I was addicted to marijuana for many years and, to put it simply, it makes you stupid. So does alcohol, though. But we really should be able to choose what kind if stupid we want to get.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Governments need to make widely-practiced activities illegal in order to give them a device to use against people who may not want to otherwise "assist" law enforcement. Everything is illegal so that people can be manipulated. Everyone breaks the law, whether they mean to or not. Government wants to maintain an ability to force compliance or manipulate the public and that is the best way to do it ... with threats of fines or imprisonment.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

..did not sound very expert.

The reason marijuana is illegal is because, in 1937, the duPont Corp. (with its newly developed nylon rope) wanted it to be illegal, and implemented a huge anti-marijuana blitz that exists to this day.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

tobacco and alcohol had 'infrastructure' business models in place to capitalize on the 'vice'... drugs of choice endorsed by 'business' ... 'weed' was a financial 'threat' to the 'money-machine' men/'illumanti'...low cost/'high' value, easily grown by farmer [ or people able to get to some soil/dirt] and thus available to the masses. 'heaven' [uber wealthy] forbid that the 'slaves'/ underlings should be having 'enjoyment' ...without paying some sort of homage to the monied powerful elite and their ethnocentric DEMANDS/'laws' of, and upon, the populace...

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Penrose, your addiction was all mental, as are nearly all so called "addictions". My recollection from college was that there is no known substance that is PHYSICALLY addictive for more than 72 hours--and yes that includes Smack.The rest is mental.

Bye the bye, Henry Anslinger, who in 1936 became the first "Drug Czar" based on ONE question asked of him by the Senate confirming him (don't recall it) as the Senators didn't know shit about M.J. either. Anslinger had never even studied M.J. and he didn't know crap either. The blind leading the blind. That is the intellectual start of what is now the D.E.A. Gwad Bless!!! Crazy Carlos

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

see watersage and attach to tedhuman7 posting

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

William Randolph Hurst, with his huge newspaper congolmerate, back in the 30's saw hemp coming into play as a much cheaper and better way to make paper.

Hurst had vast timber holdings which supplied him with cheap and much needed paper to publish his newspapers with.

Hemp (marijuana) was seen as a threat to his empires, both newspaper and timber, so he began a huge propaganda effort by funding "scientific" research, propaganda films like "Reefer Madness" and lined the pockets of the politicians in order to get them to write laws criminalizing marijuana.

The issue grew from there, and has now grown so complex with so few advocates that it languishes in a cloud of smoke, while 170,000 Americans are prosecuted and jailed every year.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

This substance increases the ability "to not be present!" Addiction is the primary reason not to use it, however, if one is dying a painful death say cancer, it is an effective substance for pain relief, calming and effective. To aid a dying person, I find no fault with it. When children, still in their developing stages of life use it, there is no redeamable benefit! I would rather see extreme taxes raised on liqour and the full educational demonstration of alcohols abusive consequences before legalizing yet another monster of equal proportions capable of disarming our consciousness.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The reason cannabis hemp is illegal is because anything made from oil, coal, timber, or cotton can be made with it.
All paper, plastics, packaging, paints, varnishes, textiles, fuels, lubricants, plywood, insulations, many health foods, and cosmetics, over 25,000 known products can be made ecologically friendly with hemp.
Henry Ford built and fueled a car primarily with it. The cellulose plastic panels ten times stronger than steel. Neither he or Diesel intended to run their engines with petroleum.
Canvas is Dutch for cannabis. For thousands of years all ships sails, most clothing, rope, and fine paintings were of cannabis fibers, which are the longest and strongest in nature.
The hemp seed is the single most nutritious thing you can eat. Our Government stockpiles it as a strategic food source under Executive order #12919. This seed will help to end world hunger.
One acre of hemp equals four of timber for pulp and you harvest it every year, tree's take a lifetime. It is also at the very minimum four times more efficient than corn, kenaf, or sugar cane for ethanol production. It grows without most fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides to foul the soil and water, in climates and conditions other crops wont grow. Almost everywhere from the Equator to the Arctic circle.
If that weren't enough we also have the pharmaceutical companies to deal with. All mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles have cannabinoid receptors throughout their body that work independent of those that govern the heart and breathing. This is why cannabis cannot kill you. It is the safest medicine known to man and has been used as such throughout history. It has not always been demonized. In fact today in Canada and Europe THC has been clinically proven to destroy tumors, promote the growth of brain cells, and prevent Alzheimers. When our FDA finally comes around and allows testing here at home it will become a modern botanical Messiah and make health care affordable to everyone.
The reason cannabis is illegal never had anything to do with addiction or health issues, that is only a smoke screen. The reason cannabis is illegal is because billionaires want to remain billionaires and they control the media that continues to plant negative seeds in the minds of the unknowing populace. We have been brainwashed to believe the most useful plant on the planet from the begginning of civilization is evil!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

