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Old 01-27-2013, 03:02 PM
 
Location: Jacksonville, FL
11,086 posts, read 10,647,214 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wapasha View Post
the problem with drug legalization, is some new drugs are so bad for people, that by the time the unsuspecting buyer learns just how bad the drug he bought is, it may be too late, he's addicted. That's the main impetus behind banning hard drugs, every generation of children is a new generation of young, curious kids, who are utterly ignorant to just how addictive and destructive some drugs are. So we just ban their manufacture or selling altogether.

Take some types of heroin, they have no other value then to addict people to them. I don't know if it is in fact true, but I heard some heroin is so addictive, that dealers give you the first one free, because one time is enough to addict most people.
On the flip side, making these drugs illegal is not having the intended effect. While it's been a while since I was a teenager, I can remember those years well enough to know that I never had a problem finding alcohol or marijuana when I wanted it.

What actually happens when you make drugs illegal is that you place them at the forefront of rebellious teens' consciousness, thereby increasing the likelihood that they are going to try it in order to show those pesky adults that they can. Are all teens going to do drugs? No. But prohibiting a substance is a sure fire way to encourage drug use.

Now, what happens when a teen is with a group of friends and overdoses on heroin, cocaine, or meth? Since it's illegal for them to be using it in the first place, they are much less likely to call for help, since they fear that they will get in trouble for using and/or supplying it. Personally, I'd prefer that these substances be legalized, because legalization will increase the likelihood of someone's life being saved when they overdose.

Sorry, but history shows that prohibition of any substance doesn't work, especially when that substance is so deeply ingrained into society. This whole "war on drugs" idea has turned into a war on specific elements of our society that don't see any way out of their economic situation other than dealing drugs and has resulted in thousands of people spending time in prison for crimes that shouldn't be crimes. Let us also not forget that the "war on drugs" has resulted in more homicides than the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.
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Old 01-27-2013, 03:25 PM
 
Location: SW Missouri
15,853 posts, read 35,047,758 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wapasha View Post
the problem with drug legalization, is some new drugs are so bad for people, that by the time the unsuspecting buyer learns just how bad the drug he bought is, it may be too late, he's addicted. That's the main impetus behind banning hard drugs, every generation of children is a new generation of young, curious kids, who are utterly ignorant to just how addictive and destructive some drugs are. So we just ban their manufacture or selling altogether.

Take some types of heroin, they have no other value then to addict people to them. I don't know if it is in fact true, but I heard some heroin is so addictive, that dealers give you the first one free, because one time is enough to addict most people.
I agree with you on this one. People will argue tooth and nail that weed is not addictive, but my own personal experience would indicate otherwise (not me, but people who were very close to me). It's really not good stuff and it is as dangerous as cigarettes with regard to potential health hazards. As for it being a "gateway" drug, I am not sure about that. While I have seen people progress to the "stronger stuff", most pot heads are content to be just that. You can argue the fact that buying pot from drug dealers exposes people to the danger of progressing, and that legalizing it would, effectively, remove that problem, but that one small benefit does not offset the many negatives associate with smoking.

20yrsinBranson
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Old 01-27-2013, 03:39 PM
 
Location: 20 years from now
6,453 posts, read 6,988,119 times
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THe OP's question is just another form of asking about who supports the legalization of marijuana and who doesn't. I personally think it's a gateway drug, and I think this argument for legalizing it is just a way to provide leverage for junkies to get their foot in the door to legalize narcotics and other controlled substances.
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Old 01-27-2013, 04:35 PM
 
Location: Jacksonville, FL
11,086 posts, read 10,647,214 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 20yrsinBranson View Post
I agree with you on this one. People will argue tooth and nail that weed is not addictive, but my own personal experience would indicate otherwise (not me, but people who were very close to me). It's really not good stuff and it is as dangerous as cigarettes with regard to potential health hazards. As for it being a "gateway" drug, I am not sure about that. While I have seen people progress to the "stronger stuff", most pot heads are content to be just that. You can argue the fact that buying pot from drug dealers exposes people to the danger of progressing, and that legalizing it would, effectively, remove that problem, but that one small benefit does not offset the many negatives associate with smoking.
Actually, you can't. Thanks to the facts that I've had a rather diverse set of occupations in my life and I tend to hang out with people from one end of the economic spectrum to the other, I probably know more marijuana smokers and/or dealers than the average individual. It is a very small minority of marijuana users that do any other drugs. Most of the smokers I know don't even drink alcohol on a regular basis. Again, these are people from one end of the spectrum to the other, including a couple of lawyers and not a few people in the medical professions. As for dealers, I don't know any that sell anything other than marijuana, and most of them grow and process it themselves.


