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I think the biggest reason that there's so much resistance to cannabis legalization is that the plant has a very strong stigma. Cannabis users are widely stereotyped as burnouts and deadbeats and people view legalization as enabling people's bad behavior. People cannot wrap their minds around the fact that there are people who partake who don't fit the stoner stereotype and actually lead successful, productive lives. Likewise on the medicinal side, the common narrative from conservatives is that if it really was a medicine then a pill could be made and there's no reason to legalize the plant. They simply refuse to listen to the testimonies of the people who have been helped by the plant. They also probably don't know that there is a THC pill called Marinol but it's not very effective medicinally compared to real cannabis. I also think marijuana still has not moved beyond its association with the 1960s counterculture and the anti-Vietnam movement. Many conservatives believe that was the point when the moral and societal decline of the USA began and that is a factor in their opposition to legalization.
However, if you roll back the stigma and look at the facts, its indisputable that cannabis is actually less dangerous and less harmful to society than alcohol (though I will say it's NOT 100% harmless). Cannabis however has a stigma and alcohol doesn't. A person can guzzle down a bottle of wine per night and most people won't think anything of it but if they smoke a joint, they'll be seen as a deadbeat addict who shouldn't have kids and shouldn't be hired for a job and who belongs in jail.
Does anybody think we, as a society, will ever move beyond the stigmatization of cannabis and its users?
I’m not sure how anyone that’s lived for more than a couple decades can say that the stigma on cannabis has not gotten better. Well, it is America I suppose. There was no approved medical usage before. No benefits. Only the hell in a hand basket bluster. Things have changed quite a bit.
I actually question how much stigma is attached to marijuana use these days. Certainly, some conservatives are against it. But I don't think the stigma extends far past a certain set of conservatives - it doesn't extend to all conservatives. Certain social conservatives, yes; economic conservatives, I'm not so sure. Libertarians, no. Liberals, no. Independents, mixed bag but I have the sense most either think its OK or simply don't care so much about it one way or the other.
I think the biggest reason that there's so much resistance to cannabis legalization is that the plant has a very strong stigma. Cannabis users are widely stereotyped as burnouts and deadbeats and people view legalization as enabling people's bad behavior. People cannot wrap their minds around the fact that there are people who partake who don't fit the stoner stereotype and actually lead successful, productive lives. Likewise on the medicinal side, the common narrative from conservatives is that if it really was a medicine then a pill could be made and there's no reason to legalize the plant. They simply refuse to listen to the testimonies of the people who have been helped by the plant. They also probably don't know that there is a THC pill called Marinol but it's not very effective medicinally compared to real cannabis. I also think marijuana still has not moved beyond its association with the 1960s counterculture and the anti-Vietnam movement. Many conservatives believe that was the point when the moral and societal decline of the USA began and that is a factor in their opposition to legalization.
However, if you roll back the stigma and look at the facts, its indisputable that cannabis is actually less dangerous and less harmful to society than alcohol (though I will say it's NOT 100% harmless). Cannabis however has a stigma and alcohol doesn't. A person can guzzle down a bottle of wine per night and most people won't think anything of it but if they smoke a joint, they'll be seen as a deadbeat addict who shouldn't have kids and shouldn't be hired for a job and who belongs in jail.
Does anybody think we, as a society, will ever move beyond the stigmatization of cannabis and its users?
I know more people that smoke weed them I do who smoke cigarettes. The stigma is on its way out.
Honestly, most conservatives I know think marijuana should be legal, have a live and let live attitude homosexuality and gay marriage and don't care what color or creed you are ... as long as you're not an a#$hole and don't live like trash in the middle of their neighborhood.
Really overgeneralizing arguments against a caricature-ized "conservative". Smoke up OP nobody cares.
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