Why are people against legalizing marijuana?

[Blues Man]

That's exactly what they did in Portugal

and it worked.

How many trillions of dollars could we save if we ended the failed war on drugs and all we would have to do is put a fraction of that money to use in the community to help those that are addicted

How many trillions of dollars would we spend with millions more people dropping out of society?

Portugal, the entire country the population of New York City which is already plunging to new depths.

Housing
Much Portuguese housing was substandard, both in rural and in urban areas. Many rural villages were not electrified even by the early 1990s, and villagers often had to carry water from a common source. The influx of rural migrants to urban centers in recent decades intensified demand on an already inadequate housing supply. Although 60 percent of Portuguese rented their houses (80 percent in Lisbon and Porto), rigid rent control laws in effect between 1948 and 1985 had discouraged the construction of apartments, as did a sluggish bureaucracy. As a result, in the late 1980s an estimated 700,000 illegally constructed dwellings existed in Portugal, 200,000 of which were located in the Lisbon area. Some were built on public or unused private lands. The resulting urban shantytowns (bairros da lata) often lacked electricity, running water, or sewage systems.

Portugal - SOCIAL WELFARE

Yep, sounds like paradise!

I made no commentary on their government did I?

And since when does looking at one single program equate to adopting their governmental polices in total?

You do realize that our space program relied heavily on Nazi scientists right? I suppose you think that's the same thing as adopting Hitler's political stance right?

 

[CWayne]

Yep. But if used in moderation they help relieve the awful stress that one endures grinding out a living in america. If one works hard to barely squeak by why take away the little enjoyment of this life?

You actually just harmed your cause with this post.

 

[Mac-7]

Yep. But if used in moderation they help relieve the awful stress that one endures grinding out a living in america. If one works hard to barely squeak by why take away the little enjoyment of this life?

Yo9u actually just harmed your cause with this post.

Several years ago a pro pot group had a “Dave’s Not Here” moment when they forgot to submit a petition to legalize pot before the deadline expired

 

[CWayne]

So is sugar...sugar is probably worse. It is responsible for alot of the diseases fat butted people suffer from. But sugar should not be illegal. Neither should tobacco, or all the other chemicals in our environment that humans ingest. Hell glyophosate the main part of roundup is a carcinogen but fields are laced in it.

My reason is because I have witnessed too many young people throwing their lives away with it and I disagree. It most certainly is a gateway drug, I've seen that too.

Bottom line is that druggies are their own worse enemy by being piss poor ambassadors of their own cause.

By orders of magnitude, more young people have thrown their lives away using alcohol than pot.

There is no reason that pot should not be legal for adults and I say it should be regulated the same way as alcohol. I don't even use pot because I don't like its effects on me, but that is no reason to deny the liberty to make their own decisions.

 

[CWayne]

Yep. But if used in moderation they help relieve the awful stress that one endures grinding out a living in america. If one works hard to barely squeak by why take away the little enjoyment of this life?

Yo9u actually just harmed your cause with this post.

Several years ago a pro pot group had a “Dave’s Not Here” moment when they forgot to submit a petition to legalize pot before the deadline expired

Sucks to be them.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

What is their rationale? We have alcohol and nobody believes that should be illegal. If one is for freedom and liberty one is supportive of legalization.

Its up to the States not the Fed.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

What is their rationale? We have alcohol and nobody believes that should be illegal. If one is for freedom and liberty one is supportive of legalization.

I am against it because it makes people stupid and stupid people get in the way of us that are not.

Most people are stupid without the chemical enhancement.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Responsible people don't get drunk or use drugs including marijuana.

Responsible people use what ever they want responsibly

People who think they can't be responsible choose abstinence because deep down they know they have no self control

Nope. Not even close. The pothead or drunk driving the wrong way on the freeway both think they are being responsible. The mom who was high on pot when she put the baby on top of the car and drove off believed herself to be responsible at all times.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

The solution is simpler than that: mind your own business. What worries me is that the arguments you are using can be applied to all kinds of busy-body government regulation proposals. You're making essentially the same arguments as those who want to regulate our diets (eg to ban fattening drinks and snacks). Do you support that kind of nanny state government as well?

