The medical evidence in support is very overwhelming, and Hemp is one of the most sustainable crops grown throughout history.

The government could earn billions in taxes, shut down a black market, regulate quality, we can make everything from textiles to paper to carbon fibre out of hemp.

"In 1916, USDA Bulletin No. 404, reported that one acre of cannabis hemp, in annual rotation over a 20-year period, would produce as much pulp for paper as 4.1 acres of trees being cut down over the same 20-year period. This process would use only 1/4 to 1/7 as much polluting sulfur-based acid chemicals to break down the glue-like lignin that binds the fibers of the pulp, or even none at all using soda ash. The problem of dioxin contamination of rivers is avoided in the hemp paper making process, which does not need to use chlorine bleach (as the wood pulp paper making process requires) but instead safely substitutes hydrogen peroxide in the bleaching process. ... If the new (1916) hemp pulp paper process were legal today, it would soon replace about 70% of all wood pulp paper, including computer printout paper, corrugated boxes and paper bags."

From http://www.jackherer.com/

$100,000 Challenge to Prove Us Wrong!

If all fossil fuels and their derivatives, as well as trees for paper and construction, were banned in order to save the planet, reverse the Greenhouse Effect and stop deforestation;

then there is only one known annually renewable natural resource that is capable of providing the overall majority of the world's paper and textiles; meet all of the world's transportation, industrial and home energy needs, while simultaneously reducing pollution, rebuilding the soil and cleaning the atmosphere all at the same time...

and that substance is the same one that has done it before . . CANNABIS HEMP!

It should be legalized. We need to strive for a rational legal code. In relation to tobacco and alcohol, two of the legal drugs, cannabis is hands down the least harmful. It does not have the physically addictive properties of either alcohol or tobacco, cannabis users can stop anytime with withdrawal symptoms on par with or less than that of caffeine withdrawal. More than that, tens of thousands of people die every year from lung cancer and alcohol related accidents and illnesses. If your an alcoholic you can die if you just stop drinking. No one to my knowledge has ever been killed from smoking or quiting cannabis. In addition, cannabis has not been shown to have the carcinogenic effects that tobacco has. Cannabis has even been shown to promote new brain cell development, and its users report wide ranging benefits. The Netherlands model shows that soft drugs can be legalized and it actually improves the society. We need to end the propaganda and misinformation campaign, bring more reason and fairness to our legal code, and legalize cannabis.

As the dutch example shows, legalizing marijuana doesn't come with any significant negative effects to society. Instead, the government has an additional source of income from taxes and saves significant amounts of money that is currently being spent on arresting, prosecution and locking up non violent marijuana users.

i actually wrote a persuasive essay on this not too long ago for my English class and i got a perfect score on it so i thought I'd share it with you all.

The Decision is Ours

Marijuana is a THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) containing plant which is illegal and discriminated against in all but a handful of countries. A number of the common effects of this plant include a euphoric feeling, stress reduction, deep thinking, pain relief, increased appetite, and a few negative effects such as lightheadedness or confusion. It has been argued for years whether the cannabis plant is a drug or simply a natural herb like any other with stronger side effects, many people considering both herb and drug to be the most logical answer. The earliest it is recorded to be utilized, orally and smoked, is 2700 B.C. in China and India, having been outlawed in the United States in the early 1900’s. Uses such as religious purposes, medicines, and relaxation; should marijuana be legalized? My belief is that there would be no harm in this change of law, and the economy would prosper from it.

The First Amendment stated in the United States Constitution Bill of Rights reads:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Religious peoples, for example Rastafaris, Shintos, Hinus, Buddhists, Sufis, Zoroastrians, Bantus, and many other sects, have traditions that require ganja as a part of their lifestyles and sacred ceremonies. All of these customs had been established long before the banning of the plant. So when prohibiting marijuana is that not taking away their first amendment right of freedom to exercise their religion?

