One thing we can all agree on.

[Y2A]

Marijuana should be legalized.

[monkeydust]

I agree

[RedAnarchist]

I agree also

Cannabis should also be legalised for medical use

[monkeydust]

Isn't cannabis already legal for medical use, just not for recreational use?

[Y2A]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 02:22 PM
I agree also

Cannabis should also be legalised for medical use
Definitely, how some of these from the christan right can see people suffering from cancer and not let them use marijuana to ease there pain but at the same time call it "inmoral" is ridiculous to me.

[RedAnarchist]

I dont know if it is in the UK - where i'm from

[monkeydust]

I'm from the UK also, I think you can be prescribed cannabis for certain illnesses, but I may be wrong. In any case it's not easy enough to access for medical reasons, as Y2A pointed out.

[SonofRage]

I'd rather "decriminalize" it.

[RedAnarchist]

I think a big reason why the Government dont make cannabis more readily available is the possibility that drug dealers will exploit the patients who use cannabis for their illness

[Y2A]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 02:30 PM
I'd rather "decriminalize" it.
Well I am for decriminalizing all hard drugs and legalizing all soft drugs, to make my point more specific.

[RedAnarchist]

Governments shouldnt impose moral codes on people - they should let the people decide what their own morals are as long as the people realize that they are responsible for their own actions

[Y2A]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 02:37 PM
Governments shouldnt impose moral codes on people - they should let the people decide what their own morals are as long as the people realize that they are responsible for their own actions
True, but they have to keep the idiots from the south happy.

[monkeydust]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 02:37 PM
Governments shouldnt impose moral codes on people - they should let the people decide what their own morals are as long as the people realize that they are responsible for their own actions
Indeed, but if the government really was Of the people, for the people and by the people, wouldn't the moral codes it imposes be those the 'people' respect. Well....it would be nice.

I sort of disgree, I think it's OK for the government to impose widely accepted moral values on people. These include things such as 'it's wrong to murder', or 'child abuse is wrong'. Generally the kind of cases where, your actions affect others in a negative way.

In the case of legalizing cannabis and soft drugs there is a strong argument for people to be responsible for the consequences.

However I wouldn't apply your opinion for harder drugs such as heroin, these substances, if legal can dominate peoples lives to the extent that, 'we know whats best for them' and they cannot just claim they can wreck their lives because it's their responsibility.

In terms of British law, I would very much like to see all religious and class connotations removed. These are relics of age old law. After all the upper classes formed this law in the first place.

For example, the maximun punishment for rape is 15 years imprisonment, for burglary, life imprisonment. The slant the law has still serves to protect the interests of the rich.

[RedAnarchist]

Of course it should impose some to stop inhumane and evil acts like child abuse, rape etc.
But a lot of the time people who use drugs arent harming others, so should be free to do so and so on

[Bolshevika]

Marijuana should be illegal for the general population.

I agree that having it as a "drug" for peope in immense pain is fine, however, random teenagers should not have access to it.

[RedAnarchist]

If they are responsible and there is some way to stop them getting addicted, then there shouldnt be any problem

[monkeydust]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 02:48 PM
Marijuana should be illegal for the general population.

I agree that having it as a "drug" for peope in immense pain is fine, however, random teenagers should not have access to it.
Why? Even if you claim as you do, it's possible to legalize it yet still bave age restrictions.

[RedAnarchist]

perhaps an age restriction of 18, or 21

[monkeydust]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 02:52 PM
perhaps an age restriction of 18, or 21
I'd say 14 or 16 myself, but Bolshevika seemed to be arguing it should be completely illegal merely on the basis that teenagers will randomnly use it.

[monkeydust]

Is there any other reasons why you would wish it to remain illegal Bolshevika?

[RedAnarchist]

Teenagers can be a little irresponsible and you hear lots of stories in our country of girls as young as 12 (which is horrific - no child should be having sex), teenagers getting drunk at 15, 16. This is probably why Bolsh is concerned about teenagers gtting their hands on drugs.

[Y2A]

The problem is that people do not understand that it is easier to regulate drugs if it is legal.

[RedAnarchist]

And it would stop the drug dealers getting so much profit through exploiting addicts - drug dealers are some of the biggest capitalists around

[Y2A]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 02:59 PM
Teenagers can be a little irresponsible and you hear lots of stories in our country of girls as young as 12 (which is horrific - no child should be having sex), teenagers getting drunk at 15, 16. This is probably why Bolsh is concerned about teenagers gtting their hands on drugs.
Yes and.... I am 17, I have drunk since I was 14 and smoke aswell but I do it responsiblly. What's wrong with that?

[Y2A]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 03:01 PM
And it would stop the drug dealers getting so much profit through exploiting addicts - drug dealers are some of the biggest capitalists around
So do the communist guerrillas FARC, Shining Path, etc...

Nice try, didn't work this time though.

[monkeydust]

An interesting point was touched upon by Xphile there, but I would turn it the other way. I see legalizing cannabis as a counter to the massive and growing amounts of alcohol consumption today. I would argue that many who drink today would smoke weed if it were easier to come across and to buy, this established I also believe that cannabis doesn't have many of the negative side effects that alcohol does, such as violence, or bad judgement.

