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News: NYTimes Backs Marijuana Legalization
Member Since: 3/25/2009
Posts: 13,550
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NYTimes Backs Marijuana Legalization
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Repeal Prohibition, Again
It took 13 years for the United States to come to its senses and end Prohibition, 13 years in which people kept drinking, otherwise law-abiding citizens became criminals and crime syndicates arose and flourished. It has been more than 40 years since Congress passed the current ban on marijuana, inflicting great harm on society just to prohibit a substance far less dangerous than alcohol.
The federal government should repeal the ban on marijuana.
We reached that conclusion after a great deal of discussion among the members of The Times’s Editorial Board, inspired by a rapidly growing movement among the states to reform marijuana laws.
There are no perfect answers to people’s legitimate concerns about marijuana use. But neither are there such answers about tobacco or alcohol, and we believe that on every level — health effects, the impact on society and law-and-order issues — the balance falls squarely on the side of national legalization. That will put decisions on whether to allow recreational or medicinal production and use where it belongs — at the state level.
We considered whether it would be best for Washington to hold back while the states continued experimenting with legalizing medicinal uses of marijuana, reducing penalties, or even simply legalizing all use. Nearly three-quarters of the states have done one of these.
But that would leave their citizens vulnerable to the whims of whoever happens to be in the White House and chooses to enforce or not enforce the federal law.
The social costs of the marijuana laws are vast. There were 658,000 arrests for marijuana possession in 2012, according to F.B.I. figures, compared with 256,000 for cocaine, heroin and their derivatives. Even worse, the result is racist, falling disproportionately on young black men, ruining their lives and creating new generations of career criminals.
There is honest debate among scientists about the health effects of marijuana, but we believe that the evidence is overwhelming that addiction and dependence are relatively minor problems, especially compared with alcohol and tobacco. Moderate use of marijuana does not appear to pose a risk for otherwise healthy adults. Claims that marijuana is a gateway to more dangerous drugs are as fanciful as the “Reefer Madness” images of murder, rape and suicide.
There are legitimate concerns about marijuana on the development of adolescent brains. For that reason, we advocate the prohibition of sales to people under 21.
Creating systems for regulating manufacture, sale and marketing will be complex. But those problems are solvable, and would have long been dealt with had we as a nation not clung to the decision to make marijuana production and use a federal crime.
In coming days, we will publish articles by members of the Editorial Board and supplementary material that will examine these questions. We invite readers to offer their ideas, and we will report back on their responses, pro and con.
We recognize that this Congress is as unlikely to take action on marijuana as it has been on other big issues. But it is long past time to repeal this version of Prohibition.
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Main page
Let States Decide on Marijuana
The Injustice of Marijuana Arrests
The Federal Marijuana Ban Is Rooted in Myth and Xenophobia
More articles will be published later this week.
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Member Since: 2/6/2012
Posts: 29,767
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If smoking and drinking are legal, then weed should be 
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 68,548
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Well you know, I don't think it'd be a good idea to drive after having smoked a couple joints, and even though I know many people wouldn't do that, some will. So just no, it better stay illegal + it smells gross.
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Member Since: 5/24/2012
Posts: 8,040
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Member Since: 5/11/2010
Posts: 19,489
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Member Since: 1/4/2014
Posts: 196
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excited for safer, better and hopefully cheaper weed 
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 5,754
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Sick the stench alone  It would open up the job market for more competent people though or will legalization mean that you no longer have to be drug free to hold a job?
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Member Since: 6/1/2012
Posts: 6,899
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Quote:
Originally posted by Waffles O'Brien
If smoking and drinking are legal, then weed should be |
Basically.
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Member Since: 3/25/2009
Posts: 13,550
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Quote:
Originally posted by KillingYourCareer
Well you know, I don't think it'd be a good idea to drive after having smoked a couple joints, and even though I know many people wouldn't do that, some will. So just no, it better stay illegal + it smells gross.
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Driving under the influence would obviously still be illegal.
A recent study found that states that legalize medical marijuana see fewer fatal car accidents, and partly attributed this to people smoking pot instead of drinking.
http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/0...raffic-deaths/
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Member Since: 8/24/2008
Posts: 35,091
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lol If weed becomes legal I want to see a comparison
Of those who profit from it legalization vs those who were jailed before it was legal.
I have a feeling there will be a huge difference.
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Member Since: 5/11/2010
Posts: 19,489
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Quote:
Originally posted by KillingYourCareer
Well you know, I don't think it'd be a good idea to drive after having smoked a couple joints, and even though I know many people wouldn't do that, some will. So just no, it better stay illegal + it smells gross.
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it's not a good idea to drink & drive either, but people still do it. 
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 68,548
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Quote:
Originally posted by Bibliotheque
Driving under the influence would obviously still be illegal.
A recent study found that states that legalize medical marijuana see fewer fatal car accidents, and partly attributed this to people smoking pot instead of drinking.
http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/0...raffic-deaths/ |
Oh that's good! Well I don't care if other people want to smoke, I know I'd never. As long as they're okay with having bad breath, it doesn't affect me 
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Member Since: 5/7/2012
Posts: 8,404
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Quote:
Originally posted by KillingYourCareer
Well you know, I don't think it'd be a good idea to drive after having smoked a couple joints, and even though I know many people wouldn't do that, some will. So just no, it better stay illegal + it smells gross.
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I know the problem with it before was we couldn't tell if a person was driving while high. But a month ago some guy invented the "Pot Breathalyzer".
https://news.vice.com/article/pot-br...ming-a-reality
Cigarettes smell gross, alcohol smells gross. Legalize weed, people are dying in Central America because of the Prohibition, the war on weed is destroying lives/
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Banned
Member Since: 6/25/2011
Posts: 37,192
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Quote:
Originally posted by KillingYourCareer
Well you know, I don't think it'd be a good idea to drive after having smoked a couple joints, and even though I know many people wouldn't do that, some will. So just no, it better stay illegal + it smells gross.
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How does keeping it illegal stop people from driving while high, exactly? People still smoke weed.
Your post makes no sense.
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Banned
Member Since: 6/25/2011
Posts: 37,192
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Quote:
Originally posted by BeBeMint
Sick the stench alone It would open up the job market for more competent people though or will legalization mean that you no longer have to be drug free to hold a job? |
Legalization would mean you wouldn't be able to be fired for having marijuana in your system, correct.
Are you implying that people who don't smoke marijuana are automatically more competent than people who do? Are you even remotely aware of how many people smoke marijuana?
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Member Since: 3/25/2009
Posts: 13,550
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2016 is shaping up to be a big year 
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Member Since: 4/26/2012
Posts: 33,881
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Member Since: 8/19/2013
Posts: 40,803
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Good 
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Member Since: 12/31/2010
Posts: 26,257
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Better start rallying up in my state, we only got 2 years left till that ballot comes through!  I'll be 21 by then too.
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