So is criminalisation... what's your opinion on decriminilisation on hard drugs with treatment provided to addicts instead of sentences? 

Yep, they do. But it's a little silly. Anything, any drug is potentially a gateway drug with that logic. What's so special about marijuana that it makes you want to do lines of coke? How many pot heads are also meth heads?

It's a gateway drug in the sense that there's a higher probability you'll have other drugs easily avaliable to you if you do pot because maybe your dealer sells other "products", but legalisation would nullify this. 

I would suggest that users should not be deemed criminals as such (though should go through mandatory treatment of some sort, depending on degree of usage) but that producers and dealers are.

i don't have a problem with Mary Jane being sold for adults,personally i'd prefer the drug trade to be taken out of organised crime syndicates and put into the tax bucket personally,i think its long overdue and don't understand what the politicians are so scared of,

if we can trade in guns,missiles,tanks and apache helicopters don't see a problem with a bit of afghan black or charas

Drug use is a victimless "crime", I don't see why the war on drugs persists.

Ending it would save tons of taxpayer money, reduce the power of drug cartels, and would be a huge boost to the economy...as well as being a score for individual liberty. Alcohol was prohibited, then legalized...so I don't get why the same can't be done with marijuana.

People are retarded if they think legalized marijuana means every 12 year old will have access to joints. If it was legalized and regulated like alcohol that wouldn't happen. It's harder for an underage person to get a beer than a joint in the US.

Drugs are bad and should stay illegal, my 2 brothers have been smoking pot everyday for like 10 years and there minds are fked up 1 of them is a skitzo any little thing will set him off into a fit of rage and the other 1 thinks he hears sounds in his girlfreind (he thinks she has a machine in her) (not even fucking joking...) although i suspect this is because hes recently took up meth (witch he would have never of done if he wasn't on pot (the gateway drug)

DRUGS ARE BAD

Wow...I never realized so many Americans were Anti-Government. I think people should put a lot more faith in their government, and I think criminal codes should be federal, not state. This may be why Canada has a much lower drug abuse/criminal rate then the USA.

As for drugs, I don't like how some drugs are okay, and other drugs, which are less harmfull are not.

People are starting to become more okay with weed, and honestly I think it would be a good commodity to tax. Alcohol is more damaging to your body then marijuana because it really destroys your liver. Marijuana does harm the lungs, but much less then a cigarette because it doesn't have the thousand added chemicals to control the burning. Legalized Marijuana might be as bad as a cigarette, but people who smoke weed smoke significantly less then those who smoke tobacco.

I'm not 100% sure if Weed should be legalized, In Canada the law is 30 grams or less (equivalent to 30 joints) is considered non-criminal on the first offence, and only punished by fine. I think the second offence and third offence should be decriminalized, and I'm 50/50 on it being legalized.

Harder drugs however, like those based on Opium or Meth, are not okay IMO. Opium based drugs like Morphene and is derivatives Heroine and Codene are extremely addictive, and really are not safe for human use except for heavily controled environments like hospitals. Morphene Is so strong that only a couple drops are used to treat patients with severe pain, a couple drops overdose can lead to death. It's very very easy to overdose on Opium based drugs. Meth isn't a problem in Canada, and Heroine is pretty small, but Exstacy is huge here, and that also isn't okay

To be honest, I think Marijuanna should be legalized, and the money made on taxation should be used to fight a war on exstacy, and be used to improve rehabilitation programs such as CAMH (Center for Adiction and Metal Health). So done right, legalizing this drug which over 50% of high school students have used already, would be better. Plus the weed will be cleaner, no added "Angel Dust" or anything.

No they aren't, How many people do you think start taking Heroine on their own free will? Most people are convicned, or they do it becase it looks cool, and then become heavility addicted and even brain dead...or well dead in some cases. There are plenty of victims.

I agree about Marijuana being legalized though, it's less harmful for you then alcohol, and the money generated from taxation could be used to help victims of addiction, and help counter Opium based drugs, which really shouldn't be consumed by humans due to their strength, addictiveness, and relative ease to overdose (Morphene and Heroine only require a few drops too many to die from, people aren't careful beings).

Actually prescription drug abuse is a bigger problem in Canada then "restricted" drug abuse. Probably not the same in USA, but people do overdose on drugs which are only meant to help fix your problems. People who have a twisted mental view of themselves overdose on fat burners, anti depressants, errectile stimulants, and various drugs which control levels of cholesterol and such in the blood.

The thing is people need to understand that a bit of fat is okay, you don't need to be crazy lean, that to fight cholesterol you need to exercise, to fight depression you need to go out and socialize along with medication, and for errectile disfunction, well stop masterbating.

What type of thread do you think this is?

OT: I was meaning if it were to become legal. What kind of regulations should be put on it? Surely, people can't just run rampant with marijiuana. Even alcohol and prescription drugs have guidlines/regulations.