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374 Comments
- NikoKun, on 02/29/2008, -13/+180The time is long overdue... We continue to criminalize people, for simply smoking a plant, a choice which they made of their own free will, and harms no one but themselves. (and even that 'harm' is debatable).
But the big picture includes the injustices, hypocritical laws, and other casualties of the drug war... And the fact that Prohibition causes more problems, than the drug itself does!
Alcohol, a drug which is can be horribly addictive, promotes risk taking, can be extremely intoxicating, and has numerous negative health problems, is perfectly legal.
Yet the safer alternative, Marijuana, is criminalized, and it's users jailed... All reasoning for which, seems like less of a reason, when compared to alcohol. How can the law be so hypocritical? Such laws are not just, and not right... Certainly not in a country, that is supposedly "Free".
It's time we legalized it, to reduce the harms, to reduce the crime and violence created by prohibition... And to give the safer choice, back to the people. - matthew225, on 02/29/2008, -7/+75smoke weed everyday
- inactive, on 02/29/2008, -3/+51Contrary to the idiotic remark made by aajjcckk. I have met many successful professionals who smoke marijuana on a daily basis. I have rarely ever met the so-called spaced out stoner that is always portrayed on those anti-pot MTV commercials. I work in IT and I've met doctors, lawyers, programmers, business owners who smoke the good herb and maintain healthy, responsible lives. I'm not saying that the stereotype of the spaced out stoner doesn't exist. But ass hats like aajjcckk should NOT be allowed to lump us all together with juvenile generalizations!!
- ZxEfR, on 02/29/2008, -9/+55This article is a waste of time. Without full legalization, or my preference.....the government having zero authority over any drug, the problem will never go away.
- zgoos, on 02/29/2008, -1/+43What an elegant, well thought out and thorough rebuttal. I salute you sir!
- rawnzilla, on 02/29/2008, -1/+38Marijuana is not a gateway drug.
- inactive, on 02/29/2008, -5/+36You're just an *****. Way to go with over-simplified generalizations. ***** you and your idiotic small mind.
Cheers! - UnderWaterman, on 02/29/2008, -1/+29I don't think they need relaxation because 1 in every 100 American adults populating our prisons just isn't enough.
- muniak, on 02/29/2008, -1/+24They probably wouldn't have to spend as much if it was legal.
- KZodron, on 02/29/2008, -1/+24That's a good point, but I'm sure there are parents who spend lots of money on alcohol as well.
- norman619, on 02/29/2008, -0/+23You do realize there is a reason the parents are retreating into a drugs right? If it's not drugs it'd be something else. Blaming drugs for the short comings of the people who CHOOSE to abuse them is pretty stupid. It's like blaming cars for all the aggressive drivers. It's called personal accountability. It's something our current coddling culture has chosen to ignore. If you have a ***** up life the main reason for that can usually be found by simply looking into a mirror. Believe it or not people actually do have free will.
- oldhick, on 02/29/2008, -0/+22This doesn't happen with liquor? We can't save everyone. People have a right to their vices and at the end of the day the hypocrisy is disgusting.
- Hockey13, on 02/29/2008, -2/+23I'm 23, I smoke all the time, and I have a very good job at an investment management firm. I speak four languages (two of which I learned when I was smoking just as heavily as I do now). I just recently found out my dad smoked as much as or more than I do and he started and ran a successful company that he sold for many millions of dollars. He also helped raise two kids and has had an all-around successful life. I know many kids at universities across the world (including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc.) who smoke all the time and are some of the smartest people I know.
Now tell me, where do we fit into your pathetically simple world view? - inactive, on 02/29/2008, -2/+23Yeah, because of apathetic people like you.
- FoghornLeghorn, on 02/29/2008, -1/+21I agree completely, if you're dumb enough to take heroin go right ahead. The government should have no say about what you choose to put into your body. Sure it's unhealthy for you, but so are many, many other perfectly legal things.
