Sunday, 12 October 2008
-
Should Marijuana Be Legalized in the US?
by mr palm
Should marijuana be legalized in the United States?
How's that for getting to the point? This is not something that I dwell on, but it makes for interesting discussion.
As is frequently debated on the internet, alcohol (legal in the US) can be considered more harmful than marijuana. According to this 2004 article in JAMA, 85,000 deaths in the US in 2000 induced by alcohol consumption (page 3 in the PDF). The Drug War Facts website states that 0 deaths have been attributed to marijuana consumption.
What should a Christian's perspective be on the legalization of marijuana, considering how harmful alcohol and tobacco are known to be?
-
recommend
- recs 2
-
share
-
email
- sent 0
Related Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to revelife's Revelife Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in revelife's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
Comments (152)
This is going to be interesting. There can be so many religious arguments for OR against legalization.
First of all, marijuana should be legal for medical purposes; aside from the obvious fact that it would make painful procedures more tolerable, it would also be a cheap alternative to high cost anesthetics. However, I think it should be available behind glass at liqour stores; thus, it would only be legal for 21 aged people. If we at least consider this solution, we should also know that if there are people out there that dont want to expose themselves to this drug, they should avoid it altogether; the same goes for people whom disagree with pornography or other possible evils. After at, if it was legal it would may not be a sin, as long as it is used in moderation of course, a sin to the Christian faith is a volation of civil law.
Your question is whether or not we should legalise marijuana, not whether or not we should make tobacco or alcohol illegal. So the fact that you declare them 'more dangerous' than marijuana doesn't hold any water for me. I mean, cars are more dangerous too; do you suggest that we make them illegal?
if alcohol is legal, i don't see why marijuana shouldn't be.
fuck no. could you image being hurt and going to the hospital and all the staff was high and talked about what is good to eat for the munchies instead of having them help you???
plus how could you tax it?
"...0 deaths have been attributed to marijuana consumption."
Whaaaaat. A load. Of crap.
Yeah, because not a single person has ever died while being completely fucking stoned, and no one has ever killed someone while being high, and it doesn't destroy people's lives.
If some lonely individual wants to fuck up their life because they can't handle the emotional stress of being alive or because they want to repress something, then that's their choice and they should have to go through hell to get it.
alcohol? ban alcohol? wtf would you clean dirty things with? without alcohol nothing would ever be clean....
didnt we learn that during the 18th and 21st amendment??
Sure.
We'd take away from gangs and the black market a sizable chunk of their revenue. We'd get otherwise normal folks out of jail and free up law enforcement officiers for more worthwhile tasks.
To each his own. At the point where marijuana isn't seriously harmful or addictive, partaking in it should be an adult decision.
Disclaimer: I ain't Christiam. I'm a godless heathen.
@thegreatchristopher@xanga - oh brother. are people at the hospitals always drinking big swigs out of their beer bottles, and have cigarettes dangling out of their mouths? marijuana is a recreational drug, just as cigarettes are recreational, and alcohol is simply for discreet use in private settings.
If you're being sarcastic, disregard the above comment :P
I think that it should be legal... Honestly, more people smoke it than you think and then we could stop lying to one another. People perform everyday tasks higher than kites and we never know it. So chill and I don't think doctors and nurses would be high like that... I got high AT work and was NUMBER 1 in productivity, accuracy and speed... without weed... number 5... BLAH!!!
Plus, it helps to treat a number of diseases and it's grown from the ground. If it were legal it could be taxed AND there would be no need to put chemicals in it because it does not have to be hidden.
That's all.
Western countries seem to pride themselves in greater degrees of "freedom". But look at the price paid for such "freedom" (to sin)... moral decay, social disorder and godlessness. Sure, developing countries have stricter laws that restrict freedom. But with stricter laws, there is more social order and less moral decay.
I'm over-generalising here of course, and I do not support tyrannical rule either. I'm just lamenting that Western civilisation, which used to be built on foundations of Christianity, have now fallen away from the faith of the Christendom era.
Anyway, in regards to this topic, in my opinion, legalizing marijuana is like opening Pandora's Box. It would be unthinkable for such a question to even be uttered in countries impossing death penalties on drug traffickers like Malaysia and Singapore.
No deaths attributed to marijuana? Yeah right. People who think MJ is harmless should answer this question: If your school bus driver was high on marijuana, would you want him behind the wheel if your kid was on the bus?
Just because alcohol causes bad things to happen doesn't mean that we should legalize MJ. That's faulty logic and is a red herring.
@Red_Apocalypse_Horse@xanga - Western countries seem to pride themselves in greater degrees of "freedom". But look at the price paid for such "freedom" (to sin)... moral decay, social disorder and godlessness...
I would sure like to see the link-work you can possibly conjure cup connecting intellectual and personal freedoms to "moral decay."
If your idea of moral cleanliness is through a North Korea-type totalitarian dicatorship, I would say "Thanks but no thanks."
legalizing marijuana is like opening Pandora's Box.
