Marijuana: Should it be Legalized?

Haha...i was reading a book called Bud Inc.....its about the Marijuana business in Canada...haha....it made it sound like M-J LEGAL....i unno....what you guys think?

Yes it should. Liqueur is, isn't it? No difference.

true...u think they shuld at least legalize it for medical reasons?

Yes.

Didn't we just do this?

Again.

It is legal for medical purposes.. has been for years.

Ummm ... yes and no. There are still tons of court battles raging over medical use of marijuana as well as police harrassment. I was outside the VICS (Vancouver Island Compassion Society) recently and wasn't at all surprised to see a ghost cop car cruising slowly by, looking into the windows, noting all the vehicles on the block (mine included). I didn't flip him the bird as I so desparately wanted to, but someone should have.

Here is a transcript of a 2002 court case against VICS that I found pretty interesting. Also on the site are photos of what their grow room looked like after a police raid ... you'll note one of the confiscated plants was a government provided seed. Seems like everyone isn't on the same legal page here. There's all kinds of news on their main page about the issue.
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I have fibromyalgia ... serious enough to have put me onto disability. I, personally, haven't smoked dope since I was about 20 years old. Never did like it all that much and over the past couple of decades grew to hate the effects of it. Still do, to this day. Using medical marijuana is a trade-off for me. If I want a decent night's sleep, the narcotics I'm given so freely and legally only work for about 2 hours so the only real option I have is to use medical pot. I only consume it before going to bed since I hate how it feels, but it does give me some relief from the symptoms of my fibro. It works.

My doctor would much rather have me use pot than Percocet ... and I agree. I wish I could use it through the day as well! It's way more effective for pain management, it's non-addictive, it's better all round for me, but unfortunately I'm unable to do so since I dislike the effects.

My partner has MS. She is often in such pain that she is literally sick to her stomach. The narcotics don't even touch the pain, but the pot does. VICS has several different options available and she finds she can use some for day, other forms for night. It's been a godsend for her.

Here are some more interesting links on the subject:
Cannabis Health site ... --
Cannabis Research site ... --

There is lots of good info out there. I truly believe that folks are better off smoking dope than drinking, but that is nothing more than personal opinion. As far as medical use, I think it should be added to the arsenal of drugs already available and dispensed through a pharmacy.

I believe there should be a two pronged approach to the whole legal issue ... on one hand, recreational users should be able to pick up their pot at a liquor store, pay the luxury tax on it and enjoy, while medical users should have their pot doled out the same we we get our narcotics and antibiotics.

Someone mentioned that sexual predators get less jail time than people selling pot. There is something inherently wrong with a system that applies its laws in this manner. Something is broken somewhere -- and someone is benefitting somewhere. It may be as simple as making the police statistics look good because they get so many convictions for pot use. *shrug* No idea, but somebody, somewhere is getting some good out of this. It's exactly like the prohibition ... a fool's errand.

I have looked into the medical usefullness of cannabis, and I conclude that it certainly does have verfiable medical uses.

Amazingly, these usefull properties are being rejected by the medical establishment, and we must question why.

The most outrageous answer is that marijuana can replace many of the pharmaceuticals now in common use, and sometimes do the job better and with less side effects, especially on the liver.

And thats the answer. Less profit from a non-patentable substance, because it occurs naturally, means marijuana's useful properties are being ignored, criminalised, and of course fudged with fake science.

The medical establishment had gotten the ear of our legistlators, the politicians, many years ago and clings on tightly to them today. It may sound fruity, but this is a true conspiracy.

All the people testifying about marijuana's usefulness cannot be wrong, or making it up. These are often people who say they don't even like the "buzz" of pot, they are not stoners.

For one example, marijuana regulates the pressure within our eyeballs, which when it goes wrong is called GLAUCOMA. 1.4Hg is the right pressure, and glaucoma patients can see right again after they take some hoots.

There is also diabetis - get the munchies when toking? - thats marijuana changing our blood sugar, lowering it and we get hungry, or if diabetic, we get relief from having 'too high of blood sugar levels'. This is a major medical use for marijuana that is going on unused, while dangerous insulin is being used instead.

This seems almost miraculous, but look at the long history of humans and marijuana living together, with people taking marijuana over [millions?] of years - we changed, the plant changed, and now they are usefull to each other.

Simple medicine. No profits.

And then there is recreational use - the one drug that does very little harm could be the way to get people to steer clear of hard drugs, but NOOOOOOOOO.

The war on drugs means a war on all drugs "other than the patentable drugs the pharmaceutical corporations WANT us to take". Its not about drugs and drug use, it is about taking only corporate drugs. And they will do "whatever it takes" to keep it this way, including being undemocratic in the application of the laws of the land. [a majority want marijuana legalised]

And yes, the tax revenue would erase our national debt of we legalised it, grew it under lisence and regulations, and sold it like we sell liquor.

IT ALL MAKES PERFECT SENSE - so why is it still prohibited?
{harpocracy?]
Karlin

Well said, Karlin!

I'm all for legalzing it...however, I could not accept the government regulating it's production & licensing.

From what I have read, the medical marijuana the Government provides to patients is crap. Imagine the pot head revolt if people were forced to smoke the governments version of pot? Pot dealers will always exist, regardless of the government legalizing it.

I here the US doctors have some of the best stuff. If it were packed like cigs what should the Pricing be and Tax! Would they sell the good stuff or have higher pricing for higher results. ALL PUNS INTENEDED!

We are coming of age with Asian Medicaines and Practices. We are finding more Man Made Pharm. are doing more harm than good.

As far as addicting....what isn't?

You're right about quality ... VICS grows its own and compared to government grown, it's far superior.

