Decriminalization of Marijuana

I have to write a paper about decriminalizing marijuana and I can't really find good sources to cite from the internet. I'll probably get some books from the library in a couple days but I would like to read some good articles about the topic now. Anyone have any recommendations or places that I could search? 

Look up crime rate statistics in places that decriminalized marijuana. Look up how many tax dollars we spend a year imprisoning people for possession of marijuana aka money that wouldn't be spent if it were decriminalized. Google that shit yo.

good sources to cite? you aint lookin very hard then huh? 

I can't contribute much, only Mr X by Carl Sagan. In the end, is there anything else you need? Use it to counter claims about destroying brain cells or something.

" I can't contribute much, only Mr X by Carl Sagan. In the end, is there anything else you need? Use it to counter claims about destroying brain cells or something. "

I recently saw a canadian docu about Maryjane and why she has been criminalized in the first place...
 

• It was to protect the rope industy, which feared the superior and cheaper hemp ropes.
•  Later, it became an issue for the pharma industry, because THC is beneficial for many ailments. Since it is a natural compound, nobody can claim the rights to it and make a shitload of cash licensing it out. So that's another reason, why it remains banned.
•  There are bad things to it though. The habitual abuse of THC can cause psychological troubles in rare cases. But these people are pre-disposed for such a thing and thus anything can and will cause depression or worse. 
•  Also - it makes less aggressive and competitive, which is a problem for the economy and the military. It would do humanity some good, if it were more laid back though. So that's not a valid argument for me.

Google and Ask are some good starts. But since I came here to voice my opinion, I'll just say I think there aren't many good benefits of legalizing it.

" Google and Ask are some good starts. But since I came here to voice my opinion, I'll just say I think there aren't many good benefits of legalizing it. "

• Financial Benefits (taxing the hemp industry will generate billions, the drug wars cut-down will save billions)
• Medical Benefits (lot's of ailments can be cured or relieved by THC, such as stress, muscle cramps (PMS for example) and all kind of muscular/nerval diseases, cancer patients get relief from it (regaining appetite and energy) and so forth.)
• Social Benefits (lots of people like THC based products more than alcohol, caffein or nicotin - it's a shame, that 20+% of all citizens (in Switzerland it's an estimated 1/5 of the population), who chose to use THC based products regularly are being treated as criminals, which is wrong and un-democratic)
• Cultural Benefits (as in developing a culture of appreciation (as seen for tobacco or alcohol), like fine baked goods, liquors and breeding fine plants for such a purpose)
• Criminalizing of THC gives the responsability over the drugs and it's users to criminals, who usually have really shitty values. The government at least cares about it's citizens. The people in charge have to take responsability back. It belongs in the hand of the democraticly elected governement.
  

well they always talk about how someone got high and kill a bunch of people 
they never talk about the happy running through the park naked high

NORML is the primary organization fighting for marijuana legalization, with chapters all over the globe.  If you go to their website I'm sure you can find a number of press releases relating to your topic.
 
Just my two cents: marijuana laws in our country (the US) are moving forward, not back.  Almost every year more states legalize medical marijuana, and California is poised to legalize it at all levels, essentially making it no more illegal than a pack of cigarettes.  If you're like me and you are a big proponent for legalization, then this is definitely a good thing.  Progress is slow, to be sure, but it's moving solidly forward.  Which, I think, is very cool.

" well they always talk about how someone got high and kill a bunch of people  they never talk about the happy running through the park naked high "

" NORML is the primary organization fighting for marijuana legalization, with chapters all over the globe.  If you go to their website I'm sure you can find a number of press releases relating to your topic.  Just my two cents: marijuana laws in our country (the US) are moving forward, not back.  Almost every year more states legalize medical marijuana, and California is poised to legalize it at all levels, essentially making it no more illegal than a pack of cigarettes.  If you're like me and you are a big proponent for legalization, then this is definitely a good thing.  Progress is slow, to be sure, but it's moving solidly forward.  Which, I think, is very cool. "

The callsigns in Modern Warfare 2.

It's been decriminalized here in Massachusetts, but the problem with this is that many smokers have abused it. A lot of the people getting ticketed don't pay the fine, because the police can't legally ask for your ID when you're ticketed for having under and ounce. Now there's pressure to force people to show ID's and to raise the fine for $100 to $1,000. It's fuckin' stupid, and I doubt it'll pass, but it doesn't help the case of those of us hoping to have it legalized.

I'm a part of NORML, we have some good stuff on it.

Man, I really wanna try me some weed.

