Posted on 02/20/2002 6:08:45 AM PST by Magician
My first reaction is WHY NOT?
It’s a question of common sense.
Our marijuana laws do not work. They never have, and they never will.
Their stated goal being to rid society of the so-called affliction of marijuana use, the harsh reality is that since prohibition, usage rates have increased drastically.
Either we legalize it, and fast, or we get busy locking up millions of Canadians. With one out of three Canadians admitting to having tried marijuana, we may very well be locking up our best and brightest, not ruined by drugs, but ruined by the criminal sanctions that go with getting caught for what amounts to a common social practice. I can’t even begin to count how many elected officials admitted to having used it, yet everyday hundreds of average citizens are arrested for marijuana offences.
So, why are there so many users, and why is marijuana so easy to acquire?
In a strange twist, prohibition is to blame.
When a product is illegal, the profit margin skyrockets. Prohibition turns an agricultural product (a plant that’s very easy to grow) into a drug worth its weight in gold. Without prohibition, marijuana would cost pennies to produce. No wonder some adventurous modern day prospectors are setting up in their own back yards and basements to try and get in on the gold rush. Who could blame them? They aren’t hurting anyone, they’re making good money, and most of all customers are willing, grateful participants in the process.
We must come to grips with the fact that the demand for marijuana is never going away and find a better way of dealing with it. Imagine the billions of dollars spent on marijuana and enforcement going to more noble causes like health care and other social programs.
The general public understands this. Support for legalizing marijuana recently reached the much sought after 50%+1 majority. Recent polls show that 51% of Canadians support legalizing marijuana, a slim, but very real majority.
And with more and more advocates, the trend is just taking off. Several European countries like Belgium, Switzerland, Holland and Germany are successfully leading the way towards tolerance with legislation aimed at helping drugs users, not by treating them as criminals, but as human beings deserving of respect. There is no reason why Canada should lag behind. We should be on the cutting edge of this new international movement.
Now it is time to step onto the world stage and assert our sovereignty by legalizing marijuana once and for all. I would venture a friendly wager that the international community would stand by Canada on this issue. Our inevitable success would then make us a world leader in marijuana reform—an example for others to follow.
(I can hear it already): But marijuana is dangerous!
For the record, marijuana is NOT dangerous. It is no worse than coffee and much safer than alcohol. Marijuana is also much less addictive then cigarettes. Chronic use is rare as the majority do not smoke it everyday. Try that with tobacco!
What little risks that may be present with marijuana are no worse then any other risks deemed "morally acceptable". Should we ban music because, if played too loud it might hurt your hearing?
French fries and gravy are far more dangerous for our health then marijuana. Should we ban fast food and send overeaters to mandatory fitness camps?
Who are we, as a society to judge? What exactly are marijuana users guilty of? Who are they hurting? What have they done wrong?
To deny marijuana users the right to choose what they want to consume is nothing more than an arbitrary decision based on moral values, not public interest......
Legalization does not mean promoting use. It means providing medical care, support, education, quality standards and proper labeling. We then trust that responsible adults will make their own choices. This is what makes legalization healthy for our society. At least legalization would force retailers to be accountable for what they sell.
Under prohibition, the government has waived its responsibility for the well being of marijuana users, and is only responsible for their arrest and persecution.
This total disregard for their rights drives a wedge between them and the rest of society and breeds contempt for our legal institutions. If society does not tolerate pot smokers, how are pot smokers supposed to tolerate society? This does not make for a healthy social climate and even less a basis for sound policy.
If a policy so deeply flawed as prohibition not only fails to reach its goals, but actually makes the situation worse, it should be radically changed.
Prohibition is the problem, and legalization the solution.
In places where marijuana is tolerated use actually decreases.
Of course, don’t count on the politicians to have the courage to change the law—it’s not in their nature. Look instead to the Supreme Court. That is where most significant legal change comes from anyway. Gay rights and abortion issues were resolved there, and, some time this year our land’s highest court will also rule on the constitutionality of marijuana prohibition. I strongly urge government to make a wise decision and end this madness now. Millions of bright, productive, patriotic pot-smoking Canadians are counting on it.