However, I have read that cannabis can cause schizophrenia, is this true?

[RedAnarchist]

I'm nearly 18 and i've never smoked or drunk alchohol.

I suppose its the kind of person i am, someone who doesnt drink or smoke (but i might drink when i'm 18)

[Y2A]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 03:05 PM
I'm nearly 18 and i've never smoked or drunk alchohol.

I suppose its the kind of person i am, someone who doesnt drink or smoke (but i might drink when i'm 18)
Then I feel sorry for you ;)

[monkeydust]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 03:05 PM
I'm nearly 18 and i've never smoked or drunk alchohol.

I suppose its the kind of person i am, someone who doesnt drink or smoke (but i might drink when i'm 18)
Xphile you don't know what you're missing, go and get drunk off your face :D



And Y2a I know it's a bit off-topic, but I was wondering why you have a quote by Goring as your sig?

[Bolshevika]

Because things like marijuana, alcohol, etc contribute nothing to society but a drain in somebodies pocket. It should be completely illegal for anyone to purchase.

[RedAnarchist]

They are not there to contribute to society - thats the whole point. They are there so people can enjoy them

[Y2A]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 03:08 PM
And Y2a I know it's a bit off-topic, but I was wondering why you have a quote by Goring as your sig?
Just to show how the majority of people, from every country, race, religion, etc... hate war and thus it should be avoided at all costs. And the fact that no government is trustworthy.

[Y2A]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 03:10 PM
Because things like marijuana, alcohol, etc contribute nothing to society but a drain in somebodies pocket. It should be completely illegal for anyone to purchase.
It's a matter of freedom not how it contributes to society.

[RedAnarchist]

True Y2A. Authority must always be criticised, questioned and changed by the people if necessary

[Al Creed]

I dont touch the stuff, but I see no problem with people using it in the privacy of their own homes or in special "bars," or for medicinal purposes. It should be legal, in that regard.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I agree with Y2A's position that all drugs should be legalised and regulated.

Ecstasy is unregulated because it is illegal, if it was legal there would be a legal standard for it's manufacture.

and Bolshevika, are you against working people having fun?

[Bolshevika]

No, that isn't what I said. I believe there is much time for leisure, however, marijuana can get in the way of meeting production quotas. The working people deserve to have all the fun they can on their free time, however, most "potheads" I know "toke up" right before they go to their job/classes.

Marijuana is something that gets in the way of peoples jobs. There are other ways to have fun that don't involve destroying your brain.

[RedAnarchist]

tell us how it destroys the brain, Bolsh

[Y2A]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15 2004, 03:48 PM
No, that isn't what I said. I believe there is much time for leisure, however, marijuana can get in the way of meeting production quotas. The working people deserve to have all the fun they can on their free time, however, most "potheads" I know "toke up" right before they go to their job/classes.

Marijuana is something that gets in the way of peoples jobs. There are other ways to have fun that don't involve destroying your brain.
And why do your care??? Better yet why should the state care??? As I said before it is about freedom not economical purposes.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

And why do your care??? Better yet why should the state care??? As I said before it is about freedom not economical purposes.

Damn straight!

[Bolshevika]

I care because when people are producing they are not producing for themselves, they are producing for society. So if marijuana use becomes popular, and people start to go to work "high" and do not work to their fullest potential, they will not suffer, people who will feel the shortage of the product the marijuana user makes will suffer.

How can we have people going high and drunk to work? It happens quite often in the United States, where this bad habit is popular, although I believe the illegal status of marijuana trims this down a bit. Also, the people killed by intoxicated drivers is amazingly high.

[Y2A]

And what makes you think that legalization will increase drug use??? The neatherlands has a lower drug use per capita then the United States. And after the period of prohibition the murder rate dropped drastically in the United States.

And either way it is a matter of freedom. No one person or state has the right to tell someone if they can or can not "intoxicicate" themselves.

[Hate Is Art]

Legalize Ganja, but don't expect me to come crying to me when you have cancer and a destroyed brain.

[Hegemonicretribution]

To the original post, yes this could generally be agreed on...in fact to my memory in the past, cappies commies and anarchists alike have all agreed. Only Marxist-Leninists think it is a bad idea.

Cannabis is not addictive, people that form a dependance are often predisposed and have underlying problems..in which case coffee and most every day things are a bad idea.

Cannabis does not make you lazy, one of my friends put it well, "Pot does not make you a bum,. it is just while you are stoned you think...and realise many things arfe not worth doing." It is true, it is only worth the effort of moving to get food, go for random walks, experiencing strange sights and sound and listening to music or watching film...at least when you are stoned. Things in life that be really appreciated, often more. However this apathy and lack of motivation is only during the period of being stoned. People are as bad for going to work drunk.

If cannabis was legal and regualted, then there could stricter controls in drug driving. People could use it as a social tool and alternative to alcohol..ie only weekends and or nights. Work would not be affected.

It does not have to be smoked and ruin your lungs..it is better absorbed it fat or alcohol..and eating it is far better value for money. However that would have to be nights, preferably weekends or people would find it hard getting up.