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Marijuana: Legalize or Ban?

Marijuana: Legalize or Ban?

  • Total voters
    36
Binary_Digit said:
I don't have time to lookup a link, but one of the documented side effects of Marinol that smoked MJ doesn't have is skin rashes.

Then there's the fact that Marinol pills are prescribed to patients who suffer from nausea and have a hard time keeping anything down, much less the very pills intended to help the nausea. Marinol pills are counter-intuitive for chemo patients.
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Well, you don't have time to look up a link, but do have time to post...

Mild skin rashes are very well documented in cases of people using it as a topical in the treatment of much more serious ailments like skin cancer. The rash is easily treated with moisturizer.

The case of Marinol is specific to one type of delivery system and should be dealt with separately. When a cancer patient is so far gone they can't keep pills down, the fault is not usually with the pill and its contents, but the body failing.
 
Fearandloathing said:
Well, you don't have time to look up a link, but do have time to post...
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Here's the Institute of Medicine:

There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs.

Whereas the stepping stone hypothesis presumes a predominantly physiological component of drug progression, the gateway theory is a social theory. The latter does not suggest that the pharmacological qualities of marijuana make it a risk factor for progression to other drug use. Instead, the legal status of marijuana makes it a gateway drug.

Here's the American Medical Association:

Analysis of trends in emergency room visits for marijuana do not support the view that state authorization for medical cannabis use leads to increased signals of substance misuse.

(i.e. Medical marijuana use has not been shown to increase the number of people who abuse drugs, effectively debunking the "gateway drug" myth.)

Fearandloathing said:
Mild skin rashes are very well documented in cases of people using it as a topical in the treatment of much more serious ailments like skin cancer.
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No, not topical. I'm talking about the Marinol pill that is swallowed.

Marinol oral : Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Pictures, Warnings & Dosing - WebMD

Fearandloathing said:
The rash is easily treated with moisturizer.
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No, the rash is a serious allergic reaction that is treated by no longer taking Marinol pills.

Fearandloathing said:
When a cancer patient is so far gone they can't keep pills down, the fault is not usually with the pill and its contents, but the body failing.
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Chemotherapy causes the nausea. Not cancer. Regardless, the point still stands. You don't treat nausea by giving pills to people who can't even keep food down, much less pills. That's just plain dumb. Especially when the only reason to push the pills is a misguided phobia about smoked marijuana in medicine.
 
Your Star said:
No, there are a lot of good reasons to legalize it. We stop spending so much money on arresting, prosecuting, and jailing non-violent marijuana users, for one; it will likely reduce violence and crime related to the drug trade; we'll also reap the tax benefits. It's a win on multiple levels.
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I could support decriminalizing personal possession on a county by county level via making enforcement optional, but not legalized sales etc as drug culture based tourism will bring a certain number of unproductive tourists who forget to go home.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Your poll refers to marijuana only, not all recreational drug use, but your arguments are not marijuana specific. By not legalizing all recreational drug use most (if not all) of your arguments fail.
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I wouldn't say they fail, in an absolute sense, but I would say that the benefits wouldn't be as far reaching as we think they'd be.
 
digsbe said:
Keep it illegal, there is no rational reason to bring a schedule I substance down to OTC for the purpose of abusing it to get high. We need more substance restriction, not less. We have a public health crisis, allowing for the legal use of marijuana to get a high will likely only make things worse. We already have alcohol and tobacco and that's bad enough.
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Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I substance for political reasons, not rational health and/or safety concerns.
 
Amanda1858 said:
Marijuana is often a "gateway" drug to the harder stuff. For that reason alone it shouldn't be legalized.
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What is the "gateway" to marijuana? Maybe we should make that illegal as well. We should go back all the way to the root "gateway" substance.
 
Amanda1858 said:
Marijuana is often a "gateway" drug to the harder stuff. For that reason alone it shouldn't be legalized.
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It's a gateway because it is illegal. You go to the dealer you buy your weed from, they're out, but they don't want you to go away, so they sell you something harder; they sell you on something else because they sell that as well; they lace it with the weed, ect.

Legal marijuana is not a gateway.
 
Legalize it so I can buy stock in White Castle and Frito-Lay before the eventual soar.
 
radcen said:
What is the "gateway" to marijuana? Maybe we should make that illegal as well. We should go back all the way to the root "gateway" substance.
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Mother's milk - the other gateway drug!
 
Amanda1858 said:
The harm that comes from marijuana is enough to ruin your life. And the other hard drugs will be killing more people if it becomes cheaper and easier to buy.
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The harm that comes with marijuana Prohibition is enough to ruin your life. You have to make the distinction between harms associated with its legal status and the harms from the drugs themselves.

Nobody is saying anything about cheaper and easier to buy regarding legal drugs either, the price can be the same, the stigma of seeking treatment can be reduced drastically, education and prevention via delaying the age of first use (ideally to the age of majority, but it will not be perfect). AS far as killing themselves - not so much - drug related deaths will plummet since the chances of overdose would be substantially diminished.

For example, I do think it would be a more effective policy if drugs were legal.. ALL OF THEM. First off it actually does allow us to control these substances rather than ceding control to a criminal element. In my opinion highly addictive drugs (such as heroin) should be distributed only by trained and experienced drug counselors. They can build rapport with those that are addicted, they can give them hope, offer a pathway to a way out of their addiction - something that absolutely does not exist currently. The users will be inclined to go for a legally distributed product because it will be a known purity. The black market will shrivel because demand would plummet for street drugs. and the risks versus reward balance of smuggling would not be nearly as enticing anymore.

The second prong is delaying the age of first use. legality has to be aimed at minimizing the black market as much as possible (it will never go away, look at alcohol, there still is a black market, but it is very small in scope compared to what it as during prohibition). With the black market a mere shadow of its former self, we will be able to take step to keep these substances out of the hands of minors and delay the average age of first of these drugs. This in turn will substantially lower the chances of someone becoming an addict, and also substantially reduce the number of those who become users in the first place. Couple this with non propagandized sensible drug education for children and we have a recipe for reduction of usage rates over time with this policy.

The entire argument for drug legalization boils down to two words at its base: harm reduction
 
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Amanda1858 said:
Ok, so we make all these drugs legal. The price will come down and more people will be able to afford it. Can you imagine how full the hospitals will be with overdoses and addicts who just don't know when to stop? The price will be reasonable so they will be able to get high more often. If you think the healthcare system is over whelmed now, just go ahead and legalize herion, meth, cocaine, marijuana etc.
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Cigarettes are legal, nicotine is extremely addictive, and yet smoking is on the decline.

I would support similar education campaigns, sin taxes, and social pressure to provide a negative incentive to users of "hard" drugs. It will be more effective than throwing them in jail.

Additionally, sucking the excess profits out of the business will reduce low-end production, as the higher quality manufacturers go legit and become subject to quality control laws. This will reduce overdoses by making it easier to control dosages and by effectively eliminating contaminants.

There is also the "forbidden fruit" angle, where teens looking to rebel are going to be less likely to choose these drugs, since they won't be nearly as edgy or exciting when use is legal.

The results of our drug policy is overcrowded prisons, heavy-handed police, and immense profits to the drug cartels. Usage is as high as ever. How is that better than just making it a regulated industry?

The same is true, to a lesser extent, of prostitution and gambling.

Marijuana is an extreme case, as there was never any reason to make it illegal in the first place.
 
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