Pages: 1 2  Next -- Posted by greatescape at 3:51 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 There is no legal or logical reason for marijuana to be illegal. The Controlled Substances Act requires that an analysis be performed before a substance can be scheduled as a controlled substance and placed in schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act The eight factors considered are... A number of them simply involve an adequate amount of research being done on the drug.  However, I found these quite interesting. Its actual or relative potential for abuse. To begin, the definition of "abuse": To use wrongly or improperly; misuse Let us discuss, first, that literally every substance on the planet can be "misused" and has the potential to be used to cause harm.  As a result, it's important to define "abuse" in this sense somewhat subjectively.  Since alcohol apparently does not have enough "potential for abuse" to be illegal, we can use that as a comparison here.   So let's examine the facts. 1.  In order to fatally overdose on marijuana, one must take in the THC content of about 1/3 of their body weight of marijuana.  This has never been done.  In order to overdose on alchol, one's BAC can be as low as .25.  This happens daily. 2. Marijuana is classified as "marginally physically addictive" to "not physically addictive."  Alcohol is considered a hard drug, and can lead to profound, long-term, severe addiction. Or we can compare it to another legal drug, nicotine. " Moderate smoking of marijuana appears to pose minimal danger to the lungs. Like tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke contains a number of irritants and carcinogens. But marijuana users typically smoke much less often than tobacco smokers, and over time, inhale much less smoke. As a result, the risk of serious lung damage should be lower in marijuana smokers. There have been no reports of lung cancer related solely to marijuana, and in a large study presented to the American Thoracic Society in 2006, even heavy users of smoked marijuana were found not to have any increased risk of lung cancer. Unlike heavy tobacco smokers, heavy marijuana smokers exhibit no obstruction of the lung's small airway. That indicates that people will not develop emphysema from smoking marijuana." Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. "Legalization: Panacea or Pandora's Box." New York. (1995): 36. Turner, Carlton E. The Marijuana Controversy. Rockville: American Council for Drug Education, 1981. Nahas, Gabriel G. and Nicholas Scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known. And additionally, "The dosage of any drug approved for use is intended to fall within a range in which the drug produces a therapeutic effect or desired outcome". "Marijuana has been shown to be effective in reducing the nausea induced by cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite in AIDS patients, and reducing intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma. There is also appreciable evidence that marijuana reduces muscle spasticity in patients with neurological disorders. A synthetic capsule is available by prescription, but it is not as effective as smoked marijuana for many patients" I fail to see how marijuana does not produce a desired effect.  Nor does it produce one that is difficult to control or predict. Additionally, it has been proven to be therapeutic in some situations. What, if any, risk there is to the public health. " Every serious scholar and government commission examining the relationship between marijuana use and crime has reached the same conclusion: marijuana does not cause crime. The vast majority of marijuana users do not commit crimes other than the crime of possessing marijuana. Among marijuana users who do commit crimes, marijuana plays no causal role. Almost all human and animal studies show that marijuana decreases rather than increases aggression." Fagan, J., et al. "Delinquency and Substance Use Among Inner-City Students." Journal of Drug Issues 20 (1990): 351-402. Johnson, L.D., et al. "Drugs and Delinquency: A Search for Causal Connections."  Ed. D.B. Kandel. Longitudinal Research on Drug Use: Empirical Findings and Methodological Issues. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1978. 137-156. Goode, E. "Marijuana and Crime." Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding, Appendix I. National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1972. 447-453. "marijuana affects perception and psychomotor performances- changes which could impair driving ability. However, in driving studies, marijuana produces little or no car-handling impairment- consistently less than produced by low moderate doses of alcohol and many legal medications. In contrast to alcohol, which tends to increase risky driving practices, marijuana tends to make subjects more cautious. Surveys of fatally injured drivers show that when THC is detected in the blood, alcohol is almost always detected as well. For some individuals, marijuana may play a role in bad driving. The overall rate of highway accidents appears not to be significantly affected by marijuana's widespread use in society." Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. "Legalization: Panacea or Pandora's Box". New York. (1995):36. Its psychic or physiological dependence liability. "A small minority of Americans - less than 1 percent - smoke marijuana on a daily basis. An even smaller minority develop a dependence on marijuana. Some people who smoke marijuana heavily and frequently stop without difficulty. Others seek help from drug treatment professionals. Marijuana does not cause physical dependence. If people experience withdrawal symptoms at all, they are remarkably mild." United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services. DASIS Report Series, Differences in Marijuana Admissions Based on Source of Referral. 