Most sincerely, Marc-Boris St-Maurice Le Parti Marijuana
a) Marijuana is not a stimulant
b) Marijuana is not "relatively hard to get". Anyone who wants it knows where to get it
c) What costs of legalization? Anyone who currently wants to smoke it can and does. Do you forsee some huge societal shift and expansion of users if it were to be made legal? Hogwash.
See, we can all make up bogus shit to insult others, it's just generally frowned upon in adult discussions, get it?
Don't expect me to attack you back, because that is not my nature. I am just living my life and rolling with the punches (and it's a great life, let me tell you). If you would like some advice on how to be successful just ask, no need to be jealous and attack me. Maybe you need to volunteer your time or help someone out. You seem spiritually and emotionally troubled. have you tried counseling?
In my post I was making an attempt to disparage the notion that people who partake in MJ are 'losers' and 'deadheads'. If you would like to freepmail me and discuss this further, feel free.
MM
Huh?
Did you read your first sentence? Do you remember it?
Yes I do. I don't think you do, however. There is a difference between enjoying a 'heightened' state of reality, versus trying to avoid reality completely. Like I said, my life is great.
swabbin floors at the airport.
No - designing and implementing Enterprise Resource Planning systems. Before that, I was a supply-chain manager.
Can the wife leave you alone with the kids at night? Do you think being stoned is the best way to watch your kids, or does your wife need to pick up the slack?
Absolutely! As a matter of fact most of my friends and family would tell you I am a great Father. My kids are doing great too. And for the record, I smoke after they go to bed.
The house still have it's tires on it?
It's about to be sold. I am on my third home at 31 years old. I can recommend a few books on real estate if you would like me to.
What's the name of it? Is it a real company, or did you just spring for the cards?
Discussing personal information here is against the rules, but I will tell you it has to do with commercial-grade cleaning of homes and businesses.
We can tell.
Funny how you can tell and people I have worked with for years have no idea.
No doubt about it. Keep up the fight, brother! Get out there front and center. Nothing will get drugs legalized faster than a burn-out spewing jibberish on TV.
No - it will happen after all the ignorant folks out there become educated and the Socialist policies are banished.
The public opinion of dope heads has never been better, dude.
Agreed.
MM
He or she is either a rabid anti-drug zealot for reasons known only to him/her, or he/she is being paid to be here and to disrupt conversation on this topic. I believe it is the latter.
I recommend not responding to him or her directly in any way. Rather, just point out the lies and the disruption techniques in each post. That seems to drive him or her away until the next thread.
I don't have anything to hide so I don't mind revealing anything about myself. You on the other hand are trying unsuccessfully to hide the fact that you were a drug dealer and trafficer.
Maybe you still are and your opposition to ending the war on drugs is based on knowing that to do so would put you and the other drug dealing slime out of business.
LOL! Seriously though you should really leave the paranoia train and get back to reality.
It most certainly is a liberal and not conservative issue!
BINGO!
In a word, it's about: freedom.
Both the Right collectivists and the Left collectivists worship their concept of an America that would be foreign to the Founders' notions of limited government. Political whores have replaced statesmen and only time will tell which side will take the reins and finally lead the Stallion of Liberty to the glue factory.
It most certainly is a liberal and not conservative issue!
This one isn't about drug addiction, it's about ending the prohibition on marijuana that was instituted by your hero, FDR.
Nope, nothing conservative about that.
School finally out today? It has been pointed out to you many times and I understand the learning problem thing but, this is NOT a liberal issue. It cuts across political boundaries. It was the Democrats who criminalized pot. Many constitutionists and conservatives, Buckley, Schultz, et al (they have been posted to you many times,no need to waste more of our time) call for the decriminalization or legalization of drugs, specifically marijuana.
So now for the big retort from you, I'll even do it for you......
It most certainly is a liberal and not conservative issue!
Jeeeez, it's enough to drive a guy to drink!
DuPont would scream, the paper-pulp industry would scream. Ad nauseum.
Pot was a major contributing factor in their criminal lives. So it is evil and you want to support evil. That seems very liberal morally (since liberals lack morals - as we know them) to me and in no way conservative. IT IS A LIBERAL AGENDA ISSUE!
Why does this constanty get re-hashed over drugs on Free Republic every day?
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