- MioTheGreat, on 02/29/2008, -2/+22"and is a proven gateway not only to mental and physical illness but also to hard drugs"
The whole 'gateway drug' thing is actually CAUSED by pot's illegal status. If it was legal, you wouldn't be in the situations that lead to harder drug use, and the correlation that has led to people mistakenly thinking that it's pot that causes harder drug use would vanish. - DeucesWild, on 02/29/2008, -2/+22Hell, even I've smoked weed.
- Yez70, on 02/29/2008, -0/+17Run of the mill pot runs about $40-$50 a quarter ounce. The average pot smoker might buy this amount once a week.
Cigarettes run $30-$80 a carton and last the average smoker 7-10 days.
A 12 pack of beer runs $7-$12 and lasts 1-2 days for a beer drinker - that's about $50+ a week.
By your argument, cigarettes and beer should be illegal too?
Let's lock them all up, then the state can support the children.
/end sarcasm
Our government is based on FREEDOM and personal LIBERTY, yet we deny this to 'protect' people from themselves. It's not much different than regulating speech or sexuality in other countries. America has become a hypocritical nation that forces the beliefs and morals of one group on all people, without remorse. If pot is so bad then why aren't cigarettes, alcohol, overeating illegal? They pose just as serious a threat if not more on society.
Do I care if my neighbor is fat, gets drunk or high on pot? Nope, that's his problem.
Why do you care? - gmwatkins, on 02/29/2008, -1/+17Penn and Teller said it best, "When you criminalize something thats not a real crime, you still create real criminals..."
- UnderWaterman, on 02/29/2008, -4/+20wow, somebody has some hate towards his stoner parents
- MindTrigger, on 02/29/2008, -3/+18There are so many closet weed smokers in the US, it's retarded. The only people who see anything wrong with it, are those who are completely ignorant about how much better it is than alcohol, and those who have bought into the "war on drugs" propaganda campaign.
- Herostratus, on 02/29/2008, -3/+18But if they do that they will have to stop fighting a war against the population and the constitution... We wouldn't want that would we? Plus we might end up with more hippies.
- hoffey, on 02/29/2008, -5/+20Obviously you didn't see that Obama flip-flopped on his stance in order to be more likeable:
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7506
The guy will do anything to get elected, even if that means saying one thing this week and taking it back the next. He supports the National ID Card, Patriot Act, and will not decriminalize marijuana or put forth any effort to end the unfair 'war on drugs' or the unconstitutional 'war on terror.' - wigren, on 02/29/2008, -1/+16Way to go.
- HiKevinRose, on 02/29/2008, -0/+15That was horrible.
A waste of time.
Your grammar deplorable.
But mine is fine. - dext3r, on 02/29/2008, -1/+14Sick of the generalizations that weed users are couch-surfing losers. Really f*kin irritating. Hey, everyone that drinks coffee is a hyper-psycho loser that needs drugs to get going in the morning. F all.
- KSUdesigner, on 02/29/2008, -0/+12There are many pot-smoking losers who are far more successful in life than you'll ever dream to be. There are also just as many who are far less successful than you. Just because I smoke a plant that makes me a loser? Well guess what, I don't drink alcohol and I bet you do. Alcohol is FAR more dangerous to your health and the safety of other people than pot will ever be. Who's the loser again?
- richbleak, on 02/29/2008, -0/+12What about people who spend all their time playing WOW and neglect their children? Lets make WOW illegal.
What about people that spend all their money on beanie babies? Lets make gay little stuffed animals illegal.
What about people who sit on Digg all day decrying people for smoking pot? Well, now you are starting to convince me that we should make Digg illegal.
The point is, the government's duty is not to save people from themselves. This is a sophism of the highest degree. - andrew97068, on 02/29/2008, -1/+13yea, people just need to relax and realize the facts that its not as bad as cigs or alcohol. and if the gov. wanted to, they could make fat bank by mass producing it and putting a tax on it. legalize it.