Quote:
Originally Posted by itshim View Post
THe OP's question is just another form of asking about who supports the legalization of marijuana and who doesn't. I personally think it's a gateway drug, and I think this argument for legalizing it is just a way to provide leverage for junkies to get their foot in the door to legalize narcotics and other controlled substances.
I don't think there should be a foot in the door, personally. I think the entire "war on drugs" should be scrapped, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc. should be legalized, and we should focus on treating, rather than punishing, addicts. Unfortunately, that won't happen until the electorate and our legislators get away from the idea that they can legislate morality.
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Old 01-27-2013, 04:39 PM
 
9,240 posts, read 9,705,426 times
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I'm an immigrant and I'm against the use of weed.
It is illegal in most countries in the world.
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Old 01-27-2013, 04:48 PM
 
Location: 20 years from now
6,453 posts, read 6,988,119 times
Reputation: 4658
Quote:
Originally Posted by JimRom View Post



I don't think there should be a foot in the door, personally. I think the entire "war on drugs" should be scrapped, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc. should be legalized, and we should focus on treating, rather than punishing, addicts. Unfortunately, that won't happen until the electorate and our legislators get away from the idea that they can legislate morality.
And with that should we legalize child pornography, beastiality, rape and incest? Instead of stopping with drugs, how about we just let loose the whole kit and koboodle?
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Old 01-27-2013, 05:16 PM
 
Location: Jacksonville, FL
11,086 posts, read 10,647,214 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by itshim View Post
And with that should we legalize child pornography, beastiality, rape and incest? Instead of stopping with drugs, how about we just let loose the whole kit and koboodle?
I see your logical thinking skills have turned themselves off for the day, but thanks for playing.

We aren't talking about any of the things that you just mentioned, nor do they belong in a thread about legalizing drugs. However, since you asked about them I'll give you my views on those as well.

Child pornography: Taking sexual advantage of someone who is not emotionally or mentally developed enough to give consent.

Rape: Forcing another individual to take part in a sexual activity against their will.

Yeah, these have a lot in common with taking drugs, don't they?
Legislating morality is not the same as preventing one person from harming another.

Bestiality: if you wish to engage in this activity, please stay away from any livestock that is headed for the food market. We have enough problems with commercially grown livestock in this country, I'd hate to get an STD from eating a steak.

Incest: not my problem if you've got the hots for your sister and the feeling is mutual, as long as you're both above the age of consent. Try not to let it result in pregnancy due to the mental and physical retardation that can be the result of 'keeping it in the family.'

When your logic returns, please explain how it is logical to permit one addictive substance, such as alcohol, to be consumed by anyone over the age of 21 while at the same time prohibiting other addictive substances, at least one of which is less addictive than alcohol is.
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Old 01-27-2013, 05:23 PM
 
Location: Long Island
32,816 posts, read 19,401,143 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bchris02 View Post
I agree with conservatives on many issues but this one makes no sense. They will fight the legalization of a safe substance just as hard as they will same sex marriage and abortion. The thing is, there is no religious ban on marijuana usage so it can't be fought from that angle. They are for personal liberties until it comes to something pleasurable then they fight it tooth and nail. Just like alcohol and tobacco, marijuana should be a personal choice as long as one doesnt get behind the wheel while under the influence. We need a serious libertarian candidate who will bring back the principles this country was founded on.
its the liberals that made hemp (marijuana) illegal


Where did the word 'marijuana' come from? In the mid 1930s, the M-word was created to tarnish the good image and phenomenal history of the hemp plant..

In the 1930s, innovations in farm machinery would have caused an industrial revolution when applied to hemp. This single resource could have created millions of new jobs generating thousands of quality products. Hemp, if not made illegal, would have brought America out of the Great Depression.

William Randolph Hearst (Citizen Kane) and the Hearst Paper Manufacturing Division of Kimberly Clark owned vast acreage of timberlands. The Hearst Company supplied most paper products. Patty Hearst's grandfather, a destroyer of nature for his own personal profit, stood to lose billions because of hemp.

In 1937, Dupont patented the processes to make plastics from oil and coal. Dupont's Annual Report urged stockholders to invest in its new petrochemical division. Synthetics such as plastics, cellophane, celluloid, methanol, nylon, rayon, Dacron, etc., could now be made from oil. Natural hemp industrialization would have ruined over 80% of Dupont's business.


THE CONSPIRACY

Andrew Mellon became Secretary of the Treasury and Dupont's primary investor. He appointed his future nephew-in-law, Harry J. Anslinger, to head the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

Secret meetings were held by these financial tycoons. Hemp was declared dangerous and a threat to their billion dollar enterprises. For their dynasties to remain intact, hemp had to go. These men took an obscure Mexican slang word: 'marihuana' and pushed it into the consciousness of America.


