Smoking Pot

[Moros]

>>> Is it moral and ethical?

It's amoral.

>>> Should it be legalized?

Decriminalized, yes. Legalized, nope.

 

[Cerberus~]

Decriminalized, yes. Legalized, nope.

Why not go all the way?

 

[xAtheistx]

It should be legalized. As long as a person uses it responsibly, no problem. There should be stiff penalities for driving whilst under the influence, etc. In fact, I think they should also legalize LSD. It has no addictive potenial, and does not cause harm to the body.

Except, y'know... when you start stabbing at the bugs in your skin...

If our lawmakers were stoned, think about it, our government might actually get something done. If everyone was stoned no one would try and argue against anything, they just wouldnt care. lol

Great... so every bill/law/court suggestion EVER MADE would be passed. Yeah, that sounds... excellent...

 

[xAtheistx]

Double post

 

[""]

Is it moral and ethical? Should it be legalized?

I actually don't have a problem with pot being legalized, and infact, I smoke about 3-4 bowls a day.








I keed. The first half of the sentence is correct. I don't have a problem with marijuana being legalized, and I think it should be handled in the same manner as cigarettes and liquor. You should have to be a certain age to buy it. I would add one more stipulation though, and that would be a limit on how much of it you can purchase at one time. I don't smoke it. I have smoked it. I prefer not to smoke it, as I do not find that I can be very responsible while doing so, and being a single mother of a special needs child requires a great deal of responsibility. So does working in the medical community, and treating patients. I also do not drink at home or while on the job. I see the two as similar. Just as I would not drink liquor at an inappropriate time, I would not smoke pot at an inappropriate time. To me, there is no appropriate time to smoke pot as far as my own personal life is concerned. It just doesn't fit into the lifestyle I want for myself. If marijuana were made legal, I would expect it to cost more than cigarettes, more than liquor, and be taxed to a greater extent. I think people who overuse it should be ticketed, fined, and incarcerated, just like people who drink too much and cause a public nuisance/drive drunk, etc.

Now I realize that not every Christian is going to agree with me. That's ok. Just keep in mind that I'm not suggesting that people should smoke pot. I'm saying that I don't smoke it, and it doesn't fit into my lifestyle. I'm also saying that by legalizing it, we could have better control over it. For an example of this, compare the number of bootlegger liquor sales to the sales at the liquor stores.

 

[Lignoba]

I wonder how many wars we would be rushing into, as a result of a bunch of lawmakers sitting around getting stoned.

Actually not nearly as many, pot calms you down and makes you think about stuff harder than you normally would. The whole world slows down so you can ponder something more in a given amount of time

 

[jgarden]

Banning drugs doesn't eradicate their existance - it merely drives up the prices benefiting the drug lords. Prohibition helped establish organized crime and the drug trade has merely created another "cash cow" over which they exert a virtual monopoly. Much of our crime is the result of individuals trapped by addiction.

If drugs were decrimminalized, the drug lords would be deprived of their income, Latin American countries would no longer be destablized and the US could put its resources into rehabilitation, not enforcement (which can only capture a mere fraction of incoming drugs).

 

[Harlan Norris]

Is it moral and ethical? Should it be legalized?

It seems to be a constant,the desire to smoke dope,in this forum.The obvious reason it is immoral is because it's illegal.It's an illegal narcotic,so if one has possesion of pot,one is breaking the law.A lot of people get killed bringing you your dope.People go to prison over it.It ruins peoples lives.Iv'e smoked a lot of dope in my day.It's not medicine,it's an halucinagin.It can and does cause severe depression and paranoia in the user.Not to mention apathy.It is a gateway drug,because it's more or less socially acceptable.It places one in social circumstances with those that use other drugs,tempting them to use these also.This last feature I've mentioned is the most dangerous.At first drugs seem great.You get high and you feel like you love everyone,and everyone loves you,and your worst enemy doesn't seem all that bad.It's exciting,it's an adventure.But it doesn't stay that way.When I read threads by Christians, saying dope is ok,I'm reminded of a movie.Repo man.The main charicter is standing in the kitchen.His parents are sitting on the couch smoking dope and watching some televangelist.He inquires about some money they promised him for college.They say they gave it to the televangelist,in his name,and now he's a vaunted member of the congregation.I feel certain that Christianity and pot do not mix.

