5 Reasons Marijuana Should Remain Illegal

Townhall.com ^ | January 21, 2014 | John Hawkins

[Kaslin]

How did we end up in a world where Big Gulps are being banned in New York while the welcome mat for potheads is being rolled out in Colorado? How is it that cigarette smokers are pariahs, while people smoking weed are being cheered? This is despite the fact that potheads are almost universally recognized as unmotivated, low class, degenerate – and, yes, smelly failures. Even the ones that get somewhere in life, like Barack Obama, usually turn out to be mediocrities.

Moreover, we all recognize that smoking is a dirty habit that makes you die younger and while drinking is a potentially dangerous habit that leads to hundreds of thousands of deaths per year, but we want to condone pot use on top of that? That's like saying you've got a bad back and a bad shoulder; so why not break your knee cap to top it all off. How many lives are we willing to flush down the drain because a significant number of Americans tried pot a handful of times in their lives, got away with it and now feel guilty about it? One hundred for every person in prison? 1000? 10,000? There's a reason pot was made illegal in the first place and quite frankly, the only reason alcohol and cigarettes are legal is because they're so deeply ingrained in our society that we can't get rid of them.

There is certainly a financial and human cost to keeping marijuana illegal and we can see it in our prisons. But, there would be an even larger cost to making it legal.

1) It's extremely addictive for some people: If you don't want to take my word for it, listen to Dr. Drew Pinsky who has been working with addicts for decades.

It would be malpractice to say that cannabis isn't addictive. Anybody who's experienced it, actually been addicted to it, knows how profound that addiction is.... The difficult thing about marijuana addiction is some people, even though they're addicted can do fine with it for many many years before they start to have difficultly, but eventually the high starts wearing off, people start smoking a lot more to try to get that high back and that's when they descend into difficulties. ...I've been treating cannabis addiction for 20 years. When people are addicted to cannabis, cocaine and alcohol the drug they have the most difficult time giving up is the cannabis. It is extremely addictive...for some people. I think that's where people get confused. It's not very addictive for many people. It's a small subset of people with a genetic potential for addiction. But for them it is really tough. You only need talk to them, they'll tell you how tough it is.

Additionally, that "small subset" Dr. Drew is talking about isn't so small in a big country like America. "Of the 7.3 million persons aged 12 or older classified with illicit drug dependence or abuse in 2012, 4.3 million persons had marijuana dependence or abuse." It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the more legal and available marijuana becomes, the higher those numbers are going to go.

2) This experiment hasn't worked out so well for Amsterdam: Humans being what they are, just about any stupid idea we can come up with has already been tried somewhere else. Amsterdam is the most famous place across the world that has effectively legalized pot. It has even turned into a tourist destination for potheads. Legalizing weed has been a huge success there, right? Actually, not so much...

Its citizens are now alarmed that their children are increasingly being exposed to it.

Amsterdam today became the first city in the Netherlands to ban students from smoking marijuana at school.

The city's mayor Eberhard van der Laan introduced the law after school chiefs complained about pupils turning up to classes high after rolling up outside the grounds.

Marijuana is widely available in Holland as, although it is technically illegal, police can't prosecute people for possession of small amounts.

But it has also had the unwanted side effect that Dutch children are frequently exposed to the drug in public areas.

Additionally, contrary to the claims that legalizing it will reduce crime, in Amsterdam it’s been found that crime is now centering around the coffeehouses where marijuana is sold.

…Certainly the outlook for coffee shops is bleak. Among the few policies that the three parties in the new coalition government agree on is the need to reduce their numbers. The governing agreement released last week laid out plans that will force them to become members-only clubs and shut down those shops located near schools.

The coalition is also advancing the idea of prohibiting the sale of cannabis to non-Dutch residents, which amounts to a death knell for many coffee shops.

...The circumstances that led to the tolerance policies have changed in the past decade, as large-scale crime around coffee shops and the legal sex trade became more visible. In particular, the absence of legal means for coffee shops to obtain cannabis has highlighted their association with organized crime.

But the open-minded instincts that helped foster the policies are also being questioned. And it is not just the far-right opposing coffee shops. The traditional parties of power on the center-right, the Christian Democrats and the Liberal VVD, have also moved against the policies they once promoted.

That doesn't exactly sound like a success story, does it?

3) Marijuana is terrible for your mental health: Marijuana may even be WORSE than cigarettes. At least cigarettes don't peel points off of your IQ.

A recent Northwestern University study found that marijuana users have abnormal brain structure and poor memory and that chronic marijuana abuse may lead to brain changes resembling schizophrenia. The study also reported that the younger the person starts using marijuana, the worse the effects become.

In its own report arguing against marijuana legalization, the American Medical Association said: "Heavy cannabis use in adolescence causes persistent impairments in neurocognitive performance and IQ, and use is associated with increased rates of anxiety, mood and psychotic thought disorders."

So, there's a good reason most habitual marijuana users come off as stupid. The drug is making them stupider, even when they're not high. You really want your kids on that?

