A thought that popped into my head...

[CaptainB_Money]

this has nothing to do with my ex girlfriend i promise.

What is everyone's thoughts if the USA legalized Weed[Marijuana] and changed the drinking age to 18 so that we could possibly bring the economy back to the state it was before.

What is your thoughts about that?

I figure that if this would be done in the near future we would be at a better state of the economy then we are at now and we would make a better future for our sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters.

that's the end of my speech. Let me hear your opinions.

 

[FuuNoKami Oka]

One word...Why?

 

[OverdrivePrime]

I think both are pretty good ideas.

Legalizing pot and putting it under federal controls like alcohol and tobaccos would be a major industry. I think it'd cut down on crime a lot and save the country a LOT of money that's currently being wasted on the justice system for trying and jailing guys who get busted for having a gram of weed on them.

Basically, I think the legal age to voluntarily **** yourself up should be 18. Cigarettes, Alcohol, Marijuana - make them all legal, set the useage age at 18, tax the motherloving hell out of them, and use that tax money to help get a public health system off the ground.

Plus, with marijuana being legalized, it would be under the authority of the FDA, and therefore be mandated to have stuff like a filter so that users didn't get so much damn tar in their lungs, and stuff like that.

It'd be a huge boon to industry, save a lot of money, and make a pretty big dent into the huge disparity in jail time between races. With the government no longer able to selectively proscecute minorities for posession of weed, the amount of minority males being jailed would drop precipitously. That keeps families together, and therefore helps to fight the effects of poverty a little bit.

If you drop the drinking age to 18, you'd have a lot more people learning to drink with their parents, and you'd actually reduce the amount of binge drinking in colleges. Binge drinking in high school would probably rise a bit, but at least the parents of high schoolers are around to correct their behavior.

Note that I do not smoke stuff, nor did I drink in high school. That's my two cents on the matter. Good luck getting that through congress, though.

 

[Tanuki]

Old enough to die in a senseless war, old enough to get drunk and impaired during the war

 

[FuuNoKami Oka]

You also have to think. If they legalize MJ, someone would find another way to get something illegal and it would all be for not.

 

[Undrave]

Two words: contraband weed. Contraband cigarettes are a huge problem for the convinience store industry in Canada. One out of 3 cigarettes is bought illegally in fact.

So you'd win some money by not wasting it on prosecuting people who just happen to have a gram of weed but then you'd have to spend some on fighting contraband... and weed is far easier to grow than tobacco... so wether it would save a lot of money or not is anybody's guess.

 

[Bolt]

That's because there's very little competition in the cigarette industry. The problem isn't that the legal ages of use are too high, it's that there's so much tax on alcohol and cigarettes that it discourages competition. People are going to get cigs and booze anyway, but if you cut the cigarette and alcohol taxes (in addition to numerous other tax cuts that need to be made), it encourages that competition and would assist in strengthening the fallen economy, especially consider the volume in which Americans splurge on substances they can abuse.

You also have to think. If they legalize MJ, someone would find another way to get something illegal and it would all be for not.

That already happens. I don't think people smoke pot because it's "taboo" or alluringly forbidden, it's because they want to get high on herb. Legalizing pot would probably just lead to a higher number of potheads, but wouldn't change the fact that there are still going to people out there doing coke, heroine, meth, whatever you got.

 

[FuuNoKami Oka]

That already happens. I don't think people smoke pot because it's "taboo" or alluringly forbidden, it's because they want to get high on herb. Legalizing pot would probably just lead to a higher number of potheads, but wouldn't change the fact that there are still going to people out there doing coke, heroine, meth, whatever you got.

True, but you see my point. It's like if you are getting chased by a bunch of bees. You swat at them and take out one, but it's no big deal because there are a hell of a lot more there.

 

[OverdrivePrime]

True, but you see my point. It's like if you are getting chased by a bunch of bees. You swat at them and take out one, but it's no big deal because there are a hell of a lot more there.

What? :sly:

No, just no. As Bolt says, people don't smoke pot because it's illegal. They smoke pot because they want to smoke pot. Just because you legalize pot doesn't mean that a bunch of crime purists are going to go look for something illegal that they can put into their body if they weren't doing so already.

Marijuana accounts for the vast majority of drug arrests. At the very least, legalizing it would allow law enforcement to concentrate on fighting hard drugs such as meth and crack instead of wasting their time on weed. Legalizing marijuana would be a very big deal. Yes, there is are a lot more drugs out there, but none are used anywhere close to as widely as alcohol, tobacco and pot.

 

[Forever Knight]

I love this.

U know whats good?..

After u roll a spliff, dip it in honey so it burns slower and it even tastes better.