 

[cobaltburrito]

It seems to be a constant,the desire to smoke dope,in this forum.The obvious reason it is immoral is because it's illegal.It's an illegal narcotic,so if one has possesion of pot,one is breaking the law.A lot of people get killed bringing you your dope.People go to prison over it.It ruins peoples lives.Iv'e smoked a lot of dope in my day.It's not medicine,it's an halucinagin.It can and does cause severe depression and paranoia in the user.Not to mention apathy.It is a gateway drug,because it's more or less socially acceptable.It places one in social circumstances with those that use other drugs,tempting them to use these also.This last feature I've mentioned is the most dangerous.At first drugs seem great.You get high and you feel like you love everyone,and everyone loves you,and your worst enemy doesn't seem all that bad.It's exciting,it's an adventure.But it doesn't stay that way.When I read threads by Christians, saying dope is ok,I'm reminded of a movie.Repo man.The main charicter is standing in the kitchen.His parents are sitting on the couch smoking dope and watching some televangelist.He inquires about some money they promised him for colledge.They say they gave it to the televangelist,in his name,and now he's a vaunted member of the congregation.I feel certain that Christianity and pot do not mix.

Yawn, same old anti-marijuana rhetoric, same old ant-marijuana time. Here go read
this: http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_faq1.shtml
Specifically Part III where the falsehoods the media and the DARE program told you are dispelled.

 

[Harlan Norris]

Yawn, same old anti-marijuana rhetoric, same old ant-marijuana time. Here go read
this: http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_faq1.shtml
Specifically Part III where the falsehoods the media and the DARE program told you are dispelled.

Yea,I was about your age when I started.No one could tell me anything either.I know it's a waste of time, but I'd advise you to quit now.I've been to that site,back in the day.My life is a tesimony to what drugs can do.I wish I had it to live over,but you know thats just it,you can't live it over.This life is a one shot deal.Don't blow it.

 

[cobaltburrito]

Yea,I was about your age when I started.No one could tell me anything either.I know it's a waste of time, but I'd advise you to quit now.I've been to that site,back in the day.My life is a tesimony to what drugs can do.I wish I had it to live over,but you know thats just it,you can't live it over.This life is a one shot deal.Don't blow it.

Uh...when did I say I smoked cannabis?

 

[Cerberus~]

If marijuana were made legal, I would expect it to cost more than cigarettes, more than liquor, and be taxed to a greater extent. I think people who overuse it should be ticketed, fined, and incarcerated, just like people who drink too much and cause a public nuisance/drive drunk, etc.

Taxing is fine, but if you tax too much, you'll drive people to grow their own which is relatively cheap, but takes time, devotion and skill to get high-grade bud. Something most stoners aren't willing to do when they can afford to buy it.

I find the idea of trying to regulate and enforce use silly. First off, it's an arbitrary crime if all you're getting them for is "excessive intoxication", and second, how do even tell how much someone's had to smoke? It isn't like booze, and there isn't anyone around who can tell me how many doobies I've had in any given amount of time unless they were tere with me.

Not to mention, how do you even define excessive use? Some people have a tolerance, some don't. Some might be smoking less potent bud and may need more of it to achieve the same affect.

It seems to be a constant,the desire to smoke dope,in this forum.The obvious reason it is immoral is because it's illegal.It's an illegal narcotic,so if one has possesion of pot,one is breaking the law.

Civil disobedience for a worthy cause is never immoral.

A lot of people get killed bringing you your dope.People go to prison over it.It ruins peoples lives.

All problems that come with prohibition. Solution: end prohibition.

Iv'e smoked a lot of dope in my day.It's not medicine,it's an halucinagin.

Tell that to the cancer and AIDS patients who smoke grass to get an appetite, or to quell nausea. There aren't many pharmecueticals out there that are as effective, as healthy, and cheaper than pot.

