Question by Issac: What is the current movtive behind keeping Marijuana illegal? (US)?
Theres tons of people who will agree that Marijuana does not deserve the “illicit drug” status it has been stuck with. I have talked to very few people who said it was a bad thing, and they most often had serious misconceptions regarding its use and effects. Now, from the legistlative point of view, why is marijuana illegal? We arrest and imprison people who are caught with over an ounce of it, charge them fines, and compell them to attend Marijuana Anonymous(A completely useless organization which believes that users are “addicted to marijuana”. Granted, I’m biased towards legalizing it, and yes it can have negative consequences, but they are blown out of proportion as it has been demonized. What exactly, is the political take on MJ, and why it is illegal?
Best answer:
Answer by Daniel C
It’s a mild hallucinogen that affects judgment and motor control. It’s also more toxic than tobacco.
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I am 52 and I think it is ridiculous that it is still illegal. If you are going to be on a drug, the one that most messes up the most lives…choose alcohol. It is much more dangerous and the people under the influence are more dangerous as well…ever see a belligerent stoned person?….Me either, and I have never had a single family holiday ruined by weed, alcohol on the other hand…..
then there is the whole we can tax it and so on….I can not think of a single reason why it is still illegal.
well put hah
Marijuana was outlawed back in 1937 largely because it was thought regular cannabis smoking caused schizophrenia. In fact during the congressional debates a couple brutal murder cases were brought up. One was where a 16 year old male, who after smoking marijuana bludgeoned his mother to death with a cast iron skillet, the other a young man slaughtered his entire family with an ax after smoking a joint. Both men had long histories of mental illness.
Of course we now know different, smoking marijuana does not cause mental illness no more than drinking alcohol or smoking highly addictive tobacco.
Again we come back to politics. During the Viet Nam War President Richard Nixon and FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover got together and created the scheduling of controlled substances. Now it only took a committee meeting behind closed doors to outlaw a particular substance.
The basic reason was that it was noted many war protesters also were into the drug scene. The government couldn’t silence anti-war activist’s right to free speech but they certainly could toss them into jail for illegal drug use.
We once tried to outlaw alcoholic beverages, it was a disaster and gave rise to such infamous mobsters as Al Capone. The war on drugs is doing the same thing, outlawing pot has made drug cartels and gangsters rich and put many people behind bars who’s only crime was to try and relieve some of the pressures of the daily grind.
I think its leagal as Medical Marijuana, which is weird; you cant grow Marijuana, but if you have a medical card for it you can get it. For pain meds.
There has been some new studies on it though, which says Marijuana fries your brain cells, of makes you stupider than you are, that’s why they call it Dope.
You can get the same pain relef from Maranol as you can with Marijuana, without the dope affects.
I was thinking Medical Marijuana would be good in controled doses, but after hearing that it does more harm than good, I don’t want to even try it.
I even get sick from second hand Pot smoke. And the smell…Ewwwwww!! Smells like a skunk.
The reasons it became illegal are completely different than why it is staying illegal
My take on it is (and you used the word too) misconceptions and propaganda. The politicians think its political suicide to favor any legalization or decriminalization and to a certain extent they are right because many voters believe that propaganda emanating from the government and law enforcement.
The second thing is lobbying of politicians from the tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceutical and fiber companies that would lose massive amounts of money if marijuana was let loose on society
Some think it cant be taxed. Thats ridiculous, it can be taxed just as easily as alcohol. Beer and wine can be made just as easily as mj can be grown. The gov still makes billions in taxes on it
Some think it “makes” money for the gov. How can it MAKE money when it spends billions of general tax income to try and stop it. Thats OUTGOING NOT INCOMING
Anyway, lets stop the madness and treat it in a sane, scientific and health realted manner. Not in a criminal manner
Because when you smoke it and drive a car, you could kill someone.
It has also been proven that long-term use causes psychosis.
In the State of NM it just resently became legal for medical use & you can get a permission slip from your Doctor to use it. I have fibromyalgia & use it for pain relief. All my Doctors know & not one has said anything about stopping my use.
Our Governer is fighting with the Federal laws about growing it. We have permission from the Governor but the Feds can still bust us if we grow it. Governor says ‘grow it’ & some have only to be busted by the Feds with prison terms & fines.
Our present Governor Bill Richardson & our previous Governor Gary Johnson both have fought to legalize marijuana in the State of New Mexico.
I feel that the government wants to find a way to tax it like they did alcohol. The stuff is expensive & even if we could get it legally it is still a lot out of pocket expense. Growing our own would be the answer for those of us who do use it for medical purposes & are on disability.
I have signed many petitions in favor of legalizing it & will sign any more that come my way.
$113 billion is spent on marijuana every year in the U.S., and because of the federal prohibition *every* dollar of it goes straight into the hands of criminals. Far from preventing people from using marijuana, the prohibition instead creates zero legal supply amid massive and unrelenting demand.
According to the ONDCP, at least sixty percent of Mexican drug cartel money comes from selling marijuana in the U.S., they protect this revenue by brutally torturing, murdering and dismembering countless innocent people.
If we can STOP people using marijuana then we need to do so NOW, but if we can’t then we need to legalize the production and sale of marijuana to adults with after-tax prices set too low for the cartels to match. One way or the other, we have to force the cartels out of the marijuana market and eliminate their highly lucrative marijuana incomes – no business can withstand the loss of sixty percent of its revenue!
To date, the cartels have amassed more than 100,000 “foot soldiers” and operate in 230 U.S. cities, and Arizona police are now conceding that parts of their state are under cartel control. The longer the cartels are allowed to exploit the prohibition the more powerful they’re going to get and the more our own personal security will be put in jeopardy.
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