Marijuana Legalization Bill

[John Dibble]

As a citizen, I support legalized marijuana, though I do think that the states/regions should still be allowed to illegalize it if they wish to do so.

[John Dibble]

I think the effects of this drug are too harmful to society. Legalizing marijuana would be like lowering the drinking age. NJ lowered the drinking age to 18 and it was an absolute failure. Legalizing this drug would be even more of a disaster. We cannot allow this to happen.

Legalizing it would be more akin to raising the drinking age. The only way for people to get marijuana now is from street dealers who will sell to anyone, regardless of age. If legalised, street dealership would drop off (how often have you heard of people selling bathtub gin and smuggled cigarettes in allyways?), and the in most places, the only way to get marijuana would be from stores - stores which would only sell to those that are of age.

I think it's incredibly naive to suggest that the moment we legalize marijuana we'll magically be able to regulate it's use.  That hasn't been the case with alcohol or cigarettes, why would it be the case for marijuana?  Rather, legalizing marijuana would most likely lead to an increase in it's use, particularly among teenagers.  There are plenty of teenagers who do not smoke marijuana right now because it's illegal.  As soon as marijuana is legalized, there will be no practical difference between smoking marijuana and smoking cigarettes, therefore we can reasonably assume that more people will do it.

Nobody is suggesting it would instantly clean up the streets. It would help over time for that.

As for teenage use, I doubt it would matter. Teenagers that don't do it because it's illegal would still not do it because it would be illegal for them. The legal age could be 18 or 21, doesn't matter. Use will probably increase, but who cares? Marijuana is not that harmful, and is most often used recreationally rather than abusively. If you are that worried about it, remember that we won't have to spend as much money on the drug war - we can spend some of that money on educational programs against drugs instead.

[John Dibble]

Facts on Marijuana

Facts on Alcohol

Comparing the two, why is one legal and the other not?

[John Dibble]

Facts on Marijuana

Facts on Alcohol

Comparing the two, why is one legal and the other not?

Because many, many people drink alcohol with no intention of ever getting drunk.  No one smokes marijuana unless they want to get high.

A poor case. People drink alcohol to get a buzz - aka to get high. A different high, yes, but still to get high. Also, the fact that people smoke pot to get high says they are more likely to know they are high, as opposed to drunks who may be unaware of their states.

[John Dibble]

On the alcohol-marijuana issue.

Don't worry about being consistent.

Just worry about being right.

Justice must be consistent, as should the laws guiding justice. Is it just to arrest someone, throw them in jail, and revoke many of their rights for the mere possession of marijuana? Yet if someone possesses alcohol it is legal, regardless of the fact that they are more likely to cause harm than the users of pot.

Inconsistency oft shows hypocrisy. I have yet to see a case where hypocrisy was right. It is pretty hypocritical in my view that the drug that causes far more problems is legal and the one that causes less is not. Having seen that prohibition of both substances creates new problems without really solving the old ones(even making them worse in some cases) I can only say that it would be right to legalize marijuana in order to alleviate the problems of prohibition, since the inherent problems of both drugs are really can't be solved.

[John Dibble]

As the friend of about a dozen pot users, I have yet to run into any problems with any of them.

Same here - all the ones I know have jobs and pay their taxes, and are otherwise law-abiding.

[John Dibble]

On the alcohol-marijuana issue.

Don't worry about being consistent.

Just worry about being right.

Justice must be consistent, as should the laws guiding justice. Is it just to arrest someone, throw them in jail, and revoke many of their rights for the mere possession of marijuana? Yet if someone possesses alcohol it is legal, regardless of the fact that they are more likely to cause harm than the users of pot.

Inconsistency oft shows hypocrisy. I have yet to see a case where hypocrisy was right. It is pretty hypocritical in my view that the drug that causes far more problems is legal and the one that causes less is not. Having seen that prohibition of both substances creates new problems without really solving the old ones(even making them worse in some cases) I can only say that it would be right to legalize marijuana in order to alleviate the problems of prohibition, since the inherent problems of both drugs are really can't be solved.

Let us be consistent and ban alcohol to.

So you want the murder rate to skyrocket again?

[John Dibble]

As a citizen, I urge the Senators to vote against this bill and vote for Senator Bono's version instead. This bill ursurps region's rights while the other one gives them a choice in the matter.