Should Marijuana Be Legalized in Illinois? (Chicago, Humboldt: condo, buy, public schools)

[HumboldtParkRican312]

So should marijuana be legalized? It's harmless compared to tobacco and alcohol. It saves live. It has many benefits. It could save the state of Illinois from the budget crisis. So should it be legalized?

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by HumboldtParkRican312

So should marijuana be legalized? It's harmless compared to tobacco and alcohol. It saves live. It has many benefits. It could save the state of Illinois from the budget crisis. So should it be legalized?

but that would take away the funding source of all of Chicago's most violent street gangs! kids might actually stay in school instead of dropping out to sell dimebags on the corners... gosh, why would society want to do that?

[ajolotl]

I think herb should be sold at cvs. Still do worry though that the drug dealers will have nothing productive to do, might take up something more dangerous (maybe kidnappings like where i used to live)

[ERS-One]

Sure.

[outofmyelement]

Yes, if for no other reason than its current criminalization diminishes the people's trust in government. We are brought up learning that drugs are deadly and addictive when marijuana is neither. When the average person learns that he has been lied to about this one substance, he might think the same applies to harder drugs. But I doubt legalization will ever happen simply due to the lack of monstrous profits to be made (the reason alcohol and tobacco are perfectly legal.)

[Lookout Kid]

Sure, why not? But if it's taxed too heavily, the black market will still thrive.

[linicx]

Medical Marijuana*should be legalized nationally, but... grown, harvested and controlled on the local level as strictly as it is in California. The patient gets the benefit of a safe drug.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by linicx

grown, harvested and controlled on the local level as strictly as it is in California.

I'm trying to figure out if this is sarcasm or not...

California is both notorious for having "cannabis clubs" where anyone claiming to have a headache problem can get weed, as well being a place that showed that legalizing marijuana didn't add any real problems, and in fact alleviated some in terms of jail overcrowding.

it's a plant. people can and always will be able to grow it and consume it.

the sooner we stop pretending government knows what's best for our bodies the better - I will never take health claims seriously considering our government classified ketchup as a vegetable, condones high fructose corn syrup in everything our children eat (including in public schools), etc.

[mdand3boys]

Medical use, decriminalized or legalized - those are three very different choices.
Medical use: maybe, otherwise, no.
The decriminalize and legalization crowds harm the possible legitimate users who are trying for medical usage. Marijuana does not "cure" anything. It "may" alleviate symptoms for a short time, just as other, legal medicines do.

[linicx]

I've been in bong shops. No mariunana was sold there. You don't get a license to carry or buy except from a licemsed doctor unless you are dying. The sooner we stop pretending that it has some recreational benefit the better.