 "Photo: The Scribe")
Pot, Mary Jane, weed, kush, blunt, Joint, bombers, doobie.
Marijuana.
Generally, the effects of alcohol are worse than the effects of marijuana. Marijuana is considered to be a safer drug than alcohol by many, an assertion supported in widespread and extensive testing of the drug and its effects.
Marijuana can be used as a gate way drug, and so can beer. However, marijuana is more likely to be a gateway drug due to the fact that it is illegal. Pot users already break the invisible ‘law' barrier when they score grass, not to mention that turning to the black market exposes users to harder drugs. So why not just make it legal?
The Dutch tried this approach. They legalized marijuana (and heroin). However, the Dutch have decided that this may not be the best idea; accordingly, they have once again made heroin illegal and are backing way off on marijuana. Why?
This free drug policy was shown to have an extremely negative effect on the Dutch society. Many societal issues they already had were amplified.
We are not considering removing alcohol and replacing it with weed. We are asking if we should make weed legal along with alcohol. It is already exceedingly clear that alcohol is not beneficial to our society as a whole. According to the Report of the Re-entry Policy Council, three out of four inmates have a substance abuse problem.
The legalization of any drug will not decrease the crime rate. To think so is foolishness. There will always be those people not allowed to have weed due to age restrictions and so on. These restrictions will always establish an illegal demand and yet another illegal market.
As David Raynes, part of the National Drug Prevention Alliance in Great Britain, commented, "No country alone, (as the Dutch have found to their cost) can operate a policy which is substantially more liberal than neighbors, without suffering from "drug tourism"… There is the big lie that legalizing drugs will take the criminality out of supply. What nonsense. Illegal traders who pay no taxes of any sort can always undercut legitimate traders."
Organized crime, including illegal drug trafficking, has persisted in the Netherlands despite the Dutch government's relaxed attitude toward drugs. Why should we expect a different effect here?
Once the government legalizes something, there can be no take backs. It is amazing to me how we are even considering legalizing something so clearly detrimental to society when we need everyone working and putting out 100% for their families in this time of recession.
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1. Causes over $115 billion to be given to illegal growers, dealers, and traffickers.
2. Wastes $42 billion a year in unnecessary cannabis possession arrests and DEA operations(not including state level expenses)
3. Causes obscene amounts of unnecessary crime.(Don't believe me? Take a look at the last prohibition we had, alcohol.)
4. Unfairly gives marijuana the term 'gateway drug'. In fact, marijuana has been deemed a gateway drug because of prohibition. This blending of the hard and soft drug markets(soft:alcohol, caffeine, tobacco)(hard:cocaine, heroin, meth, etc.) forces people who obtain marijuana to come into contact with people who also deal hard drugs, therefore increasing their likeliness to begin such drugs. If marijuana were decriminalized, recreational users would not come in contact with such people or drugs.I will simply cite the other cannabis supporters above me to critique your numerous other errors. Please, do not attempt another persuasive argument without thoroughly researching beforehand. Additionally, you MUST cite sources if you choose to list these "facts."In conclusion, I hope this article is limited to the internet, as the printing of it would be an egregious waste of paper.
More than 50% will go straight in funding our education system.
About 25% go in to Human Resources
about 15% into public safety
The remaining 10% goes to Judicial Branch, Administration, Natural Resources, Legislative Branch, Miscellaneous Programs, Economic and Community Development, Consumer and Business Services, and Transportation.
