This is like saying sorry to all the families that have lost loved ones to peanut butter or ant bites...
It's illegal because of corruption of corporations and massive lobby power against it from pharmaceutics companies and tobacco industries. Not to mention Cloth, Paper, and Other companies that would have to compete with Hemp.

The reason junk food is LEGAL is just a fucking disgrace all in itself. If we were eating freshly grown non-processed foods at ALL times in america it would considerably knock out the obesity "epidemic". But big business will make sure that it stays legal because it's a big fucking cycle of corrupt business.

The junk food makes people lazy and fat, which makes the diet industry prosper and private gyms. People getting health problems also gives revenue to the Insurance industry because these people are so sick they NEED to pay for doctors. These dr's prescribe medications from big time pharmecutical companies and THEY make profit. It's a never ending disgusting cycle.

I've once seen someone on 25 pills switch to just marijuana and only had to take some 2-3 pills afterwards. 22 seperate pills to do the job of marijuana. That shit should be illegal. Pills that give 80 year olds boners is legal, that shit's a disgrace.

This post was edited by TheInferno on Aug 26 2011 08:02am

no argument here on those points but just because its a corrupt system doesn't mean everything it holds back is a good thing. i'm all for medicinal marijuana for those who actually need it, but i hate all the assholes that abuse it at the risk of ruining the lives of so many in need.

while it is "unfair" for it to remain illegal its also not really doing anything useful to justify legalization for recreational use. at the end of the day instead of blaming corporations or political corruption try blaming all those retards that make marijuana users look like retards to the voters. there are so few "responsible" users compared to those assholes that make it into some lifestyle that can't stop talking about it and looking stupid everywhere they go.

i mean honestly of all the users you know personally what % of them would you say had the capacity to use in a responsible way and not just do it for the sake of doing it? for me its almost none.

In reality The Cannabis didn't kill the brain cells at all. The experiment called for a lot of cannabis to be inhaled by the monkeys at one time, while not supplying them additional oxygen. Lack of oxygen is known to cause brain cell death and is what caused it in the experiment.

Stop using the word ganja, it's ridiculous.

See but you're saying the tell-tale version of what everyone else is saying. Alcohol and Tobacco together kill hundreds of thousands of people a year. And that's legal and gets abused every single day. What would be wrong with smoking marijuana everyday if it doesn't cause any problems like lazyness or brain cell loss or anything for that matter. Dumb people are going to continue to be dumb on weed or off it. The choice should be the peoples, the prohibition on a plant that grows on this earth is the dumbest thing to ever happen to this nation. Especially since the founding fathers of this nation had their own hemp farms to begin with. Citing that Hemp is an amazing crop and should be used everywhere.

I'd like to list the benefits of legalization for recreational use as i see it.

1. Billions of dollars a year revenue. (I'm not for raising the prices of weed as a result of legalization i think prices should go lower, with tax, but still be lower than street value because 50% of the price is for "Risk factors" anyway)

2. Cut spending by the government arresting non-criminal offenders and sending them off to private prisons for business to make profits(I've seen some documentaries about people spending 2 years in private prison for smoking a joint. It's a fucking disgrace to this country and to humanity.)

3. Culture/Society - If you've ever smoked weed and drank alcohol you would probably side with wanting to do weed. It doesn't take 5+ drinks to get you high it takes 1 little joint and it's more desirable and lasts longer (To me) Many people prefer alcohol as well) And what kind of activities do weed users usually do? Hang out, Lots of laughing, talking, being friendly. I've never seen someone angry on weed before. On the contrary i've seen friends that were drunk do the stupidist things and get aggresive for no reason.

4. The "California Test" has shown that communities in california that are smoking marijuana do more community events with eachother and are more friendly with one another.

This post was edited by TheInferno on Aug 26 2011 11:46am

The problem with comparing it to alcohol and cigarettes isn't fair since the cultures around them is very different than the marijuana culture. whether they are harmful or not isn't the problem its that people simply won't allow them to be illegal and its socially acceptable. wanting freedom given to you isn't what the people did to get alcohol back and thats why its legal still. would you call most of your drinking friends alcoholics? probably not. would you call most of your pot smoking friends total stoners? probably so. its the ratio of good to bad users that really gives marijuana its biggest obstacle.

1 and 2...its pretty clear the current government is incapable of making wise economic choices and with the current issues its not going to happen on economic grounds.
also on this part people aren't going to trade making something they don't agree with legal just for the government to have money.

3. if i had to choose it would be alcohol because getting high isn't worth the risk.

4. hippie communes are sick. j/k but really cali is a lot different socially than most of the country and has been for a long time. attributing that lifestyle to marijuana alone is short sighted.

This post was edited by Psycho- on Aug 26 2011 12:10pm

Snake venom is natural too and that's dangerous as fuck.

Natural =/= Safe or healthy

The problem is that at one point weed alcohol and cigarettes were legal, alcohol and cigarettes are too difficult to cultivate on your own whereas marijuana can be grown by anybody. So they legalize the 2 DRUGS(yes nicotine and alcohol are drugs, people tend not to think so because they're legal) and make marijuana illegal. The tobacco and alcohol companies thrive and sell products that kill people, and marijuana is made illegal so people have to use the shit alternatives.

There are wayyy to many reasons to list about how cannibis was made illegal through scams and bribes and lobbying. But i think your point of "stoners" being the reason it stays that way.. It stays illegal because big companies don't want it to be. And the American people do not act as one anymore. The people of california got together and protested(THEY ACTUALLY DID!) and they got the law changed. The rest of America doesn't have the drive to get together and fight for a cause anymore. Too many people are worried about themselves and themselves only.. this is the problem.

At any rate i have no doubt eventually it will be legalized in the majority of states for recreational use.. i agree with what you said for 1 and 2 on my examples about our government and big business. on 3. I guess that's your opinion because i've smoked smart and safely for years and have never had a single altercation with the police. I'd much rather feel good all night than get a stomach ache, hangover, and possibly puke.

There's no logical reason against it. Everything negative said about marijuana in the past years has been propaganda and lies. And it's really unfortunate because it is a miracle plant. There is millions of people in this nation that could have there chronic pain taken away with just this plant. As advertising and awareness keeps growing, eventually the people will grow as well.

As for government and legalization goes, it's really a waiting game. Once all the political leaders leave office and the next generation comes in things will change for the better.

"Would you call most of your drinking friends alcoholics? probably not. would you call most of your pot smoking friends total stoners?"

This is just another negative connotation given to the "smoking class" of people. by your definition i would consider myself a stoner. But i'm by no means a lazy fat hippie. Which is what the term implies.