Do you support marijuana legalisation? Options

[HyPN0]

NOTE:
Before you hit that report button,you should know that this thread is aproved by stargelman (Administrator) himself.

Do you think marijuana should be legal everywhere?
I personaly have no problem with that.Marijuana is completly legal in Nederlands,so why shouldn't be legal in every country in the world?I completly agree with Nederland policy about it:

1.NO PERSON UNDER 18 CAN BUY MARIJUANA
2.MARIJUANA CAN BE CONSUMED ONLY IN SPECIAL PLACES (in Nederland they are called ''koffe shops'')
3.YOU CAN ALSO SMOKE MARIJUANA IN YOUR HOME,BUT NOT OUTSIDE HOME (not even on your balcony)
4.YOU ARE ALOWED TO HAVE ONLY 3 MARIJUANA PLANTS IN YOUR HOUSE.BUT YOU CAN BUY AS MUCH AS YOU WANT IN THE LOCAL KOFFIE SHOP.

There.At least this is what i know.

I don't support any other drugs,such as cocain,heroin,crack and that kind'a stuff.That's just to dangerus.Marihuana is like cigaretes or even better example alcohol:You know it's not good for your health,you know that after smoking it you're not gonna be so normal,and you know that you can become an adict (just like cigaretes and alcohol).

So why would you ban an adult to buy what he\she wants,IF he\she wants it?
Give me your opinion about this.

FINAL NOTE:I understand that this can fire some strong emotions in you if you don't support this,but try to be calm.Instead of flaming,post why you're not supporting marijuana global legalisation.

For those who don't want to expres their opinion publicly,i made this a POLL,so you can give an anonymus vote.But please,don't be shy and share your opinion with us.This is not a flame thread,i'm expecting this to be a civil debate.

HyPN0

[DoomedOne]

Foster, there is no risk/benefit factor taken into consideration by our government. It may exist to you, but to most companies and politicians out there, the risk is less money, the benefit is more money.

Marijuanas benefits outweigh the risks, the way I see it. In fact, the way I see it, they HEAVILY outweigh the risks. Cocacola risks DO NOT outweight the benefit, unless you are an invester in Coca Cola, or a lobbyist for Coca Cola, or a politician lobbied by coca cola, in which case there's a lot of money in it for you to keep coca cola popular.

Note: In california public schools are not allowed to have coke in their vending machines or food services during school hours, as well as most other drinks and snacks with too many calories.

Anyway, the same story goes for pharmceutical drugs, such as antidepressants. In my opinion, these new antidepressants' risks outweight the benefit. Sure, you can SAY "Don't use if you have a history or mania, or if your pregnant, or if you're young, or if you've ever been to las vegas..." but obviously if a man kidnapped, murdered, raped and planned to eat a young girl because his antidepressant medication was triggering his mania and giving him bizarre fantasies (true story) then something went wrong. But, again, there's a gigantic lobby to keep them legal which adds a lot of pressure to politcians not to touch them, it makes people ignore the strange test results they got from them.

I mean, the studies weren't thorough enough when it came to what happens when you stop taking drugs like zoloft and prozac. The answer hit the US back up the boat with teen suicides as caused by the antidepressants. Now tell me the benefits outweigh the risks. Of course, it depends whose using them, if the perfect candidate (Joe, a 30 year old perfectly sane man whose life is perfectly balanced and is well passed his rocky teenage years... and has never been to Vegas) takes them he's fine. But we live in a society of misdiagnosis, and plenty of people will still be given drugs they shouldn't be.

If marijuana was legal, the same warning would be there as cigerttes, and to the same degree since cigerette warnings in the Unites States don't really capture the picture of what cigerettes do to the body. People would know the proper dosage, people would be more likely to follow the regulations put in place for marijuana, just as using them in the proper clubs, and here's the big one... IT'D NO LONGER BE A GATEWAY DRUG!

