Redundant weed legalization point.

[CrashBand]

I find in debates over whether weed should be legalized there is a point that comes up often for the pro-legalization side that I found just plain stupid.

Now don't get this thread wrong I am not trying to say weed should be illegal. Just simply refuting one stupid argument that I hear surprisingly often. Which is 'alcohol is worse for you and alcohol is legal, therefore weed should be'.

This 'comparing to alcohol' bullshit pisses me off. Yes, alcohol is worse for you than weed. Yes it is hypocritical alcohol is legal. Does that mean weed should be legal? No.

Firstly let's take a look at alcohol. Now most people agree that if a new drug came to existence which had the exact same effects that alcohol has on us it would quickly become illegal. For sake of argument, lets say alcohol should be illegal. The negatives that come with it by it being legal by far outweigh the positives in society. The problem is, it would be impossible to make alcohol illegal. The public outcry would be too much. Alcohol is so widely accepted that there is no way it will become illegal.

Just because weed isn't as bad for you as alcohol this fact alone is no argument for legalization. You have to totally ignore this point. If weed should be legal you would have to objectively judge if it is better for society being legal than illegal which I think a lot of you members will think is the case.

An analogy would be if beating women was illegal but molesting little kids was legal and somehow it is be impossible to change this law about molestation. This warrants no argument to legalize beating women. You have to judge if beating women should be illegal independently.

This may be an obvious point for some but I hear this argument for legalizing weed too many times.

[Kill You]

Eh, the way I see it if alcohol is legal then weed should be legal too...so I guess I don't agree lol. Or at least decriminalized. Seriously, no one should go to jail for having pot.

[ShAdYTiLIDie]

I do agree I get sick of that argument, its pretty irrelevant, I think theres a lot of reasons that weed should be legalized but thats not one of them, anyways, people will smoke it no matter what haha.

[mdemaz]

Yeah, fuck a debate, the more you tell people not to do something, the more they find ways to do it.

[CrashBand]

Eh, the way I see it if alcohol is legal then weed should be legal too...so I guess I don't agree lol.

No it shouldn't. I think you missed my whole point.

Seriously, no one should go to jail for having pot.

I agree.

[Kill You]

I got your point I just don't agree...alcohol kills people, kills teenagers in driving accidents. Weed doesn't. I really don't think there's any need to argue further. It's like deciding which is better, a regular cigarette or an electronic one? One gives you lung cancer, one doesn't do anything to you. It might be a dumb analogy to you but I think it makes sense. At least you're not allowed to drink and drive but even then people do it anyway...plus when I personally drink the high is not good, but when I smoke I'm alright. When I drink I can't do shit, when I smoke I feel like I can at least do shit and function. I can drive fine when I'm high (I actually do it a lot and it helps me focus on the road) but when I'm drunk I obviously don't drive. I have driven drunk before and it was dumb. I didn't get in a accident but I could have easily hit something. I might be a little biased towards weed since I don't like alcohol (I don't like it and I had a friend die from a drunk driver) but I think it would be fair to consider these points...There's nothing morally wrong with smoking weed either, I see more wrong in drinking than smoking...those are just my views. I respect yours I just simply to agree. You probably don't agree with me either so it's cool. At the end of the day we are all different and have our personal preferences.

[DanWS]

Well yea it's a fairly redundant point if it's only being used on it's own and not as part of a larger argument. But that's pretty obvious . As part of a larger argument it has substance though.

[mdemaz]

I only reason I don't like weed is because where I live, a lot of fucking scum smoke the shit, but I know now that people from all categories of society smoke it in the US and all that.
I think because more broke-ass people smoke it, it gives everyone that impression that weed is evil, it's just a plant really, Salvia isn't illegal in many countries and states and that shit is more potent then LSD...

So what the fuck?

I don't have a problem with people smoking it, but, you know...

[CrashBand]

@Kill You, I'm not sure if you did. It wasn't about which one is better for you. I agree that alcohol is worse for society than weed would be if legal.

Well yea it's a fairly redundant point if it's only being used on it's own and not as part of a larger argument. But that's pretty obvious . As part of a larger argument it has substance though.

Well yeah. It illustrates hypocrisy quite well. But I'm not sure if it adds anything to the argument, unless I'm missing something.

Your stance could be you think alcohol should be illegal. Therefore weed being 'better than something bad for society' does not equal 'should be legal'. This is where I find the point really useless.

Then there's if alcohol should be legal. Firstly, I'm not too sure of any non-biased arguments here. Alcohol is pretty destructive. I think everyone assumes alcohol should be legal because it is legal therefore weed should be legal too as it's 'better' than alcohol.

I spose if you deemed that alcohol should be legal and weed should be legal then I spose a comparison would be quite nice as an analogy. You'd have to then argue
->weed should be legal because of X
->orange juice should be legal because of Y
->alcohol should be legal because of Z
->further supports weed and orange juice's case as it's even 'better' for society

[AbramIsaac]

Just make it legal so that the pothead hippie brigade shuts the fuck up about it.

And so college students can stop losing financial aid over possession, and children don't have to be taken away from a parent growing for medical use. Also, so the black market can be drastically reduced in size, and responsible employees that smoke after work don't have to lose their jobs.

Shutting up the hippies is good though.

[MusicBox]

Making weed legal will not attract a whole new group of drug users. Those that want to smoke weed already do. It will clear up the jail systems, and the government could tax the shit out of it.

[CrashBand]

Making weed legal will not attract a whole new group of drug users.

Not quite. Numbers are highly likely to increase

Just make it legal so that the pothead hippie brigade shuts the fuck up about it.

While we are at it we should legalize gay marriage as well to shut up the fags

[MusicBox]

Making weed legal will not attract a whole new group of drug users.

Not quite. Numbers are highly likely to increase

It will attract a buzz at first, but as with anything new will fade as the next thing hits. Seriously, those that are already drug users will find a way to use, whether it's legal or not.

[CrashBand]

It will attract a buzz at first, but as with anything new will fade as the next thing hits. Seriously, those that are already drug users will find a way to use, whether it's legal or not.

Well yes. Obviously those that are already drug users will smoke regardless....

Why would it fade? If it's legalized of course the amount of users will rise. The amount that current users smoke will likely rise too as they are not restricted anymore.

I'm not really sure hoe you could justify you statement that the amount of users will stay the same. It seems absurd. Maybe if there were stats of the amount of users in Amsterdam or something.

But do you seriously think they Amsterdam will have a similar amount of pot smokers than a place where it is illegal?

Or are they still going through the phase where it's a buzz?

[CrashBand]

And so college students can stop losing financial aid over possession, and children don't have to be taken away from a parent growing for medical use. Also, so the black market can be drastically reduced in size, and responsible employees that smoke after work don't have to lose their jobs.

Shutting up the hippies is good though.

With some hippies that I've encountered, this issue is all they ever talk about.

You seem far more informed on the topic than myself. I don't know anything about the negative economic consequences of marijuana being illegal. So until I know more, I'll just be the dick who looks at issues from a purely social perspective and makes comments from the sidelines.

More black people get arrested for drug charges. Where proportionally more white people do drugs.
I know a guy who virtually bases his whole argument of legalizing drugs regardless of how bad the effects the drug has on society.