convince me that marijuana should be legal.

[Jon-Erich]

oldschoolfool said:

I know there's a marijuana thread,but I wanted to debate this specific topic. If the mods close this thread,then I'll understand. So,why should marijuana be legal. There's no real benifit 2 it at all. All it does is make you a lazy unproductive member of society. What good does that do to be high all the time and do nothing in life,but live for that high. Anybody that wants to use it for medical purposes is just using that as an excuse to get high. according to my reading,the drug produces anxiety,fear,distrust and panic. It also affects your posture,coordination and reaction time. It can also cause dellusions and hallucinations. it can also increase heart rate and cause sleep impairment. How does all that give you these magical medical benefits. I just don't understand what's so great about this so-called magical drug. For the record,I don't understand the point of booze and tobacco,but those things are legal. Why make just another bad thing for you,legal. It benifits no one. If I had my way,booze and tobacco would be outlawed. There's no benefit in any of these things. 

Why should it be legalized? Because it's more dangerous as an illegal substance than it would be as a legal one. Alcohol is a perfect example. Not only did making alcohol illegal in the US during the 1920's cause alcohol sales and consumption to go up, it also created criminal empires who benefited from the demand of illegal alcohol. Making alcohol illegal in order to keep the public safe actually caused the murder rate and overall crime rate in the US to increase. The same thing is happening today in places like Mexico. Why is Mexico having the issues they're having with violence caused by the drug cartels? It's because the government there is trying to rid the country of drugs, which causes demand to go up, which creates these drug gangs, which creates competition amonsgt the drug gangs, which leads to murder and violence everywhere.

You also ask about benefits? Consider that since the Nixon Administration declared America's War on Drugs in the 1970's and the Reagan Administration excellerated that war in the 1980's, the United States has spend nearly 1 trillion dollars over the last 40 years on a drug war with no substantial progress being made. Also consider the tax revenue substances like marijuana would bring in. By legalizing it, you would cut govenment spending, increase revenue, which could be used to bring down America's deficit, which would increase the value of the American dollar (we currently borrow 40 cents from every dollar), which could help out with the eceonomy on an international level. Oh, and if weed and perhaps other drugs were legalized, people would probably use that stuff even less since there wouldn't be a concern for demand.

On my final note of this argument, why should the government have a right to tell you what you can and cannot put into your own body? With that logic, why not outlaw soda and junk food? Why not outlaw McDonalds for making people fat?