I'm not "essentially" making the argument about anything else.

But why not? If drugs should be banned because they have negative effects on society, why not unhealthy foods? Or guns? If it's the same argument, I'd think you'd agree.

If what you do on your time impedes your ability to be clean and sober at work or on the road, then it is your employers and/or my business.

The cause is irrelevant. If you're not clean and sober at work, you should be fired (for most jobs at least). But so what? Do you think this justifies making drugs illegal? Someone might be just as distracted and ineffective at work because they got in a fight with their girlfriend. Should we make getting in a fight with your girlfriend illegal too?

Someone eating unhealthy foods does not get high and leave the baby alone in the bathtub.

 

[Papageorgio]

And it is especially stupid for someone who is struggling to make ends meet, like the OP stated. There are plenty of ways to relieve stress without spending money or doing dope. Also, prevents a person who is barely making ends meet from getting a better job in a lot of cases because most companies do drug testing.

I will say that I don't think it's fair that they do drug testing. A person can do an ounce of cocaine and sweat it out in 24-48 hours, but weed stays in your system for a long time. I don't think it's a company's business if you want to smoke it on your own time, but it's a black mark against you if you do.

I think there are professions where partaking of marijuana should be illegal. Pilots, truck drivers are two that come to mind.

only when they are on duty.

What they do on their own time is no one's business

Because it stays in the system for such a long time, how do you know the only did it on their own time?

 

[Blues Man]

Responsible people don't get drunk or use drugs including marijuana.

Responsible people use what ever they want responsibly

People who think they can't be responsible choose abstinence because deep down they know they have no self control

Nope. Not even close. The pothead or drunk driving the wrong way on the freeway both think they are being responsible. The mom who was high on pot when she put the baby on top of the car and drove off believed herself to be responsible at all times.

Wrong

Everyone who drives impaired is irresponsible

You just can't seem to not use the broadest brush possible in your efforts to understand the world



Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[Blues Man]

And it is especially stupid for someone who is struggling to make ends meet, like the OP stated. There are plenty of ways to relieve stress without spending money or doing dope. Also, prevents a person who is barely making ends meet from getting a better job in a lot of cases because most companies do drug testing.

I will say that I don't think it's fair that they do drug testing. A person can do an ounce of cocaine and sweat it out in 24-48 hours, but weed stays in your system for a long time. I don't think it's a company's business if you want to smoke it on your own time, but it's a black mark against you if you do.

I think there are professions where partaking of marijuana should be illegal. Pilots, truck drivers are two that come to mind.

only when they are on duty.

What they do on their own time is no one's business

Because it stays in the system for such a long time, how do you know the only did it on their own time?

We should be easily be able to come up with a portable test that will be able to measure the level of active chemicals just like we do with alcohol



Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Responsible people don't get drunk or use drugs including marijuana.

Responsible people use what ever they want responsibly

People who think they can't be responsible choose abstinence because deep down they know they have no self control

Nope. Not even close. The pothead or drunk driving the wrong way on the freeway both think they are being responsible. The mom who was high on pot when she put the baby on top of the car and drove off believed herself to be responsible at all times.

Wrong

Everyone who drives impaired is irresponsible

You just can't seem to not use the broadest brush possible in your efforts to understand the world



Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Everyone who drives impaired believes themselves to be absolutely responsible otherwise they wouldn't do it. They are responsible people everything else is either an accident or someone else's fault.

 

[Papageorgio]

And it is especially stupid for someone who is struggling to make ends meet, like the OP stated. There are plenty of ways to relieve stress without spending money or doing dope. Also, prevents a person who is barely making ends meet from getting a better job in a lot of cases because most companies do drug testing.

I will say that I don't think it's fair that they do drug testing. A person can do an ounce of cocaine and sweat it out in 24-48 hours, but weed stays in your system for a long time. I don't think it's a company's business if you want to smoke it on your own time, but it's a black mark against you if you do.

I think there are professions where partaking of marijuana should be illegal. Pilots, truck drivers are two that come to mind.

only when they are on duty.

What they do on their own time is no one's business

Because it stays in the system for such a long time, how do you know the only did it on their own time?

