What are the Best reasons/arguments to keep marijuana illegal?

National Review ^ | July 29, 2008 | me_a_republic

[ccmay]

My biggest concern is that pot has an equivalent intoxication effect as alcohol but it's ease of production (anyone could easily grow it) would make it all but impossible to enforce any restrictions, like age limits.

At the age of 15, I made prison hooch in the back of my closet with fruit cocktail, sugar, water, and a little yeast. Tasted like hell but got us drunk.

Also, the intoxication effects of marijuana are not at all equivalent to alcohol, and in fact are much more benign. Ethanol is an exceptionally potent disinhibitor, and debilitates good judgment more than almost any other drug. Drunks start fights, rape women, and drive like maniacs. Potheads eat Pringles and fall asleep on the couch watching Brady Bunch re-runs. If they get pulled over while driving, it's typically for going too slow.

-ccm

[BBell]

I know from your join date that you may be new to this forum and all but one thing you need to know is that a lot of the posters here respond with out reading the articles. It would help if you posted an excerpt, if allowed by copy write laws.

It has not always been this way here, posters used to read articles and not just the headline/title before responding. Now some here just seem to want to be the first to post something back. Makes for too long of threads and too many closed minds. I lurked for 3 years (1997 or 1998) before I logged on.

[JRios1968]

[pissant]

Ron? Bob? Is that you??

[wildbill]

It’s entirely too much fun.

[Impy]

The number 1 reason is people would smoke it in public and offend my nose. It stinks so bad it makes tobacco smell nice in comparison.

That said it shouldn’t be illegal, just keep it in your mom’s basement.

[fr_freak]

It would have way too easy access to minors, who do not have the maturity to make that type of choice. That is why we have age of consent laws.

So what you're saying is that you want to give the job of parenting to the government? You expect the government to be able to provide the monitoring for a child that the parent(s) who lives with the child can't even accomplish? Why would you believe government to be capable of this?

[Mr. Blonde]

Undoubtedly were it to be legal, it would be more readily available, and more people would try it as a matter of course.

Except of course for the fact that in a country where it is legal, people are half as likely to try it as here. Story here. What exactly are we getting out of marijuana remaining illegal?

[SledgeCS]

Because if it is kept illegal it allows the Lib’s something more to whine about.

[brityank]

[T]he war on drugs has failed, that it is diverting intelligent energy away from how to deal with the problem of addiction, that it is wasting our resources, and that it is encouraging civil, judicial, and penal procedures associated with police states.
      -- Wm. F. Buckley Jr.

[I]ts purpose is to make criminals out of one in three African-American males, it has succeeded. [I]ts purpose is to create one of the highest crime rates in the world -- and thus to provide permanent fodder for demagogues who decry crime and promise to do something about it -- it is achieving that end. [I]ts purpose is de facto repeal of the Bill of Rights, victory is well in sight. [I]ts purpose is to transfer individual freedom to the central government, it is carrying that off as well as any of our real wars did. [I]ts purpose is to destroy our inner cities by making them war zones, triumph is near.
      -- Steven B. Duke. Professor, Yale Law School.


[Some modification by me]

So, let's legalise them under certain restrictions and conditions:

• Any drug charge cannot be plea-bargained away.
• Conviction of a misdemeanor sets consecutive sentences of one or five years additional.
• Conviction of any felony sets consecutive five to twenty-five years additional.
• No parole or "good time" allowances for any drug related sentence.
• No action taken by a victim against a drug or alcohol using criminal shall invoke any penalties against the victim, either civil or criminal. Any level or type of drug or alcohol in the criminal will invoke this shield to the victim.

I would expect the first six months to be fairly bloody, and the number of criminals will vastly be eradicated, then things will settle and we can get back to having a free society without the over-priced, over-bearing LE/Prison drain on our country.

[Soliton]

potheads are stupid

[Thrownatbirth]

Better get used to herbal remedies, legal or not. If National Health Care becomes a reality, we’ll all be medicating ourselves at home anyway.

[americanophile]

I just flatly don’t believe that more people wouldn’t try it if it was legal.

[Mr. Blonde]

Not familiar with the idea of forbidden fruit? When the mystery and excitement is taken away from something it becomes less attractive.

I’m guessing that you don’t believe the studies that show that teenagers who first drink alcohol with their parents are less likely to binge drink in the future.

[Gay State Conservative]

I've hear all the arguments (I *do* live in Massachusetts,after all).There's at least one *very* good reason....you talk to 100 heroin/crack/meth addicts and 99 will tell ya that they started with pot.

[numberonepal]

It is way easier to make beer than it is to grow Mary Jane.

[Mr. Jeeves]

1) US Senators need the bribe money.
2) Local law enforcement agencies need the asset forfeiture money.
3) The Mexican government needs the cartel payoff money.
4) The Crips need the sales commission money.
5) The tobacco industry hates competition - and their bought-and-paid for Congressional representatives need the contribution money.
6) The Democrats need a crime epidemic to secure the Federal money for their pet programs.
7) The Republicans need the whole cast of villains to run against.

It's the Perfect Scam - you can't ask them to give it up now. ;)

[BenLurkin]

Bingo!

[TKDietz]

“there are none.

it’s destructive.”

I agree. Marijuana prohibition is destructive. It is futile and counterproductive. There is no compelling reasons to keep marijuana illegal.

[TKDietz]

To heck with Jose. Let's just legalize it and regulate it similar to the way we regulate alcohol and Jose can go jump in a lake. He can go try to weasel in on Juan and Pedro's cocaine business and end up dead. In the end I think that is what would happen if we legalized marijuana. The hardcore organized crime types would lose billions of dollars in revenue and end up killing each other fighting over the remaining business.