Well said! Look at how full are prisons are and how much is costs to house these people who are not criminals. Look at possible revenues that could help our economic situation. Look at how many jobs could be created. It goes on and on and on. Its about time this discussion is heating up.

MARIJUANA CAUSES CANCER......

Asking is probably pointless, but do you have a source to back up that claim?

Kate I'll bet you know the answer to that question already! :-)

Safe bet, I'm sure. (The propensity toward CAPS was a clue; checking out the user was a give-away!)

MARIJUANA CAUSES WHAT THE HIPSTERS CALL CHINESE EYES!!! It is very racist to smoke pot!

Ohh sorry, weed cancer took over my brain. =oP

Moonstream1: If what you say is true why would the government patent marijuana? Patent # 6,630,507 on October 7, 2003 an anti oxidant and neuroprotectant. I think you are confusing the Bush torture manual with a figment of you imagination. There were no al-qeada in Iraq until after the CIA put them there so again whose torture manual do you speak of? Jessica Lynch: US military also presented her escape as a heroic feat, ignoring the role of friendly Iraqi medical staff in the rescue. By your writing you are very sadistic and delusional, I think you should get anger management counseling, get medicine for schizophrenia. Once your psychotic condition is stabilized and you recover from being brain washed into hating the majority of members of your own species a little marijuana now and then may help you during your recovery from PTSD caused by prohibition police state tyranny. For some, the sadistic lust of power over others through lies designed to demonize people for using natural herbs that humans have been using for medicinal and spiritual reasons for thousands of years is highly addictive.

Moonstream1

I'd like to know how legalizing pot will put money into the terrorist pockets. The only reason it does right now is because it is forced underground. Marijuana, even though it's illegal is estimated to be the number 1 cash crop in this country. If it were legal there would be no reason to buy it from shady underhanded dealers. It could and woudl be grown right here in our great USA.

Marijuana "MAY" cause cancer. Not defiantly does like we know tobacco does. And aside from that and some respiratory ailments what other harm does it do? It certainly doesn't destroy your liver and permanently destroy other parts of your body. Not to mention all of these can be avoided if you ingest it or use a vaporizer rather than smoking it.

Your arguments are weak, unsupported and you are uninformed.

Smoking pot could curb risk of some cancers @ MSNBC link below

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32566687/ns/health-cancer/ns/health-cancer/

Chemicals in pot may help fight prostate cancer @ MSNBC link below

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32474103/ns/health-cancer/

Brett,

Nice point about the 9th amendment, but the criminalization of marijuana had little or nothing to do with its medicinal value (it remained in the US Pharmacopoeia for a few years after it became illegal). Instead, the racist Harry Anslinger pushed to make it illegal because--as he testified before Congress--it encouraged white kids to associate with jazz musicians, mainly "Negroes"! Check him out (he promoted the ridiculous film "Reefer Madness").

Dupont also lobbied against hemp because you can make plastics form hemp...they were trying to get their petroleum based plastics off the ground.

Please watch my highly rated video "Cannabis Prohibition: A Masterpiece in the Art of Brainwashing"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRcSfgBlxXQ

And that is one of the most poignant points made here or anywhere. The press against marijuana is a lie and if you lie to kids they will not believe you about other things where the truth has a much closer relation.

The best part. Heroin was first made by Bayer. Yes the asprin company. They used it for morphine addiction and guess what......Cough medicin.

Guess what else in in cough medicin.. The main ingrediant to make meth!!!! all you need is some decongestant pseudoephedrine pills.

I have a cough lets all go do METH!!!.. What the hell are the pharmisudical companys doing to us!!!

Michael: you have succinctly defined the entire "gateway" argument. Like virtually every other problem with marijuana, the gateway argument is a direct result of its illegality. Marijuana is only a "gateway" drug, to the extent to which it really is at all, because it is on the wrong side of the gate.

Dave in NM, if people keep on arguing the "gateway drug" theory, all you have to do is tell them to do their research.... if you add up all the hard drug users(non prescription) the number of users is less than 1/4 of the number of marijuana users! This blows the gateway theory right out of the water and when you bring it up with prohibitionists they are either speechless, or they think you are lying. then simply direct them to the DEA's website.

If marijuana were a "gateway" drug (which it isn't, living proof here), why don't we hear the same argument about alcohol? As far as being addictive, it is NOT physically addictive, as legal alcohol and nicotine are and hard drugs such as meth. It is ridiculous that we keep wasting billions on pot when we could be using those resources to concentrate on meth, heroin, ecstasy and crack, not to mention the millions who are becoming addicted to prescription drugs.

Drink alcohol, and you're likely to get in your car and kill someone. Smoke pot and you're likely to forget where your car keys are.

Perfect! So true! And you will think it to be soooo funny! :-)

See how many pharmaceutical lobbyists come out of the woodwork for this. Legalising seems to be on the way. Has anyone noticed how many more busts have come down in the last month. In Columbus, Ohio busts have gone up 75% in the last 30 days for smoking, cultivating and distributing. Think that's an accident? They'll use those statistics and say, "See? There's a major problem". But take a look a violent crime statistics and the only change you'll see is a climb in stats.

Hyper-addictive drugs made by man. Legal. Marijuana made by GOD. Illegal. Why would they allow something that not only has a medicinal value but also is a textile? They don't want anyone to have the ability to grow their own, because they are protecting those who have been greasing their skids.