We should be easily be able to come up with a portable test that will be able to measure the level of active chemicals just like we do with alcohol

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

You would think so however here we are. Until then, the transportation industry is mandated to drug test, and if marijuana is in your system, your license is pulled and you have to go to counseling at the very least. On the mandatory pre-employment test you application is automatically rejected and your license is suspended.

 

[dblack]

The solution is simpler than that: mind your own business. What worries me is that the arguments you are using can be applied to all kinds of busy-body government regulation proposals. You're making essentially the same arguments as those who want to regulate our diets (eg to ban fattening drinks and snacks). Do you support that kind of nanny state government as well?

I'm not "essentially" making the argument about anything else.

But why not? If drugs should be banned because they have negative effects on society, why not unhealthy foods? Or guns? If it's the same argument, I'd think you'd agree.

If what you do on your time impedes your ability to be clean and sober at work or on the road, then it is your employers and/or my business.

The cause is irrelevant. If you're not clean and sober at work, you should be fired (for most jobs at least). But so what? Do you think this justifies making drugs illegal? Someone might be just as distracted and ineffective at work because they got in a fight with their girlfriend. Should we make getting in a fight with your girlfriend illegal too?

Someone eating unhealthy foods does not get high and leave the baby alone in the bathtub.

They might. They might do that for any number of reasons. Should all those reasons be outlawed as well?

 

[Blues Man]

Responsible people don't get drunk or use drugs including marijuana.

Responsible people use what ever they want responsibly

People who think they can't be responsible choose abstinence because deep down they know they have no self control

Nope. Not even close. The pothead or drunk driving the wrong way on the freeway both think they are being responsible. The mom who was high on pot when she put the baby on top of the car and drove off believed herself to be responsible at all times.

Wrong

Everyone who drives impaired is irresponsible

You just can't seem to not use the broadest brush possible in your efforts to understand the world



Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Everyone who drives impaired believes themselves to be absolutely responsible otherwise they wouldn't do it. They are responsible people everything else is either an accident or someone else's fault.

Really?
And you have personally verified this with every single person who has ever driven impaired?.

Did you know driving on lack of sleep is just as bad as driving drunk?

You can be impaired by over the counter medication as well.

No one who drives impaired is a responsible person

 

[Blues Man]

And it is especially stupid for someone who is struggling to make ends meet, like the OP stated. There are plenty of ways to relieve stress without spending money or doing dope. Also, prevents a person who is barely making ends meet from getting a better job in a lot of cases because most companies do drug testing.

I will say that I don't think it's fair that they do drug testing. A person can do an ounce of cocaine and sweat it out in 24-48 hours, but weed stays in your system for a long time. I don't think it's a company's business if you want to smoke it on your own time, but it's a black mark against you if you do.

I think there are professions where partaking of marijuana should be illegal. Pilots, truck drivers are two that come to mind.

only when they are on duty.

What they do on their own time is no one's business

Because it stays in the system for such a long time, how do you know the only did it on their own time?

We should be easily be able to come up with a portable test that will be able to measure the level of active chemicals just like we do with alcohol

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

You would think so however here we are. Until then, the transportation industry is mandated to drug test, and if marijuana is in your system, your license is pulled and you have to go to counseling at the very least. On the mandatory pre-employment test you application is automatically rejected and your license is suspended.

Law enforcement will eventually catch up and new tools for enforcement will be made available

And any employer can set his own standards for his business.

If you want to use weed then you have the choice of applying for a job where the employer doesn't require a drug test

 

[Chuz Life]

So is sugar...sugar is probably worse. It is responsible for alot of the diseases fat butted people suffer from. But sugar should not be illegal. Neither should tobacco, or all the other chemicals in our environment that humans ingest. Hell glyophosate the main part of roundup is a carcinogen but fields are laced in it.

My reason is because I have witnessed too many young people throwing their lives away with it and I disagree. It most certainly is a gateway drug, I've seen that too.

Bottom line is that druggies are their own worse enemy by being piss poor ambassadors of their own cause.

By orders of magnitude, more young people have thrown their lives away using alcohol than pot.

