Why Marijuana should be Legal cover Legalizing Marijuana would be a benefit to society. We as a nation would be improved by it. There are several reasons I make this claim. Although Pot has it’s problems, it’s benefits for outweigh it’s consequences. If Pot were legal, many people would switch from alcohol to Pot. I think that a lot of Alcohol abuse come from the fact that it is the only legal drug and therefore is overused. Alcohol is highly addictive, physically and psychologically destructive, and is a severe drag on society.
I think that if Pot were legal that many people would switch to Pot and be much better off. I think one side effect of legalizing Pot would be a major reduction in the abuse of Alcohol and that the number of traffic deaths would drop dramatically. The only reason Pot isn’t legal is because there are a lot of people making money because it’s not legal. cover Another reason is to save the huge cost in tax dollars wasted in prohibiting Pot and enforcing drug laws that have no benefit to society.
If Pot were legal you immediately eliminate the illegal Pot market and get rid of crime associated with Pot money. You could also release from jail all those convicted from Pot related offenses and cut the costs of having to build new prisons to incarcerate normal people. Because of mandatory drug sentencing laws, many states have to release violent offenders to make room for Pot smokers. That’s stupid! Pot has many other uses. Before the lumber industry lobbied Congress to make Pot illegal, Marijuana (known as Hemp) was the primary source of fiber for the production of paper.
The United States Constitution is printed on Pot. With today’s technologies this fiber can be processed into construction materials that would replace wood products saving our forests and lowering the costs of construction while producing byproducts useful in making fuels to run cars and generate electricity. Hemp is a very hearty plant and would be a good cash crop for our nation’s farmers. Who opposes legalizing Marijuana and why cover There are many types of people who oppose legalizing Marijuana for a variety of reasons.
Many of these groups have some very strange reasons and selfish interests. Many are just ignorant of the facts. Here’s some of the opposition: The Uninformed – People who believe the misinformation that Pot is harmful to society. The Government – Pot has been illegal for so long that no politicians have the political courage to tell the truth about Pot. The ones that do tell the truth are defeated by their opponents that paint them as a druggie. Many of these anti-drug politicians are funded by the Alcohol lobby. Religion – Anything fun is sin and of the Devil.
Churches might lose members as people figure out that God can’t be that stupid. cover Moralizers – The morally superior who enjoy looking down their noses at the less fortunate and get a sadistic thrill in putting people in jail. People who do no Drugs – These people who don’t drink, don’t smoke, in some cases don’t even drink coffee. They just don’t understand why anyone would want to smoke anything or do any drug. From their perspective the world would be better off if no one did anything. The Alcohol Lobby – Legalizing Pot would seriously cut into the sales of Beer.
Pot would become the recreational drug of choice because it is safer than Beer. The Tobacco Lobby – Pot has the ability in some people to help them break the addiction of nicotine. Pot smoking could actually reduce the number of tobacco addicts. People before Lawyers Law Enforcement – There are a lot of people who make a living fighting Pot who would have to go get a real job if Pot were legalized. Police departments get a lot of funding to fight Marijuana and those funds could be returned to the taxpayer if Pot were made legal. Cops would have to chase robbers, rapists, and murderers.
Government Agencies – Using unconstitutional civil forfeiture laws the government has been able to use the presence of Pot to steal billions of dollars of private property from the People. Drug laws have been an excuse to circumvent our constitutional right and justify wire tap laws, the erosion of protection from illegal searches, key recovery encryption, and domestic spying. If you take a politically unpopular position like this one I’m taking now, the government can plant drugs on you and put you away. Pot Dealers – If Pot were legalized then people making money off of selling Pot illegally would be out of business.
Pot prices would drop to $10 a bale. Crime relating to illegal Pot money would vanish. cover Wood Industry – Hemp would become the primary source of fiber for paper products as well as a new source for building materials. We wouldn’t have to cut down every big tree in the world. Private Prisons – If Pot were legalized the private prison industry would be hurt. They would no longer jail Pot smokers. It could free up space for violent criminals. Trial Lawyers – Normal people caught with a joint spend billions each year on lawyers to get them off of criminal charges after getting caught with a joint.
Lawyers get rich off of the Marijuana laws. If Marijuana were legal this money could be spent sending your kids to college. Mental Hospitals – There’s a big industry treating people for problems they don’t have. If you have insurance, you’re crazy until the insurance coverage runs out. If you smoke Pot then you have mental problems. If Pot were legal some of these people would have to get real jobs. We should start treating people who are addicted to 12 step programs. Republicans – Pot helps you see reality the way it really is. It’s harder to con a Pot smoker on political issues.
Once you get stoned it’s harder to want to hate Liberals, Queers, Blacks, Pregnant Teens, Draft Dodgers, President Clinton, Feminists, Lesbians, Pot Smokers, and other people the Republicans want you to hate. When you’re stoned it’s harder to like Newt Gingrich, John Ashcroft, the KKK, the Christian Coalition, Jerry Falwell, Pat Buchanan, Reverend Sun Myung Moon, People who beat Gay’s to Death, People who blow up Abortion Clinics, and the morally superior in general. cover Political Cowards – Politicians like to pose with police as somebody who is “against drugs” promising to lock up all the pot smokers and throw away the key.
These people need an artificial issue to be against so they don’t have to face real issues like how to protect the public from crooked lawyers and crooked judges. Political cowards cross all party lines when it comes to pot and includes President Clinton. Others – These groups could also be hurt by legalizing Pot. Car body shops would get less alcohol related wrecks to fix. Hospitals would get less alcohol related business as would alcohol treatment centers and funeral homes. It could hurt cemeteries and tombstone makers as well. Important People for Legalizing Marijuana over There have been several people who have come out in favor of legalizing marijuana in the last year or so.