Before its ban, marijuana was a major active ingredient in 40-50 percent of medicines. Nowadays it could be used to replace at least 10-20 percent of medicines. Marijuana has hundreds of proven uses from treating nausea, pain, multiple sclerosis (MS), glaucoma, and asthma to stress reduction and cancer therapy. If you have glaucoma, the third leading cause of blindness brought about by increased pressure in the eyeball, this herbs effects reduce pressure in the eyeballs and though other medications can be used for treatment they tend to lose efficiency over time. With MS the normal functioning of the nerves in the brain and spinal cord are disrupted, harsh debilitating attacks that come and go along with many uncomfortable symptoms that lead to eventual disability occur, the use of cannabis in this situation treats a number of the symptoms as well as delays the progression of the disease.

In the United States alone every 15 minutes someone is killed in an alcohol related accident, this is approximately 50 percent of all deadly car collisions. Just about half of industrial deaths and injuries can be linked to alcohol consumption. Along with those statistics four in ten criminals and three in four of domestic violence offenders have reported to have alcohol as the reason for their violent behavior. On an annual basis in the US alcohol kills about 80,000 people, as for marijuana - there has never been a recorded death due to marijuana, you are more likely to die from an overdose of asprin. In fact, as far as we know it is impossible to overdose on marijuana and contrary to the common belief it does not influence violence or crimes. Even all of the illegal drugs put together are responsible for a small percentage of deaths compared to tobacco, is it really fair that these more harmful and fatal substances are legal but marijuana is not?

During the rise of the Rastafaris in Jamaica a man named Leonard Howell owned a large amount of land he called Pinnacle. Pinnacle was designed as a place for Leonard and hundreds of his Ras Tafari followers to live separated from the accusing eyes of the public who viewed them as criminals and thought their ideologies to be absurd, most of his followers had been poor peasants but this all changed with the growth of their ganja plantation. They had grown and sold so much marijuana that they built shops and were able to care for themselves with plenty of extra money, the rest of the valley eventually depending on them for necessities such as food and the herb. In California marijuana is already the largest cash crop and the UN has estimated that 2.5 percent of the world’s population smokes cannabis, with cannabis legal and the government regulating it like every other product of America our economy would thrive.

To put it simply, the United States does not outlaw “junk” food and vending machines simply because it is bad for you, although they may be unhealthy it is the individuals choice on whether they want to consume them or not. It is the same with marijuana, though there are few minor health risks, it is the individuals’ responsibility to look at the pros and cons and make the decision they want. Should marijuana be legalized? My answer is yes, whether for religious uses, medical reasons, just recreational purposes, or merely because the government should not have the right to dictate the lives of their citizens if it is not harming society, the legalization of marijuana would produce no destruction to our social order and the economy would expand.

There are other reasons I think marijuana should be legalized, these are just the main ones. Hope you all enjoyed it =)

Face it, the real reason pot is illegal is so 1) cops have increased ability to harass minorities and lower class people, and 2) profits from alcohol and pharmacy are artifically protected. These reasons do not justify the loss of freedom of millions of Americans.

1 out of 3 Americans have tried marijuana (and that's just those who will admit it.) Should we really imprison a third of the country?

Marijuana should be legalized BECAUSE it is dangerous.

If 'dangerous' is the over-all term for anything that might shunt one from his formal, initial, eligible state of his body. An imaginary state of fully-functioning, flawless, ideal body. Structured by psychology, biology, culture and all kinds of institutions, to distinguish sanity from lunacy, health from illness, intelligence from ignorance. Though these are not the bad guys, of course, it's just that marijuana does change you, it does change your body, the way you think, thus the dangerous mark is understandable.

The 'high' effect is an abnormal state that will never fit it with the standards. in fact, it changes people so much they often consider upper spiritual intervention and skip their way to the bible, only to find (or intentionally reinterpret) juicy quotes of Jesus puffing away - THESE are the bad guys. These people underestimate the abyss between themselves and the machine that produced the metaphors they use to explain their experience.

The data field of it's effects is radically shaped by the method of learning it, thus a non-user and a do-user are both biased, the argument between the two always hides the law underneath it, which separates them even more. The point is that some day the do-user won't have the need of such self-deceit, just like most of us manage to live without defying the meaning of life.

Stigma dissolving is not necessary, maybe not even possible, the stigma is not a merit of either side of the coin, it is the coin itself, the need to justify and 'OK' stamping one's inevitable position on either side demands the improvisation of rational evidence of truth.