2002. June 24 2005. Johnson, L.D., et al. "National Survey Results on Drug Use from the Monitoring the Future Study, 1975-1994, Volume II: College Students and Young Adults." Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996. Whether the substance is an immediate precursor of a controlled substance "Marijuana does not cause people to use hard drugs. What the gateway theory presents as a causal explanation is a statistic association between common and uncommon drugs, an association that changes over time as different drugs increase and decrease in prevalence. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the United States today. Therefore, people who have used less popular drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and LSD, are likely to have also used marijuana. Most marijuana users never use any other illegal drug. Indeed, for the large majority of people, marijuana is a terminus rather than a gateway drug." Morral, Andrew R.; McCaffrey, Daniel F. and Susan M. Paddock. "Reassessing the marijuana gateway effect." Addiction  97.12 (2002): 1493-504. So my question is....how the hell did the government justify legalization? -- Posted by ss454 at 3:53 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 They're tired of people using it then turning into annoying wiggers. -- Posted by Fo Sho at 3:53 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Mexicans and Native Americans had it, and the Government hated them, so they made it illegal. -- Posted by greatescape at 3:54 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Quote: from ss454 at 5:53 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 They're tired of people using it then turning into annoying wiggers. Yes, I'm sure thats the reason. -- Posted by Elm at 3:54 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Because the stamp act wasn't draconian or perverted enough yet. -- Posted by Roy at 3:59 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 cause they wanted to -- Posted by medjai at 4:00 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Every heavy marijuana user I know is fucking retarded and slow and easy to please. Just saying. -- Posted by marshmellowman at 4:01 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 The government are too fucking dense, that's why. They don't want to believe the fact that mary-jane is in fact actually quite harmless. They want to stick with what they have always thought and think that it is a dangerous illicit substance that should be banned, damn conservatives. -- Posted by greatescape at 4:02 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Quote: from medjai at 6:00 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Every heavy marijuana user I know is fucking retarded and slow and easy to please. Just saying. That sounds like you need to make better friends.   But thank you for your well thought out, logically based opinion. -- Posted by medjai at 4:03 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Well when you watch some of your best friends slowly turn into loser retards it tends to leave a lasting impression on your view of the drug. -- Posted by medjai at 4:04 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Oh and my friends are plenty good enough. -- Posted by switchfoot52 at 4:06 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 i didn't even read it all but i agree that it should be legal -- Posted by greatescape at 4:08 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Quote: from medjai at 6:03 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Well when you watch some of your best friends slowly turn into loser retards it tends to leave a lasting impression on your view of the drug. I'm sorry that you happened to meet people who don't know how to control their use of the drug.  However that still says nothing about A. legality issues or B. scientific fact...which is what this topic was about.  Had the question been, "What is your personal opinion of marijuana?", I would consider your post far more relevant. -- Posted by medjai at 4:08 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Oh but by the way I do think it should be legal. I just think that it ruins people, it's their choice to do it though. -- Posted by DayXTripper at 5:10 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Obviously the only answer to this is wide-spread disregard for the law, organized crime, speakeasy type establishments, and corrupt authority figures. more rebels please... -- Posted by HatesYou at 9:00 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Key points to emphasize: people will not develop emphysema from smoking marijuana. The overall rate of highway accidents appears not to be significantly affected by marijuana's widespread use in society. For christs sake when i smoke, 90% of the time it's in a car on our way to a party or the movies or some type of event for the night. Sometimes im just on my way home from Uni. Shit is that you are perfectly capable of driving whilst under the influence of marijuana. That is, if you're not a complete moron which tends to behave like a complete douched show-off. Marijuana does not cause people to use hard drugs. ... Most marijuana users never use any other illegal drug. Indeed, for the large majority of people, marijuana is a terminus rather than a gateway drug. This would be my favorite. Simply because i smoke marijuana, and marijuana only. I do not drink, and i dont do any other shit either. This does not mean that i havent tried other shit. I have and i've disliked my experience with other drugs. Take salvia, for example. For