shawnabuchanand

Ok, my turn on my own post. My slip up came because it is very hard for me to organize my thoughts when I don't write them down and also because of frequent personal use. This is all besides the point of the debate though. I oppose the marijuana laws for both my own selfish reasons and from an economic-minded libertarian approach. It is written in the Declaration of Independence that all men are entitled to their own pursuit of happiness. From a public health point, marijuana does not physically harm anyone. Hard drugs should remain illegal because they will lead you to decay and death. Marijuana does not cause lung cancer or any other type of cancer. Zero people in the history of mankind have died directly from weed use. It is impossible to overdose and the worst that can happen is lethargy and fatigue. It can and has been used to treat over 120 diseases or symptoms of other medication. This country spends 12 billion dollars fighting pot with no results. If marijuana were legalized and taxed, then it would produce 6-7 billion dollars in revenue. That means almost 20 billion dollars would be gained every year that marijuana is legalized and taxed, money that can be spent on education, health care, environmental reform, defense, anything. Currently there is a huge overpopulation problem in prisons. 40% of all arrests are because of drug laws. Again as an American, I want to support legitimate American businesses and my government with my weed money. The people bringing weed into this country are international gangs that also deal in cocaine, heroin, prostitution, slavery, and arms deals. I do not enjoy supporting those causes for what I consider should be my personal freedom. To legalize pot would also create millions of jobs. Limited hemp research has proven that it would reduce dependence on foreign oil through hemp products and biodiesel made from hemp. Hemp is biodegradable and plastic can be synthesized from hemp fibers. Hemp seeds contain more protein than soy beans and could lower malnutrition if only it was legal to include it in aid packets sent to Third World countries. There is no slippery slope after you legalize pot. To say that fully automatic weapons could be legalized once pot is is absolutely absurd. Jake, the only reason weed is grouped with illegal drugs is because the government decided to place that label on it. Other drugs do physical and emotional harm through addiction. In response to #54, a good reason all those chemicals are present in weed smoke is because there has been no scientific approach to removing them, and most weed is smoked without a filter. Tobacco has been cultivated in America for 400 years and science has been around for 150 of those, the tobacco companies have billions of dollars to spend funding both research on how to make it safer and to fund anti-pot studies. I say enough propaganda. Listen patiently to what others say and accept it only if they can prove it with facts. All that I have stated above can be proven with facts. Jake, could it be that pot makes your family lazy because they don't want to be arrested outside? For someone who posts that you don't want people to cram opinions down other people's throats, you certainly like to cram your own down ours. In the last one I just read you were using mostly all caps.