Is it fair that alcohol which causes thousands of deaths is legal and marijuana which has caused none is not?

dragonfly9151974

Believe it or not drug laws are not intended to protect the user, but those whom they encounter. Most adults can have a drink without becoming intoxicated. On the other hand, most people are high after just one joint.

Public drunkeness and driving while intoxicated are illegal in all 50 states. Baretenders and the hosts of parties are responsible for limiting the number of drinks their guests/customers ingest.

gnomes31

They already tried to make alcohol illegal, it didn't work out the way they planned.

Dries

Weed does cause death you must be high to believe that it doesn't

Guelph

No. I'd explain why but I'm a little high.

MeinOH

Fair? Well, the way you've framed your question seems to imply you seek the answer "no." However, I take issue with your assumption that marijuana has "caused no deaths." Indeed, asking the question in this way really adds nothing to rational debate.

First, I would suggest that marijuana is a "gateway drug," leading to abuse of other drugs - including cocaine, oxy, morphine and others. Some of those drugs do directly cause death. Poly drug abusers are at risk. I've prosecuted dealers for manslaughter in providing those drugs to persons who overdosed and died. The drug which you imply is innocuous is the very drug leading the victim to abuse more serious drugs in search of a high.

Second, I suggest that abuse of marijuana has contributed to death directly. It is carcinogenic. It does impair drivers. I doubt that you can empirically support your statement that the drug has caused none. Further, drug dealers are violent. While this isn't a direct result of ingesting the drug, it is a proximate result of drug abuse. I suggest that "none" is an unsupportable assumption.

Finally, death is not the only evil caused by marijuana abuse. Mental impairment, apathy, poor grades, economic failure are experienced by abusers. American students are reportedly behind the curve versus world students. Should we allow a bunch of stoned students to populate our schools. I think not. Do you want your busdriver, pilot, etc. impaired?

Arguing that alcohol has evils and is legal, marijuana has evils and is not and therefore should be is a specious argument. Kind of like arguing "Killing enemy in war is legal, Killing your enemy in the streets of our cities is not, but therefore should be."

I suggest to you that many, many more abusers of alcohol are in jail than abusers of marijauana. Indeed, in Ohio, possession of a small amount ot marijauna is a minor misdemeanor punishable by a $100 fine - no jail is authorized. OVI offenses carry a mandatory jail sentence and a mandatory fine.

You can argue marijauna should be legalized fpr a myriad of reasons. But comparing marijauana abuse to consming alcohol is a syllogism which utterly fails.

So "fair," yes it is.

No of course it isnt fair, that is how it is. Also you dont know for sure that pot hasnt caused deaths, it probably has. If you know any american history, Alcohol WAS illegal for a while but was eventually brought back to legal.

LadyRebecca

I think weed should be made legal. It doesn't mean we're going to turn into a nation of stoners - after all, not everyone drinks.

dementedstarfish0

You're really funny when you say that marijuana has caused no deaths. Either a retard or someone who isnt educated would say that. Before you go and make comments like that, do some research.

laughter_every_day

So, run for state legislature. Get elected. Change the state law. Run for congress. Get elected. Change the federal law.

chuckleslovesjesus

no, but life isn't fair

Biki

Marijuana is legal if you use it for medicinal purposes as intended. It's a drug and it impares movement and the thought process, so people who use this drug have to be thoroughly screened before being given a license to use it. They have to have a NEED, not a recreational attitude. Maybe it's not fair, but that's the way it is.

Lian

. . . No, long term debate centered around capitalism. It is a lot harder to control the circulation of a plant like marijuana, people could just grow it in their backyard. As long as it is illegal, the possession of it is feared, and the demand for the drug rises, while the supply is limited causing an adverse cause in sales. Increasing the monetary value. . . Marijuana brings in alot of money into the US. . . but if it was legal. . . that money circulation would STOP!

cantcu

Marijuana has caused deaths. You mean you don't die from the product!

James H

Its not fair no, until we stand up with one united voice on the issue it will remain outlawed.
Consider the benefits of Hemp alone and it makes sense to at least make it legal to grow.

The Architect

Come on. If Marijuana was legal then you would be opening up the possibility of all the naturally grown drug crops and natural pain killers becoming legal again.

What would happen to the hundreds of thousands of employees of drug companies around the world and the few dozen "smoking men" who control them if Africa had access to cheap and naturally grown pain killers? It would be anarchy? These massive companies would be ruined. All those years of carefully cultivated evil would be ruined...

Then again, it is incredible what bribes to politicians can do to maintain policies of insanity. If our politicians were alive 2000 years ago, they would have fought for the right for 30 pieces of silver.

Wasabandmom

C'mon, you are getting boring. I graduated in 1967 from high school, and this question has been going on since then. PLEASE don't waste our time with such stupid questions and issues... geesh!

Lux Aeterna

I think both should be outlawed. But we've learned our lesson with the Prohibition.

askthepizzaguy

If you think that pot has killed no one, then pot has made you stupid.

Driving under the Influence (DUI) applies to both alcohol and illicit drugs. Because there is a breathalyzer test for alcohol, we know when you are drunk. But when you are high on pot or any other drug, you would need a piss test or a blood test to confirm it.

The fact is, driving while high causes more deaths every year than we can possibly know, because we do not test for pot or other drugs automatically, and they have been proven to impair judgment at least as much if not more than alcohol.

And pot contains far more dangerous chemicals, addictive substances, and cancer causing agents in much higher concentrations than a simple tobacco cigarrette. Don't think it is some miracle drug with no harmful effects. Ask any doctor who is not a pothead themself, and they will give you the real deal.

It's just too bad that you won't listen to the truth. Pot is your God, to speak out against it is to blaspheme your religion.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: