<p>None of them make you stupid. The act smoking/drinking is stupid. Sunlight having the ability to cause cancer is irrelevant to the the issue at hand. Actually, considering that it does cause cancer, what’s the point of further increase your chances of getting it by smoking? Smoking and Drinking do not follow reason; therefore I oppose them.</p>
<p>^“None of them make you stupid.”</p>
<p>You probably don’t want to take a test while stoned or drunk. No problem with smoking a cigarette before a test.</p>
<p>It can easily be claimed that the enjoyment derived from drinking and/or smoking outweigh the costs. Different people will come to different conclusions on this. It doesn’t make sense to say they do not follow reason.</p>
<p>The thing is that pot is already widespread, plenty use it and it is less dangerous than smoking/drinking. Pot doesn’t cause cancer though, that’s mostly due to the nicotine in cigarettes.</p>
<p>But you can’t make stupid illegal, you can’t, and for some people stupid brings fun (like those explosions on mythbusters which are kinda ridiculous and unneeded but so much fun). I guess the issue is that it’s a waste of jail space to put a harmless pot smoker in it and prohibition hardly works to stop it. Meanwhile I just enjoy that there would be an 18+ limit on pot, I could easily get pot at 13 but if it were legal and regulated that would never be so (and I don’t think anyone under 18 should smoke pot because it does slow down brain development over years of use and if you become a regular smoke at 16 you tend to act like a 16 year old till 24).</p>
<p>
The benefit is maintaining a consistent legal system that is not determined by politically and socially-charged reasons but the reasons that make a law lbanning a substance legitimate, like health concern. And if one can reasonably say that marijuana is overall less dangerous of a drug than alcohol or tobacco (and I would agree that it is) then other reasons for or against legalization are merely missing the point.</p>
<p>As long as banning marijuana prevents even a small number of people from smoking it, then I’m for it banned. I’d like to see alcohol and tobacco banned too, but the result would be nationwide riots. Marijuana has not escalated to such a level yet and I hope it stays this way. I find it’s silly to say that marijuana should be legal just because tobacco and alcohol are. Consistency does not justify legalization of banning of anything. Following this line of reasoning, a plethora of other things would have to be legalized/banned. Each issue should be judged individually.</p>
<p>The “enjoyment” that people get from smoking marijuana is irrational. I don’t see making your brain malfunction is better than a temporary enjoyment. You might as well masturbate instead.</p>
<p>Although I see the viewpoints of marijuana supporters, I don’t see any argument as “compelling.” I think governments should do everything they could to stop the spreading of marijuana so it would hopefully die down.</p>
<p>^ From my point of view, the thing being defended is not the beneficial value of maijuana, but the right of people to do what they like without the government interfering. I believe that there are some things that the government can’t do, evennif they would be beneficial. For example, I believe the government can’t tell me to only eat organic foods, even though that would probably improve my health.</p>
<p>The problem with things like alchohol and cocaine is that people act irrationally when under then influence of these drugs, which can include lawbreaking, destruction of property, or even harming of people.</p>
<p>Where marijuana falls in that equation I do not know, but it seems to me that it is closer to alchohol (regulated but legal since most people don’t let it control them) than cocaine (virtually everyone who uses it becomes addicted and mentally unstable).</p>
<p>People are so naive. This is so ■■■■■■■■. Just let people do what you want. Th environment argument sucked. It makes no sense. The cancer argument sucks. You get lung cancer from nicotine. Yes, in theory it’s POSSIBLE. Do you realize how much pot you would need to smoke for years to get to the same level? Just let people make their own decisions. The risk level of weed is exponentially less than alcohol. IMO, virtually no risk (bring on the riot!). This topic ****es me off so much so often haha. Simply because those that say for it to be illegal are most likely those who ostracize those who ‘make bad decisions.’ SO MANY intelligent smoke weed. Please don’t kid yourself. They have morals (in my opinion, not a very moral issue) and (some) certainly have intelligence. Please stop with your arrogance and pompous “I don’t smoke” attitudes. It’s rly unattractive and your arguments are not supported well.</p>
<p>THOSE OF WHICH ARE MAKING VALID ARGUMENTS (on both sides): thank you! There aren’t many of you guys, but it’s easy to make a valid point on both sides. Bravo! (please… I can’t stand another repetitive Drug-Free lecture… heard it a long time ago).</p>
