I Think Marijuana Should Be Legalized

Many people today want marijuana to be legal as a recreational drug but i am still skeptical with regard to how safe it is. Is there anyone on this blog who can honestly say that after smoking marijuana they became addicted to it or that it did them any other harm? I am prepared to accept the possibility but remain unconvinced. Here's your chance to speak up if you are a 'dope victim'. This is not a joke. I just want the truth, no nonsense please.

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persistentone22 · M

Without filters, I think it is a comparable risk to tobacco smoke, and there are devices to filter out the worst parts of the vapor. So probably overall safer than tobacco....

Like any drug, it can be overused and someone can become addicted. That said, the social costs of prohibition are huge. We are fueling a drug trade that makes criminals in Mexico get very rich and is destabilizing their country. We have something like 10% of our prison cells in the country now filled with prisoners whose only crime was selling marijuana. It seems like a waste of public funds and of peoples' lives. And, finally, we are losing out on significant tax revenues.

This is not heroin, and for me it falls reasonably under the classification of recreational drug and should be legalized.

Smikezz2 · 46-50, M

You my friend have a very valid point!

persistentone22 · M

And I should add I don't smoke it. I'm just trying to be objective about the social cost and benefit, and to me it seems that the war we are fighting is like Prohibition in the 1920s and the pain doesn't really equal the gain.

will999 · 70-79, M

@pone22: Hello. I agree with you on that. Prohibition does not work. It is a failed tactic in our response to popular recreational drugs which in the 1920's actually made problems associated with the illegal manufacture, sale and use of alcohol considerably worse. We now have an opportunity to learn from that mistake and come up with a smarter response to marijuana!