
 
I dont smoke so illegal or legal, it doesnt affect me in any way.

It's legal in Denver Colorado.

" @oldschool:  I want someone to explain the moral difference between growing for personal use and growing for commercial use. I know the political differences, that's not what I'm asking for, I'm asking for the moral difference.   Looking at you in particular, oldschool."

meh...

For medical use, yes. But I don't want lots of high people walking around town.

I don't necessarily think it should be legalized, but I definitely think it should be decriminalized.

Nope, not a fan of mary j or other drugs, ban them all imo.

" @Suicrat said:

" @oldschool:  I want someone to explain the moral difference between growing for personal use and growing for commercial use. I know the political differences, that's not what I'm asking for, I'm asking for the moral difference.   Looking at you in particular, oldschool."

What are you looking me for  ^_^  Really honest, I am not sure I can., but I will give a personal view.  Growing for personal use is a direct act of the individual for the individual.  We all know it is potentially harmful, so the individual is only impacting on said individual.  When you grow for commercial use, that intrinsic risk is is not moral as a profit motive.  This very much applies to tobacco.  Unlike marijuana, the odds are, it will kill you and it does in countless numbers.  They are profiting from death.   It is that hypocrisy I speak of that makes the laws bad.  What an individual does for themselves inside their own private property that has no real bearing on society is not the governments business.  It is the government that is acting immorally.  It profits from that death in the form of taxes, but as a pragmatist, making tobacco illegal is useless, so taxes are a far more effective tool of control. I am not ignoring the fact from a health point of view that people who harm themselves with drugs are a cost to society, through healthcare and diminished GDP, but this applies to far more areas of society than marijuana use and is dwarfed by the costs to the same things with alcohol.   Morals are an individual thing and are guided by religious and cultural templates.  You can't govern all your laws by these morals though, if so we would still stone adulterers.  A logical conclusion to this is that we can't frame our laws around morals, but on damage to others.  Again I say, who is a marijuana user hurting?  If you say he might hurt someone in a psychotic state, then those crimes should be viewed in its isolation.  That was a bit of a ramble, sorry. "

" Nope, not a fan of mary j or other drugs, ban them all imo. "

" I'd rather not smell that shit everywhere I go. "

Also, IT DOES NOT IMPAIR PEOPLE!!! 
Here, i wouldn't call this proof, but it just backs up what I have known from experience and observation for years: 
  

" The knock on effects that would topple gang crime justify the raised number of insomniacs, Schizophrenics and addicts, so it should be legal. "

Just smoke it quietly in your own home and don't be stupid about carrying it. Legalizing it would probably bring more grief than anything.

I actually wish they'd bann it again so R-tards don't 'blow their minds' on it. Not cause I care so much, it just annoys me............... Fuckin stoners all over the place..... "

legal.

Legal.
 
Jobs, Taxable, Decrease Prison/Jail Population. Treat it like alcohol, hell it's even less dangerous than Alcohol; fines, license removal, etc.