MJ is not addictive, and of the various recreational drugs it is one of the safest, if not the safest. Using it does not make you stupid, although stupid people do use it.

However, there is a large segment of the population that is fearful, and they believe they have the right to tell you what to do so you do not scare them. That segment also fears death, so they become religious. They also seem happier having people tell them how they should live their life, since making their own decisions scares them. This does seem to make them act stupid on occasion.

What we need to do is help that segment of the populations get over their fear. Having a MJ or LSD spiritual experience would likely terrify them beyond their ability to deal.

Only other solution is stop them from breeding and passing the fear genes on. Oh wait, be fruitful and multiply. Were screwed.

Now I better go make a large cash contribution to my church so this blasphemous opinion does not cause me to rot in hell.

BTW I do not choose to use either MJ or any others except alcohol. I just happen to not be scared of those who do. Just do not drive, please.

My .02

Rod

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

you worry about the legalization of POT? For God's sake, Alternet, get relevent. In the meantime, the Repukes walk out of congress if they don't get their way, and the useless Dems sit there with their with their thumbs up their butts, and you worry about POT? Maybe we will all need to be high if we have MORE of this Bushit. In the meantime, get real and get tough.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

During the Vietnam War, LBJ and Dick Nixon were hell bent on destroying the anti-war movement and all those who participated in opposing the government policies. They had additional laws passed to criminalize marijuana even more than in the past because pot use was so widespread in the "hippie" movement, and the government disinformation position was that the hippies were going to destroy America. An effective scare tactic that worked so well on a majority of the uninformed public and the evangelical right-wingnuts that it is still used today.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

If you're advocating for drug legalization, don't open with a speaker whose hair is disheveled and close with a speaker whose eyes are red and squinty. The implication ends up being "we're high, and the government should stop being such a buzzkill." While this is a perfectly valid point to an anti-authoritarian like me, it's not exactly your best strategy.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

As the expert at the end on reason #1 said, marijuana is illegal because only about 35% of people support it being legal.

He provides a variety of excuses on why the rest of the populace thinks it should be illegal, mostly centering on unchallenged propaganda.

At the end of the day though, if an adult can't think for themself, whose fault is that?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Cannabis is illegal because the rich white mans drug of choice is alcohol while the poor brown mans was cannabis.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The 9th amendment, part of the Bill of Rights,
states:

"The enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution shall NOT be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."


What might these "other rights" be? One would have to be the right "to be one with nature" because we ARE nature and cannot be justly separated from it.

That means you have the right to EVERY natural substance and nobody has a right to keep you from using any of them. Some substances might hurt you. Some might might even kill you. But you must be free to "be one with nature" because you ARE nature.

Rights come from our understanding of our relationship to nature and each other. They do NOT come from government. Government should be responsible for protecting us from violations of our rights by others but too often government has been the violator.

Such is the case with the marijuana laws.

Steve Moyer
http://stevemoyer.us

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

---while tobacco is legal. Marijuana, at its worst, mellows people, tobacco KILLSs people.
Can't even the dumbest of our legislators see the difference???

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

well now, if pot was legal..it would put the drug companies out of business...they use chemicals which are proven to be horrible for human life(kills us slowly)which pot is a natural pain killer, also a natural mood enhancer,natural sleep aide,natural appetite enhancer...pot is frightening to the drug companies with their horrible chemicals..remember folks follow the money! pot legalize would shut these horrible drug companies down..or hurt their pockets.also pot is a herb not a drug(its natural)

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]