Should it.. I believe it shouldn't. I believe it should be decriminalize rather then legalized for all to smoke and get high when and were ever. By decriminalizing Weed you would be doing multiple things, For example yes you could smoke in private areas such as your house a friends or what ever the case maybe. But if you were to get caught out side smoking at a park (which we have all done before) you would be fined however much they would feel its right 100, 200, ect... The reasons behind my belief is weed will probably never be legalized for many reasons, one of the biggest reasons would be alcohol company's in general... They will do every thing in there power to not make it legalized for the simple fact they would be losing tons of money. If you would go to many people and ask "hey would you rather have a bottle of alcohol or a couple joints to smoke many people would take those joint in a heart beat. Another reason why i think they should decriminalize is "The War On Drugs" or what ever you want to call it is going no were. Yes the managed to lock people up for doing hard drugs such as cocaine, crack, ect.. But in doing this they all so managed to lock up a lot of are family pot smokers for many years just for simple having x amount of weed. This is ridiculous you can have some one locked up for rape and or killing someone and they could get a less sentence then someone having and smoking weed. Then comes to my last couple of points. First of let me say are government, people in are government the one's who say hey that there against same sex marriage the ones who belief in the bible, but they think weed should be a legal. Those are the people that we just need to kick out of the government. The reason why which many of you know or don't is in the bible God says, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth.…To you it will be for meat." … And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. So how can you be for the bible and still be against weed? My second point is if are government would just decriminalize, and stop the war on drugs against this herb they would be saving so much money not including the people they send to prison, which we tax payers money goes to. If they would do this the government would have so much money that they would be able to put every kid in america threw Pre Kindergarten. Which would all around would reduce the criminals in the would and boost the education for are country! My last point i'm try to get to is in many states if your a kid in high school and you do get caught with weed a lot of banks wont give you a collage loan. So by the government doing this they make the success rate go down for us people, more and more people being stuck with only a high school degree not a collage, which makes less and less jobs. Now yes you could say just don't smoke weed and you'll be fine. But for something so simple and harmless i don't think this its rite! Like like the movie V for Vendetta and a modernization of Thomas Jefferson quote says "People should not be afraid of their governments governments should be afraid of their people"!
If you decriminalize without legalization all it does is leave the black market a chance to run rampant. How can it be OK to have something, but no where sells it? There are too many flaws in decriminalization.
The idea of it is to allow weed to be legalized at a point, but weed will not become legal in are life times. So if a black market is what it takes to let it be some what Legalized then i think it should be done it would work out for all, the government can get money from us if we do get caught (No jail time) + they save money in jails and the war on drugs to better use. What i was trying to get out is if are Government would start and looking at the big picture and stop sweating the small stuff we would be a better country. Weed would be a good first step in doing so.
[quote name='"BoBo321"'] The idea of it is to allow weed to be legalized at a point, but weed will not become legal in are life times. So if a black market is what it takes to let it be some what Legalized then i think it should be done it would work out for all, the government can get money from us if we do get caught (No jail time) + they save money in jails and the war on drugs to better use. What i was trying to get out is if are Government would start and looking at the big picture and stop sweating the small stuff we would be a better country. Weed would be a good first step in doing so.[/quote] You have not done very much research into this. First of all if the black market flourishes, it will cause mass murders from cartels and other drug smugglers, there is too much of a potential profit for them to just get along. Its going to be a slaughterfest. The government will not allow this. Second, there is a very good chance we will see it legalized in our lifetimes. The marijuana movement is progressing at a very fast pace. I believe we will look back, maybe our children and see the marijuana prohibition as ridiculous as the alcohol prohibition. Third, the government makes insane sums of money from their anti-drug schemes and all the petty arrests they get from marijuana. When you can make the same amount arresting some kid for having a little pot, or try and bust a Meth lab, it is easy to see which choice officers prefer. Also, I am sure the government would hop on the bandwagon if they were to change marijuana laws. The amount of money they would make from farm taxes, business taxes, and consumer taxes is not something the government would let slip through their fingers.
[quote name='"Shizmot"'] You have not done very much research into this. First of all if the black market flourishes, it will cause mass murders from cartels and other drug smugglers, there is too much of a potential profit for them to just get along. Its going to be a slaughterfest. The government will not allow this. Second, there is a very good chance we will see it legalized in our lifetimes. The marijuana movement is progressing at a very fast pace. I believe we will look back, maybe our children and see the marijuana prohibition as ridiculous as the alcohol prohibition. Third, the government makes insane sums of money from their anti-drug schemes and all the petty arrests they get from marijuana. When you can make the same amount arresting some kid for having a little pot, or try and bust a Meth lab, it is easy to see which choice officers prefer. Also, I am sure the government would hop on the bandwagon if they were to change marijuana laws. The amount of money they would make from farm taxes, business taxes, and consumer taxes is not something the government would let slip through their fingers.[/quote] Now why would there have to be a black market why couldn't it just be how it is today. But instead of getting arrested and going to jail you just get fined.. Wouldn't that make more sense in the fact that the government is spending money arresting you processing you throwing you in jail ect ect, and all they would have to do is fine you x amount of dollars? By doing this wouldn't they make more money off that and also stopping the war on drugs for weed?