MEDIA MANIPULATION

A media blitz of 'yellow journalism' raged in the late 1920s and 1930s. Hearst's newspapers ran stories emphasizing the horrors of marihuana. The menace of marihuana made headlines. Readers learned that it was responsible for everything from car accidents to loose morality.

Films like 'Reefer Madness' (1936), 'Marihuana: Assassin of Youth' (1935) and 'Marihuana: The Devil's Weed' (1936) were propaganda designed by these industrialists to create an enemy. Their purpose was to gain public support so that anti-marihuana laws could be passed.

Examine the following quotes from 'The Burning Question' aka REEFER MADNESS:

a violent narcotic.

acts of shocking violence.

incurable insanity.

soul-destroying effects.

under the influence of the drug he killed his entire family with an ax.

more vicious, more deadly even than these soul-destroying drugs (heroin, cocaine) is the menace of marihuana!

Reefer Madness did not end with the usual 'the end.' The film concluded with these words plastered on the screen: TELL YOUR CHILDREN.

In the 1930s, people were very naive; even to the point of ignorance. The masses were like sheep waiting to be led by the few in power. They did not challenge authority. If the news was in print or on the radio, they believed it had to be true. They told their children and their children grew up to be the parents of the baby-boomers.

On April 14, 1937, the Prohibitive Marihuana Tax Law or the bill that outlawed hemp was directly brought to the House Ways and Means Committee. This committee is the only one that can introduce a bill to the House floor without it being debated by other committees. The Chairman of the Ways and Means, Robert Doughton, was a Dupont supporter. He insured that the bill would pass Congress.

Dr. James Woodward, a physician and attorney, testified too late on behalf of the American Medical Association. He told the committee that the reason the AMA had not denounced the Marihuana Tax Law sooner was that the Association had just discovered that marihuana was hemp.

Few people, at the time, realized that the deadly menace they had been reading about on Hearst's front pages was in fact passive hemp. The AMA understood cannabis to be a MEDICINE found in numerous healing products sold over the last hundred years.

In September of 1937, hemp became illegal. The most useful crop known became a drug and our planet has been suffering ever since.

Congress banned hemp because it was said to be the most violence-causing drug known.


…POT IS ILLEGAL BECAUSE LIBERAL BILLIONAIRES WANT TO REMAIN BILLIONAIRES!
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Old 01-27-2013, 05:24 PM
 
Location: Long Island
32,816 posts, read 19,401,143 times
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The facts cited here, with references, are generally verifiable in the Encyclopedia Britannica which was printed on hemp paper for 150 years:

* All schoolbooks were made from hemp or flax paper until the 1880s; Hemp Paper Reconsidered, Jack Frazier, 1974.

* It was LEGAL TO PAY TAXES WITH HEMP in America from 1631 until the early 1800s; LA Times, Aug. 12, 1981.

* REFUSING TO GROW HEMP in America during the 17th and 18th Centuries WAS AGAINST THE LAW! You could be jailed in Virginia for refusing to grow hemp from 1763 to 1769; Hemp in Colonial Virginia, G. M. Herdon.

* George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers GREW HEMP; Washington and Jefferson Diaries. Jefferson smuggled hemp seeds from China to France then to America.

* Benjamin Franklin owned one of the first paper mills in America and it processed hemp. Also, the War of 1812 was fought over hemp. Napoleon wanted to cut off Moscow's export to England; Emperor Wears No Clothes, Jack Herer.

* For thousands of years, 90% of all ships' sails and rope were made from hemp. The word 'canvas' is Dutch for cannabis; Webster's New World Dictionary.

* 80% of all textiles, fabrics, clothes, linen, drapes, bed sheets, etc. were made from hemp until the 1820s with the introduction of the cotton gin.

* The first Bibles, maps, charts, Betsy Ross's flag, the first drafts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were made from hemp; U.S. Government Archives.

* The first crop grown in many states was hemp. 1850 was a peak year for Kentucky producing 40,000 tons. Hemp was the largest cash crop until the 20th Century; State Archives.

* Oldest known records of hemp farming go back 5000 years in China, although hemp industrialization probably goes back to ancient Egypt.

* Rembrants, Gainsboroughs, Van Goghs as well as most early canvas paintings were principally painted on hemp linen.

* In 1916, the U.S. Government predicted that by the 1940s all paper would come from hemp and that no more trees need to be cut down. Government studies report that 1 acre of hemp equals 4.1 acres of trees. Plans were in the works to implement such programs; Department of Agriculture

* Quality paints and varnishes were made from hemp seed oil until 1937. 58,000 tons of hemp seeds were used in America for paint products in 1935; Sherman Williams Paint Co. testimony before Congress against the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act.

