Replies

For those who bring up the alcohol prohibition equalizing it to the current drug prohibition...

Beer,wine and spirits have been a part of this country since colonial days...crack, smack, and PCP are not.

The "hemp" used in those days was for ropes...not for smoking.

Alcoholic beverages (used in moderation) are being shown to have some health benefits...what are the benefits of LSD, crack, or meth? As for marijuana...the body was not made to have smoke put in its lungs, whether it is tobacco or pot.

Beer,wine and spirits have been a part of this country since colonial days...crack, smack, and PCP are not.

Slavery was also a part of this country since the colonial days. "Historical Significance" is a weak, poor excuse for supporting or prohibiting something. Although I could point out that pot has been used in many difficult cultures for millenia. But I won't ;-)

Alcoholic beverages (used in moderation) are being shown to have some health benefits...what are the benefits of LSD, crack, or meth?

What are the health benefits of McDonalds food, or cigarettes, or Twinkies? Are you saying all things must have intrinsic health benefits in order to be legal? Are you going to post guards at the store so people won't buy rat poison, take it home, and chow down on it?

And how come you can't touch pot? Are you afraid you would have to go into the medical benefits of pot? Pot is no worse than alcohol. (and is probably less harmful).

As for marijuana...the body was not made to have smoke put in its lungs, whether it is tobacco or pot.

Most pot smoke is filtered using water pipes, which cools the smoke, and filters out a significant amount of pollutants from it. Most pot smokers use one, whereas most tobacco smokers don't. Also, you can get yourself a vaporizer, which melts the THC into an inhalable mist, without having to ignite the vegatative matter. I don't believe this is possible with tobacco.

The body wasnt' meant to do a lot of things, but people do them anyhow. Are you next going to tell us mankind wasn't meant to fly, because we don't have wings? Are you going to tell us people shouldn't get piercings, because the body doesn't have the hole's built in? The brain DOES have receptors for canaboids built in. So unless you happen to have the original blueprints and design specs on the human body, it's folly to try and determine what the human body is and isn't "supposed" to do (except for the stupidly obvious. Like Knees obviously aren't supposed to bend BACKWARDS 90 degrees.)

But I do have to commend you for making your arguments without using the world "Evil" or "Liberdopians" :) Thank you.

FWIW I'm not terribly big on legalizing the hard stuff either...

Tobbacco, cocaine, MJ....all found on the bodies of 4000 year old egyptian mummies. Which happens to be around the same period that alchohol is believed to have been discovered.

Think about it. Tobbacco and MJ are natural plants that grow wild. Alchohol production requires a relatively complicated process to produce. Which do you think came first?

EBUCK

The "hemp" used in those days was for ropes...not for smoking.

What do you think the Indians put in their peace pipes? A few drags on one of those and nobody felt like fighting anymore.

Seriously, the Indians have been using mind altering drug for years (cocoa leaves, mushrooms, peyote, marijuana are all native to the Americas). The Europeans and Asians have been using opium for thousands of years.

Did the Founding Fathers of the United States of America smoke cannabis? Some researchers think so. Dr. Burke, president of the American Historical Reference Society and a consultant for the Smithsonian Institute, counted seven early presidents as cannabis smokers: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor and Franklin Pierce. "Early letters from our founding fathers refer to the pleasures of hemp smoking," said Burke. Pierce, Taylor and Jackson, all military men, smoked it with their troops. Cannabis was twice as popular among American soldiers in the Mexican War as in Vietnam: Pierce wrote to his family that it was "about the only good thing" about that war.

Burke asserted that Washington & Jefferson were said to exchange smoking blends as personal gifts. Washington reportedly preferred a pipe full of "the leaves of hemp" to alcohol, & wrote in his diaries that he enjoyed the fragrance of hemp flowers. Madison once remarked that hemp gave him insight to create a new & democratic nation. Monroe, creator of the Monroe Doctrine, began smoking it as Ambassador to France & continued to the age of 73. Burke. "Pot & Presidents." in Green Egg. CA. June 21, 1975

Source

ummmm, alcohol is considered poisonous to our bodies just as much as pot ... just do some research on what toxins do to our bodies over time. i know caffiene and sugar are not necessarily good for me and I CHOOSE to limit myself.. If I prefer a pot buzz over an alcohol buzz... (oh and pot is a herb and I am SURE they smoked it way back when...)
why not have the CHOICE? Sorry to pounce on you but everyone overlooks the other stuff that is legal that is just as "bad" for our health. We've been fed propaganda on pot for years. The government makes lots of "mistakes" on everyday things for "political" reasons.. Just look at our food pyramid .. it is a JOKE.. and we wonder why our country is overweight... OK.. I am off my soapbox now. this thread is too tame.. would someone please take a stand?!?!?

Oh, one more thought to express. The idea of the government trying to regulate drugs (if they were legalized) would be another problem. The very idea of government making $$$ off legal drugs is almost as troubling as the money they make off stealing druggies property..

Sounds right! It appears to me that many of these pro-legalization posters are Libertarians with their own baggage. In fact, I find it amazing that there are so many on FR. They dispute any stats, but show none of their own that look official.

I am no expert, or pretend to be, but I'd surely like to have some more information and believable stats before I make such strong, mostly pro or con liberalization judgements as I read on this thread. Maybe there is such information. Is there a study with stats about the crushing health and financial burdens illegal drugs have on the nation? Is there any study about what might happen if the drugs were legalized? (Europe comes to mind as some of them are liberal about pot and other drugs. What say the Swiss or the Brits? And the Dutch with the most liberal of all drug policies?).