Well, decriminalized, which is a little different.

Yes, and we should regulate it too, and tax it, and put warning labels all over it, and we should educate people about it. Some (most?) users of marijuana do it in a safe manner, they shoudn't be classified as criminals any more than alcohol drinkers.

It can already be prescribed for medical needs. Also, the current "weed" is way more carcinogenic that even cigarettes, and it is hard to even say how devastating they are. Besides causing cancer, they cause terrible lung disease and heart problems. It is not just an individual issue, because the health of the people of our nation affects all of us.

Yes, it's nowhere near as dangerous as other legal drugs. It's also *not* more carcinogenic than cigarettes under actual use conditions -- cigarette smokers consume a huge amount of tobacco to support even a mild habit; marijuana simply isn't used in that kind of quantity. (A joint is usually smaller than a cigarette and is enough to give three or four people a good buzz for an entire evening; one cigarette will keep a single smoker satiated for an hour or two, possibly less.)

When drugs are criminalized, only criminals will... oh.

Everything that does not directly harm anyone else or their property should be legal. People should be allowed to do whatever they want to themselves and their own property.

If alcohol and cigarettes are legal, everything else should be. Vices are vices, none worse than another.

We all have our desires and I think that we should be allowed the freedom of choice as long as that choice does not interfere with others. Whether it is weed, tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs. All forms of chemicals are bad for the body, even the food we eat. Warn people, let them know the ramifications, but let them choose. Draw the line at driving while under the influence of any drug, since this endangers the lives of others.

I believe all drugs should be legalized. Then maybe we can finally get the education to work and disease could possibly be rectified by control. The court system could finally clear its dockets and get to the real criminals instead of tying themselves up with the addictions and disease of society.

look what prohibition got us

People do it anyway. Laws prohibiting it are close to impossible to enforce. And if legal you can tax it, and create jobs(more tax revenue) producing it.

Although I myself find drugs to be a waste of money, I have to say yes to this. People should be free to make their own decisions. Alcohol is just as - if not more so - powerful a drug, and yet it is legal. I feel we are at the same stage now as when debates were raging as to whether alcohol should be legalized. The fear people have is irrational. Just because it gets legalized does not mean that everyone is going to become a pot head, just like not everyone drinks liquor or smokes cigarettes. Some say it is bad, but why? Because we are told it is from childhood, because it is illegal, ect... Yes, no one can deny that it creates strong psychological addictions, that it hinders memory and can destroy motivation, but smoking causes cancer as well as a slew of other problems, and alcohol causes liver failure, personality changes, violence and carelessness. We know the dangers of smoking and drinking, and so it is our choice whether or not we do it at all or to excess. As long as people are informed of the hazards and benefits of smoking weed, it should be up to the individual to choose whether the benefits outweigh the hazards and to be free to smoke it or not. We are not asking for the right to harm others, we asking for the right to do something that affects only ourselves... this is a right we should not need to ask for ................................................................................................jefff... as far as saying it is not carcinogenic, I have to disagree with you. ANYTHING that you burn and then inhale is carcinogenic. The only way in which it would not be is if you ate it or brewed a tea with it. I don't know what studies you have read - and I don't mean to sound insulting here- but weed does decrease motivation, and hinder memory. Mind you alcohol is 6 times more potent than weed in destroying the memory... but that still does not discount the fact that weed does too. I have to say that yes there are many, many people who use it as an excuse. After all, why blame themselves - which is hard to do- when you can blame the drug, but even this does not mean that all that is said about it is made up. [responder #8]

It is a drug and is harmful to the body. It should not be legalized in any way, shape, form, or fashion.

Up with dandelions!

Yes! I don't want to be a criminal for the rest of my life! Note for babeeco : Hmmmm.... please, introduce your self in a glass box to preserve your health in favor of the US national health, but please, let us, the foregeins, to care about our own health. Thanks! Note for Beth: All you can introduce in your body can be or contains somthing that can be dangerous for your body, this is the reason why we die!

I think it's totally ridiculous that alcohol and cigarettes are legal and pot isn't. Pot is a natural substance, and it is less detrimental to your health than cigarettes or excessive alcohol. It's all because of the alcohol and tobacco lobbies. If they'd had a marijuana lobby way back when...

