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The New York Times compares the ban on marijuana to the ban on alcohol during the Prohibition era. Do you think the comparison is apt?

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Very apt for several reasons. Those who drove the ban on alcohol were in many cases puritanical evangelists in their drive to rid the world, or the US at least, of the evil of alcohol, something they knew little about as they never drank it. The same hysteria comes from those who oppose the use of marijuana. They have never used it but know with out a doubt that it is evil and must be eradicated and will spend large parts of their lives trying to do so.

The ban on alcohol led to a rise in crime around bootleg alcohol and many gang wars. If you want to buy hooch these days who do you go to? Correct, a (usually minor) criminal. Further up the production line the operations are controlled by organized gangs just as alcohol used to be.

Eventually the no alcohol zealots lost their ban because there was just too much demand for the drink. Possibly this may the one area where marijuana is not quite the same. Although popular the demand for it to be legalized is not at the extent that it was for alcohol. Nevertheless, you might as well try to stop the sun from rising as without a doubt little by little and State by State, the use of marijuana will become legal.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

@SimondB: Great post and I agree wholeheartily. The ban on pot has been a complete bust and has led to the creation of drug cartels that are causing a lot of problems in the US and other countriels like Mexico not to mention the incarceration of thousands of people who should not be in prison. People who want to use it are going to use it so why not legalize it, regulate it and let the states make much needed tax revenue and let people who choose to use it be able to do so without having to worry about a SWAT team breaking their door down.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

the problem with legislating morals. if people want to smoke, let them smoke so long as they are not harming anyone else...

5 ( +6 / -1 )

YES!!! Victim-less crimes should be taken off the books of free societies.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Not much to add to great comments up there. One day in the future, we will look back to see how cruel we were to MJ smokers. It's just a shame that a harmless plant can ruin lives, families and support gang related crime.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Governments everywhere should not be in the business of telling consenting adults what they can do with their own bodies in the privacy of their homes.

So yeah, I do agree with the NYT on this.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Most people most of the time don't drink alcohol merely to get high.

So? What is wrong with wanting to get high?

They drink because they enjoy the sophisticated flavors of ales, whisky, wine, cocktails, etc.

You've obviously never seen the hype behind smokers choosing varieties based on the types of high, the tastes of the weed, etc.

I can have a glass of wine and beer after work and it doesn't impair my ability to take care of my kids, do my taxes, etc. If I had a joint instead, I'd be a giggling waste of space.

Good for you. I haven't smoked in almost 20 years, but I did an entire degree in Chemistry while high. I used to get high before doing my chem homework, because it kept me focused on the homework I was doing, and opened up my mind to various ways of solving issues.

One thing non-smokers, or people who have only smoked a few times, don't realize is that pot only changes you into a giggling waste of space the first times you smoke it. People who get used to it don't get that way at all, and as often as not you wouldn't even realize they were high if they didn't tell you.

stays in the body 30 - 40 days continuing to damage these organs

Stays in the body - yes. Damaging the organs - no.

Marijuana has more toxic chemicals than cigarettes like cyanide

You've got your research backwards. Marijuana does NOT have cyanide in it, even when smoked. Tobacco on the other hand, with all its additives has thousands of chemicals in it, including formaldehyde: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2010/consumer_booklet/chemicals_smoke/

Although all organs are affected It mostly damages the brain and reproductive system

Brain damage from marijuana was proved a myth years ago: https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110707181742AAcgxY2 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/22/marijuana-brain-study_n_5170422.html

4 ( +5 / -1 )

@semperfi

If you really believe what you just wrote, you should be overwhelmingly supportive of legalisation. I mean, while our brains are slowing down and we become impotent, all you need to do is stick to your guns and refrain. You'll then have no competition - the best girls, the best jobs - they'll all be yours.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@JeffLee sounds like a personal opinion to me. You can't drive after having had a glass of wine and beer after all. Maybe other people differ in their ability to take care of your kids, etc. under the influence.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Well, it was legal throughout human history except for since the 1930's when Randolph Hearst stirred up fears of "reefer madness" to get it made illegal so that his forest holdings would not collapse in value when scientists discovered a very cheap way to make newsprint from hemp...

2 ( +4 / -2 )

"stays in the body 30 - 40 days continuing to damage these organs"

Damaging organs? According to what research?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@SCAP65

Randolph Hearst stirred up fears of "reefer madness" to get it made illegal so that his forest holdings would not collapse in value

I'm afraid there's no truth to that story at all. Easy enough to check out. For the record, governments rarely got involved in telling people what they could ingest until the 21st century. Now they routinely prohibit everything from heroin to unpasteurized milk. And people, for the most part, passively accept it.

I don't like marijuana, and I think it's a bad habit. But I also think that people should be allowed to screw up their own lives any way they choose, without having the additional risk of being labelled a criminal. Unless they are clearly putting others in danger, there is no need for a law.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Whereas alcohol has been part of the culture of Western Civilization for millenia, marijuana has not.

Yes it has.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I agree MJ should be legalised. Surprises me that at the same time that is the direction we are going we are moving more and more towards outlawing tobacco or at least making it a pariah habit.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Whereas alcohol has been part of the culture of Western Civilization for millenia, marijuana has not.

Yes it has.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Illyas I once read that it used to be part of Japanese Civilization for millenia until the puritan US rolled in after WW2 and forced the destruction of all hemp farms. Don't know much more than that, but it sounds likely.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Yes it has.

Prove it. Did the Greeks smoke marijuana? Did the Romans? Did peasants and kings in the Middle Ages? Did they smoke marijuana during the renaissance?

Saying "Yes it has" without any evidence whatsoever. Gee, I guess your right. Marijuana is just as culturally relevant to Western Civilization as alcohol! You've convinced me with your compelling argument!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Not at all. Whereas alcohol has been part of the culture of Western Civilization for millenia, marijuana has not.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

@ taj : There is a lot of research - which you can draw up - - - -- Marijuana has more toxic chemicals than cigarettes like cyanide, and these sit in the fatty areas and work to damage your organs . . ....Although all organs are affected It mostly damages the brain and reproductive system................................................................................. (1) In the case of the brain, it causes reduced speed of the firing of synopses, hence the 'slowness' of regular marijuana smokers. (2) Concerning the reproductive system, it can causes impotence. . . . . . .. .. .because marijuana has a longer half life in the body, it can be detected through blodd tests months later

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Perhaps there is a similarity - - - HOWEVER - - - - Alcohol - although it damages the body organs, is voided from the system within 24 hours. . . . . .. .Marijuana is is absorbed by the fatty deposits in all our organs ( brains, liver, kidney, and so on . . . ) .......................and stays in the body 30 - 40 days continuing to damage these organs - although the "THC high" has gone

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

As long as those smoking pot realise that they are the same as those hooked on booze and cigs. And MJ isn't a harmless plant... harmless plants don't get you stoned.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

No, it's a different matter. Most people most of the time don't drink alcohol merely to get high. They drink because they enjoy the sophisticated flavors of ales, whisky, wine, cocktails, etc. Alcohol is a key part of our culinary culture.

Most people smoke pot just to get high. I can have a glass of wine and beer after work and it doesn't impair my ability to take care of my kids, do my taxes, etc. If I had a joint instead, I'd be a giggling waste of space.

"The same hysteria comes from those who oppose the use of marijuana. They have never used it "

I don't see a lot of "hysteria." Debate, yes, hysteria, no. I have used it, and I oppose it.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

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