Here is why weed is a gateway drug, I'll spell it out for you. You're in smoking sessions with people every week, and for many kids every day. You're buying it from people who are consciously doing something illegal, and know how to not get caught, and like making money. Many dealers around here carry other things besides weed. Many people around here do other things besides weed, when I smoke weed with these people, I'm introduced to other illegal substances.

Alcohol doesn't have the same problem. You can get alcohol straight from a store, and even if you couldn't people would buy it from the store to get it, you don't have to go through some sketchy dealer. Marijuana would be the exact same story, and therefore by legalizing marijuana, you'd actually make kids LESS LIKELY to try cocaine, heroine, meth, etcetera. You'd be striking a blow against the drug cartels by taking out one of their products. God knows they took a heavy freaking blow when prohibition ended.

[Foster]

Marijuanas benefits outweigh the risks, the way I see it.  In fact, the way I see it, they HEAVILY outweigh the risks. 

What are the benefits?

Anyway, the same story goes for pharmceutical drugs, such as antidepressants.  In my opinion, these new antidepressants' risks outweight the benefit.  Sure, you can SAY "Don't use if you have a history or mania, or if your pregnant, or if you're young, or if you've ever been to las vegas..." but obviously if a man kidnapped, murdered, raped and planned to eat a young girl because his antidepressant medication was triggering his mania and giving him bizarre fantasies (true story) then something went wrong.  But, again, there's a gigantic lobby to keep them legal which adds a lot of pressure to politcians not to touch them, it makes people ignore the strange test results they got from them.

I mean, the studies weren't thorough enough when it came to what happens when you stop taking drugs like zoloft and prozac.  The answer hit the US back up the boat with teen suicides as caused by the antidepressants.

I'm guessing you're not a doctor, pharmacist, or allied medical professional? I apologise if you are, but I'm guessing not because your understanding of pharmaceutical treatment, psychosis diagnosis and medical knowledge seems to be totally lacking. You also seem to have absolutely no idea what it takes to get a drug onto the market - clinical trials ad nauseum. You're looking at eight to ten years before something is determined safe for the public, as well as countless determinations of the benefit of the drug (that's right - drug companies aren't just allowed to push out anything - they have to prove benefit) and even then there is no way to predict the effects, so drugs are immediatly pulled if they are shown to cause these deadly symptoms you're hyping so much (just look at Vioxx). So the antidepressants cause suicides? Rarely. You're looking at an incredibly small percentage of the total users of the drug. Compare it to the percentage of suicides there would be if they didn't take them. What exactly are you arguing? That nobody should take antidepressants? That a disease state is better than taking medication, because of and incredibly low risk? What are the test results that are supposedly covered up by this conspiracy theory lobby? And the healthcare professionals in charge of drug regulation don't care more about some lobbyist pressure than the safety of the general public. THAT is nothing more than a complete lie. Healthcare professionals act on the best data they have to make the best choice they have, which is ultimately a risk/benefit analysis. Personally I couldn't give a rats turd that Drug Company X is offering such and such over Drug Company Y - I recommend what I consider to be the best drug choice, balancing safety, efficacy, and cost. Of course the fact that drug licencing means that a drug is allowed to be manufactured by generic companies after a certain time, thus effectivly nulling the profits of the drug manufacturing company doesn't enter into your arguement.

The data on ceasation of taking the SSRIs (that's Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, acronym fans) is pretty damn thorough. It's well known that it can lead to withdrawal symptoms - that's why the doses are tapered when people come off them.

And before you go quoting your crazy cannabal man, if he's got manic episodes to trigger, then he shouldn't have been taking an antidepressant. The treatment of even bi-polar disorder is significantly different from plain old depression. As for misdiagnosis, it happens. Of course it happens - human error can never be removed. What we have and are constantly trying to achieve is the safest system possible, to make sure those cases are as limited as possible.

This post has been edited by Foster: Apr 29 2006, 11:37 PM