some odd reason this sick shit is legal. And alcohol, as legal as it may be, i despise. Drink your ass off and puke and wake up with a hangover. I'll be smoking my ass off and eating, and when i wake up the worse that could happen is ill wake up with a nice buzz. Oh and i have my own theory for your last question. They can't tax marijuana... ? -- Posted by HatesYou at 9:02 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Quote: from medjai at 7:08 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Oh but by the way I do think it should be legal. I just think that it ruins people, it's their choice to do it though. How so? -- Posted by medjai at 9:43 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 I don't really feel like going into my lifestory and the rather clear differences in my friends who constantly smoke weed vs. the ones that don't, it's not empirical either it's just developed my own personal opinion. I'm not here to prove anything, hell I think it should be legal, I don't think an alcoholic is better off than these people, and that's legal. I just have seen it change people significantly for the worse over extended periods of time, you can't prove to me that it didn't and I can't prove to you that it did so I'll stick with what I've seen and you can continue holding beliefs based on what you've seen and then everyone's happy. -- Posted by Raiku at 11:32 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Quote: from HatesYou at 12:00 am on Oct. 12, 2008 They can't tax marijuana... ? i say they should get us out of this debt, stock plunge, etc. but the conservatives are all "nooo, its bad because God says it is" -- Posted by Elm at 11:35 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Quote: from Raiku at 11:32 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Quote: from HatesYou at 12:00 am on Oct. 12, 2008 They can't tax marijuana... ? i say they should get us out of this debt, stock plunge, etc. but the conservatives are all "nooo, its bad because God says it is" They did.  This was the stamp act.  You could get mj you just had to pay the tax on it and get a stamp, to get the stamp you had to present your mj.   When you presented your mj it was owned without a stamp which was illegal so they jailed you... Our government hasn't changed.  It still wants to put the yoke on all of us so the politicians and their friends do well. You want the drug laws changed - vote those who disagree out.  Or if you really want to make the world a better place drag the politicians out of bed and hang them in their own front yards. The next wave who get elected will be a bit more wary about dicking over the population for their jollies. -- Posted by Raiku at 11:38 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 my vote wouldnt matter and anyone who REALLY cares about this will forget to vote lol -- Posted by medjai at 11:44 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 lol ya like how's the possibility of a collapsed economy going to matter to me -- Posted by Raiku at 11:47 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Quote: from medjai at 2:44 am on Oct. 12, 2008 lol ya like how's the possibility of a collapsed economy going to matter to me actually i was reffering to how most people would be too stoned to remember to vote just trying to give off a chuckle -- Posted by medjai at 11:50 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 oh my bad then just ignore me -- Posted by Raiku at 11:51 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Quote: from medjai at 2:50 am on Oct. 12, 2008 oh my bad then just ignore me i cant youve got a one piece avatar. and it rocks but yeah, conservatives need to get out of our government -- Posted by HatesYou at 11:51 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Quote: from Raiku at 2:47 am on Oct. 12, 2008 i was reffering to how most people would be too stoned to remember to vote just trying to give off a chuckle Chuckle was unsuccessful. -- Posted by medjai at 11:53 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Quote: from Raiku at 11:51 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 Quote: from medjai at 2:50 am on Oct. 12, 2008 oh my bad then just ignore me i cant youve got a one piece avatar. and it rocks but yeah, conservatives need to get out of our government I am going to have to agree with you, on the avatar. -- Posted by medjai at 11:53 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 And now that I re-read your post I can see the joke -- Posted by Raiku at 12:01 am on Oct. 12, 2008 Quote: from medjai at 2:53 am on Oct. 12, 2008 And now that I re-read your post I can see the joke i admit, my humors a bit...obscure -- Posted by greatescape at 3:07 am on Oct. 12, 2008 Quote: from medjai at 11:43 pm on Oct. 11, 2008 I don't really feel like going into my lifestory and the rather clear differences in my friends who constantly smoke weed vs. the ones that don't, it's not empirical either it's just developed my own personal opinion. I'm not here to prove anything, hell I think it should be legal, I don't think an alcoholic is better off than these people, and that's legal. I just have seen it change people significantly for the worse over extended periods of time, you can't prove to me that it didn't and I can't prove to you that it did so I'll stick with what I've seen and you can continue holding beliefs based on what you've seen and then everyone's happy. I never asked you to change your opinion.  Honestly. I never even asked for your opinion on the durg, period. I am questioning legality on a very specific scale here.  I would have thought that you of all people would be able to answer the question in a somewhat respectable, relative fashion. Guess not. Pages: 1 2  Next