Should Arizona legalize marijuana in 2016?

[Bondurant]

There's another initiative that I can fully support: RAD (Re-legalize All Drugs). It's being run by a guy in Tempe but the committee is de minimus so they won't be collecting any money. It's strictly a volunteer operation which makes it nothing more than a feel good exercise.

http://apps.azsos.gov/election/2016/.../C-03-2016.pdf

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by GJJG2012

Cannabis has been proven to increase the number of healthy brain cells in adolescents. Researchers trying to convince people that a greater number of healthy brain cells lowers intelligence! All that happens when people use cannabis is some might pay less attention to info from other people so they might mot remember as much of what was said, but that is not the same as permanent brain damage.

Long term use of marijuana, and being addicted to it isn't healthy at all. There are some short term health benefits, but there are just as many risks with smoking marijuana as there are with smoking cigarettes, such as lung cancer. I personally can't stand the second hand smoke from cigarettes or marijuana, which is why I stay away from both. Claiming that marijuana is healthy is about as bad as claiming that tobacco is healthy (much like what was advertised long ago with cigarettes).

My reasons for legalizing marijuana are due to the overwhelming evidence we have that the war on drugs is a failure, and regulating people's private lives to save them from themselves doesn't work. I say that if people want to smoke, let them smoke whatever they want as long as they're not blowing it in my direction! They're aware of the risks, so let them knock themselves out. Banning or restricting these substances is not going to stop the illegal drug trade ... in fact, it has actually increased underground criminal activity (much like Prohibition did with alcohol in the 1920s & early 1930s). I personally don't give a rat's rump about who smokes what, who gets sick from it, or who dies from it. If idiots are killing themselves off through their own stupid actions, I see it as effective population control. It might sound mean, cold, and harsh, but it's a fact of life!

[TKO]

Just to point it out, smoking it is not necessary and if using under the direction of a doctor (and if you're smart, recreationally) they're almost certainly directing you, as mine do, to ingest it either by eating it or using a vaporizer. You avoid the by products of combustion that way. These methods are also more effective, more economical and do not have much smell if any.

[bgray9]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Long term use of marijuana, and being addicted to it isn't healthy at all. There are some short term health benefits, but there are just as many risks with smoking marijuana as there are with smoking cigarettes, such as lung cancer. I personally can't stand the second hand smoke from cigarettes or marijuana, which is why I stay away from both. Claiming that marijuana is healthy is about as bad as claiming that tobacco is healthy (much like what was advertised long ago with cigarettes).

This. But, as Simon and Garfunkel once said, "a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest."

Society as a whole will pay for (and has paid for) the negative effects of marijuana use on those who have chosen to use it.

[AZBradley]

Just like booze!

[whitem3]

Originally Posted by bgray9

Society as a whole will pay for (and has paid for) the negative effects of marijuana use on those who have chosen to use it.

Society as a whole will pay for (and has paid for) the negative effects of the failed war on drugs.
Over the past four decades, federal and state governments have poured over $1 trillion into drug war spending and relied on taxpayers to foot the bill. Unfortunately, these tax dollars have gone to waste.

War on drugs a trillion-dollar failure - CNN.com

Drug War Statistics | Marijuana Statistics | Mexico Drug War Deaths | Drug Policy Alliance