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I just don't get this mind set. This drug alters your ability to drive a car. Therefore your going to be putting more people in danger. More impaired people driving on the roads = more people getting hurt.
Thats total bull****. I would rather ride with someone who is smoking marijuana then some one who is not. Its alot safer than riding with someone or being on the road with others on the phone or sending text messages. Alcohol kills and messes with driving skills. All that smoking some marijuana will do is make a driver more cautious. If you don't belive that look up drive better on marijuana and you will see a test given to 50 college students somewhere other than the U.S. and those who used the marijuana regularly responded much better and drove alot safer than those who did not. Just because you or others with real week minds have had a bad experiace with smoking it does'nt mean others do!
I just don't get this mind set. This drug alters your ability to drive a car. Therefore your going to be putting more people in danger. More impaired people driving on the roads = more people getting hurt.
It is about personal liberty. Do you also not get why guns are legal? Having guns legal puts a whole lot more people in danger than marijuana and there is a lot less gun crime in London then in any comparable U.S. city because guns are illegal. This is evidenced in that New York's homocide rate is 8 times London's and many other cities have much much higher rates than New York. Therefore in lets ban guns...it is the same logic as you give for banning marijuana. Do you support this?
Thats total bull****. I would rather ride with someone who is smoking marijuana then some one who is not. Its alot safer than riding with someone or being on the road with others on the phone or sending text messages. Alcohol kills and messes with driving skills. All that smoking some marijuana will do is make a driver more cautious. If you don't belive that look up drive better on marijuana and you will see a test given to 50 college students somewhere other than the U.S. and those who used the marijuana regularly responded much better and drove alot safer than those who did not. Just because you or others with real week minds have had a bad experiace with smoking it does'nt mean others do!
Sorry... you looked up the wrong "test" then.
The standard definition of drug (according to the text cited below) is: "a chemical substance that, when taken into the body, alters the structure or functioning of the body". So, to say that it doesn't affect people driving is just playing the ostrich and burying your head in the sand to the facts. Drugs impair, period. That's is a fact by definition of the term. So, anyone who gets behind the wheel impaired risks the chance of injuring themselves and others. Cars are inherently dangerous anyway, what's more putting an impaired driver behind the wheel.
The only "week" mind (and I spell it wrong because you did) is that one dumb enough to believe there's no adverse affects in operations. Read my past posts and you'll find quotes from statistical studies (not like your fly-by-night "analysis") proving those points.
If someone want to smoke it because they're dumb, weak, and have no real way to deal with life, than just admit it. Otherwise, there's no other logical way to explain WHY they want to smoke pot (or any other drug). They want the high, the rush, or the feeling. However, bottom line is that if an individual can't justify taking a drug for medicinal purposes, they are just doing it for purely selfish reasons. Stop trying to justify it like it's a social thing. Nothing social about impairing the body or mind in some fashion and possibly injuring others in the process.
When someone can give me a non-medicinal reason why they would want to do drugs that is beyond messing up their own body or mind, then we can address the legality of it. Otherwise, it's like a spoiled baby simply screaming "BECAUSE I WANT TOO!! WAAAAH!"
Reference: Upper level college text for the class of the same name: Drugs, Society, and Criminal Justice (2nd Ed.) Charles F. Levinthal (2008)
I am not going to say that one will be fine to drive after smoking marijuana. But again, I think that there is a misunderstanding that marijuana use will skyrocket. You are making it sound as if this were legalized that all of a sudden 93 and a half million extra potheads are going to get in their car and start driving. What makes you think that there would be so many extra impaired drivers?
Do you have an answer to how many extra people would be using it and driving with it? How many more people will be using it? I don't mean to sound snarky, but I would sure like to know how many more users would come about with legalization. Also as I mentioned, we have to take into account that it is hard to know how many people us it now because no one wants to fess up to it.
What I have been trying to say is that the base users of marijuana are already using it. It's relitively easy to get, so more or less everyone who wants to try and use it, is already using it or already has.
Also, do you have any Idea how many people die from marijuana related car wrecks? again, I don't mean to sound snarky, I genuinely want to know.
Hmmm.... Patrick Henry (the great American Revolutionary Patriot) once said something like "I have no way of judging the future but by the past." Common sense, but some seem to lack it.
What makes us think more people would use it? Because believe it or not, some people obey the law. *collective gasps* There are people who have tried pot in the passed, enjoyed it and the feeling of being high, but simply can't for the simple fact that it is illegal.
The military is a prime example. Almost 1 million people combined in all branches of the service, and drugs (outside of prescribed, alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine) are illegal and tested regularly. That means there are a percentage of people who can't smoke pot or face military jail time. Additionally, all of the civilian workforce and contractors who work for and support the military directly also fall under the same rules. This also applied to getting a security clearance. Once lost, the job follows.
Then you can go back to prohibition in the 1920's and early 30's. Although alcohol was illegal, there were still those who broke the law and made, sold, served, and consumed alcohol. But, there were still numbers of the population that obeyed the laws. Once the 21st Amendment was passed, there was no need to abstain, and more people started drinking. Of course, back then, there were only a limited number of cars (they were a luxury, not a necessity). Additionally, there were far fewer paved roads, and cars (obviously) didn't travel at the rate of speed they do now, nor were they as heavy.