[quote name='"BoBo321"'] Now why would there have to be a black market why couldn't it just be how it is today. But instead of getting arrested and going to jail you just get fined.. Wouldn't that make more sense in the fact that the government is spending money arresting you processing you throwing you in jail ect ect, and all they would have to do is fine you x amount of dollars? By doing this wouldn't they make more money off that and also stopping the war on drugs for weed?[/quote] A good portion of the weed comes from the black market. If it were decriminalized it would create a much broader market. More smokers, more demand, more money to be made, simple economics. As I said before that is millions of dollars left to be made and the cartels are going to jump on it fast. Also you don't seem to understand the government isn't losing money on weed arrests, they are making lots of money on weed arrests, jails, prisons, all of that.
It should be like alcohol.no smoking in public, no selling it to minors. Decriminalizing it wouldn't stop growers and dealers to sell it in black market unlease they allowed people to have weed shops.
I think you're getting confused over definitions. I think your perception of legalization is a lawless black market, where drug dealers can now sell weed to kids and no one cares or can do anything about it. This is wrong. Legalization is creating a new system of laws that doesn't treat your average smoker as a criminal. It means taking the whole weed industry from the black market and making it a normal industry like alcohol. It creates tolerance towards the growers, sellers and consumers. Decriminalization means you're still considered a criminal, only they give you another chance or two before punishing you. It's not out of our reach yet. Three states are now voting to have weed legalized, regulated and taxed just like alcohol. I think we'll know if they passed the law by November 6. Be optimistic
What? How is this an argument to decriminalise and not legalise? Because you don't want to piss off alcohol companies? Decriminalisation still puts money in the hands of gangs and organised criminals, killing thousands of people a year. Decriminalisation does nothing to end the phony war on drugs. What? Where do you think weed comes from if not the black market? They can make money from it if they tax and regulate. Government makes money, dangerous cartels make less money and we get good quality weed over the counter. Win Win situation all round. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABc8ciT5QLs[/ame]
I think you are looking for a way to justify the presence of Black Market Cartels, Gangs and related. I could be wrong, right ? We want to remove the negative elements out of the equation in order for 'Marijuana' began to make a good name and the world can understand what this plant is and what is not. Education is key for the 'Legalization or Decriminalization' works My 2 cents ZS
i honestly dont know how i feel about it. i don't think it should be legal but i dont think it should be as illegal as it is now. i think that it should be sold in specific stores to keep money out of the hands of criminals but not make it really easy to access. easy access would fuck up our society. many individuals would take to smoking pot 24/7 thus their job performance would suffer and they may lose their jobs further contributing to unemployment and a recessing economy.
Why? Look at holland, they don't have these problems. Legalisation doesn't make people smoke more, this has been proved many times. Just because alcohol is legal, it doesn't mean that everyone is going to work drunk every day and losing their jobs.
I don't want to get fined :3 I just want to be able to purchase seeds and growing equipment WITHOUT being discreet and I don't want to get drug tested for jobs...is that so hard to ask for T_T Oh and I rather has legalized not decriminalized.
Actually, I've noticed that in this case you are both right. Like I've said in other threads(yes, I sound like a broken record but I do think that this bears repeating), I think that there are a lot of definitions of "legalization" out there right now. There are some people who think legalization means exactly what you are saying the OP means, that weed isn't regulated in any way. You can use it or grow as much of it at any time you want, like tomatoes. This is really common with people who have opposed any of the initiatives to create a regulated cannabis market since around 2009. I don't have the sources in front of me but I would guess that they have been the vast majority of activists since around the 1980's in the United States. You can tell when they were in the majority because they tend to have "no compromise/all or nothing" initiatives. However, since around 2010 a new group of activists came into the majority who have a definition of legalization much more like you have, that being the legalization of limited quantities of cannabis with a clear, legal, regulated, and properly taxed way of gaining said cannabis. On a side note, if you look, you'll notice that a big part of the tactical fighting within the cannabis community(and, IMHO, the most bitter) tends to be between these two schools of thought in regards to what "legalization" looks like.
How in gods name should a plant of nature, a species of mother earth, have any just motive for being forbidden, "illegalized"