UnitedIssues U.S. Political Debates - Debate

"Should marijuana be legalized for recreational purposes?"

Original Opinion by FreeRoamer (42)

Prohibiting marijuana has done absolutely nothing to deter marijuana use. 2 in 5 Americans have used marijuana at least once in their lifetime. (1) 1 in 3 teens report having used marijuana at some point in their life. (2)

Science has also proven several times that marijuana is much less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, both of which are legal. (3) And while some will argue that "two wrongs don't make a right", endorsing and tolerating one wrong while detesting a lesser wrong is nothing but hypocrisy.

I say we legalize and regulate marijuana, take the market out of the hands of the drug cartels and put it into the hands of legitimate businesses, and put an age limit on purchasing marijuana that will keep it out of the hands of young adults and teens whose brains are still in a fragile developmental stage. Also accompany this with a ban on driving under the influence, a ban on public use, and a restriction on welfare and other social services to those who test positive for drugs.

What do you think?

Responses

"Leads to other things..." by Vultren (85)

The problem I see is the abuse, people losing money and their houses, doing dumb things so they can get their weed, all for a high. Then once you don't get as high from this drug after continuous use, you look for other illegal substances that are terrible for you.

All in all it's just bad and leads to worse things.

"I disagree..." by FreeRoamer (42)

The whole "gateway drug" theory is a myth in my opinion. People who do heroin, crack, crystal meth, or other harder drugs will have no problem or moral hurdle to jump to smoke marijuana. This does not necessarily mean there is a cause-effect relationship between marijuana use and other drug use. Also as I said above, marijuana laws have not kept anyone from using marijuana, so people already smoke marijuana anyways. Plus if the gateway theory holds true one could also say that alcohol or tobacco use leads to hard drug use as well.

"The problem still exists..." by Vultren (85)

Think about it, I've heard from people who smoke the drug and say that their "high" isn't the same after you haven been doing it for a while, and once you want that high feelings again, you are going to want it more and more. After a while, weed won't give it to you as your body is use to it. So if you're already breaking the law and using marijuana for getting high, what is stopping you from any moral values from doing the other hard drugs?

If it was legal or not, I think it would result in abuse and trying to further the high with other drugs that scientifically prove to be harmful. If it's legalized, it will be abused.

I can't say I agree with the alcohol and tobacco gateway, those do not give you a high, it's bad for you, but not a high.

"Absolutely. With reasonable restraints of course." by aexyl93 (8)

One can easily see how similar this is to the prohibition in the 1920's. And what happened when they made alcohol illegal? Just as many people kept drinking it as they did before the ban. All it did was raise organized crime and start gang violence (or more if there was some already).

At the very least using marijuana should not be a crime. It should be treated like any other medical condition. An addiction. But of course not everyone will be easily susceptible to getting addicted either just like not everyone who drinks alcohol is an alcoholic.

If your main argument for making it a crime is because buying it off the streets supports drug dealers and cartels, well there wouldn't be any in the first place if it wasn't illegal. It should never have been made illegal in the first place and any addiction to it should be treated just like any other addiction.

And if it was legal and sold by legitimate businesses it would be safer because it would be regulated the chances of something seriously harmful being mixed in will be drastically reduced. Buying it off the streets you don't know what someone could have mixed in with it.

And if your argument for it being illegal is because it harms you, you might as well put people who cut themselves in jail and make them pay a fine too. You should not be punished for voluntarily endangering yourself. At the very most, at the utmost you should be rehabilitated if it becomes a serious problem.

And put an age limit on it just like alcohol. Make it something only for adults. Make it off limits to children and teenagers but not everyone. The same with other drugs however perhaps not make the selling of the much more dangerous drugs legal but the possession legal. And if someone is using a dangerous and harmful drug and is addicted, treat it as a medical issue. Not a crime.


Addiction or harming yourself should not be a crime unless it harms other people. The government shouldn't be able to tell you what you can and can't do with your body unless it can harm other people. What you do with your own body is your business and should not be illegal.

In response to Vultren, the abuse, people losing money and their houses, doing dumb things all for a high, that's an addiction. It should be treated as such and not as a crime. Are you saying then we should ban alcohol again? We've seen how that worked out. Or perhaps gambling? People do stupid things to do those too. A lot of people do stupid things for something. The abuse and willing to do anything for more is an addiction. Addictions should be treated accordingly and not punished. The actions the people addicted to whatever it is they're addicted to is usually already punishment for them. They need help not punishment. Punish them for their addiction only if it has led them to harm others.

Anyone using a harmful drug or potentially addictive drug should just be discouraged from using it and/or given an intervention if necessary.

"Another response..." by FreeRoamer (42)

"So if you're already breaking the law and using marijuana for getting high, what is stopping you from any moral values from doing the other hard drugs?" - Vultren

If marijuana was legal, then smoking it wouldn't be breaking the law, and people would not have to "jump moral hurdles" in order to smoke it. They would not have to compromise their ethics, and thus would not eventually move on to harder drugs.

And tobacco doesn't give you a high, but alcohol does. We just give it a different name - "drunk", but it is still the same concept and getting "drunk" is the same thing as getting high. People also build up a tolerance to alcohol and tobacco as well. People who start out on their first cigarette or beer eventually become "heavyweights" and drink or smoke more and more at one time.

"better than alcohol." by Gaelin (85)

The most i have ever drank in my life was roughly 6 shots of vodka and half a bottle of rum (i don't remember exactly). I could barely stand, threw up repeatedly, and did things i struggle to live with to this day. The most i have ever smoked was 6 bowls, and i fell asleep. the next morning i woke up feeling well rested and ready to take on the day. i have now stopped drinking, as well as smoking cigarettes, but continue to smoke marijuana. i enjoy it, it helps me sleep, and i feel that it neither hurts me or anyone else. cant say the same about alcohol and cigarettes. and vultren, there is a difference between being drunk and being high on marijuana: when im drunk i get angry, but when i get high i just laugh a lot.

Source(s):

personal experience.