* Henry Ford's first Model-T was built to run on hemp gasoline and the CAR ITSELF WAS CONTRUCTED FROM HEMP! On his large estate, Ford was photographed among his hemp fields. The car, 'grown from the soil,' had hemp plastic panels whose impact strength was 10 times stronger than steel; Popular Mechanics, 1941.

* Hemp called 'Billion Dollar Crop.' It was the first time a cash crop had a business potential to exceed a billion dollars; Popular Mechanics, Feb., 1938.

* Mechanical Engineering Magazine (Feb. 1938) published an article entitled 'The Most Profitable and Desirable Crop that Can be Grown.' It stated that if hemp was cultivated using 20th Century technology, it would be the single largest agricultural crop in the U.S. and the rest of the world.



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Old 01-27-2013, 05:26 PM
 
Location: Long Island
32,816 posts, read 19,401,143 times
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THE WONDER PLANT

Hemp has a higher quality fiber than wood fiber. Far fewer caustic chemicals are required to make paper from hemp than from trees. Hemp paper does not turn yellow and is very durable. The plant grows quickly to maturity in a season where trees take a lifetime.

ALL PLASTIC PRODUCTS SHOULD BE MADE FROM HEMP SEED OIL. Hempen plastics are biodegradable! Over time, they would break down and not harm the environment. Oil-based plastics, the ones we are very familiar with, help ruin nature; they do not break down and will do great harm in the future. The process to produce the vast array of natural (hempen) plastics will not ruin the rivers as Dupont and other petrochemical companies have done. Ecology does not fit in with the plans of the Oil Industry and the political machine. Hemp products are safe and natural.

MEDICINES SHOULD BE MADE FROM HEMP. We should go back to the days when the AMA supported cannabis cures. 'Medical Marijuana' is given out legally to only a handful of people while the rest of us are forced into a system that relies on chemicals. Pot is only healthy for the human body.

WORLD HUNGER COULD END. A large variety of food products can be generated from hemp. The seeds contain one of the highest sources of protein in nature. ALSO: They have two essential fatty acids that clean your body of cholesterol. These essential fatty acids are not found anywhere else in nature! Consuming pot seeds is the best thing you could do for your body. Eat uncooked hemp seeds.

CLOTHES SHOULD BE MADE FROM HEMP. Hemp clothing is extremely strong and durable over time. You could hand clothing, made from pot, down to your grandchildren. Today, there are American companies that make hemp clothing; usually 50% hemp. Hemp fabrics should be everywhere. Instead, they are almost underground. Superior hemp products are not allowed to advertise on fascist television. Kentucky, once the top hemp producing state, made it ILLEGAL TO WEAR hemp clothing! Can you imagine being thrown into jail for wearing quality jeans?

The world is crazy...but that does not mean you have to join the insanity. Get together. Spread the news. Tell people, and that includes your children, the truth. Use hemp products. Eliminate the word 'marijuana.' Realize the history that created it. Make it politically incorrect to say or print the M-word. Fight against the propaganda (designed to favor the agenda of the super rich) and the bull****. Hemp must be utilized in the future. We need a clean energy source to save our planet. INDUSTRIALIZE HEMP!

The liquor, tobacco and oil companies fund more than a million dollars a day to Partnership for a Drug-Free America and other similar agencies. We have all seen their commercials. Now, their motto is: ‘It's more dangerous than we thought.’ Lies from the powerful corporations, that began with Hearst, are still alive and well today.

The brainwashing continues. Now, the commercials say: If you buy a joint, you contribute to murders and gang wars. The latest anti-pot commercials say: If you buy a joint...you are promoting TERRORISM! The new enemy (terrorism) has paved the road to brainwash you any way THEY see fit.

There is only one enemy; the friendly people you pay your taxes to; the war-makers and nature destroyers. With your funding, they are killing the world right in front of your eyes. HALF A MILLION DEATHS EACH YEAR ARE CAUSED BY TOBACCO. HALF A MILLION DEATHS EACH YEAR ARE CAUSED BY ALCOHOL. NO ONE HAS EVER, EVER DIED FROM SMOKING POT!! In the entire history of the human race, not one death can be attributed to cannabis. Our society has outlawed grass but condones the use of the KILLERS: TOBACCO and ALCOHOL. Hemp should be declassified and placed in DRUG stores to relieve stress. Hardening and constriction of the arteries are bad; but hemp usage actually enlarges the arteries...which is a healthy condition. We have been so conditioned to think that: Smoking is harmful. That is NOT the case for passive pot.

Ingesting THC, hemp's active agent, has a positive effect; relieving asthma and glaucoma. A joint tends to alleviate the nausea caused by chemotherapy. You are able to eat on hemp. This is a healthy state of being.
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