Once a full legalization is executed, there might be a radical separation and a birth-approval for new culture, new moral, new rationalism that neutralizes the holiness around such a nihilistic notion of 'reasonable behavior', new thought, new language, new engagement with whatever is or is not considered reality. While the non-user will embrace the whole coin to morph it into a monopoly of the whole opinion spectrum within the data field of marijuana study, and will create yet another standard, unifying abstainers as much as absence of activity can be conceivable as a common denominator.

'Users' will consider the activity as we all consider sugar, it just won't be considered at all.

I mean, its not like its one of the ones that can kill you, any related deaths are from judgment impairment and thats no worse than alchohol.

People have the right to do what they want in America, so long as they don't harm others. Furthermore, if they want to do that, there is punishment enough.

Victimless crime. Marijuana has negative effects like any drug, but causal use is practically harmless. It's a matter of personal liberty.

of course marijuana shoule be legalized. come on, reality check here. more people are gettin in trouble for using, so why not make it legal. we all gonna use it anyway

I still have yet to see a medical report declaring a man dead from an overdose of THC. Provide a link showing me that marijuana specifically killed a man and I'll leave quietly.

Yes. Prohibition doesn't work. The most effective way to make something irresistible is to forbid it.

Marijuana being illegal is part of the reason why people do it. It is a stupid reason, but a reason nonetheless. Legalizing marijuana, could potentially lower the number of users. The thrill of the chance of being caught gives them a high that's intensified by the drug. It outta just be legalized, and the government can tax the hell out of it like with cigarettes. It's your choice if you're going to do it or not.

It shouldnt have been outlawed in the first place. Its not the goverments job to tell me what natural and organic items I can put in my body.

Prohibition has been unsuccessful many times in history, just look at what happened during alcohol prohibition. It causes crime to go up because of the fact that it is illegal. The black market profits go way up because you can't legally obtain it, which causes violent crime to increase because of the existence of the black market. Prohibiting drugs also makes it "forbidden fruit" and taboo, which is a big reason a high number of teenagers and young adults use drugs.

Doing drugs is a victimless crime and it should be a person's choice what they put in their own body, not the government's choice.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh come on guys then the government could make millions of dollars n it...

And people who need it for medicinal purposes could actually feel better...

Don't you see the irony of it all???

Pot is not a gateway drug.

Sharon

~The Baby Boomer Queen~

babyboomeradvisorclub.com

i believe marijuana should be legalised becuase then people can make there mistakes and realise why it was not legalised in the first place. making it i have two sides for this. should be legalised for people who just need to relax

"The only problems I've ever had with drugs are from the people who try to keep me from using them" -Dr. Thompson

I personally perform a job everyday that requires my full attention at all times for other's safety, and statistics show that my job is twice as life threatening as a police officer's. And somehow every day I'm able to do this without incident. Imagine that.

yes because native Americans used it as a medicine in the days.

Amsterdam you can smoke pot there why not Australia?

yes - the demonization of weed needs to stop. i know conservatives really aren't ready for it - they'd rather have society as a bunch of alcoholics...

Does anybody know how much the American economy would grow if Marijuana was legalized? Listen, it's not the government's problem if people are irresponsible and mess up their lives with Marijuana, right? The government would make an enormous amount of many off of all the Marijuana sales, and we would be on our way back up, and I sincerely hope that President Obama decides to legalize it once he takes care of the war. (By the way, I still can't get over the fact that I can call him President Obama now. Yes!)

The Legalization of marijuana would lower are crime rates in the United States of America by at least 15 to 20%. A lot of the US citizens have either used, grew, or sold Marijuana and have gotten caught by the police if we legalized Marijuana we could put restrictions on the use growth and sells of marijuana so that he people who sell grow and use it can sell grow and use it just under certain restrictions.

Yeah...................If the president says so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After 720 days and countless of arguments (most of which I have not read) to the contrary, I still think like, yeah man ;)

Yes because it is a plant not a drug but if you set it on fire there are sidefects.

yes, for one simple reason.

free country. if people wanna fuck up their lives with drugs, let them. hell, maybe they won't die or lose their job. the point is, not our fuckin' business on how someone decides to take the edge off.

making drugs an illegal business just gets more people killed anyway. imagine what would happen to the drug lords if corporations took over the drug market.

basically: "got a problem? fix it with capitalism"

Are people still responding to this?

