Legalization of Marijuana

[Rachmaninoff]

[quote name='8bit'][FONT="Tahoma"][COLOR="DimGray"]How is that being snarky? Maybe you disagree but I don't think I did anything to deserve the sarcastic response.[/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE]Let me get this straight, I've had people taking my original statement out of context from the very beginning so using your own words to emphasize my point made me sarcastic? I've said it many times already. I answered the question and I gave my reasons as to why for the answer.

Just as you are firmly on the other side of the fence, so am I. The phrase "And there are a lot of us" gives the impression that you are not alone in that opinion and I was making a strong statement that it was true on both sides.

So I'm sorry if you took that to be sarcastic, but at the same time, I'm kind of tired of people getting defensive over how I see the original topic. Which I clearly stated was based on what I saw happen to those around me. Not you or anyone else I've never met before.

I can't help it if people take that as a personal attack when it's not meant as such. It is as I said, the reasons why I would vote against a measure to make the stuff legal. People have been reading more into what I said in my first post.

[Ellerby]

[quote name='Rachmaninoff']Just as you are firmly on the other side of the fence, so am I. The phrase "And there are a lot of us" gives the impression that you are not alone in that opinion and I was making a strong statement that it was true on both sides. [/QUOTE]
[FONT="Tahoma"][COLOR="DimGray"]But that's the thing, I [I]didn't[/I] say it in a way to imply that there are a lot of people who share my opinion, I said it to imply that there are a lot of responsible smokers out there. Nothing more.

So while I only said it to support that there are responsible smokers, you said it to support that there are lots of people who share your opinion. Which is why, to me, it seemed sarcastic.

Regardless, I can now see how the line is irrelevant no matter how you use it and thus you weren't being sarcastic.

I still don't think I was being snarky, though... :animestun[/COLOR][/FONT]

[Aberinkula]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="DarkSlateGray"]I'm both for it and against it. Honestly, it's statistics are not as bad as cigarettes and alcohol, yet it can screw up your life. I think if it becomes legal that you need an extra law stating that in order to legally smoke pot, you must have no criminal record, and other jazz like that to ensue you can safely use pot.

I don't like talking much about it, I do however have a friend who was able to quit Pot cold turkey without problem, and just recently she quit smoking as well. I also have another friend who regularly smokes pot daily, but she never skips out of school. (Actually, she hardly misses a day and even when she isn't there on time, she ends up coming anyways.)

Legalizing marijuana is a double-edged sword if you really look at both sides.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Zen]

[color=royalblue][size=1]

IMO.

Marijuana being illegal isn't doing much but putting people in jail. It doesn't deter the people who use it, and the people who don't do it probably wouldn't even if it were. I, in fact, am one of the few who don't do it because of it being illegal. I can't because I'm in the military, and there for, would be kicked out if it were revealed I had any in my system. But I probably wouldn't become a regular user to begin with anyways. I've never bought my own alcohol, and I don't smoke. Somehow I don't see myself becoming addicted.

Millions of Americans have, or do, smoke pot, and without any REAL harmful effects. I can understand harsher drugs such as meth or crack which are literally poisonous, but pot is pretty much a cigarette that'll get you drunk. Alcohol is legal, cigarette's are legal. Pot isn't for illogical reasons I believe.

It being illegal is just clogging our already crowded court systems and prisons. Jail and the courthouses should be reserved for rapists, killers, robbers, and the like. Not a bunch of confused, harmless pot-heads.

That's my opinion.[/color][/size]

[Rachmaninoff]

[quote name='8bit;814325][FONT="Tahoma"][COLOR="DimGray"]I still don't think I was being snarky, though... :animestun[/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE]Well if you consider that we were both misunderstanding the other person's intent, then neither one of us was being sarcastic/snarky. It only came across that way. [QUOTE=Zen'][color=royalblue][size=1] It being illegal is just clogging our already crowded court systems and prisons. Jail and the courthouses should be reserved for rapists, killers, robbers, and the like. Not a bunch of confused, harmless pot-heads.

That's my opinion.[/color][/size][/QUOTE]I'm actually in favor of decriminalizing it in the sense that some of the penalties don't need to be as harsh as they are. If marijuana offenses are considered less of an affront to civil society than violent crimes such as murder, rape, or kidnapping, or even less of an affront than other drug offenses, then then they don't need to be penalized as harshly if not more than offenders of said crimes.

Take this document here for the state of Utah: [URL="http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/pdf/col_sanc_pdfs/state_details_pdfs/UTAH.pdf"][U]Collateral Punishments for Marijuana Offenses[/U][/URL] I don't agree with some of the fall out of having a conviction on one's record. Moving to decriminalizing the punishment for possession is something I do support.

[SunfallE]

[COLOR="RoyalBlue"][FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"][quote name='8bit;814186][FONT="Tahoma"][COLOR="DimGray"] I made it about the legalization of marijuana so I could, you know, involve other members that [i]don't[/i] smoke and maybe have a friendly, civilized debate with them. But apparently that won't happen.[/COLOR][/FONT][/QUOTE]All I see is people getting perhaps a bit heated, but far from being uncivilized. ^_~ Considering how heated discussions can get around here at times, I think this thread has been very civilized. [QUOTE=Rachmaninoff']I'm actually in favor of decriminalizing it in the sense that some of the penalties don't need to be as harsh as they are. If marijuana offenses are considered less of an affront to civil society than violent crimes such as murder, rape, or kidnapping, or even less of an affront than other drug offenses, then then they don't need to be penalized as harshly if not more than offenders of said crimes.

Take this document here for the state of Utah: [URL="http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/pdf/col_sanc_pdfs/state_details_pdfs/UTAH.pdf"][U]Collateral Punishments for Marijuana Offenses[/U][/URL] I don't agree with some of the fall out of having a conviction on one's record. Moving to decriminalizing the punishment for possession is something I do support.[/QUOTE]I agree with this completely. It's kind of absurd that the punishment is more severe when the crime itself really isn't. I may have no interest in it being legal, but the current system for dealing with an offense needs an overhaul in my opinion. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[Zen]

[color=royalblue][size=1]

Or we could just adopt the Canadian system and be like "whatever... who cares?"[/color][/size]

[Aberinkula]

[COLOR="DarkSlateGray"][SIZE="1"][quote name='Zen']It being illegal is just clogging our already crowded court systems and prisons. Jail and the courthouses should be reserved for rapists, killers, robbers, and the like. Not a bunch of confused, harmless pot-heads.[/quote]

Quoted for truth.

He proves a very great point, pot-heads aren't anything compared to rapists, killers and robbers. Also, in my opinion, rapists and murderers put on the death sentence should be treated to the same deaths as their victims, seems a bit unhuman, but I think it will justify their crimes.

[quote name='Zen']Or we could just adopt the Canadian system and be like "whatever... who cares?"[/quote]

Yup, and then eveyrone would probably get health insurance too.[/SIZE][/COLOR]