Since marijuana is illegal and cigarettes and alcohol are worse, why not ban them?

I think you don't know very much at all. As an ex smoker (20+ years ago), I used to think I had all my stuff together...and was blinded by the stuff I was smoking...that I couldn't find out until I quit for good. Once straight, a lot changed in my life, including my thinking, the elimination of TUNNELVISION, the return (eventually) of short-term memory and the list goes on.
On a construction site, I can tell who's stoned usually in an hour or less. Just by the way the guy moves, works, talks. We did no tolerance, because you're a danger to others and yourself. Smell like smoke or drink and I fire you. Permanently. If I've learned anything, the druggies and the drunks will screw up royally sooner or later, MUCH more than any straight guy with half a brain will.
I don't know what we should do about the expense of it, but I'll guarantee you this: unless your dopers are sitting at a desk making candles, you can bet they're gonna cost you some other way.

edit: my bad, I just realized there was more than one page.

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"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
~George Orwell

Can't argue with that one! And by the way, he inhaled.

The government doesn't need to be banning all things bad. What's next, chocolate?

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If cigarettes just entered the market today, there's no way they would be legal. Cigarettes became too popular to ban until it was too late to ban it.

Alcohol was banned. Remember prohibition? It didn't go too well. While not as many people smoke Marijuana as those who drank during prohibition, the problems we see are very similar. That being the black market causes more problems than legalizing the drug itself would cause.

I know quite a few police officers, including family members. Ask any cop which "drug" causes more problems. Alcohol (yeah, alcohol is a drug) or Marijuana. I guarantee you that at least 9 out of 10 cops would say Alcohol.

People who abuse any drug, be it alcohol, marijuana, pain killers, etc., (heck, even fast food) are doing themselves and others harm. But to say anybody who drinks or smokes pot abuses the drug is a blanket statement. There ARE people out there who smoke on a once per week or every now and then basis. There are a lot of studies that even show alcohol is more addicting than marijuana. Plus, you can drink yourself to death in a single sitting. Can't do that with pot. It's impossible to OD smoking or even eating marijuana.

I don't like to compare marijuana to alcohol. Are either of them good for you?? Absolutely not! Can either one be abused? Of course! Marijuana is it's own unique substance. Why compare one to the other. It's not going to make marijuana or alcohol less bad. But, I think a lot of people put marijuana in the same catagory as Heroine. It's far different. The reason people compare alcohol to marijuana is to justify that since alcohol is legal, marijuana should be too. Alcohol is a far worse drug than marijuana, do doubt about it.

For those of you who are against legalizing the drug, let's just pretend for a moment that it is made legal eventually. Would you use the drug? My guess is no. And on top of that, if it were made legal, you wouldn't have to worry about the violent black market associated with it. Plus you won't have to pay your hard earned money into combating the drug. This country can even make a lot of money on it.

The debate here isn't whether or not marijuana is bad for you. It doesn't take a doctor to say it's unhealthy. The debate is does marijuana cause such a drastic impact on society that it should be banned? And does banning the substance cause a greater negative impact than if it were legalized?

I'm not going to get into the debate on harms either, since I know from experience. But I'll say, yes, it does harm in the workplace by apathy, tunnelvision, shortterm memory loss, and the mental aspects.
By legalizing it, you are putting out a message to kids that it's okay, and the same route will occur as cigarettes: they will smoke. Pretty much, if the parents smoke, the kids will, but when legal, kids whose parents DIDN'T smoke will go for it. That's a statistic, not an opinion. (Psychology Today mag, back about in '02) You want dull-eyed, lackluster kids who can't remember what they ate for breakfast? Not to mention cancerous.

I can't say for the legalization issue itself. I only know that I'm a far more organized, ambitious, motivated and focused individual without it. (not that I'm perfect; I'm not) So I hate to see anyone touting the "advantages" of pot use.

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"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
~George Orwell

This debate has been gong on for years. The fact is The government and only the government is already making billions on drugs and have been for years. Congress give them the money to fight the so called "drug wars" yrt more drugs come into this counrty than ever before. They seize millions in cash every year from drug dealers where does it go? The taxes on legalized marijuana couldnt put a dent in what they already get from it. We will never know the extent or the reality of this situation.

Legalizing it makes it less desirable to kids, not more desirable. Part of the attraction is the risk-taking.

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Also, if you look at states who have already decriminalized marijuana and look at countries who legalized it, there was a slight increase in use right away, then a dramatic decrease in use thereafter.

You started smoking cigarettes because of the risk?
Get real.

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"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
~George Orwell