Why would we want to legalize another mind altering substance?

That's the argument that a lot of prohibitionists and anti-legalizers have been making.

What they neglect to talk about is that cannabis, while being a mind altering substance, will nine out of ten times just have a person end up sitting on there couch, playing a video game or eating or something.

They say "mind altering substance" and make it sound like aliens are gonna take over your brain when you smoke it or some shit. (Cause that's what happened to Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, ect) It's fear mongering. It always has been.

by that line of logic alcohol and cigarettes and gambling should always be forever banned.. even the stereotype of people sitting around eating potato chips is a bit skewed - that stems from the supposed 'a-motivational syndrome' bullcrap that has been proven wrong...

also this line of logic dictates that more people will smoke pot if it is legal - insinuating that the current prohibition stops some people somehow from smoking which is also just wrong..

In my opinion, most of the people who look at marijuana as a mind altering substance (or hard drug, whichever you prefer) either have no personal experience with it's effects, or are the types that did it a couple times back when they were young. We can all remember how different the highs were when we first started smoking- You got the giggles, your time sense was totally screwed, and everything just felt different. Those people didn't smoke long enough to understand that those sort of highs only occur when your a new smoker, and that veteran smokers have built up such a tolerance that they can act perfectly normal no matter how baked they are.

For those who like to tell me that's not possible, I turn around and reveal that in the last 20 odd years they've never seen me straight. Since i don't fit their idea of what a stoner looks like in the least (I'm an accountant, and dress like one) that normally forces them to start re-evaluating their stance on the issue. In a lot of ways that's really the key to the whole issue from a historical perspective. Whenever the middle class and "respectable citizens" (whatever that means) decide that something is ok it tends to become legal. That's why so much effort was put into scaring the middle class about the dangers of marijuana and other drugs between the 1920's and 1950's.

i don't drink and think its the evil we face down now. but iam an AMERICAN , i do have the right to choose, if i don't, then i'll go back to the woods and then they will play by my rules, never a fair fight.




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right now there's too many powerful people making themselves rich by keeping drugs illegal. that's not gonna change anytime soon. the law that prohibits drugs is also very long and detailed, which makes it even harder to repeal, and set forth a new way of dealing with the drug problem. yes, there is a drug problem, the problem is lack of education and honest discussion about drugs....

ford442 said:

by that line of logic alcohol and cigarettes and gambling should always be forever banned.. even the stereotype of people sitting around eating potato chips is a bit skewed - that stems from the supposed 'a-motivational syndrome' bullcrap that has been proven wrong...

also this line of logic dictates that more people will smoke pot if it is legal - insinuating that the current prohibition stops some people somehow from smoking which is also just wrong..

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You're right, the a-motivational thing is bullshit, but at the same time, nobody is gonna be like the thug in Dazed and Confused who tokes on some weed and then tries to start a fight. While people wont necessarily be lazy, they will, by most accounts, be chilled out, and in no way a danger to anybody else. As long as they're using it responsibly.

redivider said:

right now there's too many powerful people making themselves rich by keeping drugs illegal. that's not gonna change anytime soon. the law that prohibits drugs is also very long and detailed, which makes it even harder to repeal, and set forth a new way of dealing with the drug problem. yes, there is a drug problem, the problem is lack of education and honest discussion about drugs....

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100% on the money.