4) Marijuana is terrible for your physical health: How bad is marijuana for you? It's even more toxic than cigarette smoke. Regular users are hit with devastating lung problems as much as 20 years earlier than smokers. Even small amounts of marijuana can cause temporary sterility and it has a terrible impact on the babies of women who smoke including "birth defects, mental abnormalities and increased risk of leukemia in children." If your standard is, "Well, it's better for you than Meth or Crack," that's true, but you're deluding yourself if you think pot is anything other than absolutely horrible for your health.

5) The drug decimates many people's lives: Movies portray potheads as harmless, fun-loving people who spend their time giggling and munching Cheetos, but they don't show these people when they're flunking out of school, losing their jobs, frustrated because they can't concentrate or losing the love of their lives because they just don't want be with a pot smoking loser anymore. Even in the limited number of studies that are out there, the numbers are stark.

A study of 129 college students found that, among those who smoked the drug at least twenty-seven of the thirty days before being surveyed, critical skills related to attention, memory and learning were seriously diminished. A study of postal workers found that employees who tested positive for marijuana had 55% more accidents, 85% more injuries and a 75% increase in being absent from work. In Australia, a study found that cannabis intoxication was responsible for 4.3% of driver fatalities.

...Students who use marijuana have lower grades and are less likely to get into college than nonsmokers. They simply do not have the same abilities to remember and organize information compared to those who do not use these substances.

It's bad enough that we already lose so many Americans early to cancer caused by cigarettes, alcoholism, and drunken driving. Do we really want to endorse the loss of millions more potentially productive Americans via Marijuana? Do we move on from there to Crack, Heroin or Meth? Some people would say, “If they want to do it, great, then it's no business of ours.” But, you can also bet that those same people will be complaining about all the junkies and welfare cases that will be created by the policy they endorsed.

So, ask yourself a few key questions. Is legalizing Marijuana going to make this a better country or a worse one? Would you want to live in a neighborhood filled with people who regularly smoke marijuana? Would you want your kids regularly smoking pot? Now is the time to think about it because although it's easy to thoughtlessly legalize a drug like marijuana, when things go predictably wrong down the road, it will be a lot harder to put the genie back in the bottle than people seem to think.

[IrishBrigade]

So yes, making drugs in general and marijuana specifically illegal is pointless.It does not prevent their use, it merely empowers evil people to destroy freedoms.

...that is exactly the point, but on this issue some people seem to check into logic free areas and spout off...have you watched Bill O’Reilly on this subject lately...Mary Katherine Hamm ‘smoked’ him in a debate and he ended up yelling at her and looking like a stooge...

[IrishBrigade]

In fact the Cartels will suddenly become no different that Budweiser or RJ Reynolds as they also become legitimate tax paying corporations.

...does that mean they will no longer behead and otherwise main their opponents, as they are so wont to do to protect their interests...

...I think its been quite a while since Anheuser-Busch or RJ Reynolds cut someones head off...

[Vaquero]

I agree with you. I got out, if not in time to do no damage, than at least in time to get too much damage.

The only bright spot is this. Alchohol use increased during prohibition. Alcohol decreased after alcholol was permitted. If it is legalized its use could drop.

[Responsibility2nd]

Already the Cartels are flexing their muscles at "legal" pot shops.

Granted, Mexico ain't much of a country; so for the Cartels to rule there isn't saying much. But - legal or illegal - the Cartels will rule the production, distribution, sale AND PROFIT of marijuana here in the US. Or else.

 

Colorado pot shops likely targets of cartels, say experts

Saturday, January 11, 2014 2:49:10 PM · by Brad from Tennessee · 119 replies

FOX News ^ | jANUARY 10, 2014 | By Joseph J. Kolb

As the smoke settles from the first week of legal marijuana sales in Colorado, experts are warning that sanctioned pot dealers could become targets for the very folks they put out of business. Taking over a trade once ruled by drug cartels and turning it into an all-cash business could make pot shops prime targets for extortion, black-market competition and robbery. One veteran border narcotics agent told FoxNews.com Colorado's legal pot industry will find it hard to keep the criminals from horning in on a lucrative business they once controlled. "Mexico is already in Colorado without the risks," the agent,...

 

[moehoward]

"If drugs are made legal, the Cartels win."

There's a huge difference between decriminalizing and legalization. Decriminalization, would allow cartels/distributors/et al to continue, and expand. Legalization, like Washington state's law for example, regulates the products production, even how much production and distribution. Stores cannot sell product from unlicensed sources, i e Mexican cartels.

Will cartels try to get front men in the system? Maybe. But ALL parties including financiers must pass background/criminal checks.

The primary thing I dislike about legalization is it ADDS government, and that is never a good thing.

[IrishBrigade]

Already the Cartels are flexing their muscles at “legal” pot shops.

...the history of Prohibition doesn’t back your assertion of criminals controlling a legalized product...

[Responsibility2nd]

...the history of Prohibition doesn’t back your assertion of criminals controlling a legalized product...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh? How about legalized gambling? Pretty sure the mafia has run that racket for years.

That is... until the States and Native Americans took over. (lol)

[Ken H]

Unfortunately I witnessed the opposite with a loved one .... Paranoia - violence - and overall demeanor of a rattlesnake.