Regarding the gateway theory, my doctor recently told me that cannabis is NOT a gateway drug and that it should be legalized and taxed.

Hope you will watch my new video, getting great reviews.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRcSfgBlxXQ

Pot, the gateway drug that for 95% of users leads them right back to pot. I've tried just about every drug made. and yet pot is my only liking, same with many people I know

I haven't smoked any in well over a decade, mainly because of the draconian laws.

Pot was the gateway drug for me. It led to eating things that barely qualified as food, like Twinkies and HoHos.

That's funny Man !

Moonlight may need to puff puff pass and hit the twinkies hard to get over the combined delusions he or she's suffering.

I have a friend (WA also legal) who uses it for medical reasons for ADHD and bipolar. Since she started she has been able to stop taking her man made medication for both and functions FAR better then when she was taking pills. She also has to have a hip replacement and it has helped tremendously with her horrendous hip pain.

I'm tired of our government and people who have never even tried it lying to every younger generation. I know MANY high achieving professionals that use it to relax. Some have even quit drinking as a result.

Imv77 you identified probably the greatest hurdle for legalization. The alchohol companies would lose business. Why else do you think that the bottled liquor association is one of the largest PAC's in existence in terms of $ contributed to politicians.

Why else do you think that the bottled liquor association is one of the largest PAC's in existence in terms of $ contributed to politicians.

I'm sure phrama is right there with them. Imagine the lost revenue for pain meds and anti-depressants, anti-anxiety meds, etc.

And use the tax income and law enforcement savings to get everyone (such as my brother, for instance) on a VA type heath insurance.

Excellent Fred. True as can be. The answer to your question, you already know. MONEY

I have also the PH and I can use it in place of or as a augment to MS Contin sometimes, and yes, it helps. It isn;t the wonder drug some people say. I would say that it does have some nasty side effects but so does everything else. I heard some guys with nerve damage and phantom limb say it does some good too You should check out Vets for Vets , they are real good. There are no virgin shrinks there bro. Hey if you lost 80lbs what did you weigh before?

Pot is not physically addicting. Those who use it daily have a little memory loss, but don't we all lol.

I haven't used in 30 days and the only problems are the reoccuring symptoms which I was using it for in the first place: ADHD, depression, anxiety, hypertension and anger at the LOSS OF my FREEDOM.

Cannabis is not addictive!!!!!!!

They didn't knock the dirt off,. because it is easier to replant that way.

# 11.1

BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never heard of any statistically significant toxicity in marijuana. Is the evidence to which you refer publicly available? I think it would be very valuable in this discussion. I absolutely advocate for decriminalization, but I don't want to do so blindly. If there are real hazards, we do ourselves a disservice by not dealing with them head-on. I do know, from several-years-old recollection, that 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is one of the least-toxic drugs in the pharmacopoeia.

9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is one of the least-toxic drugs in the pharmacopoeia.

This is true. But even if you can make THC in a lab setting its not the same. Yea you can have the elements all lined up just like THC but we lack the technology to put the correct spin on the electrons. Even if its made in a lab Its not even close to the natural properties of REAL pot

You go YotaJosh!!! I would love you to prove that lol. Ill even help!

ive tried that yotajosh..... its impossible... you just fall asleep and wake up feeling rested and refreshed..... Marijuana ABUSE is safer than alcohol USE....

Also, if decriminalized and regulated this would CREATE jobs by creating a new unit to regulate. Also, WestNet, DEA and other anti-drug agencies could use ALL of their resources to go after the real bad guys that traffic, manufacture and sell hard core drugs.

to imv77 and everyone else reading..... DECRIMINALIZATION IS NOT LEGALIZATION.....if it were to be decriminalized that means its still illegal but small amounts are no longer a criminal charge... just a civil charge.... you get a ticket, you lose the weed, and it cannot be legally sold or bought.... we need LEGALIZATION, decriminalization only keeps a small amount of people out of prison but everything else stays the same.....

Jeeze, sorry Jest Legalize It!

They are, here is just one of them.

http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=CXW.N

LOL look at the corporate world. I worked in a bank head quarts and got stone with the managers :rofl

Thank you cat your comment made me a bit teary eyed. It is because of the cops and jails and judges who look at you like your(my) sub-human with a big bruise on your forehead rings of scabs around your wrists where the picked you off the ground by the handcuff that my life has been ruined, it is NOT THE CANNABIS that is the problem. Genesis 1:29, US Patented MEDICINE #6,630,507 Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants. The only reason now it is not legal is because the powerful lobby of police unions, private prison owners, judges, drug treatment workers, pharmaceutical corporations and all the other industry that does not do one good thing for one person by locking up people for smoking pot. The prohibition of intoxicating liquors required an amendment to the constitution and that was eventually made void by the 19th amendment. If those with a vested interest in cannabis prohibition want to continue their folly I suggest they get together and petition their representatives for a constitutional amendment, to change the constitution just like any other group of citizens would have do to have that much power over each individual's rights . Until then cannabis (also known as marijuana) is legal. Just don't get caught because there is no judge that will go against the hierarchy of the minority which is those with a vested interest in the police state culture of prohibition. We shall over come. merci beaucoup

I'm sorry they are not the 19th Amendment they are the 18th and 21st Amendments:

1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
2. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

The 21st Amendment:

1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
3. The article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

So the states can still outlaw alcohol with criminal sanctions if they choose but the federal government has no constitutionally valid law criminalizing intoxication.