Taxing Marijuana

[speakers_86]

Should it be legalized and taxed? Money would be made through sales tax, and saved by the judicial system.

A pretty good article here.

 

[jsv2002]

Well a matter of perspective I suppose.. "weed", "hash", "blow" has been around since records began the same as morphine, opium, etc.. etc...

I smoke I know its bad for me but I still do it... (stupid ass I know) but its legal and revenue is made... If the "state" were that concerned for my health why not just ban it.. well tax on it makes far more money I suppose.

And before all the "well if you know its bad for you stop..." I didn't know that when I started and life time habits can be very hard to change..

Ahh well..

PS.Point being once revenue is made then good/bad aspects go out the window you can still do it if you want just gonna tax you to hell for it

 

[Fifty2One]

Sure - legalize it and let the pot heads out of jail that are clogging up the system... why not - tobacco is legal and so is alcohol...

Western policy has stopped bothering with razing the poppy fields which give financial support to the terrorists they are fighting... however if you have a pot plant in your closet you will go away for 5 years.

 

[dan-cat]

Make a psychosis inducing drug legal to make money. Sounds like an argument from hell.

 

[speakers_86]

Make a psychosis inducing drug legal to make money. Sounds like an argument from hell.

You can counter with the fact that it should have never been made contraban. It has no serious adverse effects, is widely used, widely accepted, and as long as it is treated the same as alcohol, there should be no ill-effects. Besides, the laws as they are obviously are not doing anything to stop people from smoking pot. Why crimilize people that want to spend their free time smoking weed? Is it wrong to smoke marijuana? I think not. I don't do it myself, but I see no valid reason it should be illegal.

 

[jsv2002]

Make a psychosis inducing drug legal to make money. Sounds like an argument from hell.

This is also linked to the genetically modified versions of "weed" often known as skunk (depending which part of the world you hail from..) which has far higher levels of THC which causes the psychotic symptoms and lower levels of another compound called cannabidiol which seems to protect users from the effects of THC.

Suppose like comparing a can of beer to a bottle of absinthe they both contain alcohol but you wouldn't drink one of them by the pint...

Many cultures have used herbs, plants, mushrooms whatever your pleasure to relax or withdraw from reality for a spell some people enjoy auto erotic asphyxiation whatever floats your boat but not everyone who wants or enjoys the odd joint is going to become a psychotic lunatic

 

[dan-cat]

Many cultures have used herbs, plants, mushrooms whatever your pleasure to relax or withdraw from reality for a spell some people enjoy auto erotic asphyxiation whatever floats your boat but not everyone who wants or enjoys the odd joint is going to become a psychotic lunatic

I come from a family who has worked very closely in psychriatric care and know for a fact that one of the first questions you get asked if seeking psychriatric help is whether you smoke 'pot'. I understand that not everyone will become a 'lunatic' but you don't need to become one to experience psychosis. Your incorrect link between 'psychotic' and 'lunacy' points to the generally uninformed understanding of this.

It is a psychoactive drug and should not be casually thrown into the same group as alcohol or nicotine. This is even before you address the 'engineered' varieties.

 

[TessB]

I come from a family who has worked very closely in psychriatric care and know for a fact that one of the first questions you get asked if seeking psychriatric help is whether you smoke 'pot'.

I'm not sure that just makes a case for a causal link.
It could simply also imply that many people under psychiatric care have displayed a disposition for dabbling in mind altering experiences.

I'm not saying there is definitely NOT a case to be made for mind altering drugs leading to permanent modification of brain chemistry. I'm simply saying the statement does not prove the point.

 

[jsv2002]

Sorry "psychotic lunatic" was meant as a term of phrase not a medical statement or diagnosis of a condition my apologies for any misunderstanding

 

[Fifty2One]

Since when has there been no ill-effects from alcohol?