I was just a kid having to deal with that crap and I feel sorry for all the innocents who will - most definitely - have to put up with the loser - so called “adults” that insist on destroying their lives instead of looking out for the kids.

Did you call the authorities on her, or did you look the other way while she was engaging in criminal drug possession?

[Ken H]

Already the Cartels are flexing their muscles at "legal" pot shops

LOL! Did you read your own C&P? =>

"As the smoke settles from the first week of legal marijuana sales in Colorado, experts are warning that sanctioned pot dealers could become targets for the very folks they put out of business. Taking over a trade once ruled by drug cartels and turning it into an all-cash business could make pot shops prime targets for extortion, black-market competition and robbery."

[Jabba the Nutt]

1) It's extremely addictive for some people:

What's the legal principle here? All addictive substances, activities, behaviors ought to be outlawed. How's making marijuana illegal working now?

2) This experiment hasn't worked out so well for Amsterdam:

Marijuana isn't legal in Amsterdam, the law just isn't enforced against it in certain areas. Marijuana was effectively legal for personal use and growing from 1975. Studies showed lower use among teenagers in Alaska than in the other States. Marijuana was seen as uncool, the drug for smelly hippies. So the idea that making pot legal is going to set off a stampede of pot smoking just isn't true.

3) Marijuana is terrible for your mental health:

Heavy, chronic use has negative effects. Marijuana prohibition isn't stopping this damage, so why continue the legal sanctions. What damage does arrest, conviction and jail time do to people? You have to weigh the costs and benefits.

4) Marijuana is terrible for your physical health:

Should all substances, activities and behaviors that negatively affect physical health been outlawed? In a free society, individuals weigh the risks and benefits for themselves. Life is not risk free and cannot be made risk free.

5) The drug decimates many people's lives:

Marijuana prohibition decimates many people's lives. Again, you can just look on one side of the balance sheet. Again, what's the legal principle here? Anything that can harm people ought to be banned. You can see from this listing, that drug prohibition is just another progressive project, this one from the original progressives, that sets the government in charge of people's lives. People aren't responsible for themselves and can be responsible, therefore government, police, courts, jails must be used to get people to live in the correct way.

It's doomed to failure and there's no limit to how far they'll go.

[GBA]

Ahh...thankya,thankyaveramuch. I appreciate the kind words, but I can't take all the credit.

I've learned almost everything I know as a frequently humbled continuing student here at the Free Republic On Line Institute of Common Sense.

Which reminds me...I forgot to donate. D'oh

[Boogieman]

“In fact the Cartels will suddenly become no different that Budweiser or RJ Reynolds as they also become legitimate tax paying corporations.”

Well, if that were to happen, then they could not be cartels anymore, so there would not be a problem for you to worry about.

[Kozak]

What a stupid miss use of the ER. Glorified baby sitting. I hope the ER sends the bill to the school district.

[Kozak]

Ever notice how the drug warriors spew mindless drivel and ad hominem like a dog with dysentariy after a bucket of bad clams and sorbitol candy?

[logic101.net]

In the 60’s it was LSD, not strick. In the 70’s LSD got rare and they substituted rat poison, in the 80’s that was about all there was for acid. Still a poison, anything that gives you a high or buzz is a poison, including beer (which I enjoy more than I should). In fact that is why some people eat the poisonous puffer fish. The key for the top chefs is to maximize the toxins to just under the point of killing someone. I’ll pass on that one. Tried many of the others though when I was younger and more stupid.

[RipSawyer]

“It’s almost like everyone likes the part of Liberty that agrees with their beliefs, but no one wants to give Liberty to people who see things differently than they do.”
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Almost? You just basically defined the thinking of the everyday human being. What is extremely rare is to find someone who does not think in that fashion.

[RipSawyer]

I knew a lot of people like that growing up but actually they WERE using at least one drug, NICOTINE. Some say it is actually the most addictive substance known, I don’t know about that but having been hooked on it for eleven years I can say it is very difficult to kick the nicotine habit. Women seem to have a much harder time giving it up than men even and for someone who is not hooked on it it is disgusting to be around people who are, tobacco smells very bad, makes clothes, cars, furniture, hair, everything smell bad.

[IrishBrigade]

tobacco smells very bad, makes clothes, cars, furniture, hair, everything smell bad.

...quite true...but it’s funny, if you’re downwind on a nice sultry evening, and the smell is wafting towards you, it can actually be quite fragrant...

[EnigmaticAnomaly]

"If you want to talk about something REALLY destructive, dangerous, and addictive, talk about video gaming. I think it is far worse than alcohol, tobacco, and weed together."

If only video gaming were performed in the absolute absence of the aforementioned substances...

The majority of gamers out there indulge in those substances WHILE gaming. So I call your theory fundamentally flawed.

[Fuzz]

“The majority of gamers out there indulge in those substances WHILE gaming.”

Between 150 and 200 million people play video games in the US alone. So 75-100 million people do drugs and play video games.

“So I call your theory fundamentally flawed.”

Ditto.