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http://safeaccess.ca/research/VICS_H...inoid_test.jpg

haha...yeh...canada has legalize M-J for some medical patients who have chronic pain. but they dont give them enough...then they would have to buy it off ppl in the streets...

Edit: Off topic

huh?

Untrue, Sine000. Totally untrue. Are you currently using cannabis for medical reasons? I am.

haha...im sorry if its untrue...i just read about it from all sources...

I agree with the medical use of it for sure....only makes sense as it is a controlled substance like many drugs out there, but for recreational use I think I'm sick of paying taxes, sin taxes, on smokes and booze. Can you imagine the tax their going to apply to this stuff?

I highly doubt they are going to let you grow it in your basement so really I think it's a tax grab. You can buy it in the street for $200.00 an ounce and that works for a lot of people.

Just out of curiosity...are you a pot smoker?

If you are, then I've never seen anyone who smokes being opposed to legalizatoin/decriminalization. Isn't paying taxes worth not being arrested for it? And wouldn't you rather the money go to the government (who theoretically could use the money for a good purpose, or reduce income taxes) instead of a pot dealer? And what about the taxes you pay to enforce the laws against marijuana?

If you aren't, then wouldn't you be happy that they are taxing it? It would be more money for the government which you wouldn't have to pay, money that could be used to reduce taxes or some other purpose.

The odds of the government lowering taxes because they introduced a new tax (or taxable item) are slim to none.

If the government was serious about this they would allow you to grow it in your basement; they won't and everyone knows it.

I understand what your saying but really this notion is just a tax grab, and believe me when you look at how they tax other "sin" products they will tax the crap out of this and drive the price as high as the sky. Who wants to see that? Who wants to pay more for something? It's against a lot people's nature.

If the government says go ahead and grow it in your basement I will support that.

Maybe they won't lower taxes, but the money could at least go to lowering the debt.

Hopefully, if they legalize it, they will keep the prices similar to what they are now...hopefully. If they charge too high of a price, that would just encourage illegal growing like what is going on now. People will just continue to buy from their local dealer. If they charge the same price (or less) they will put dealers out of business. I was in Amsterdam a while ago, and though I can't remember the exact price of weed, I think it was comparable to what you'd find in Canada.

I understand the purpose of taxing marijuana. First of all, taxes do need to be collected, either on income or on consumption. Since marijuana is a product like anything else, consumption taxes (GST and PST) should apply. Secondly, there is an additional cost to alcohol, tobacco, and to a lesser extent marijuana. All of these things are bad for your health. We pay billions in healthcare costs for these things, not to mention the deaths from second-hand smoke and drinking and driving. So it only makes sense that the people who engage in these activities should pay for the associated health costs.

You guys are FAR outtttttttttttt.........hahahahahahha
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Edited to fix side scroll. Cos

woah....fuzzylogix....what do you mean by FAR OUT?

The concept of medical marijuana is nothing but ignorant sound-byte politics in the hands of those that oppose it.

For god sakes, Medical Morphine, Heroin and Cocaine are the backbone of our painkillers. These are people who for the soundbyte of being "hard on pot" would rather get someone hooked on Heroin than risk them smoking pot for medical usage.

As for legalising it, Im gonna go with simple math here.

Even though it may be wrong, so many people use it, we have a problem. We arrest these people, send them to jail for long periods of time, costing +60,000+ a year to incarcerate them for upwards of 10 years. Our overcrowded prisons mean we have to let more people off on parole, who are often sex offenders, who often reoffend.

So the choice is simple: Send them to jail for $600,000 of your money and let a paedophile rape a small child to keep them there.

OR
Fine them as a misdemeanor $500 bucks a pop and make them do some community service.

Lower Taxes (through more income) and Community Service, Or Higher Taxes and Raped Children...

Its not like we didn't end prohibition for much the same reason.

All drugs should be legal.

In a free society no one has the right to tell you what you can and can't put in your own body. It's your life. If you want to drink a big jug of dran-o that's your decision. If you want to take a puff off a joint then its off to jail with you. Does this seem logical?

If weed were legal it would be alot cheaper, even with alot of taxes. The money goes to the government and not organized crime. Farmers could grow massive fields of it and no one would even bother trying to grow their own because it 10x easier to just walk to the store and buy an ounce. Think of it this way; Do you see alot of cigarette smokers growing their own tabacco? No, they just walk to the store and buy a pack. Street dealers would be a thing of the past. Just like speak-easys.

So, like, ok, legal right?, ok, good.

What?

Oh, sorry

jeez I'm hungry.........yah, legal and all, is good........pot that is.......

What??

, ah ****.......sorry......"cough cough".......

What??

Any chips in the cupboard??

What??

Who said that?????

"cough cough cough cough cough"...........jeez, that's good stuff.

What?? Oh, right, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and...and....and

Oh, right, legal eh?, good..................helps the arth.......arthri.....uno.

Pot should be Legal, I mean look at all the people making money off it and not paying taxes. We could have a huge amount of Tax revnue if we legalized it.

But we should not leglize all drugs like mentioned 2 posts up.
Some drugs have some extreamly adverse effects, like hard core addiction, Like coke, herroin, and Crystal meth, having a drug addicted population does not serve Canada well.

Pot is a decent drug, you can put it on the same level as Liquar, accept people usally dont get agressive and annoying when high.

So yes Pot should be Legalized.

NO to POT.

I quit smoking cigarettes July 12th this year.

I heard the Dutch mix tobacco with the weed among
their many legal store offerings.

Jim, like I've said before.....

Dont be SOOOOOOOOO conservative.

Just quit tobacco.