<p>marijuana makes people boring and dull and not driven to succeed. Whenever they're bored they go "why do my homework, when i can toke up". It's just a waste of time. And people who drink are usually still functional (unless their alcoholics) because they're only social drinkers. </p>
<p>AND pot is just a gateway drug. A majority of the people who use pot go on to use other drugs looking for that same high. A lot of people who just drink still identify themselves as "drug-free" so they're less likely to try other drugs. </p>
<p>And everybody agrees nowadays that tobacco is just retarded and that the people who smoke are dumb. Even the smokers realize how stupid they are. </p>
<p>Defending pot is just dumb because everybody knows that its better to not smoke weed then to smoke weed. And alcohol is more of a social thing thats basically a staple of society, so thats not going away.</p>
<p>But yeah, waste your life and smoke if you want to, just don't try to defend it, admit that it's stupid.</p>
<p>Tyler09: You didn't answer RealityCheck2's last question. I don't have a good answer myself.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Another ignorant statement. Countless people smoke it, it's just the youth who got scrutinized the worst. In the past 10 years, nearly 7 million americans have been arrested for herb. Do you realize just this year over 700,000 people were charged with either possession or distribution/cultivation? Every 42 seconds a smoker is arrested. EVERY 42 SECONDS. FOR PICKING OUT A PLANT OFF THE GROUND AND COOKING/SMOKING IT?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's the perception of marijuana culture, not the reality, that I was talking about.</p>
<p>
[quote]
marijuana isnt legal because the government is full of HATERZ
[/quote]
We have our real reason :)</p>
<p>Really, it's illegal because it messes you up more than alcohol and tobacco does nothing to impair your judgment. Marijuana doesn't make people violent or sexually promiscuous like alcohol, but isn't as well accepted by old people. The thing is, I know lots of kids my age who only drink on the weekends at parties, but will smoke everyday. Which is worse for you? I'd say smoking everyday.</p>
<p>Tyler09, I think you're making a lot of generalizations.</p>
<p>"marijuana makes people boring and dull and not driven to succeed. Whenever they're bored they go "why do my homework, when i can toke up". It's just a waste of time."
I don't know that that's true. Though I do know some stereotypical "stoners," I know some incredibly motivated kids who smoke marijuana-- 2 who are going to Ivies in the fall.
"And people who drink are usually still functional (unless their alcoholics) because they're only social drinkers."
The use of marijuana you described above could be likened to alcoholism-- both are some form of addiction in which the respective drug takes precedence over anything else in the user's life. You said it-- people who drink are 'usually' still functional-- so are many people who smoke.</p>
<p>"AND pot is just a gateway drug. A majority of the people who use pot go on to use other drugs looking for that same high."
Really? A majority? I would hazard a guess that a majority of people who use harder drugs may have started with marijuana, but I don't know that a majority of people who use marijuana do other drugs as well. Square-rectangle.</p>
<p>"And everybody agrees nowadays that tobacco is just retarded and that the people who smoke are dumb. Even the smokers realize how stupid they are."
and yet the tobacco industry still makes billions of dollars?</p>
<p>Smoke your pot and be happy -
Be a dervish and put your heart at peace.
Lose your life imbibing this exhilaration</p>
<p>As I said in another similar post</p>
<p>It's illegal for a couple of reasons</p>
<ol>
<li><p>POOR LOBBYING EFFORTS. </p></li>
<li><p>It can't be controlled production wise. In other words it would be hard to tax for revenues as people could grow their own anywhere, anytime. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>All your other sin type items "enjoy" quite heavy taxation. Even those that can kill you (tobacco) are supported by the government as a revenue source.</p>
<p>There was a show on the History Channel (or was it discovery?) about how marijuana became illegal. Apparently during the Depression, southwestern states were concerned about Mexican immigrants taking jobs from Americans. A lot of the Mexicans grew and used marijuana - the southwestern states lobbied for its illegalization (is that even a word?) </p>
<p>Anyways, eventually the lobbying efforts were successful. The initial banning of marijuana was based off some machine-gun control act: in order to legally possess and sell marijuana, you had to have a stamp issued by the govt. The catch is, there were only a limited amount of stamps and you had to have a certain amount of marijuana to apply to get a stamp. Basically, a paradox where you were guilty of possession if you applied to legally possess marijuana...</p>
<p>From what I remember, this act/bill/whatever was challenged at the Supreme Court level and for a while, marijuana was legal in the 1960's or something. But this is just what I remember from that show...</p>
<p>Yanners..It was history...and I saw it like a couple of days ago..</p>
<p>Basically they banned it to isolate the Mexicans and it was done with excessive propaganda. </p>
<p>The original law was challenged and the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional, it violated the 5th amendment. Then they easily enacted the current law which makes it illega..</p>
<p>It's illegal because the useless politicians in DC want to make you think they're actually doing something when in fact they're not.</p>