Hemp is by far one of the most useful plants on the planet. This is a plant that makes paper, fabric, bio-diesel, plastics, building materials and the bi-product is healthy food. No wonder logging, tobacco and coffee have been opposed to legalization for so long. Hemp will become Oregon's next cash crop. When you consider the fact that one acre of hemp can produce three times more paper than an acre of the most paper producing tree it seems silly to use trees for paper at all. Oregon will see jobs in the sustainable industry sky rocket as we become a national leader for sensible legislation. The third tier of revenue for Oregon comes from the redirection of funds saved by ending prohibition.According to a Harvard study by Jeffery Miron, Oregon spends $61.5 million dollars enforcing out-of-date cannabis and hemp laws. Imagine redirecting that funding to schools, healthcare or solving real crimes! Human Resources is the second largest recipient of resources from the Oregon General Fund, with 24 percent. However, according to The Families USA report titled, “Left Behind: Oregon's Uninsured Children” more than 107,000 children were uninsured. That is more than one out of nine. In the three years since the report that number has surely grown. Considering 82 percent of Oregon's tax revenue comes from income taxes; high unemployment rates translates to budget cuts for programs like schools, healthcare and public safety.No less than 87.8 percent of uninsured children come from homes where at least one person works Despite this over half remain in poverty. Many of these families may qualify for programs funded by the state General Fund. The funding is simply not there.OCTA will generate millions for healthcare through the state general fund. Early estimates predict sensible legislation like OCTA could create $140 million or more for such programs. Just for comparison sake; Oregon's lucrative micro-brew industry contributes $2.2 billion to the state annually. In addition, by regulating the sale of cannabis Oregon is taking it off the streets where young people can easily acquire it.This is to say little of the hundreds of health benefits associated with hemp seed/oil. Hemp has long been known to hold beneficial qualities of a nutrient rich life. Loaded with Omega 3s, protein and fiber, the possibilities for hemp as a food, fuel or building materials are endless.
You need to take a serious look at this topic before you go slandering it with your uninformed opinion. There will always be a black market but you have to weigh the good against the bad and legalizing pot
About 4554 underage deaths PER YEAR due to underage drinking and driving alone.This is not even counting all the misc. deaths associated with alcohol. How many total deaths from marijuana from every age from everything you could possibly think of? 33 per year. You fail to make even the most obvious logical comparisons. I suggest you revise your article or take it off the internet completely. Anyone interested in some FACTUAL information regarding marijuana legalization please visit.
http://www.cannabistaxact.org/
http://norml.org/
"This free drug policy was shown to have an extremely negative effect on the Dutch society. Many societal issues they already had were amplified. "Could you also possibly provide a source for this information pretty please?
1. The Dutch did not legalize heroin for general use. Rather, they allowed addicts to obtain it by prescription. In fact, the Dutch government expanded the program, which only caters to hardcore addicts who’ve failed relapsed throughout the years. They must inject the heroin on site and may not take it with them. (http://www.drugpolicy.org/library/tlcnr.cfm)
2. Weed is not technically legal in the Netherlands. Rather, it is “tolerated.”
3. “The legalization of any drug will not decrease the crime rate.” How would she know this? Ending alcohol prohibition put many gangsters out of business. Why should current prohibition be any different? Even if we didn’t eliminate organized crime, legalization would still reduce its ability to finance itself.
4. She states, “However, marijuana is more likely [than beer] to be a gateway drug due to the fact that it is illegal.” If that’s true, then legalizing weed would make people less likely to try harder drugs.
5. “These restrictions will always establish an illegal demand and yet another illegal market.” SO WHAT? This is true for booze and tobacco, but at least the market for these legal drugs is easier for the government to manage.
6. She then cites the problem of “drug tourism”. Had we required U.S. ids for purchasing weed and citizenship requirements, this wouldn’t be a major problem.
7. “Organized crime, including illegal drug trafficking, has persisted in the Netherlands despite the Dutch government’s relaxed attitude toward drugs. Why should we expect a different effect here?” She conflates the trafficking of drugs illegal to the Netherlands (e.g., cocaine, ecstasy) with the trafficking of marijuana.
8. “Once the government legalizes something, there can be no take backs.” How would she know this? Even if this is true, is her statement necessarily an argument against legalization? If legalization had mostly positive effects on society, then it shouldn’t matter whether we can reverse it.
9. If alcohol is worse than weed and people will drink and smoke weed anyways, why not tax alcohol and legalize weed? True, people would still harm their health, but at least, as Graves herself implies, there would be less over all harm in society.
10. “It is amazing to me how we are even considering legalizing something so clearly detrimental to society when we need everyone working and putting out 100% for their families in this time of recession.” Two points. First, legalizing weed would help the economy by creating new jobs and investment opportunities. Second, why is it any of her business what other people choose to put in their own bodies? She doesn’t have the right to say what I can eat, no matter how much harm our diets cause to the healthcare system. Why should my drug of choice be any different? I’m offended that busybodies like her grant themselves the right to micromanage my and everyone else’s life. What did I ever do to her? Why can’t she just leave people alone?
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