Comments on: Jail Time

By: John

John — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:57:00 +0000

The fact that something is legal does not mean the government condones it. It’s legal for me to go around making fun of people. Will I? No. And making something illegal doesn’t make it go away, rather, I think it makes the problem worse. I wish guns didn’t exist, as well as meth, heroin, tobacco, and alcohol. But, since they do, we need to learn how to deal with them, and that does not mean making them illegal. If the government ever makes drugs legal (I hope), I will not run out and shoot as much heroin as I can. I’ve already made the choice not to do heroin. It’s legal status has not prevented me from having access to it. It is our choice as members of a “free” society to decide what we want to ingest. NOT anyone elses, or the governments, or even the majority.

By: JS

JS — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:18:55 +0000

If you want drugs to be illegal, then why is their no campaign here against sugar, caffeine, and over the counter drugs. Why is our society saying it’s ok to use those drugs, the ones that are by far more dangerous than marijuana. Sugar has no nutritional value, causes major obesity, and is addictive. Caffeine kills thousands of people a year from overdose and is also highly addictive. Over the counter drugs cause more problems than the fix by taking them and also kill thousands of people a year. The so-called harmless ibuprofen can cause serious liver problems and yet people take it all the time. And why are you running such a big campaign against marijuana when it kills no one and alcohol kills more than 200,000 people a year. Maybe we should question ourselves why marijuana is illegal in the first place. The first time is was made illegal was basically because black people used it, how do you think jazz was formed, and it was thought to make you agressive. The second time congress made it illegal was because war protesters were using it, and so congress stated that it made you a pascifist and would be used by the communists to weaken our will to fight; this is the exact opposite reason than the first time it was made illegal. If marijuana was made legal then it would make it by far harder to get for younger people. Right now all they need to know is a drug dealer, whom are everywhere. And if it was made legal then maybe you could educate them like you do with alcohol on the effects it has, other than just stating it’s illegal. By keeping it illegal there is a thrill factor with doing it for most young people because it is illegal.

By: Just a dude

Just a dude — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:13:50 +0000

@Grebo

That’s a curious statement. Morality is a very broad term. It applies to every decision we make. If I have no moral issues with murder or rape should I legally be allowed to engage in both of those activities? The only society that doesn’t legislate morality is a society of anarchy and that’s not really much of a society anyways. Every law enforces a principle of some moral code in one way or another. I think a better criterion for what a government shouldn’t be able to legislate is anything that doesn’t harm, inhibit, or directly interfere with the lives of others. I think that’s a moral code we can all agree on

By: Cral

Cral — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:18:04 +0000

What utter crap this person is spouting! I know a lot of people aged 18-40 who have smoked a lot of weed and are intelligent, respectable individuals. I believe that people should not be judged for smoking a bit of weed every now and then, it doesn’t mean you are an addict. If you have a few beers at weekend does it mean that you are an alcoholic? Of course not. Life is short, and on your death-bed, will you be regretting the joints you smoked throughout your life? I think not.

By: Grebo

Grebo — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:36:20 +0000

You CANNOT legislate morality.
Period.
My body = MY body. If I want to smoke something as harmless as pot, I WILL DO SO.
Because – again – you CANNOT legislate morality.
PERIOD!

By: Just a dude

Just a dude — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:49:50 +0000

Another thing I’d like to note that’s kind of off topic but in response to other comments on here is on the whole notion that marijuana couldn’t be taxed if it was legalized because people could grow it and sell it on their own. Well first of all that’s a really dumb thing to say. It’s just about as easy to make alcohol in your home as it is to cultivate marijuana. However it is illegal to make alcohol in your home without a permit, it’s also even more illegal to sell homemade alcohol. If marijuana was legalized I’m sure it’d be treated similar to alcohol, if not more stringently. So people would still be getting arrested for slinging weed and/or growing it.

Also, why the hell would you want to buy some weed grown in some dudes basement illegally when you could roll up to a store and buy weed grown by legit corporations and companies. Those companies would probably grow weed better than you could ever imagine. Botanists working on cultivating the ultimate marijuana plant, and the company mass producing it. That would make it both cheaper and more potent than the weed grown in some dude’s basement

By: Just a dude

Just a dude — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:43:42 +0000

I’m a recovering addict. I used to smoke a quarter of weed a day and a couple of times a week I’d throw some LSD or MDMA into the mix. I did drugs for a two terrible years. I drove high more than I drove clean. I went to work under the influence and you know I was smoking on the job. All my money went to drugs. I sold LSD to make extra money for drugs that my job wasn’t making and when those two weren’t enough I pawned my possession, or other people’s possessions and forged checks. Drug addiction almost killed me. (Drug addiction isn’t just being physically dependent on the drug, it’s a psychological disease like bipolar, OCD and ADHD) I went to rehab for two months and came out with a passion for staying clean. NA has helped me achieve what I have today and that is a functional life. I hate what drugs have done to me, however this brings me to my point, just because drugs **** me and other addicts doesn’t mean they should be illegal

I believe in freedom to the extreme, but in relation to this, I believe an individual should have the right to decide what they put in their own damn body. It shouldn’t be a governments decision. Sure people are going to abuse them and cause problems for others and themselves, but don’t we already have alcohol and tobacco doing this in our society? I smoke cigarettes and I’ll be damned if the government tries to tell me I can’t smoke them because they’ll give my lung cancer, it’s my own decision to make. It’s a matter of freedom. The government doesn’t need to parent it’s people and tell them what they can and can’t put in their own bodies.

Why not legalize drugs, regulate how much people can buy, tax them and use the money earned from the taxes and ending the war on drugs to sponsor socialized drug rehabilitation that’s open to anyone and mandatory for people committing drug related crimes? Doesn’t that sound smarter than throwing addicts who are powerless over their addiction on their own in jail for doing something that shouldn’t even being illegal to begin with. As someone who’s been incarcerated for drug crimes I can safely say that that didn’t do **** to help me, it just made me bitter.

By: Ray Watkins

Ray Watkins — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:56:46 +0000

Admin,
You are a very selfish individual. You’re spreading outdated lies to protect you. What about those who suffer from diseases such as cancer? Are you aware of the benefits of marijuana for these people? Of course not. Because YOU don’t have cancer. It doesn’t benefit YOU. You need to start holding yourself accountable for your own actions and stop trying to punish your community. AA teaches you that it’s not your fault. You need to know that it IS your fault. That being said, your soberity is also because YOU want to, not because AA is telling you too. Your mind is a powerful tool. If you use it properly, you can accomplish unimaginable things without having to ‘trick yourself’ with AA meetings.

By: niteowl

niteowl — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:34:18 +0000

Gonzo said :
““The Pharma lobby is one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington. Bottom line is that decriminalization will hurt their profit margins. Think of all the drugs that will be replaced with a product that can not be owned by the industry.”

The sad part about that is it is true.

That is the primary reason marijuana remains illegal IMO

Since they can’t patent a plant, marijuana will have a hard time becoming as legal as alcohol.

By: logan

logan — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:01:14 +0000

I’m sorry, I didn’t know you HAVE to go to AA to stop drinking. Cannabis is a wonderful substitute for alcohol for reasons already mentioned. Cannabis SHOULD be legalized, everyone needs to get their head out of their *** and realize this. Oh and cannabis Is addictive… in the sense that most highly enjoyable things are worth endlessly repeating