- Phrag, on 02/29/2008, -0/+11Visiting a prostitute while tripping seems like a waste of time. You would be too distracted by the patterns on the sheets to even know that she was there.
- Jacob, on 02/29/2008, -1/+12Why shouldn't you get heroin in the store it's a powerful painkiller and has good uses, not to mention that if it was legalized the production of it would be much safer. As for the other stuff you do have a point the FDA is there for a reason but those things are technically legal now you can go get mercury or snake oil if you wanted.
- wertach, on 02/29/2008, -0/+10Very true! And they could grow their own if it was legal. The cost would be almost nothing!
- UnderWaterman, on 02/29/2008, -0/+10I really wonder what aahhcckk's problem is
- Hockey13, on 02/29/2008, -0/+10Where's my dad now? At some point he decided to stop smoking, I guess. He's an electrical engineer and has worked as the VP of banks' IT divisions before he started his own company. I don't really know what you mean by him having to "hide the fact that he made millions of dollars." It was a completely open thing...his company was bought by a large bank and he made money off it.
I also don't know what you mean about "covering up their tracks" with regard to stoners. What specifically do you want to know? To me, smoking is the same thing as drinking, except it's a lot safer and more fun without the hangover. Being addicted to pot is like being addicted to the internet...it only hurts your "real world" performance if you let it consume your life, something that rarely ever happens to people from my experience. I think it's easier to get addicted to the internet, really. - Unlgued, on 02/29/2008, -6/+16Pot's certainly not good for you. No one said it was. I don't smoke the dirty stuff. But I'd rather have pot legalized than continue to pay for the pointless policing of some random plant.
- DangerCollie, on 02/29/2008, -0/+10There were just some new statistics published that indicate there is one person in jail for every 99.1 of the population. One percent of our population is in jail, a lot of them there on relatively minor drug charges.
We can't afford to jail that many people. We're spending billions on prisons and it's not buying us anything. The war on drugs has turned into a war on freedom. - UnderWaterman, on 02/29/2008, -1/+10you're the type of people he doesnt want to hear about. quick, hide!
- DteK, on 02/29/2008, -1/+10like cigarettes
- Talphin, on 02/29/2008, -0/+9*****-A man... *****...A... --Office Space
- asdfghjkl420, on 02/29/2008, -1/+9Wow, congrats for the most retarded comment I have read all day.
"However you might like getting high, because you're too ***** lazy to attempt to improve your ***** life some other way than escaping it, it's a proven fact that marijuana ***** you up, good and proper, permanently. It rewires your brain, and is a proven gateway not only to mental and physical illness but also to hard drugs, that ***** you up a whole lot more, a whole lot quicker."
- Marijuana is not a "gateway drug", If they legalized marijuana people wouldn't have to get it from drug dealers that only care about making money, the only "gateway" is the dealer.
"Some of us here are older, wiser, have seen the ***** drugs cause in people's lives, and know there are better solutions - much better solutions, to a better life experience:"
-Drugs don't cause problems, people cause there own problems and use drugs or alcohol as an excuse. Who the ***** are you to tell me what I can put in my own body? if I wanna ***** up my life I have every right to do so. Everything that comes from this planet is mine and yours to do with as we please, as long as it doesn't harm anyone else, Its my right as a being on this planet that no "law" can ever take away. If you catch me burning one feel free to lock me up *****, when I get out I'll do just as I have always done, WHATEVER THE ***** I WANT THAT DOESN'T HARM ANYONE ELSE BUT MYSELF.
"And don't give me any ***** comparisons with the damage alcohol causes. Yes, it causes damage. But it's not a gateway to hard drugs, it doesn't cause the same seriousness of permanent mental and physical damage, and anyway - two wrongs don't make a right."
-Pot causes more damage then alcohol? I'm not even gonna respond to that, you can't type anything that stupid and not know it's wrong and why.