Do a reverse hypothetical question... "if alcohol was made illegal, would every person who drinks now still drink?" Oh, sure.. there's those morons who will break the law to do what they want anyway, they do now. But I believe we'd see a great reduction in people who wouldn't because it means their jobs.
In response to your last question about how many are involved in marijuana related car accidents (and I'm assuming you mean fatalities, so if you didn't, I apologize), but the numbers can't be confirmed to any substantive amount. The reason is that most people who were found to have THC (main chemical ingredient in marijuana) in their bodies also had alcohol. So, there was no distinguishing way to accurately attribute solely to alcohol or marijuana.
It is about personal liberty. Do you also not get why guns are legal? Having guns legal puts a whole lot more people in danger than marijuana and there is a lot less gun crime in London then in any comparable U.S. city because guns are illegal. This is evidenced in that New York's homocide rate is 8 times London's and many other cities have much much higher rates than New York. Therefore in lets ban guns...it is the same logic as you give for banning marijuana. Do you support this?
No. I don't. There was also a study done on a town in Texas (I don't remember the town) and other cities in the southwest I believe, where they allowed carrying both concealed and non-concealed weapons. You'd be amazed at the percentage of crime that dropped in those cities.
Guns are controlled by the society who supports it. Most of the populations involved in crimes where guns are used are in a portion of society that has little to no respect for the law (British society generally respects the law, not like here in America where people think "personal liberty" is more important).
When American society decides to obey laws and actually help law enforcement instead of fostering pockets of society that believe their personal liberty overrides the safety of the society as a whole, then gun crimes will remain rampant.
Following the logic that we should make something legal just because it's easy to do and happens all the time, then we'd legalize other things like murder, rape, theft, etc. They're illegal too, they are fairly easy to accomplish, and if you look at the National Crime Database it happens 10's of thousands of times a year.
There is no reason other than personal selfishness to legalize any drug (not just marijuana) other than for medicinal purposes.
It is the same logic...sorry but it is. The rationale is that since one this is prevelant with the other thing, then the first causes the second. Hence the water example. The properties are not involved...hence why I put water. This is why I even stated that it sounds absurd.
You did not address the fact that marijuana and impairment was a weak correlation.
You failed to mention the fact that alcohol is legal, yet is worse.
You also failed to retort the countless lives marijuana has saved, like my sister in law. Typically cancer patients are more likely to die from high stress (cortisol increases cancer risk...this is the stress hormone) as well as lack of eating. Marijuana decreases stress.
Driving impairment due to marijuana, according to many scientists, is not significant. At least according to current data. Data from 1984 suggests otherwise, but it also stated that cancer can be caused by marijuana. This was disproven. Newer data is usually more accurate.
I understand your concern. Although studies indicate that impairment may not occur, it may occur. Hence why driving under any influence is not a good idea. BTW motrin is mind altering. Cough syrup causes driving impairment.
1.) OK so alcohol is legal. That justifies making pot legal because you think it is less severe?
2.) Link me to info that indicates that MJ saves lives. It numbs pain it does not save lives. Link please...
3.)1984? Thats all you got???
4.) Studies? Link me to your creditable studies please. I am talking medical data not from some smoke up site.
marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off. As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.
Research on the long-term effects of marijuana abuse indicates some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term abuse of other major drugs.
Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction
A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia
At the present time, the strongest evidence links marijuana use and schizophrenia and/or related disorders.
One study found that an abuser’s risk of heart attack more than quadruples in the first hour after smoking marijuana. The researchers suggest that such an outcome might occur from marijuana’s effects on blood pressure and heart rate (it increases both) and reduced oxygen-carrying capacity of blood
Numerous studies have shown marijuana smoke to contain carcinogens and to be an irritant to the lungs. In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke
In one study, heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important measures of life achievement including physical and mental health, cognitive abilities, social life, and career status. Several studies associate workers’ marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers’ compensation claims, and job turnover.
Nobody here can give a good reason as to why legalize it...People's health and safety trump the effects on the economy. Sorry.
There have been many good reasons given, you refuse to address them, instead repeatedly focusing on insignificant aspects of the posts and presenting red herring arguments. Your line of thinking is made well apparent by your status statement.
Let me rephrase the original question: Under what constitutional authority is marijuana made illegal?
Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, which means that the federal government views marijuana as highly addictive and having no medical value. Which is enforced through the Controled Substance Act.
It is CAN BE dangerous. Who would want to risk arrest and imprisonment so that he or she can artificially invoke an endorphin release? Not to mention the possibility of hurting someone else. You know, not being able to stop your car in time because of your delayed reaction time...I mean really, is it worth it?
I have pointed out why I think it is dangerous....and to answer the original question of the post that is my reason why it should not be legal.
Anyone who has smoked a joint knows how it makes you feel. There are people who can not function safely while high. Sorry.
OH and what was your reason why it should be made legal? Short and simple please.
Last edited by *Danielle*; 11-25-2008 at 08:54 AM..
There have been many good reasons given, you refuse to address them, instead repeatedly focusing on insignificant aspects of the posts and presenting red herring arguments. Your line of thinking is made well apparent by your status statement.
Let me rephrase the original question: Under what constitutional authority is marijuana made illegal?
WHat is insignificant about what I posted. I posted real facts about why it is illegal. It is dangerous and unhealthy. WHy are those reasons insignificant? Those are the most important reasons to most people.
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