"Alcohol and tobacco are legal" as an argument for marijuana legalization

[darklordoftech]

I've heard this argument often.

[courts]

eh..i'm not a huge fan of that talking point.although i think it should be legal don't get me wrong

[dead0man]

it's a great argument because it quickly points out a lot of obvious hypocrisy from "straights".

[DC Al Fine]

Bad argument.

How intertwined a vice is in a culture is should be a factor in its regulation. Booze would be a lot harder to ban in the West than an majority Muslim country for example.

[DavidB.]

I don't like the talking point but essentially they do have a point, so I voted freedom argument.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

Horrible argument because alcohol and tobacco should be illegal too.  Unfortunately, they are so infiltrated into our society at this point that banning them would cause way too much trouble to be worth it.  We can't let marijuana become a third great drug.  We messed up historically with alcohol and tobacco- let's not do it again with marijuana.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Horrible argument because alcohol and tobacco should be illegal too.  Unfortunately, they are so infiltrated into our society at this point that banning them would cause way too much trouble to be worth it.  We can't let marijuana become a third great drug.  We messed up historically with alcohol and tobacco- let's not do it again with marijuana.

[Mr. Smith]

Horrible argument because alcohol and tobacco should be illegal too.  Unfortunately, they are so infiltrated into our society at this point that banning them would cause way too much trouble to be worth it.  We can't let marijuana become a third great drug.  We messed up historically with alcohol and tobacco- let's not do it again with marijuana.

Newsflash, it already is such a drug. Oh, and prohibition with the other two didn't work out so well.

Nope, it's a great argument considering where things are, might as well legalize it and tax the sh*( out of it, with a side of Utah-style blue laws. Oh the glorious revenue to be had.

[Dr. MB]

Freedom argument, mostly because the dangers of alcohol and especially tobacco are much greater than the dangers of marijuana.

The problem is, both have become highly ingrained into our culture while marijuana has always been a countercultural drug, despite being much less dangerous than either of the two.

[dead0man]

Freedom argument, mostly because the dangers of alcohol and especially tobacco are much greater than the dangers of marijuana.

you seem to be saying tobacco is worse than alcohol.  Alcohol kills young people and starngers in violent ways, tobacco only kills the person doing it and then, only when they're old.

[HisGrace]

Tobacco is a lot more dangerous than weed given how addictive it is yet support for it being illegal is much lower. I guess you could say both should be illegal, but very few people do and the consensus position here is essentially a nonsense position. People who want to ban tobacco halfway have a point but I still wouldn't support it.

For my hot take of the day prostitution being illegal makes even less sense than any of this stuff, with the possible exception of alcohol. 

Freedom argument, mostly because the dangers of alcohol and especially tobacco are much greater than the dangers of marijuana.

you seem to be saying tobacco is worse than alcohol.  Alcohol kills young people and starngers in violent ways, tobacco only kills the person doing it and then, only when they're old.

The issue is you can use alcohol responsibly. I regularly drink socially (and often hard liquor at that) but have never in my life been drunk.

[dead0man]

Sure, you can smoke "responsibly" too.  It might be harder, but it's certainly doable.  Doesn't change the fact that alcohol kills many thousands of young people and random strangers every year.

[darklordoftech]

Tobacco is a lot more dangerous than weed given how addictive it is yet support for it being illegal is much lower. I guess you could say both should be illegal, but very few people do

I'm guessing that there's few people who think that banning tobacco would work.

[Starry Eyed Jagaloon]

Sure, you can smoke "responsibly" too.  It might be harder, but it's certainly doable.  Doesn't change the fact that alcohol kills many thousands of young people and random strangers every year.

No, you can't. Also, smoking is disgusting for everyone around the smoker. I should be able to enjoy my life without being near cigarette smoke.

[dead0man]

Sure, you can smoke "responsibly" too.  It might be harder, but it's certainly doable.  Doesn't change the fact that alcohol kills many thousands of young people and random strangers every year.

No, you can't.

yes you can...this is fun!

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I'm pretty sure that's easy to do in California USA in 2018.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Horrible argument because alcohol and tobacco should be illegal too.  Unfortunately, they are so infiltrated into our society at this point that banning them would cause way too much trouble to be worth it.  We can't let marijuana become a third great drug.  We messed up historically with alcohol and tobacco- let's not do it again with marijuana.

Newsflash, it already is such a drug. Oh, and prohibition with the other two didn't work out so well.

Nope, it's a great argument considering where things are, might as well legalize it and tax the sh*( out of it, with a side of Utah-style blue laws. Oh the glorious revenue to be had.

It'll be on the way to being such a drug if decent society does nothing.
We should not be locking people up for consuming it, but we should punish people who sell it. Marijuana should not be seen as mainstream in civil society, period.

[dead0man]

Horrible argument because alcohol and tobacco should be illegal too.  Unfortunately, they are so infiltrated into our society at this point that banning them would cause way too much trouble to be worth it.  We can't let marijuana become a third great drug.  We messed up historically with alcohol and tobacco- let's not do it again with marijuana.

Newsflash, it already is such a drug. Oh, and prohibition with the other two didn't work out so well.

Nope, it's a great argument considering where things are, might as well legalize it and tax the sh*( out of it, with a side of Utah-style blue laws. Oh the glorious revenue to be had.

It'll be on the way to being such a drug if decent society does nothing.
We should not be locking people up for consuming it, but we should punish people who sell it. Marijuana should not be seen as mainstream in civil society, period.

well, thank Og most people disagree with you and since we live in a (nominally) free society, society gets to decide....slowly, via, ya know, letting our voices be heard through the various means we have to do that.  And we are doing it slowly, trying it out...seeing how it fits and looks in the mirror.  So far so good.  You'd think if there were any huge negative aspects to it, they would be showing up by now...but they're not.  Just like anybody that knows anything about it would have assumed.

"decent society" is overrated anyway.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

The primary reason marijuana should be legalized is because too many people use it, and, consequently, it’s not worth the social price (read: incarceration of multitudes) to police.

[Person Man]

The primary reason marijuana should be legalized is because too many people use it, and, consequently, it’s not worth the social price (read: incarceration of multitudes) to police.

Which prohibition could be "worth it" from a utilitarian POV if society had a meaningful ROI from it. It doesn't.

[HillGoose]

stupid, oversimplifying.

I don't care if any of them are legal (okay I might be mad if alcohol was illegal) but I think using a blanket argument like that is kind of disregarding the nuances of each.

I only support recreational marijuana legalization being done on the state level, after the Supreme Court strikes down laws prohibiting it, decriminalizing it nationwide.

I don't think recreational marijuana should be legalized federally, just decriminalized by the judicial branch. I don't think Congress should get involved with that.

[RINO Tom]

Horrible argument because alcohol and tobacco should be illegal too.  Unfortunately, they are so infiltrated into our society at this point that banning them would cause way too much trouble to be worth it.  We can't let marijuana become a third great drug.  We messed up historically with alcohol and tobacco- let's not do it again with marijuana.

And thankfully we corrected that up!

Anywho, as I have posted before ... I get it logically, and I support marijuana legalization (with stricter laws about public use), but proponents of this talking point tend to be very annoying and with completely deluded views about the cultural significance alcohol enjoys in our society.  They also tend to slowly slip into simply bashing alcohol use, which is turning off more people than they're gaining in support.  Alcohol is a very, very social drug in a way that marijuana isn't, and if people want to gain more supporters for legalization, trashing beer isn't going to win anyone over.

[Small L]

Obviously fallacious. It's like saying we should ban alcohol because marijuana is illegal.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Whataboutism at its finest.