- linevty04, on 02/29/2008, -1/+9Agree'd. Heard on the news last night, a statistic i chose to believe, 1 out of every 100 Americans are incarcerated. Crime rate in Kentucky has only risen 3% in the last 5 years but more and more people end up in jail or prison 'cause of dumb ***** like having a sack of weed on 'em, causing our gov't to spend more on inmates than school children. (fail?)
- sqwirl, on 02/29/2008, -1/+9You're right. I guess all these people are/were losers:
Aaron Sorkin, creator of ''The West Wing".
Art Garfunkel , singer, Simon and Garfunkel.
Abbie Hoffman, Activist.
Al and Tipper Gore, Politicians
Aleister Crowley, Author and Famous Satanist.
Alexander Dumas, Author - "The Three Musketeers"
Ali Campbell, Singer with UB40
Alice B. Toklas. Famous Cook
Alice B. Toklas'
Allen Ginsberg, Poet.
Andrea Corr, musician, "The Corrs".
Anjelica Huston, Actress.
Arnold Schwarzenegger. Actor. ``I did smoke a joint and I did inhale.''
Art Garfunkel. Singer of, "Simon and Garfunkel" fame.
Arthur Rimbaud.
Balzac.
The Beatles.
Benjamin Franklin,
Bill "...but I didn't inhale." Clinton, Politician.
Bill Murray,
Bing Crosby.
Bix Beiderbecke Jazz musician.
Bob Denver, Star of "Gilligan's Island".
Bob Dylan, musician.
Bob Marley, musician
Burt Reynolds, actor.
Bruce Lee.
Cab Calloway, Jazz musician.
Carl Sagan, Scientist - SiFi writer - film "Contact" More info here.
Carlos Santana, musician.
Carrie Fischer, Actress
Charlie Sheen, actor.
Charles Beaudelaire, Author.
Chris Conrad, Author and expert on Cannabis Hemp
Chris Farley. Comedian.
Chrissie Hynde, musician.
Chris Rock, Actor, Comedian, Producer, Screenwriter.
Chubby Checker, Musician.
Cody Kasch Actor. TV series Desperate Housewives
Conan O'Brian TV Host
Count Basie, Jazz Ban Leader.
David Bailey, Photographer .
Dan Quayle . Politician.
David Hockney, Artist.
Diego Rivera, Mexican Artist
Dizzy Gillespie, Jazz musician
Dr Francis Crick. Nobel Prize winner.
Dr Lester Grinspoon.
Dr R.D.Laing
Dr W.B. O'Shaugnessy, Re-introduced cannabis to European medicine.
Drew Barrymore, actress.
Duke Ellington, Jazz Band Leader.
Elliott Gould. Actor.
Emperor Liu Chi-nu, made medical recomendation for its use.
Emperor Shen-Nung, made first known medical recommendation for its use.
Errol Flynn, Actor
Evelyn Waugh. Author.
Friedrich Nietzsche,
Gary Johnson. Governor of New Mexico
Gene Krupa, Jazz musician.
George Melly, Jazz musician.
George Soros, Financier and reformer.
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson.
James Madison.
James Monroe.
Andrew Jackson,
Zachary Taylor.
Franklin Pierce.
Gerard de Nerval, French writer
Graham Greene, Author.
Harrison Ford, Actor.
Heinrich Khunrath, Medieval Alchemist. and Philosopher.
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Russian Theosophist.
Henri Michaux, poet and painter
H R H Prince Harry, Third in line to the British throne.
Howard Stern
Hunter S. Thompson, Author
Isabel Allende, Chilean author.
Jack Kerouac, Author
Jack Nicholson, actor.
Jackie Gleason, actor.
Jane Fonda, Actress.
Jennifer Aniston, actress. "I enjoy smoking cannabis and see no harm in it", Daily Mail, 11/9/01.
Jennifer Capriati, Tennis champ.
