Marijuana should definitely be legalized, and faster - better. There is a solid reasoning for this step from multiple perspectives (medical, legal, economic, etc.), and the only obstacle is the general conservatism of the system. California was the first state who enacted Medical Marijuana Laws in 1996, and now there are 14 states, where medical marijuana was legalized, while there was just single state (South Dakota), where it was banned at the time. So, you see, where the natural trend goes. Hopefully, California will be the first state, which decriminalize the Marijuana at all.

The kid of one of my friends last week had a friendly conversation with one of the drug dealers at the pub, and dealer complained that with so easy for youngsters to get cannabis prescription, the dealer's income significantly dropped. Let it be, get everything through official legal channels, with good quality and descent price, and take away drug dealer profits!

Tax it. It'll be the salvation to our economy. Plus there has been studies that suggest that it isn't as dangerous as originally thought. Some studies have evidence that it's safer than alcohol.

i think this is bull crap. it has no bad side effects it doesnt cause crime it doesnt do anything except cause fun and releive serious pain and depression

Okay.... Weed doesn't kill your brain cells, nobody has ever died from it, it's the biggest cash crop in the U.S. despite the fact that it's illegal, it helps people who have seizures and other neurological diseases, legalizing it would help our country out of the overwhelming state of debt it is in, it doesn't cause cancer (smoking in general causes cancer, so just eat pot brownies), and finally it makes you feel good without hurting anyone. Where is the proof against marijuana... it's all smoke and mirrors the government has concocted (and now I sound like a conspiracy theorist). Just trust me, if you want solid proof just watch the movie" The Union: The business behind getting high", and then tell me that weed is tearing our country apart and killing our youth, and that the war on drugs is valid.

I did not know this was coming up next! lol lol I want a toke right now ...ahhhh just for my glucoma! Naw really lol lol

1 inmate costs $35,000 or so per year. So, that's another $35,000 tax dollars every 40 seconds. I realize of course that not all sentences are a year long, but you see where this is going.

Why should this be illegal if fucking cigars or cigarettes are legal? They are nicknamed COFFIN NAILS I mean come on WHAT THE FUCK?

Yeah sad, huh... marijauana has been called a gateway drug in the past... its the same old
the ones who get medical permission think they need it... its emotionally addicting
governments try to regulate everybody, don't they?? those smoking it should have to just
eat it cause the smoking can't be that good for their lungs...

Government reports from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Library of Congress, and other sources indicate that the supply of marijuana in the United States is or 31.1 million pounds. Various price indexes from public and private sources produce a retail price of $7.87/gr or $3,570/lb, setting the overall retail value of the illicit marijuana market at $113 billion. Government reports indicate that the nation's marijuana laws cost taxpayers $41.8 billion annually.The Office of Management and Budget reports that local, state, and the federal government receipts represent 28.7% of the gross domestic product as tax revenue. The diversion of $113 billion from the taxable economy into the illicit economy deprives taxpayers of $31.1 billion annually. Marijuana arrests cost taxpayers $10.7 billion annually. While you are pondering that, consider:
In 2006 there were 9,124 arrests for marijuana-related offenses in Massachusetts. Of these, or 86% were for possession (7,857), the rest were for sales (1,267). Marijuana arrests have been increasing over the last several years, for example arrests averaged 8,986 during the preceding three years.
Marijuana arrests in the United States increased 3% annually from 1994 to 2005. In Massachusetts marijuana arrests decreased by 3.5% per year during this same period.
From 1992 to 2006, the criminal justice system doubled its share of marijuana-related referrals for drug treatment services from 26.89% in 1992 to 52.28% in 2006. With the sole exception of 2002, the percentage referred by the criminal justice system has increased every year.
The most recent and compelling report on US marijuana production reveals that not only is cannabis now the largest cash crop in the United States, but also that according to US Government data domestic marijuana cultivation has grown ten-fold over the last 25 years. This new report on marijuana production was recently published in the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform and distributed to the national media by the Marijuana Policy Project. In 2006 domestic marijuana cultivation was worth $35.8 billion, more than corn and wheat combined. Over 56 million marijuana plants were cultivated outdoors with a value of $31.7 billion and 11.7 million plants were cultivated indoors at a value of $4.1 billion.

Damn, I'm in the wrong profession.
Just legalize it already.