These people have shown courage in the face of this artificial drug hysteria. Governor Jesse Ventura of Minnesota – Governor Ventura, the first governor elected by the Reform Party, is the famous ex-wrestler/Navy Seal who is known for telling it like it is. Governor Gary Johnson of New Mexico – The Republican governor has come out in favor of legalizing pot. This is an especially brave move for a Republican as the Republican Party has been especially abusive of Marijuana users.
Hugh Downs – ABC News 20/20 co-anchor and respected journalist for more than 60 years retired. On his last show he was asked if he had any opinions of his own that he’d like to express. He responded the marijuana should be legalized. Oppressing Pot Smokers is the Real Crime cover The time has come where We the People have to stand up to the government and tell them that we are no longer going to put up with the jailing and oppression of pot smokers and this artificial war on drugs. They teach you that there are three branches of government by in fact there are four branches.
The fourth branch of government is the people. The time has come for reasonable people to rise up against the government and to force them to justify the reason for oppressing pot smokers and drug addicts. People in America have been to complacent for to long and the time has come to stand up and get in their faces and demand satisfaction. Myths about Marijuana cover The most common myth is that “Marijuana Leads to Harder Drugs. ” Critics say the medical marijuana movement promotes drug abuse and criminal behavior by ushering young people into what one judge has called “the kindergarten of the drug industry”.
They call Pot the “gateway drug” and say that once you do Pot that you will need to move on to harder drugs like LSD, Heroine, and Cocaine to get the same “thrill”. Sounds good, but it just isn’t so. Marijuana does not lead to harder drugs! Actually, if there is anything that’s a gateway drug, it’s nicotine. Tobacco is the first drug that kids use. It’s illegal for kids and, unlike Pot, it’s addictive. Once a kid is hooked on nicotine they have joined the ranks of drug addicts. As an addict already it’s easier for them to move on to other addictive drugs like Alcohol, Cocaine, Crack, Meth, and Heroine. over Marijuana on the other hand is the choice of the responsible drug user.
A person who wants to get high on something that isn’t addictive and doesn’t have any long term health effects for the moderate user would likely choose to smoke Pot. This is the drug of choice for those who don’t want to be on the path of drug addiction. Another common myth is, “there is no official proof to back the contention that marijuana can help ease symptoms of AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis and other serious diseases.
But the reason there is no proof is that the government is actively avoiding the funding of medical research into medical uses of Marijuana because they are afraid that they will indeed discover what doctors already know and it would undermine the laws criminalizing Marijuana and lead to legalization. If you want to read something amusing, read the study from National Institute of Health. Here’s pages and pages documenting the results of doing nothing to research the medical benefits of smoking Pot. I’ve never seen such a long paper documenting what the government hasn’t investigated or tested.
If the government weren’t afraid of legalizing Pot they would test it. The fact that the government won’t do medical tests on Pot proves that they don’t want to know the truth. cover What’s more outrageous is the claims that the government makes about Marijuana when they refuse to make any medical or scientific tests. They claim that smoked Marijuana damages the brain, heart, lungs and immune system, but they don’t know that. There have been some tests done indicating that Marijuana can cause lung cancer, even more so than cigarettes.
But those test don’t take into account that the usage isn’t 100th as much as cigarette smokers. If the government wants to make medical claims about Pot they should test it and look at the scientific data. I challenge the government to do the research and then we’ll talk about reality. Twisting Logic I find it amazing how the anti-pot organizations twist logic to try to justify their positions that pot is a dangerous drug. And these people wonder why teenagers don’t take their message seriously. Teens just aren’t that stupid.
And when you try to pull stupid logic tricks on teens they resent it and ignore you. If they are going to accuse us of being brain damaged, the sure aren’t setting a very good example of what “normal” is supposed to be. Here some examples of tortured logic: “90% of drug addicts smoked Marijuana first. Therefore, smoking Marijuana leads to harder drugs. ” cover Wow! This is really brilliant. Based on that reasoning, 99% of drug addicts attended church before becoming a drug addict. Therefore going to church leads to harder drugs. What else did over 90% of drug addicts do first?
Over 90% of drug addicts smoked a cigarette, most still do. They drank alcohol, most still do. How about watched television, voted for a Democrat, had a pet, had sex, owned a bicycle, chewed gum, participated in sports, celebrated Halloween, had a religious experience, took something that didn’t belong to them, voted for a Republican, told a lie, wondered if they might be homosexual, or ate too much white sugar. Using the same reasoning, all these activities must also lead to harder drugs. “There are over 400 chemicals in the marijuana plant. ” There are over 400 chemicals in every plant.
There are over 700 chemicals added to American cigarettes. “When a user begins to feel that he or she needs to take the drug to feel well, that person is said to be dependent or addicted to the drug. cover I suppose I’m addicted to aspirin. When I get a headache, I need aspirin to feel well. Everything that feels good is addictive and there’s a 12 step program out there for every one of them. And if you don’t believe it, you’re in DENIAL! Since they know that Pot isn’t addictive, they try to redefine the word “addiction” and try to make Pot fit the new definition.
The fact that the need to twist the definition indicates that they know that Pot doesn’t fit the traditional definition of addiction. Drug addiction occurs when the drug affects the body in a way that causes the body to become dependent on the drug and causes a negative reaction when the drug is removed. Marijuana, LSD, and magic mushrooms are examples of non-addictive drugs. Cocaine, Heroine, Methamphedamine, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Caffeine are examples of addictive drugs. Telling lies about what drugs are addictive is not going to help solve the drug problem