We can use countries with legalization of mraijuana as a model of the possible concenquences: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalized_marijuana
In most countries, legalizing marijuana as not led ot the end of days.
@franksabunch@xanga - ...People who think MJ is harmless should answer this question: If your school bus driver was high on marijuana, would you want him behind the wheel if your kid was on the bus?
Seriously. Are you stupid?
Extraneous scenarios can be dreamt up for any consumer product-- and any consumer product can be linked to fantastical death and suffering.
That same bus driver in your lame example could be high after the sniffing of hairspray; and as a result of his impared judgment, he could drive children off a cliff. Ergo: Harispray should be banned!!!
Just because alcohol causes bad things to happen doesn't mean that we should legalize MJ. That's faulty logic and is a red herring.
How dense can you get?
The argument is made in context of American society. You can't expect the poor author to build every fucking thing from the ground up. The rest of the argument was left to the implicit.
The assumption is that the majority of Americans accept alcohol consumption (in the context of status quo regulations) to be acceptable. Mr. Palm then proceeds to use drinking as a road-marker. If marijuana consumption is slightly better then or only as bad as alcohol, then all the arguments for the acceptability of alcohol is extended to marijuana.
You can't fault him for not typing up in tedious paragraphs the obvious.
Now, if your stance is that alcohol laws, as present, is immoral or dangerous, then you have an actual argument.
I don't care if either way. I still probably wouldn't smoke it if it were legalized. I don't really think it is horrible. I don't think it's great though either though. I am sure God wouldn't mind as long as it was smoked with responsibility and also as long as it is legal.
@franksabunch@xanga - I would rather drive stoned than drunk
@thegreatchristopher@xanga - your a moron, just because it is legal doesnt mean everyone would be stoned all the time!
yes. but then it would cost too much. people can't go to work drunk, why would being high different? the people who already go to work high would not change their habits. a lot of people already go to work high.
religious arguments are silent here or one has to bring up alcohol, cigarettes, fat, high-fructose corn syrup, and the other crap that is bad for us.
there are many uses for mj beyond getting high-do some research. you will be surprised.
btw-no, I do not smoke marijuana nor do I condone the use of mj.
@huginn@xanga - Speaking of being dense, the word is spelled I-M-P-A-I-R-E-D and not I-M-P-A-R-E-D. People who are disrespectful don't deserve to be respected. Have a nice day!
k . . . ppl are talking as tho legalizing marijuana would make it legal to be under the influence in circumstances where being drunk wouldn't be legal. what if it was under the same regs as alcohol, ppl? use it in your home or in a bar -- not in public -- and be sober (not stoned or impaired or under the influence) when working, driving, etc . . .
i don't think smoking anything or binge drinking are treating your body like a temple so yes i think it's against christian ideals.
but the arguments on here against legalization are just silly.
We could argue forever about how idiotic and backwards the marijuana laws are in this country, in an attempt to convince stupid people that it's not that bad, but who cares whether it's good or bad?
This is a question of personal freedom to do what you want in your own leisure time, and as long as it is not affecting anyone else, why the fuck not?
Perhaps governments control the imaginary lines we call political borders, by saying what can and cannot cross over these lines, but shouldn't a human being have the right to control the borders of their own sovereign territory?
and to all the fucks that repeatedly pipe in with, "Yeah, but how would we tax it?" What the fuck is up with that logic? Does every legal substance in the U.S. come along with an inherent need to be taxed?
People can grow tomatoes in their backyard, but I don't see a big federal case being made about the inability to tax them.
Fuck all you people who hold opinions that prevent someone from being free to do you no harm. It's a shame I have to put my life on the line for people that have twisted and bastardized the principles upon which this country was founded. You don't deserve your freedom, you fucks. haha...sorry if that sounded a little angry.
In a free country, people need to be free to make their own mistakes. The minute the government has the right to ban one substance or behaviour for the "protection" of its citizens, you open the door to tyranny (this door has been open for a long time now, actually). Marijuana will never be legalized in the US, the government is not about to give up this power to control our behaviour. It is much more likely that other things will be banned as being bad for us. We already have laws requiring the use of seat belts and motorcycle helmets. Local laws banning smoking and serving transfats have been passed.
God gives us the right to reject Him, to turn to sin instead, and He leaves us to take the consequences of our actions. That is real freedom, something our government is slowly taking away.
@Dillonwren@xanga - im not stupid. you just dont agree.
im not going to worry about it. Acunamatada.
I think it should be legalized but with the same guidelines as alochol. I would rather have someone driving high than drunk. A drunk driver killed my father. Also my parents smoked mj there whole adult lives and both had spotless driving records. They held down jobs and managed to provide my sister and I with a decent life. I used to smoke but gave that up. If smoking pot is the worst thing you do in life they you are doing okay in my book. Plus you would be suprised at all the people out there that smoke that you would never think did. Lastly it is a persons right to with their body what they want has long it it doesn't harm you.
I vote no, because we have enough trouble keeping legalized alcohol out of the hands of minors. Do you think we'd do any better with pot?