There is no reason that pot should not be legal for adults and I say it should be regulated the same way as alcohol. I don't even use pot because I don't like its effects on me, but that is no reason to deny the liberty to make their own decisions.

I would sooner vote to ban booze than to legalize pot. As, I have witnessed the destructive effects of both. I have also witnessed and experienced the combination of the two and I can imagine nothing good coming from it being "legal."

Freedom is one thing but it doesn't give us the right to get wasted for fun and put the lives of others in danger.

 

[Andylusion]

What is their rationale? We have alcohol and nobody believes that should be illegal. If one is for freedom and liberty one is supportive of legalization.

The problem is, it ruins families, wrecks lives, and makes people stupid. Every single idiot I have ever run into, has been a pot head.

Additionally, THC is well known to cause birth problems, including learning disabilities, or low birth weight.

Lastly, work ethic and performance, are greatly impaired. 55% more accidents, more injuries, 75% higher rates of absenteeism. Higher job turn over.

This all matches my experience in the work place.

Additionally, on a purely economic standpoint, drugs have zero economic benefit.

When you produce say, iron ore, that iron ore has an economic benefit. That production has value, which grows the economy. The iron can be turned into other products, like steel, which can be turned into other products like beams, which can be turned into other products like buildings, bridges, or cars or on and on and on.

These are productive industries that build value in the economy, which in turn produce more jobs, and more value, and more products.

Pot, like gambling, produces nothing. It's poor people, paying rich people, to consume something that produces no value.

So what?

everything you listed can be applied to other legal drugs.

And people buy shit everyday that produces no value.

If a person wants to indulge in recreational drug use it is his choice and you have absolutely no right to tell him otherwise.

If a persons. pot use, alcohol use, cigarette use etc etc affects his job that's between him and his employer and not your concern.

Does the fact that one action is bad, mean that other bad actions, are ok?

I mean generally I would agree with you, but at some point you are wrecking society.

Now if we had an entirely capitalist system, meaning no Social Security, no Medicare, no food stamps, no public housing, no welfare... under that system, where if you fail to save for retirement, then you work until you die.... when you fail pay for health insurance, then you sell your house to pay medical bills..... when you fail buy your own food you starve... when you fail to pay for your own housing, you end up homeless....

If we had that kind of system, then I would entirely agree with you.

Because an individuals choices, have no effect on the rest of society.

But as long as you have all those welfare benefits, then you must have controls on how people live, because if you are taking my tax money, then I don't want you smoking pot. If you are going to live off the government, then drugs need to be illegal.

Why should I be forced to take care of your child, because you are pot head? Why should I take care of you in retirement, because you smoked all your retirement away, getting high?

And again, you are right, that you could say the same thing for Alcohol and Tobacco.... I agree. We should have the same rules for all of them. But since I can't ban alcohol and tobacco, doesn't mean that we should allow more bad behavior.

The alternative is, we eliminate all government programs completely, and you can do whatever you want.

 

[Blues Man]

So is sugar...sugar is probably worse. It is responsible for alot of the diseases fat butted people suffer from. But sugar should not be illegal. Neither should tobacco, or all the other chemicals in our environment that humans ingest. Hell glyophosate the main part of roundup is a carcinogen but fields are laced in it.

My reason is because I have witnessed too many young people throwing their lives away with it and I disagree. It most certainly is a gateway drug, I've seen that too.

Bottom line is that druggies are their own worse enemy by being piss poor ambassadors of their own cause.

By orders of magnitude, more young people have thrown their lives away using alcohol than pot.

There is no reason that pot should not be legal for adults and I say it should be regulated the same way as alcohol. I don't even use pot because I don't like its effects on me, but that is no reason to deny the liberty to make their own decisions.

I would sooner vote to ban booze than to legalize pot. As, I have witnessed the destructive effects of both. I have also witnessed and experienced the combination of the two and I can imagine nothing good coming from it being "legal."

Freedom is one thing but it doesn't give us the right to get wasted for fun and put the lives of others in danger.

But one has the right to do what he wants with and to his own body as long as he doesn't put anyone else in danger.

And you don't have the right to tell anyone else what they can and can't do to and with their own bodies.