Why is marijuana considered to be so bad?

471>Why, exactly, is marijuana said to be so bad by the government and so many other %26quot;responsible adults%26quot;. I was really wondering about this the other day, so I did some research. From what I found, the information put out by organizations such as Above the Influence and The Anti Drug is way exaggerated and overblown. Most teens who smoke weed (including me) do it safely and lead normal lives. Contrary to what these organizations would have you belief, I am not stoned 24/7 alone in my basement with no friends. I am not failing out school, and I am a good athlete.





I noticed how these people talk about how bad weed is, but they never give any concrete evidence.





YOU CANNOT OVERDOSE ON MARIJUANA!!





There are very few (less than 100) deaths per year directly related to marijuana, and those are mostly people who decided to go driving while high. A new study has shown that even heavy cannabis smokers show no increased risk of lung cancer.





http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...
Reply:recently British scientists claimed their research showed that marijuana is less psychological and physically damaging than booze.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourview/health/2...





there are several reasons that marijuana is illegal:


1) the government makes too much busting dealers, growers and traffickers, to let it go.


2) it wasn%26#039;t as popular at the time they found out prohibition of alcohol wasn%26#039;t a feasible solution to public intoxication.


if you notice, there are many substances out there that people use recreationally, but it isn%26#039;t illegal to possess until it gets popular. and that breaks down to statistics. if the drug isn%26#039;t popular it will cost much more money to enforce the laws restricting them than will be brought in through busts.


3) only recently have they developed a test to show if you are driving under the influence of pot.


4) it isn%26#039;t food, but it is a substance that can be sold to make large sums of money under-the-table. tax man doesn%26#039;t like under-the-table.


5) Leaglizing MJ is the same as admitting defeat to the people who support and operate the %26quot;Drug Wars%26quot;. Their egos make that, not an option.
Reply:Because it robs brain cells from the people who can not afford to lose any more.
Reply:Because the government would not be able to regulate and tax it, if it bacame legal.
Reply:yeah, it%26#039;s a joke. if you smoke everyday it does kill your drive, but i think mostly it%26#039;s a reason to lock up americans, and keep the baby boomers in power. once there gone, im sure it will become legal, so hold tight buddy, our day will come.
Reply:I saw on a show about it that it was made illegal sometime, I think, about 1930 as a way to get rid of illegal Mexicans because jobs were hard to find.





It seems much safer than alcohol and it is not a gateway drug for most people. The ones that do use stronger drugs are desensitized to breaking laws so it is probably only that it is illegal that it may contribute to other drugs being used.





I wouldn%26#039;t want to see it legalized and taxed. I would rather just see it decrimilized except while driving impared.
Reply:I think it%26#039;s just habit at this point. We have had it outlawed for so long and are so brainwashed that sheep americans can%26#039;t conceive of it being legal.
Reply:It makes you so procrastinate that people want to rob banks, speed down roads and rob banks. But mainly the overwhelming percentage of %26quot;under the influence of marijuana%26quot; individuals robbing the Quicky Mart for bear claws, ding-dongs and slurpies!
Reply:I%26#039;ve always felt that pot should be legalized but I think the real problem is that organized drug trafficking would lose money and I have a strong feeling that they have their hands in the pockets of most of our politicians. They could erase the national debt if it was legalized so it probably never will be. I wouldn%26#039;t suggest that teens or anyone should use it or even try it, but it would sure cut down on crime and be more closely watched to keep it out of the hands of children. Pot is easier to obtain than alcohol or cigarettes for young people today.
Reply:1) it can disorient you. it would not be good to have people who are high, driving because they have to get someplace.





2) it is so easily grown that it cannot be easily taxed. and the government surely doesn%26#039;t want us to be having fun when it%26#039;s not getting it%26#039;s share.





3) it just got swept up in the %26quot;Mothers Against Everything%26quot; movement, and can%26#039;t seem to find it%26#039;s way out.





4) clearly it is medically effective. BUT, if you allow people to use it, they won%26#039;t be buying expensive drugs, making the pharmaceutical industry richer.
Reply:Is that what we do to reduce crime? Repeal laws? *chuckle*





Seriously, though. When you have a relative die at the age of 41 from lung cancer, who never smoked tobacco in his life, by the way... I%26#039;d say that%26#039;s fairly concrete evidence that smoking pot DOES increase your risk of lung cancer. Oh, and no, cancer does not run in my family. *knocks on wood*





Just from personal experience, I see people do way more self-destructive and just plain stupid things while high than while drunk. If you look at the numbers as a PERCENTAGE instead of a TOTAL NUMBER, far more people injure themselves, get in accidents, and just do stupid things in general because they are high than because they are drunk.
Reply:While you may be a teen who can handle it at your age, what you have to understand is that over the long haul it does make you less ambitious.


It affects different people differently just like anything, some people can hang with it, some people will get depressed, some people get sick, and for some people it becomes a force that dominates their life.





Instead of worrying about anything else they have to first get high or find the time to light up, or have to get in touch with their weed man so they can have some for this or for that. It doesn%26#039;t start right away but the longer you allow it to stay in your life the more it will become a part of your life and for some people it BECOMES their life. That%26#039;s when you know you have a problem.
Reply:It isn%26#039;t so bad. E-mail me with any myth about weed and ill either explain it or prove it false with scientific studies. dhgold345@gmail.com
Reply:Everyone thinks weed is bad because EVERYONE beliefs everything the government says. Why else would people not even look at alcohol as a drug that greatly affects you? Because the government loves their alcohol. Basically, the government has hated weed since they found out that people could grow it on their own so they wouldn%26#039;t make any money because every stoner would have a crop and sell to their buddies for cheaper than the stores. Alcohol is just as bad in terms of health, driving under the influence, but many high government officials were moonshiners or profited from alcohol sale. Plus alcohol has had the majority of people hooked since before the US was a country so they couldn%26#039;t take it away. Just like cigs. If they made them illegal people would burn down the whitehouse and go on killing sprees to get their precious grits.