Please give me your opinion for a survey

I'm doing a report on legalization of marijuana. I want to do a survey:

YES, NO, or FOR MEDICINAL USE ONLY---- Should marijuana be legalized in the U.S.?

No.

Are the choices limited to those three answers and not "YES/NO/MEDICINAL, because..." reasoning?

Either way, I am not in the US, but it isn't legal where I am (UK) either. I'd say Medicinal in either regard. With monitored uses, dosages, and ability to change a prescription if there are undesired side effects as there can be with any drug.

Yes

Yes -- in fact I just voted in my state to legalize medical marijuana.  It passed by a pretty significant percentage.

yes

yup

No.

yes

Yes.  Legalize it, let some greedy corporation start marketing it, and tax the holy hell out of it and use the proceeds for helping the poor.

Original Post by meganr:

Yes.  Legalize it, let some greedy corporation start marketing it, and tax the holy hell out of it and use the proceeds for helping the poor.

 Sounds great to me--probably have to put some money aside for "drug rehab" too! Cut down on illegal drug smuggling and turf wars!

Legalize - Yes!

i don't really think it's a yes-or-no question.  five years ago i might have had an answer for you, but not today.

No.

I would say medicinal only but I have a difficult time believing that NOTHING ELSE WORKS. Also, I think it would be taken advantage of, big time. Maybe I'm the ignorant one but it sounds like a slippery slope to me.

i say legalize it.

ive never smoked marijuana before and i dont intend too.  lots people--not just bad people--are going to do it whether its legal or not.  i could do it illegally if i wanted to, but i dont want to.  so i dont.

Yes-- and tax the hell out of it.... tobacco anyone?   (plus it could cut down on the "black market" side of things which would increase purity and decrease violence, as well as making a simple sale a federal offense, and increasing the odds that regular law abiding citizens who like to toke will go through legal means of procurement.  I think its a win-win situation).

there's a big piece missing from your analysis, though, drea: legalize marijuana, and some other illegal drug (probably meth) is going to fill that niche.

I dont know about the sale side of things (obviously im a goody two shoes ) BUT on the use side of things, most people that I know that toke (again, its all anecdotal not a scientific measurement at all) do NOT do harder drugs and aren't interested in it.  I think that supply and demand works in the black market as well and people that are in general law abiding will be more likely to buy in a law abiding manner if it is available as such.  And I doubt that they will say "Hm, pot is legal, I better go do meth now.  These teeth?  I dont need them so much."

I do think that in a broad sense you are on the right path as far as the negatives to legalization-- illegality has a broad appeal and when one drug "dries up" (acid in the late 90s/early 2000s) another drug does tend to filter into the spot that it once held (K, meth, oxy).  But drug use also works on a sort of a cyclic pattern as well (rise in coke use anyone?).  So yes, while taking pot out of the "illegal" aspect of the pattern might serve to increase those who sell different illegal, and perhaps, "worse" drugs, I dont think that it will materially change the use factor of those drugs, therefore the supply and demand issues will regulate rather than the illegal issue.

If that made sense whatsover, I am still trying to make up for a massive lack of sleep over the past few weeks.

If anyone wants to smoke pot, do meth, crack, heroine, etc... then they are already going to do it.  the illegality of drugs hasnt exactly stopped drug use.   I know a lot of people who just dont want to do drugs, and im one of them..  its the same with smoking cigarettes and drinking--they arent 100% killer like harder drugs but people still choose not to use them.

edit: @ drea - you're partially right: some pot users will still be pot users.  it will still be relatively easy to produce for personal use, so even without the profitability, lots of people will still grow.

but it's not the habitual users i'd be concerned about; it's the new users.  kids aren't known for considering the long-term health consequences of their actions, and legalization would make pot harder to get illegally, if you see what i mean.  just like now it's easier for a teenager to get pot than to get booze, once pot is legalized, it becomes harder to get, while other drugs become easier.

in a nutshell, that's my objection to legalization.  i could care less what responsible adults smoke, drink, put up their noses, etc. (legal and otherwise), but it's irresponsible not to consider the non-economic impacts.

Yes.

Its a plant.

Ive never done it - the thought of inhaling smoke creeps me out - but studies show that people on cannabinoids are much less harmful to themselves and others than people who are drunk. I also believe the medical benefits for glaucoma patients are legit.

Pot seems low on the "harm done to society" scale.