Or the glaucoma patients who take it to reduce their innerocular pressure? Tell that to Montel who smokes it for his MS.

Pot's also a stronger pain reliever than aspirin is, and many former alcoholics and heroin addicts testify to pot's ability to help them beat their former addiction.

It can and does cause severe depression and paranoia in the user.Not to mention apathy.

But not always. Hey, if pot doesn't work you, don't do it. But it works for me. What's wrong with that?

It is a gateway drug,because it's more or less socially acceptable.It places one in social circumstances with those that use other drugs,tempting them to use these also.

Another symptom of prohibition. See and common thread here. Most of the problems the anti-drug propagandists have blamed of drugs actually have their birth in prohibition.

You legalize pot, and you just cut off a 12 million member comsumer base from the hardcore drug market.

The main charicter is standing in the kitchen.His parents are sitting on the couch smoking dope and watching some televangelist.He inquires about some money they promised him for college.They say they gave it to the televangelist,in his name,and now he's a vaunted member of the congregation.

Good arguement on why you shouldn't be a Christian. You're more likely to give your money away to a fast-talking swindler.

 

[Koz]

It should be legalized in a similar way to the Netherlands.

 

[psychedelicist]

It seems to be a constant,the desire to smoke dope,in this forum.The obvious reason it is immoral is because it's illegal.

I don't see how illegal=immoral. If christianity was illegal, would it be immoral? I think not.

A lot of people get killed bringing you your dope.People go to prison over it.

If it were legalized, who would be killed or put in prison?

It ruins peoples lives.

So can anything done in excess. Is it the drug's fault or the stupidity of the person? If I waste away my life eating twinkies and watching TV, it would be ludicrous to blame TV and twinkies, no? Why is pot any different?

Iv'e smoked a lot of dope in my day.

Me too.

It's not medicine,it's an halucinagin.

lol... I don't believe it's ever caused me to hallucinate. And yes it has many medicinal benefits, like cerberus mentioned in his post. It's all well and good if you have none of those diseases, you can say whatever you like because you don't know any better. MY grandfather has glaucoma and according to him it's the ONLY thing that keeps the intense pain due to intraocular pressure at bay.

It can and does cause severe depression and paranoia in the user.

It hasn't in me or anyone I know. I am a schizoid, and I can tell you it amplifies that, but then, most drugs amplify any psychosis/disorder people might have. But pot never (or, to be more fair, extremely rarely) CAUSES psychoses to appear.

Not to mention apathy.

I see a motivated stoner every day when I look in the mirror.

A while back I had no idea what I wanted to do or how to do it and nor did I care. Then I got really blazed and watched a wonderful movie called ghost in the shell. If I had been sober I would have thought 'cool futuristic fantasy' and left it at that, but since I was so high it got me thinking 'I wonder if there's any actual research into those types of fields and studies, it might be cool to look into it.' I got right up and looked it up (another thing I'd never do if I was sober, I'd have said 'I'll get around to it sometime') and found out more than I had imagined was happening. I began heavily researching what was going on and how to get into it, and here I am today, with something of a plan in mind and no less motivated than before. Had I not been stoned I might never have found this obsessive interest that will hopefully turn into my career.

Weed causes apathy, my foot.

It is a gateway drug,because it's more or less socially acceptable.It places one in social circumstances with those that use other drugs,tempting them to use these also.

I've been in many a social situation where we've done pot and then they wanted to do other things- all kinds of things. Some I tried, some I didn't, either way, no one thought any less of you. None of us cared who did or didn't do wha, it was about the good time we were all having, not who was cool enough to do what drug.

This last feature I've mentioned is the most dangerous.At first drugs seem great.You get high and you feel like you love everyone,and everyone loves you,and your worst enemy doesn't seem all that bad.It's exciting,it's an adventure.But it doesn't stay that way.

But it should. And whether I'm high or not I always like to try and make myself feel that way rather than get dragged down into pointless ego games. Much better way of thinking, and once again something I never would have thought of had I not smoked.