Dahlia and babeeco - you need to get your facts straight. Hemp isn't necessarily carcinogenic (and I know *many* folks who eat it mostly, and rarely if ever smoke it - eating is typical in India too), and no peer-reviewed study has ever shown a link to memory loss, motivational problems or any of the other specious claims of the prohibitionists. In fact, the only negative health consequence that's been revealed in a (American) peer-reviewed study was the Army's Jamaican study that was conducted for the Nixon administration in the 70s. It showed that heavy smokers of hemp (>0.25 oz/day (a *huge* amount, and usually only seen in truly dedicated Rastafarians)) had a prediliction to develop chronic bronchitis after many years of daily use (well duh!). Nixon, btw, never allowed the study to be officially published during his term, as it did not support his prejudgices about hemp use. The Army researchers said it was basically harmless. [I was the 22nd person to respond again!]

I don't care either way. Just keep it out of my face, schools, and public places for us party-poopers.

weed is less dangerous than alcohol, and stoned people are less annoying than drunk people.

No comments, "milktree" has exactly the same oppinion than I have.

Taxes could be better spent than on this minor law infringement. Law enforcement time and effort could be better directed elsewhere. Law courts have more important things to process. I agree, stoned(on weed) people are less annoying than drunk people, as well as less combative. Stoned though, is a term used in some locations for 'drunk' though, which can be confusing. Actually, the most violent thing a weed smoker might do, is rip open a bag of potato chips. If everyone was stoned (on weed) there'd be a lot less violence in the world. Mind you, little would ever get done constructively, either.

It's sad when we have to resort to the olden days of having to use herbs instead of much more effective treatments, and besides, less than 10% of those people NEED it for medical purposes.

And yes, some herbs are better treatments, but marijuana is far from the panacea some of you are acclaiming it to be.

It definitely is a carcinogen, and it does destroy glycerol bonds, stunting brain growth.

And if you want to legalize those even more, you should be ready to accept:

• More STD's, remember, that if alcohol coerces people, marijuana will do the same by altering judgement
• More drug babies as a result of the above. I want you to stare, and look at a deformed child from druggie parents. I want you to think of how you would feel if that was your child, if you knew that it was your fault you were selfish and caused someone else to suffer all their lives. I don't want people to suffer that pain.
• More taxes. Remember that a wave of drug babies would rush in a new era of having to pay for welfare recipients, and public care for these unfortunate kids. They already had that problem in Switzerland, where the usage of marijuana is already legalized. They are getting taxed for disability public benefits more than any other country.

Ganga in the morning, ganga in the evening, ganga after supper time! Sure thing. Definitely. Not even a hint of doubt in my mind. Soon?

Sure, why not. As should LSD, Coke, Heroin, etc

It is known to help with pain.

No, but I do think it's less dangerous than tobacco.

No, you realize that if they do they'll just put tar and chemicals in it like they do in smokes.

i'm somewhat libertarian: i'd approve of all drugs being legalized, as well as guns and other things the government doesnt want you to have.***BETH*** so coffee, tea, chocolate, aspirin, hell pretty much EVERYTHING, should be against the law according to that statement

undoubtedly. why should alcohol drinkers have all the worry free fun?

I think marijuana should be legalized. Weeds in general have never been made illegal.

Yes. It removes a way of putting money into the hands of criminals. It removes an artificially created class of criminals which is currently clogging our court system and prisons. It allows some minimal attention to standards and quality in production. It allows drastic lowering in price, even with ludicrous levels of taxation. Oh, and yes.

The US keeps way too much of its population behind bars; weed and prostitution come to mind as easy things to legalize to ameliorate this. If I were president I'd grant a mass pardon and instruct the executive branch not to prosecute any more (so much for my being elected president). I'd like to legalize other drugs too but there are a few which are so destructive that I don't know if I can support their legalization in light of current American attitudes toward responsibility (this is the problem I have with allowing helmetless motorcycling, too).

KenShingo: Remember that taxes are also lowered by reducing the load on the prisons and especially the courts. As for the drug babies, I've never before heard anyone claim that marijuana caused birth defects, and even the claims of defects caused by cocaine are anecdotal at best. Now alcohol on the other hand...

No, though I wouldn't want to legislate against it if it were legal either, though I might want to control its use (e.g., don't stink up public spaces with the smoke). I assume "weed" = marijuana in this context.

Once I would have said definitely yes, now I'm not so sure. My feelings about tobacco and alcohol are also becoming more and more anti. I'm beginning to think that there are fewer people who know how to have a healthy relationship with any of these things.