" Man, I really wanna try me some weed. "

" @Vito_Raliffe said:

" Man, I really wanna try me some weed. "

It's vastly over-rated.    (But that doesn't mean we should throw people in jail for producing or consuming it.) "

" @Vito_Raliffe: You'd be well-advised to take the same approach with weed.  Creativity doesn't come with drugs, it comes from a willingness to challenge yourself and push your own barriers. Marijuana doesn't facilitate that, it facilitates laziness, which in essence is the opposite. Notice how a wide array of potheads are into "random" humour? It's because they've given up hope of producing humour as a valuable good, and just let flickering light and loud noises amuse them. "

@Vito_Raliffe

"  @Suicrat said: 

"  @Vito_Raliffe said: 

" Man, I really wanna try me some weed. "

It's vastly over-rated.    (But that doesn't mean we should throw people in jail for producing or consuming it.) "

But I feel like...if I smoke it, that I'll unlock some part of my brain that contains all of my hidden creativity. It needs to be unleashed! I know some other drugs may be better for that, but weed is the only thing I am comfortable with. I've never even tried a cigarette and never plan to. "

" @Seppli: one of the biggest reasons it was criminalized in the first place was because of racism.  
 

@Vito_Raliffe

 said: 

"  @Suicrat said: 

"  @Vito_Raliffe said: 

" Man, I really wanna try me some weed. "

It's vastly over-rated.    (But that doesn't mean we should throw people in jail for producing or consuming it.) "

But I feel like...if I smoke it, that I'll unlock some part of my brain that contains all of my hidden creativity. It needs to be unleashed! I know some other drugs may be better for that, but weed is the only thing I am comfortable with. I've never even tried a cigarette and never plan to. "

its not overrated at all. nobody sits around arguing OMG MARIJUANA IS INCREDIBLE. no. people just like it and enjoy its effects and thats all they really say. nobody i know that smokes a lot ever brags about it. they never mention it. its just something they enjoy doing. and yeah it may actually help you with you're creativity, in that it tends to make you look at things differently. Thats how it is for me when I smoke it, i always view things verrrry plainly and logically. but i'm sure you do perfectly fine without it. you can be totally creative without it, but if you were to get a little high one day, you may see something in a different way and be a little bit creative in a way you didn't expect. i'd say everyone ought to try it at least once to see what all of the fuss is about. after they're done they're going to be like, wow...thats it? and its illegal!? people go to jail because of THAT?!     i feel as if most people who never tried it usually lie about trying it before or they honestly admit they never have and because of fear and paranoia are completely against it.  if they weren't things like government telling us it was wrong then would anyone ever think it was? "

Anyone remember that guy who was the head drugs advisory board for the UK government who then got sacked after he told them that cannabis was far less dangerous than cigarettes or alcohol...?

" Anyone remember that guy who was the head drugs advisory board for the UK government who then got sacked after he told them that cannabis was far less dangerous than cigarettes or alcohol...? "

" @floodiastus:  You can accomplish that task without consuming THC. Everything I learned about Aristotle while smoking weed I could have learned by focusing more, and/or reading other translations of his work. But let's get back on topic here, folks. Just because a person thinks you shouldn't go to jail for growing, selling, or smoking something, doesn't mean he ought to recommend that somebody do any of those things. Your body is yours, Vito. Don't decide based on what I say, or what floodiastus says. You should consult better-informed people than potheads. We've got biased opinions ;) "

Im a heavy marijuana user and I got the highest mark on my first year Calculas mid term. -97%
Im a heavy videogame player and I got the second highest mark on my first year Comp Sci mid term -94%
Im a huge nerd but I also live a healthy lifestyle which involves weightlifting and cardio.
Personal choice, baby.

" @Seppli I don't know.  Maybe people could just try and deal with problems instead of using drugs (legal or otherwise) to artificially change their brain chemistry.  I like to think people don't need manipulate their brains in order to make themselves happy, but maybe I'm just too optimistic. "

" @TwoOneFive: No, I'm not an idiot. But there is a really disturbing trend right now in marijuana culture that promotes the alleged virtues of "smoking weed every day". And I don't know why anyone would want to encourage people to do that, that's a serious waste of money and lung capacity.
 
As for offering Vito advice as to whether or not to smoke it. I don't think you're well placed to make such a recommendation unless you know him well enough. The reason why I cautioned him against it isn't because I think drugs are bad for all people, it's because I have no real way of knowing whether or not drugs are good for him. A person idly commenting on the internet "man I'd love to try me some weed" isn't necessarily the best person to say "yeah, dude! By all means! Here's a half-ounce!"  Also, you'll notice that I've consistently stated throughout this and other threads on the subject that I am opposed to its criminalization, but that doesn't mean I have to be wholeheartedly in favour of its use. "

You can accomplish that task without consuming THC. Everything I learned about Aristotle while smoking weed I could have learned by focusing more, and/or reading other translations of his work.

I have smoked marijuana, and I still do from time time to time, but that fact alone is not reason enough for me to endorse it.
 
I also wrote this in a post before you started to criticize my position: 

You should consult better-informed people than potheads. We've got biased opinions ;)  

"And all you're doing now is illustrating that I'm correct. Because you're going out of your way to attack me, assuming I've never tried the stuff, without actually reading what I have to say. Pot doesn't universally expand your mind. If it did, you would have read what I wrote before attacking me."

