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Definitely yes.

Leaning towards yes.

Maybe.

Leaning towards no.

Definitely no.

Undecided.

Other.

Don't care. / View poll.

[Bauglir]

-snip-

[Neonivek]

(if places that have legalized it are any indication)

Not the best example personally... If you look into it closely there are a lot of places that are seriously injured by legalisation. At the same time the majority of that harm has to deal with it being illegal in other places making it an excellent place to start smuggling runs creating HUGE redlight districts where even the police do not go.

This is of course ignoring the places it benefited... which fall under the same "Because it is illegal elsewhere" and thus they are getting TONS of money having it legal in a place surrounded by where it is illegal.

Though I don't have all the info.

[Grakelin]

Legalization is condoning. Say what you like about people doing it in secret, but when it's legal, everyone does it in public, and they do it a lot more. They'd smoke it like people drink alcohol. It's bad enough meeting a drunk late at night, would be just as bad seeing a stoned guy who smells of weed.

I do agree that both alcohol and cigarettes are much more dangerous. But both of them can be taxed to hell and thus, discouraged.

I'm fine with it being illegal. I know some dealers, but they're no mafia. I'm just not fine with it being overenforced. I'd rather it be kept to a minimum of enforcement, with fines equivalent to littering or smoking in public or something. And certainly no raids on private property to get it.

But I grew up in a country where police enforcement of stupid laws was enforced by a $10 bribe, so criminalization is a good way to discourage.

I read a recent statistic (from StatsCan, I think, if you need a citation, Chairman) which claimed that 45% of Canadians had smoked marijuana at some point in their lives. Marijuana is a culturally accepted act in this country, with the amount of people morally opposed to it shrinking ever further.

We could also make billions of dollars by taxing the stuff.

Really, I don't see why marijuana was banned in the first place. It seems to me like a relic of the prohibition era, especially in a time where we know that alcohol and tobacco is destroying lives and families everywhere but is also accepted by society.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Really, I don't see why marijuana was banned in the first place. It seems to me like a relic of the prohibition era, especially in a time where we know that alcohol and tobacco is destroying lives and families everywhere but is also accepted by society.

Supposedly, it was originally pushed through to law as a combination of the tattered remains of the temperance movement and hemp threatining the lumber industry's profits. The War On Drugs extrapolated the matter severely.

[ChairmanPoo]

I recall reading somewhere Hearst was a major activist against cannabis.  For quite odd reasons, too. Allegedly hemp as a textile material was competing against some product of his, so he decided to campaign against it altogether. Or something like that.  I don't know to what extent this is true and to what extent it's just conspiracy-theoricing.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I recall reading somewhere Hearst was a major activist against cannabis.  For quite odd reasons, too. Allegedly hemp as a textile material was competing against some product of his, so he decided to campaign against it altogether. Or something like that.

Yeah, it was him protecting his lumber profits, if I've got this all right.

[Duuvian]

Paper. They had just patented a process for Hemp paper that was significantly cheaper than wood pulp.

Hearst was involved, and funded things like this: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6696582420128930236#

EDIT: In addition to it's medicinal benefits, marijuana has many industrial uses as well, often made from what are considered byproducts in it's current usage.

[DJ]

The way I heard it it was threatening the cotton industry.

[Ø]

1: Legalize ALL drugs.
2: Watch South American economies implode.
3: ? ? ?
4: Profit

Really though, I'm not to sure about actually legalizing it. Not unless it's taxed even more heavily than cigarettes. I'm all for lowering the penalties to a small fine or something. I think California did that.

[Rilder]

Legalize, Tax, Educate.

[Neonivek]

1: Legalize ALL drugs.
2: Watch South American economies implode.
3: ? ? ?
4: Profit

Really though, I'm not to sure about actually legalizing it. Not unless it's taxed even more heavily than cigarettes. I'm all for lowering the penalties to a small fine or something. I think California did that.

Whoa all drugs?

That would be horrible...

Some drugs NEED to be illegal.

[Leafsnail]

Not sure if I see the point of having it very slightly illegal (ie still against the law, but barely enforced, and you only get a small fine for breaking it).  I mean, that means you can't tax it, and the industry would still be in the hands of gangs.

[Shrugging Khan]

Legalize it. Legalize all drugs, for that matter.

But especially those such as weed - it's less dangerous than alcohol or nicotine, and as far as I'm personally concerned, even less dangerous than caffeine.

The others...legalise anyways, then educate. People have to be able to deal with the temptation on their own, and as leftish as I may be, there's hardly a place for government involvement in these matters (excluding taxation and education).

[DJ]

Gambling addiction is on par with a heroin addiction, if not worse, yet gambling is legal.

[iceball3]

Gambling addiction is on par with a heroin addiction, if not worse, yet gambling is legal.

In SOME places...