I'm definitely for the legalization of marijuana, but there's something people need to realize.

Just like with Tobacco, when Cannabis is legalized and FDA regulated, I can promise you the commercialized Marijuana product will be just as laden with polutants, chemicals and pure garbage as cigarettes are. It will become more expensive because there will be a tax on it, just as there is with tobacco and alcohol. It will become another government controlled commodity.

That's why it's not legal.

People die from drinking home made alcohol/moonshine. That has to be regulated, period. Tobacco isn't addictive and isn't as satisfying or nerve calming without all the additives, hence it's alteration from natural form.

Marijuana is grown in backyards all over the world and needs no alteration from government entities for it to be popular or effective. There's no logical way for the United States government to intervene, control and PROFIT (key words here) from the potential Marijuana industry.

When it comes to my point of view on the legalization of Marijuana I believe that there is no reason what so ever for it to remain illegal.

I'm not going to go into detail explaining what many have already said, about the medical uses, stress relief, etc, but when it comes to the profit that could be made this way, an enormous amount of opportunities open up.

First thing that comes to mind with the legal sale of Marijuana is tax. Why have a tax other then sales tax? Hell, why not? Are you not willing to pay that extra amount to be able to legally smoke? Is that extra tax not worth being able to sit in clear view and toke it up without worrying about going to jail if you're caught? Of course it is!

Realistically, we could add the Cigarette tax from each state onto a package of Joints. 4 average rolled joints at $10 + tax. Sure, you're getting slightly less than a dime's worth, but again, that extra amount is more than worth it.

If marijuana was to be considered for legalization, and lets say they were to use Texas as the Beta-State, a package of 4 joints would cost $11.41 after tax. Lets say Joe goes through the average dime in about 2 days. That's 178 dime bags in a year. As of now that would cost him $1780, and it would cost $2030.98 if it was legalized and taxed. That is $250.98 more than he would normally pay for a slightly less amount of weed. About .1 gram per package to be exact, on average.

That is $250.98 in profit to the government, in 1 year, from 1 man. That means slightly under 4000 people (3985) would allow the government to make a profit of one million dollars.

Did I mention that is in addition to the money saved yearly on arrest and court costs? Imagine this... 6458 (adjusted for the California cigarette tax) people in California smoke marijuana once it has become legalized. That's $1 million in profit, in addition to saving the $100 million that it is estimated to spend yearly on arrest and court costs. I'm failing to see the problem with this idea.

On a large scale, I think I read somewhere about 10% of the American population admitted to smoking marijuana. The last estimated count was about 303.8 million people in the US, so 30.38 million have admitted to regular use. The average tax on cigarettes around the US is about $.53 per pack, at even just 1 dime per week, equals to an average profit of $837.27 million dollars annually.

This estimate does not include the millions of Americans who did not admit to their regular use, nor to the hundreds of millions that would be saved on arrest and court costs.

In addition, think of all the new job openings of adding several large scale marijuana plantations. Hundreds of job possibilities open up, allowing the percentage of jobless adults to decrease. Hell, make a few new college courses about Marijuana History, Growing Marijuana, the Cultivation of Marijuana. Easily opening up new job opportunities for people to strive for. Sure, it's not the perfect job, but if you can convince people to go to school for it, and make a college degree required to work on the plantation, I bet it would convince hundreds of students to return to school with their career choice in mind.

All of these are just estimates and I have no way of knowing any exacts. But as my estimates are reasonable, and pretty close to being exact with the information I've researched, even if it didn't provide an adequate source to replace paper products, or medical uses, or any of the other dozen + things that marijuana is useful for, the profit in taxes and the annual savings in court costs and the job opportunities more than justify the legalization of marijuana.

The legalization of marigunana will come with pros and cons. At the end of the day whether it is legal or not people have the choice to have marijuana. They should legalize it and control it how they have alchohol established.

Good things if we legalized it (in the U.S.):

If it was legal the government could regulate it and it could be dispensed safely. This would stop people from dying when their drugs have been modified in an unhealthy way. Second, we could tax the heck out of it. It's not the best solution, but it would help curb the government's budget problems. What about Industrial Hemp? That would help create a billion dollar industry, hence more jobs, and more money if the US exports and or imports it to different countries.