Jesse Ventura, Governor of Minnesota.
Jim Morrison, musician.
Jimmy Dorsey, Jazz musician
Jimmy Hendrix, musician
John Belushi, actor.
John Denver, musician.
John F Kennedy. Politician.
John Kerry . Politician. US Senator and Presidential candidate.
John Lennon. musician.
Jonathan Miller, Theatre Director.
Johnny Cash, musician. Sang songs for NORML album.
Jon Snow, Channel 4 News presenter. (UK)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, legendary Los Angeles Lakers Basketball star
Kary Mullis, Nobel Laurate, Biology. Is on NORML Board of directors.
Ken Kesey, Author of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" (1975)
Kenneth Tynan, Playwright.
Lenny Bruce, Comedian.
Lewis Carroll, Author
Lewis Wolpert, biologist.
Louis Armstrong, Jazz musician.
Luke Perry, actor.
Louis Hebert, French Botanist
Mark Stepnoski. two-time Super Bowl champ, Dallas Cowboy.
Mike Bloomberg. New York City Mayor.
Mike Tyson, Boxer.
Miles Davis, Jazz musician.
Milton Berle, Actor
Mo Mowlam, Minister recently in charge of UK drug policy.
Montel Williams, Chat show host.
Montgomery Clift, actor, mentioned in his biography.
Neil Diamond, musician.
Neil Young, Musician.
Newt Gingrich Speaker of the US Senate.
Norman Mailer, Author.
Pablo Picasso, Artist.
Pancho Villa, Revolutionary Leader.
Peregrine Worthstone, former editor of the Sunday Telegraph.
Peter Sellers, actor.
Peter Tosh, Poet.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Former Prime Minister of Canada.
P. J. O'Rouke. Author.
Pythagoras, Mathematician.
Queen Victoria.
Ram Dass, Philosopher.
Ray Charles, musician.
Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize Laureate physicist.
Richard Pryor, actor.
Robert Anton Wilson. Philosopher .
Samuel Beckett, Author.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Author.
Sidi-Hidi. Sacred religious figure of Morocco, believed to have brought cannabis to the Atlas.
Sir Paul McCartney, Musician.
Steve Jobs, co-creator of the Apple computer.
Victor Hugo. Author 'Les Misérables'
Walter Benjamin, Philosopher.
William S. Burroughs, Author.
William Shakespeare.
Zoroaster, Persian prophet.
FAIL - EarlOfLade, on 02/29/2008, -1/+9Smoked since 1972. Speak 7 languages, worked in the computer business since 1983. I think I'm doing pretty good, thank you very much!
- kamiryuu, on 02/29/2008, -3/+11Whenever I smoke weed it's not a "mistake" as the article puts it.
- sjm20k, on 02/29/2008, -3/+11Are you really sure about that? It's given out as medicine in California. Don't force your personal distaste on others, a lot of good research has been done on the benefits of pot.
- wigren, on 02/29/2008, -3/+11***** Amsterdam. I will probably never be in Amsterdam. Does that mean I shouldn't have the right to consume what I choose?
- akinnee, on 02/29/2008, -1/+9He was making a south park reference.
- nullcodes, on 02/29/2008, -1/+8"Anti-marijuana laws need relaxation"
Maybe those laws should smoke a fat one then? - yournightmare, on 02/29/2008, -0/+7Why the ***** would his dad need to hide the fact that he made millions of dollars?
- theprogrammer, on 02/29/2008, -3/+10This post is wrong on several levels, starting with your hostile characterization of pro- folks as immature. I'm 30, an ex-smoker myself, and wholly in favor of legalization. Second, the "escape" argument is extremely weak. Is anything enjoyable automatically an "escape from one's problems"? By that logic, a long nature walk would also be "escapism." I have a great life, am very successful, and can still understand the enjoyment of an occasional doobie. It's called recreation.
(This whole argument comes down to whether you are authoritarian, or a good human being.) -
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