When I read threads by Christians, saying dope is ok,I'm reminded of a movie.Repo man.The main charicter is standing in the kitchen.His parents are sitting on the couch smoking dope and watching some televangelist.He inquires about some money they promised him for college.They say they gave it to the televangelist,in his name,and now he's a vaunted member of the congregation.I feel certain that Christianity and pot do not mix.

That's pretty stupid, yes. But I've seen people do stupider stuff while sober, if they were that gullible then pot still shouldn't be blamed, once again it all comes down to the people's stupidity, not pot's.

 

[loriersea]

I'm not sure, honestly. I believe marijuana should be legal. However, as long as it is illegal, I do think that smoking it in most circumstances is morally wrong.

I lived in Ann Arbor, MI for three years, and marijuana is pretty much de facto legal there. Possession of marijuana (in amounts typical for personal use, I assume) and/or being caught smoking marijuana is considered only a civil infraction (like a parking ticket) and results in a $25 fine. That's it. And, Ann Arbor is the safest and nicest place I've ever lived. I certainly don't see either the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana being a problem, and I think it could be a good thing.

Civil disobedience for a worthy cause is never immoral.

While I do agree, "civil disobedience" means more than just breaking the law. It means very deliberately breaking the law, publicly, with the intention (or at least awareness and acceptance of the possibility) of getting caught so as to bring attention to an issue. In Ann Arbor there is a "Hash Bash" every year, and I think that comes about as close as I've seen to civil disobedience around this issue. People come to the city, gather on the U-M campus, and smoke pot, fully aware that they could get fined $25 and prepared to deal with it if it happens, as a way to bring attention to the issue of marijuana legalization (and probably mostly as an excuse to get high with lots of other people, and maybe pick up a guy/girl, but I've never been to one and so I don't know).

That is very different from smoking pot in your house and hoping you don't get caught. Just smoking pot isn't civil disobedience, and I do think that, if you are purposely evading the law, then it probably is immoral to break the law and smoke marijuana. If you are engaged in actual civil disobedience, I think that's another story.

 

[Cerberus~]

You make a good point about the civil disobedience, but I still don't get why breaking an unjust, unConstitutional and unAmerican law is immoral?

 

[loriersea]

You make a good point about the civil disobedience, but I still don't get why breaking an unjust, unConstitutional and unAmerican law is immoral?

Honestly, I'm not sure either. I just feel like it is .

Really, though, I think it's the sneaking around aspect of it that makes it feel immoral, to me. I know that, the times I bought, had, and/or smoked pot, it involved a lot of lying, hiding, and trying very hard not to get caught. Of course, I was 17 at the time, and many things I did were like that . But, only having smoked pot as a teenager, it's very tied up for me with sneaking around, disobeying parents, and that kind of thing, so I do feel like it's immoral and/or unethical.

But I'm actually not entirely sure how I feel about the issue of morality and the law. In general, I see breaking the law as being immoral because one is trying to evade the consequences. If you break a law fully prepared to take the consequences, even if you are not fully engaged in civil disobedience, I tend to think that the breaking of the law itself is not necessarily immoral. Of course, the act might be immoral in itself (like assaulting someone), but it isn't necessarily immoral to do something illegal. But, when you break a law knowingly, and want to evade the consequences, even if the act itself is amoral, like smoking marijuana, I tend to see that as immoral.

 

[Koz]

People make too much of a big deal out of weed. It's just something you use to relax and unwind after a hard day's work.

 

[Ampoliros]

Should be legalized. Never touched the stuff, and probably wouldn't even if it were legalized, but hey - you make your decisions, I make mine.

 

[Mirelys]

.It can and does cause severe depression and paranoia in the user.

Wow, that sounds like what caffeine does to me if I have coffee when I don't need it.
Yes, I use coffee to self-medicate for panic attacks...
When I need it, caffeine helps me calm down. But if I don't need it, it can throw me into a deep dark depression.
Individual reactions to pot vary (so I've heard, I've never tried it), just like they do with other substances. Most people get jittery with caffeine and sleepy with alcohol; the people in my family are the exact opposite, and so are quite a few others that I know.
Point is, most substances don't cause standard reactions in people, so you really can't say "It does this or that."