Hemp is good for as a alternative fuel, food, clothing, paper, etc. That would help our environment greatly. Why cut down trees that takes over 80 years to fully grow while you can use hemp that fully grows per season?What about the waste of tax payers money called the war on drugs? It's a completely useless program that helps create more chaos by making drug cartels being stinking rich, do you really want the drug cartels to have such power?

Bad things:

Marijuana is proven to cause depression and change brain patterns in odd ways among other things. But there are many worse drugs. However if Marijuana was legalized there would be a push to legalize other drugs. Things like Meth and Estacy could be legalized, then we could say goodbye to civilization as we know it. Even if other drugs werent legalized after, Marijuana its still a gateway to a high feeling. And many, too many, will want to move on to larger highs, to drugs which have undoubtedly negative effects, to drugs which will annihilate your ability to think and function.

So, in the end, my thoughts are not to legalize it, but to decriminalize it. It could be decriminalized for say, a personal amount. If you're caught over that amount you receive a fine. Charging and convicting people for personal amounts is a waste of tax money and court time. Nobody has ever died directly related to marijuana. Nor does is it cause much society problems unlike alcohol and hard drugs.

Do not be fooled by the multi-party politricks system which is often tied to selfish gain and short term ends. Which like the ancient kingdom of babylon seeks to impose its views by force at the expense of the majority to benefit the minority. Many of those in position of power to regulate laws are often helped along the way financially by the fat pockets of alcohol and tobacco lobbyists, whose industry continues to thrive because of their economic dominance which is being used to suppress the tree of life (marijuana), which if became legal would affect the corruption drastically on alcohol and tobacco which have been proven by medical research to pose a far greater threat to the health and well being of the population in comparison to the the healing herb of cannabis. So no I will not drink the cup of devils, but will continue to partake of the healing herb of marijuana which makes life pleasant even in the most trying conditions, for the life experience itself has manifested my legal right protected through the Charter of the United Nations which upholds the noblest aspirations of man without any distinction of race, sex , language and religion. My right is my right, just as a man has a right to drink wine or beer, which consequently is often brewed with Humulus lupulus (the hop plant) which only it and cannabis are of the same herbaceous plant group of Cannabaceae.

'Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise' Proverbs 20:1

"Since in the scale of creation all men are born equal, it is imperitive that all laws should be equitable in their application, for what is the foundation of freedom and the reasons that men cherish it, if they are not equal before the law. The answer is clear to all of you." HIM Haile Selassie I

Everyonethinks we are hippies 4 doin it....no how many ppl go and shoot up a block or rob whenthey smoke marijuana.....not a dame soul!!!!

i know i have different view on different things, and many people dont agree but it is my personal belief and if i cared enough i would quit. Really wish people would get over this whole "marijuana thing" because its already legalized in three states and soon it will be nationally legalized, If you dont think alchohol is a bad then get over marijuana, read the good actual facts not the one sided short facts and you will find there our many good things from the plant and some bad things, but same things where in alchohol it only damages your liver and makes you feel good untill the next day PLEASE GET THE FACTS

Marijuana= Zero Deaths: Illegal

Cigarettes = Number 1 death in America: Legal

Look at the facts

Marijuana,is good,Mkay?It'll make you an out of the box thinker and calm you downnn Mkay?Now lets talk about calmin down.if ur calmin down,ur some high mkay?-Mr.Mackey

I've never smoked Marijuana before, nor any other drug. It should most definitely be legalized, and not just because, I'd feel more like doing it... I probably still wouldn't. It's because we need to stop imprisoning people for just smoking something that is naturally grown! Smoking pot is a victimless crime and prohibition doesn't work, it's time to move on.

Marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol, which as we all know is legal, even though i don't smoke pot, i should have the right if I wanted to

POSITIVALLY HELL YEAH please do man i bet u life would be alot happier if we can smoke in PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG, when I created this debate I didn't know how many pot heads were out there.

But only in Tijuana. Just in case it isn't a good idea. That way I can just go across the border, have some fun and go home. Mexico can suffer any negative effects due to the legalization of marijuana.