Based on what I know about marijuana, I don't see how it's any worse or more insidious than alcohol.

I plan to teach my kids about the dangers of marijuana. Don't need the government to do that for me.

Chromosomal damage from marijuana is well known among genetic research

In my opinion there isn't anything wrong with mary-jane. Hell in my religion (Rasta) it is a "holy herb"

I don't really have a problem with it if i'm not forced to be personally exposed to it.

I haven't done this since I was in college, back in the days when the Orioles were called the Browns and played in St. Louis and those newfangled horseless carriages were causing traffic problems, so I have no personal stake in this.

I also live in a city that produces, according to dealers, criminals and police agencies alike, the finest product in the world, so good that its frequently traded pound for pound for cocaine.

I'm well aware of the problems of misuse, and abuse of this and other drugs and I'm similarly aware of the problems of abuse and misuse of alcohol. I would point out that the attempt to deal with the problem of alcohol by the great experiment of prohibition was an abject failure in every way except one. It enriched organized criminals to an extent never before equalled.

The same thing has happened with marijuana. Dealers and growers in my town are no longer college kids, or disorganized goofballs. They are violent, dangerous and consciousless gangsters who have been indulging in a gang war in my city for over fifteen years, with innumerable unsolved murders, and dozens of innocent victims caught in the crossfire or in the background of automatic weapon hits.

I just don't see how criminalization is doing anything except making violent, amoral assholes richer and more powerful. In the last three months, the tentative accords between rival Vancouver gangs has broken down, leading to a situation that's on a course to rival the Mexican situation. We're seeing targetted hits with automatic weapons on the street, in crowded restaurants, in busy parking lots. Gangsters drive heavily armored vehicles, wear bullet proof vests and arm themselves with armor piercing bullets to settle their differences, and it is clear that the police are well out of their depth.

I don't regard legalization as a reward, I regard it as the only solution...

I don't think it should be legalized. They are making it almost illegal to smoke regular cigarettes, but yet they are debating on legalizing weed?? WTF!

Another tricky one! This one I am less tolerant with, because I hate smoke, and I had a roommate who would smoke pot in our dorm room, which put us both at risk of getting in big trouble. Not to mention, I woke up one morning, when I had bronchitis, nonetheless, to her smoking pot, and I could barely breathe. All of this way despite the fact that she had straight up asked me one time if I cared if she smoked in the room, and I told her, I didn't want her too, especially because I didn't want to get in trouble, considering I don't smoke cigarettes much less pot.

Despite that inconsideration, I personally don't care if people smoke pot, as long as they don't smoke it in a concealed room with me in it, where I could get busted as well.

I definitely think that it should be decriminalized, because I think that it's silly for pot smokers to be put through the justice system when there are child abusers, wife beaters and rapists who slip through the cracks all the time.

So really, if they just legalized it, it would become undesirable to the people who do it because it's "rebellious", they would no doubt, tax it to high heaven, and they could regulate it so people aren't getting weed laced with things that could really kill people or make them sick.

So I say definitely for decriminalization, and maybe for legalization, but only if it was sold like alcohol is sold, where you have to show I.D., and if you get caught driving while high, you also get a warning or DWI like with alcohol, because if you are impaired you should not be risking the lives of others. Oh, and stay away from me, I can't stand that smell.

MAKE IT LEGAL ALREADY AND THEN LETS CELEBRATE THAT BY SMOKING A NICE FAT JOINT!!!

Strictly for Medical use

Should be legal

except for cancer patients.

I think prescriptions for it, should be legal, and more used, if it helps to deal with chronic pain. However, I feel that with the break down of smoking in public places, in general, that we should probably lean more towards not being legal. The newest cause for death has been cancer, one of the major causes of cancer, is smoking.

it does help some people and its not all that bad compared to some other drugs

not gov't job to make illegal

Prohibition doesn't work.

  I started out with a momentary sense of euphoria and good intentions.  I meant to read every post and give each thoughtful post an opportunity to sink into my brain but then I became anxious about the type of response I would receive here yes, but more importantly while suffering a pang of paranoia at the idea of being stopped at the border and questioned about my participation in this discussion when I became distracted by the munchies and forgot what it was I was thinking about and where I was and what I was doingi or supposed to be doing and well.. I quite suddenly found myelf listening to the best song ever in a relatively relaxed state but now I can't stop smiling and giggling. 

