Thread: Should it be legalized?

Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom

Generally, in a debate, if your opposition doesn't have any evidence to support their claims, the only thing you have to accept is victory.

However, if they ask me to clarify, I can still enlighten them on my opinions or logic on the matter without claiming victory.

Originally Posted by Elysia

So you claim. My real world sources claim otherwise.
Heck, my logical thinking makes it easy to claim a good grade in classes, school and whatnot.
But arguing is useless...

Then state your sources. You have stated that you have no facts because you cant be bothered to find any, ergo your statements are based entirely on opinion. You are completely unable to show supporting facts for any of your assertions, and yet you are confused as to why people will not simply accept your opinions as fact. I submit for your consideration that it probably has something to do with your complete lack of facts.

Originally Posted by Elysia

However, if they ask me to clarify, I can still enlighten them on my opinions or logic on the matter without claiming victory.

Who cares about your opinions? In a debate they have absolutely zero value. Please... don't get offended, take this as advice. If you're in an arguement or debate... the opposition doesn't give two lumps of you know what about your opinions.

Logic on the other hand is good... but you've yet to provide any such logic that hasn't been rebutted with other logic and facts to back it up. The truth is... I am sure there are people with the same view points as you that could completely own every single contibuter to this thread that supports the legality of marijuana. We really aren't top-notch debaters here. The fact is, though, that person is not here with us... so it's just you and a few others who are currently on the losing side of the argument. If you really want to prove something... take your time... do some research... and come back to us when you have that evidence you claim you don't need.

Originally Posted by SlyMaelstrom

The truth is... I am sure there are people with the same view points as you that could completely own every single contibuter to this thread that supports the legality of marijuana.

Ah! I'll do an elysia on them and they'll just go away.

Anyways. It's useless. Marijuana is already legal in some countries, and will be too in America one day once they make it illegal for mothers to congregate and get political.

Originally Posted by abachler

Baseless statement that has already been disproven.

Well, I wouldn't say anyone has disproven that... certainly we've shown that marijuana is not nearly as bad for you as other things like alcohol and tobacco, but no one here is saying that you're better off not smoking marijuana than smoking it regularly.

I can't help but think Elysia is just playing devil's advocate. I think she really is in favor of legalizing marijuana and is throwing out those ridiculous statements with no substance so that everyone else does the work of supporting her position for her...

It is simply human nature to do things that we enjoy.

Alcohol is something that we enjoy, and governments tried to take that away from those people they supposedly serve. The result was that people indulged anyway, they just had to hide it. Not only that, but people made their own alcohol in bathtubs and closet stills. Where's the quality control in that?

Marijuana isn't as bad for you as alcohol as far as drugs go;

The big marijuana growers wouldn't have to resort to crime to smuggle their product around (among other things), and so the prices would come down and allow taxes to move in... net effect the price could remain roughly the same for the end user;

Small-time growers who only grow for personal use or for just a few friends could pay for "small-time licenses" where the big growers who make their living from it would pay for "big-time licenses" (money well spent when you consider you won't go to jail for just growing a plant!);

The government could collect a lot of money in taxes and licenses (for growing and distributing) which could be used for drug education and rehab (idealist, hah!);

The government would be able to control it much more intimately since they would set all the standards;

The focus would shift from "Marijuana is bad!" to "obey the law!" (other drugs notwithstanding);

A large community of people would no longer fear being arrested and having their lives ruined just for trying to enjoy themselves;

The laws around it could shift from punishing the drug use to punishing actual rule breakers, i.e. people who don't have a license and grow/sell it;

And in the end, smoking pot isn't much different from taking aspirin when you have a headache, or drinking coffee to wake you up in the morning, or drinking beer to relax. The only difference is in the perception of the drug. Alcohol puts you in a worse state than pot, so degree isn't even an issue here.

Of course there would be problems with abuse, people driving under the influence, etc, but we already have those problems. I don't believe this would significantly change the percentages of people doing those things.

And the most compelling reason to me to legalize it would be to see a company like Johnson & Johnson, who has extensive knowledge of the human body and how various substances interact with it, begin selling pot products to a new market! With the stigma of marijuana, I don't think Johnson & Johnson would ever get involved directly. But much like Disney created the subdivision of Touchstone Pictures so they could release less "Disney-like" movies without hurting the Disney brand, the big drug companies could create smaller sub-divisions to market "Marijuana-O's brand breakfast cereal"!

Or hell, the cigarette companies are already reviled, they could just sell "Spliff Kings" right next to Marlboros and Newports.

Well, for one it shows that the posters on Cboard are statistically similar to the general population at least on this issue.

Yay! We're normal!