Pot doesn't expand your mind any more than breathing into a paper bag for 5 minutes. People who think it expands your mind are idiots. Taking something that makes you less capable of common sense thought doesn't mean your mind is expanded. It just means stupid ideas seem like they could work because you're lacking that common sense receptor that says "wait, no, it can't be 4:20 everywhere on earth at the same time, wait there's nothing remarkable about that split second that all the turn signal blinkers align, oh wait apes have incredible strength and its a stupid idea to have one as a pet considering how easily one could kill you". All that shit. Suddenly you're thinking "you know you guys if we just, you guys if we just shared the land with endangered species you know, its like, everything could just get along you know" and you're sounding like a dumbass but people around you are like "oh man yeah man". If you ever feel compelled to test the "expanded mind" theory, write down some of your thoughts when you're high and read them again when you're sober and share your brilliant insights. 
 
This is beside the point, though. Weed is fairly benign, it makes you think stupid ideas are good but, unlike alchohol, it also makes you too lazy to actually try any of said stupid ideas, which is why its safe. Yes, it can turn people into losers by making them content with living in mom's basement till they're 30, but plenty of legal things do that too like video games and porn.

" @Snipzor: What I mean is 215 is doing his drug of choice a disservice by attacking a pothead who doesn't recommend others take up the habit, based on the patently-false assumption he's not a pothead.  If 215's mind was sufficiently expanded, he would have read what I wrote. "

" @Vito_Raliffe:  Creativity doesn't come with drugs

" @Suicrat said:

" @Vito_Raliffe:  Creativity doesn't come with drugs

lol go home and burn your entire music collection because anything that's any good has been made thanks to drugs like Pot and LSD.  And anyway pot helps me alot, it opens my mind in new and creative ways and helped me get a really high mark on my neuroscience project of the role of microRNAs in the nervous system. They are post transcriptional regulators and I concluded that if we can manipulate microRNAs in vivo potentially it could be possible to cure any disease regarding abnormal gene expression of a particular protein. But than again pot makes you lazy right? No, get your facts right before you make ignorant and general statements which you think apply to everyone... "

" @nail1080 said:

" @Suicrat said:

" @Vito_Raliffe:  Creativity doesn't come with drugs

lol go home and burn your entire music collection because anything that's any good has been made thanks to drugs like Pot and LSD.  And anyway pot helps me alot, it opens my mind in new and creative ways and helped me get a really high mark on my neuroscience project of the role of microRNAs in the nervous system. They are post transcriptional regulators and I concluded that if we can manipulate microRNAs in vivo potentially it could be possible to cure any disease regarding abnormal gene expression of a particular protein. But than again pot makes you lazy right? No, get your facts right before you make ignorant and general statements which you think apply to everyone... "

Holy fucking shit, dude. Read what I fucking wrote. Don't god-damn cherry pick.  I'm glad you've found a productive use for marijuana, (as have I in other circumstances AS YOU WOULD HAVE KNOWN IF YOU READ WHAT I WROTE), but that doesn't mean I am about to tell some kid on the internet, who I've never met before, that he should take up the habit!Bill Hicks was a loathesome, misanthropic prick at the end of his life, just because he said it, and it's clever, doesn't mean it's the gospel fucking truth. Sure, Jimi Hendrix had LSD in his bandana when he went on stage. Great. But he was the one making music, not his drugs. "

" @Suicrat: you don't have to endorse it, you just have to stop acting like its so important to you.  "

" @ryanwho: So they should be free to consume those drugs and demonstrate the virtues of it if they choose. But non-potheads see potheads as some sort of weird cult, a bunch of patchouli-stinking druids they imbue drugs with mystical powers of enlightenment, all of whose lives have been magically uplifted by the simple act of smoking; when the truth is there are plenty of ignorant, hateful, lazy and stupid potheads too. I was merely trying to give Vito a healthy sense of skepticism, to encourage him to do some research, and not simply ask a bunch of potheads on the internet if it's a good thing if he smokes pot. "

If drugs make creativity then I guess my old school must have been full of undiscovered potential! What effin stupid point of view is that. Sure Hendrix did drugs, the Beatles were rrrrrrrrrruuueaaal fuckin high on drugs but Henry Rollins was straight edge most of his life and that guy is some crazy wordslinger. I don't recall MJK being heavy into drugs. What about that guy from glassJaw. My favorite singer and songwriter, Jamie Lenman, isn't into drugs at all. 
 
Why do people want to legalize it? If you want to do it, you can. There is always someone who knows someone who can get you stuff. And if you're stupid about it, you'll get arrested. People really want to legalize MJ in a world of binge-drinking fuckheads?! I would have to shoot myself because I wouldn't be able to stand the giggling everywhere. Here in Hamburg, Germany the streets would be wiped clean for days with not a soul to be seen. The whole Reeperbahn would vanish into a big cloud of smoke. So, should people go to jail for smoking pot? No. Should it be legalized? No. I will call it right here, right now: When it gets legalized, when we all will be smoking brandname pot, there will be a big whole bunch of elitist potheads who will want to get back to the way it was.