You can counter with the fact that it should have never been made contraban. It has no serious adverse effects, is widely used, widely accepted, and as long as it is treated the same as alcohol, there should be no ill-effects. Besides, the laws as they are obviously are not doing anything to stop people from smoking pot. Why crimilize people that want to spend their free time smoking weed? Is it wrong to smoke marijuana? I think not. I don't do it myself, but I see no valid reason it should be illegal.

 

[namliam]

Legalize all drugs, watch the maffia and alike scrawl away and die under a stone....

 

[pbaldy]

I think in time the "war on drugs" will be looked back on much as Prohibition is now. As has been mentioned, legalize drugs and control them like alcohol and tobacco, and you take all the money out of it for the criminal element. You stop a huge amount of violence/death worldwide. How do you think the Taliban finances itself?

Even if there was a gain in the direct consequences of their use (addiction, DUI, etc) we're still way ahead overall, and the resources formally used for police/courts/prisons can be redirected towards education, etc. That's probably an obstacle to legalization, as there is a large entrenched bureaucracy whose livelihood is based on that "war".

I don't believe you can "legislate morality", and government should protect me from others, not from myself.

 

[Alisa]

Besides, the laws as they are obviously are not doing anything to stop people from smoking pot.

I wouldn't say the laws aren't doing ANYTHING.
They stop me - I am simply not willing to risk the legal consequences. I don't drink alcohol (don't like the way it makes me feel) or smoke tobacco (health consequences are too severe). The laws stop people like me from have any legal, regulated, safely produced substance to use at the end of a really bad week. Not fair.

 

[Alisa]

Make a psychosis inducing drug legal to make money. Sounds like an argument from hell.

I guess we know who voted "no".

We already made a cirrhosis inducing drug and a cancer inducing drug legal. Surely those are worse than a little temporary (and pleasurable) psychosis?

 

[rainman89]

How do you think the Taliban finances itself?

Bake Sales and car washes??

 

[speakers_86]

Since when has there been no ill-effects from alcohol?

I didn't mean alcohol has no ill-effects. I was saying that if marijuana were legalized, there would be no ill-effects, or no more than there already are, anyway.

 

[Rabbie]

Alcohol and tobacco both have serious side effects. They tend to kill you. Marijuana also has serious side effects - Pot psychosis to name but one.

Of course there is an argument for saying that bannng things only makes the problem worse as it pushes the trade into the hands of the criminal gangs and gives them a ready source of cash.

However legalising already banned substances sends out a message that it s OK to take them

 

[oumahexi]

If they legalise a drug, do the people previously convicted for taking that drug get an apology from the government? Is that not an admission that they had wrongly classified it in the first place?

 

[Len Boorman]

Make a psychosis inducing drug legal to make money. Sounds like an argument from hell.

Hmmm Are you sure you are not Gordon Brown in disguise.

BTW Brown is the UK Prime Minister

L

 

[namliam]

However legalising already banned substances sends out a message that it s OK to take them

Then legal alcohol sends out the message it is OK to drink 10 gallons of beer every evening??

Think not... Education is KEY... The money spend on fighting it now and its fallout (criminal behaviour related to it) would pay for the education needed 10 times over.

Also I have had co-workers (yes I am Dutch) going out to a coffee shop every lunch hour to get a smoke.... Ofcourse their lunch was a full hour... but they worked perfectly well from 800-1200 and 1300-1730.

Dont know if simular can be said of i.e. Heroine or Cocaine or worse... but I seem to remember that 'certain celebrities' can live perfectly well while addicted as long as they have the cash to pay for it...

Problems come when they cannot pay or cannot get or get poluted 'stuff'.
1) Money
Producing legaly is pretty cheap, or much cheaper than it is now
2) Getting some
It will be available at the nearest grocer shop much like Alcohol or cigarets
3) Poluted
No need to put in cheap stuff poluting the real thing with other chemicals or baking soda or what have you... Its cheap already and legaly bound to certain quality standards much like our foods and drinks much adhere to these 'hygene' standards.