Fuck marijuana, I want opium fully legal. I want to go to a shaddy part of town and sit in my nice big chair and smoke in an opium den!!! And I want a sitar player nearby!!
Anywho. Okay this is an old arguement and it's probably appeared over a hundred times since I've been at sciforums. But, here's my opinion in short.
legalization would be super
- but tyler, wouldn't that increase use?
- possibly, possibly not. There's really very little proof that it would increase use. See the examples of Sweden and Amsterdamn for that example.
- but tyler, isn't it logical that the more readily it's available, the more people will do it?
- not necessarily. Alcohol is extremely readily available to me and I don't get trashed all that often. There are other drugs I could get very, very easily and I don't have any desire to do them. The point is, something being available and legal does increase the desire to do it - if anything, it has the reverse affect.
- but tyler, I still think it being legal would mean more users!
- well super dooper for you. In all honesty, I don't even see the problem with this. That more people would smoke pot really doesn't mean a thing to me. So what? Zeppelin and the Beatles become more popular and pizza places make a few more bucks.
- hey now, what if your bus driver starts smoking pot?
- what if he drinks? I'm fairly certain driving while intoxicated is illegal in your country, it is in mine. I don't think legalizing pot is going to mean more people will drive while high. And I'm also about 100% sure that if it was legalized, it wouldn't be legal to smoke up at work or anything. Once again, it would function something like alcohol - smoke at home or at a designated, licenced place.
- so why not just decriminalize?
- that would also be good, but not as helpful. For one, my government would likely make a shitload of money from selling pot - some of the most reveered marijuana in the world is from B.C.. Secondly, there would be the added business of the 'coffee shops'. Third, decriminalizing doesn't in any way help to get 'bad pot' or tainted stuff off the market. Plus! The hope would be that legalizing it would mean over the following years the major drug dealers would stop making the money, thus reducing one area of funding crime.
- tyler, isn't it immoral?
- shut up
- tyler, I regularly enjoy a puff or two (of course, only in the Netherlands and other areas it is legal to do so) -- wouldn't legalizing it and having the government sell it make it cost more?
- oh shut up. For one, if the Netherlands are any indication - no, not really. Secondly, I'm willing to pay the extra dollar or two if I know what I'm smoking and, ya know, get to chill at a coffee shop!
- tyler, I like phish.
- awsome, pm me.
- dude, marijuana's a gateway drug. Legalizing pot means more teens doing harder drugs!
- Again, not if the Nether... More importantly, it is a certain type of person who gets into harder drugs. Your average pot smoker does not want to snort cocaine. And this has nothing to do with the laws. Even more importantly, if you take away the money that is used currently to find/catch/prosecute marijuana growers/sellers/smokers you have shiiiiiiiiiiiite loads more money to deal with the other drugs.
- tyler, how will this affect my country?
- depends what country you live in. For instance, if my country - Canada - were to legalize it without the U.S.'s permission (literally), we would be killed. The States would simple bully us around trade-wise. They already threatened major issues if we decriminalized it. If you live anywhere outside of this, it likely wouldn't be that big a problem, but then again I don't know European drug policies all that well. What I do know is that even in right-wing Italy there were merchants on the street pushing bricks of hash in my face. So I think drugs are a bit more open there than North America!
- tyler, aren't you wrong?
- no, sorry