<p>If you’re letting the opinions of strangers affect you to the point that you’re “****ed off” then you might have bigger problems. </p>
<p>Take a hit. It’ll chill you out.</p>
<p>Maybe poor word choice. Frustrated is a better word. I wouldn’t get ‘mad’ (for the time being. agin, frustrated’s still the better word I think) if I didn’t feel like this is a large percentage of the thread coming up with these ridiculous thoughts. I’m just appalled. In reality, i don’t give a damn what any of these people think (no offense). I’ve been on here probably longer than everyone so I guess I’m annoyed that these same spineless arguments keep coming up</p>
<p>^Then stop commenting on them.</p>
<p>For those who haven’t smoked weed and want to know how it makes you feel, I will try to relate my experience last night (with legal alt. weed). </p>
<p>First off, you obviously load the bowl to the brim and light it while inhaling deeply. Then, you kinda hold it in for a second and exhale very slowly. It looks so badass when you take a monster hit because it seems like the smoke just keeps flowing out when exhaling. I went ahead and cashed the bowl (which took maybe 2 more hits). At first you don’t feel much other than a heaviness in your eyelids. A couple minutes go by and I start feeling really good; just a chill high where everything seems right. Then it’s so good that you start laughing for no reason at all. This usually causes other high people to start laughing as well. Often times, I laugh so hard that my abs and mouth start aching, but it’s all good. You feel at peace and united with the people you’re around (I’ve never blazed by myself…that’s boring) and you have deep conversations. Then you get hungry. I’m not talking a normal hunger…you feel like your starving all of a sudden. Foods that normally you don’t like taste amazing. The food starts the sober you up and you feel pretty tired. The sleep you get is deep and very pleasant. Experiences vary from person to person, but this is just a recap of mine. Keep in mind, I’m a lightweight and I don’t smoke often so I’m gone after one bowl. If it’s your first time sparking, take one hit and wait at least 15 minutes to see how it affects you. You don’t want to smoke too much and start tripping balls. That sucks.</p>
<p>This is kinda unrelated, but I have many friends whose parents prohibit them from any kind of drinking. One can argue that this is bad parenting. My parents have forced (strongly encouraged) me to casually drink with them and learn my limits. If kids know their limits, they will be less likely to binge drink in college. It’s better to learn how much you can drink in a safe environment with adults than at college alone.</p>
<p>^ I agree with the last bit about drinking and learning you limits and that smoking pot is different for everyone. I don’t really mind it and I like it with good friends but I cannot smoke by myself or with people I don’t trust or people that aren’t gonna smoke, I just get kinda paranoid and then I’d rather just be in control of myself. But good friends? Hell yeah it’s fun and chill.</p>
<p>It’s just too bad programs like DARE infuse the wrong impression into gullible people. Maybe that’s why we’re so far behind on marijuana’s legalization.</p>
<p>DARE is primarily aimed at children. How else do you expect them to react? Of course they’re going to take what they’re told as absolute truth.</p>
<p>i recall going through dare in elementary school. i think that’s a good point. kids aren’t really going to sit and critique the slant of what they’re being presented w/, ya know?</p>
<p>anyway, i don’t care if ppl choose to do marijuana or any other drug, provided they aren’t affecting others.</p>
<p>^Just to preface: I really don’t have a stance in either direction but…</p>
<p>I think drugs, alcohol use, etc. are going to affect others regardless. If you grow up seeing your parents high or drunk regularly-even if they’re not addicts–you’re going to be affected.</p>
<p>Oppositely, everything somebody else does is going to affect you. Be it something innocent like being a vegan, or a cocaine addict…I’m guessing.</p>
<p>that’s true. but i meant more like a drunk driver killing an innocent pedestrian sort of “affecting” versus a drunk sitting at home by himself</p>
<p>Okay, I gotcha. </p>
<p>That makes sense.</p>
<p>Yeah I don’t think marijuana is a big deal. At least a quarter if not more of my high school smokes, and we’re on the USNEWS top 100 public schools in America. It’s really just something that kids do while hanging out with their best friends on a weekend. It’s not particularly dangerous, and although some people say you’re not productive while smoking, so what? Are you being productive by watching TV, going to a concert, seeing a football game, going on facebook, texting, playing video games…? Seriously, what a stupid argument against pot, since it’s not productive, that means we should stop doing anything that’s not productive and work/study all day?</p>
<p>Marijuana should be legal. Tobacco should be illegal.</p>