The argument can be made that Marijuana is a gateway drug, but then do we suggest that giving asparin to relieve pain and relax the body physically and clear the mind of headaches is not a gateway to the abuse of other pain medication such as percocets and oxycotin's? These chemicals that we shove into our bodies by way of the foods we eat, the drugs we're prescribed, the air that we breath...

I'd sooner have a toke and then need to spend an extra half hour in the pool swimming off the extra bit of cheese doritos than I would putting on make-up to hide the broken blood vessels and having my doctor tell me my liver's shot . 

In moderation, a responsible adult can enjoy the benefits of naturally grown marijuana without undermining their own health or the safety and/or security of others.  It's like anything else, if you become a glutton, you reap the consequences. 

Pot heads don't hurt anyone but themselves.

Should be legalized despite the irritating giggling it causes.

Never smoked the stuff in my life- not because I am a choir boy; I just hate the smell. But I agree with those who argue that it is hyporcritical for alcohol to be legal, while this substance is illegal. 

Here is a good solution: leave it illegal and liken the fines to those for double parking or J-walking. Putting people in federal prison for this is ridiculous.

Make it legal and tax it. Then use the money to educate consumers.

People say that Marijuana can't do anything to your health but I say no...I don't smoke it but it is smoked around me and I see things that people don't speak on..The smell has messed with my lungs plenty of times and I see that it distorts a person's perspective..They can't see clearly on anything when they smoke that..and sometimes they don't care about anything because they smoke that...People that smoke Marijuana should not be depended on to make important decisions because their mental state is distorted

The only reason why marijuana is illegal is because of the efforts of the liquor lobby in the 1930s following Prohibition. The booze purveyors of that era felt that their industry needed extra bolstering, which was absurd, and sought protections against The Great Herb as they saw cannibis, and perhaps rightly so, as competition in the world of recreational substances. So, without relying on medical evidence, but rather typically, cowing to special interests, Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1937 which outlawed marijuana. Seeing that The Noble Weed is nowhere as harmful as tobacco and/or alcohol, it's totally ridiculous the substance is illegal while those other poisons have the franchise. However, this is typical of the ass-backward way the U.S. is run.

fuck yeah leagalize it

no

Would it really make a difference?
It's complicated I think...

people do it anyways, might as well benefit in the form of taxes, eh law makers?

It's an herb man!!!!

Alcohol should be illegal WAY before pot.

I have major issues with this...medicinal...ABSOLUTELY...if it is regulated as with any other controlled substance. I just don't think its a good idea otherwise...

nasty ppl

Let's try it for a while. We can always repeal it later. Like reverse Prohibition. Bring it out into the daylight, people.

causes blackout outs when you get older, and plus it's not great for your health

Sure why not

marijuana never hurt no body

Dude! Dude?! Dude!!!

YO MAAN!!WATSO BAD BOUT A' LIL REEFA??

I dont smoke, but I know many who do...

cannabis has medicinal purposes that work better than perscription meds. If it was leagal the thriil would be gone. Helpful tothose who need it.No longer as fun for those who don't

Marijuana is a product of a plant from prehistory, AKA God put it here on Earth so that anyone who is sick or dying can take it to feel better or to releave their sickness.

     God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth.…To you it will be for meat." … And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:29-31)

     The Bible predicts some herb's prohibition. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall … speak lies in hypocrisy … commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. (Paul: 1 Timothy 4:1-3)

Marijuana is a drug and that makes you HIGH thats why it should not be legalized. and they should also make cigarets illigal. things that don't help any one and cause early deaths should not be legalized.

This is touchy cause there are people who take it to the extreme and vary in different drug type using but weed is not a gate way drug. Please, tell me why Alcohol is even legal. People drive drunk, when your high you want to lounge around, laugh, eat, just hang out, sometimes clean. And if weed was legal then in it should stil be like regulated with DWI and no drinking ON the job. Alcohol has never been proving other than in "little house on the prairie" times for use on numbing wounds and painkilling of a sort. Weed has many medicinal for back pain , RA, Nausea, Headaches, Cramos, Help sleeping, and for arguement of the lunges, you dont have to smoke it, it does come in food varietions too! :0)