You'll find that most people on here will say FOR, it's a drug forum so I really don't think for your poll that using any of the FOR votes will make your poll accurate. You're basically asking a bunch of stoners if they want cannabis to be legal or not, so what do you expect 99.99% of CD to say? To make this really accurate, you really should go downtown and ask random people this question.
That being said...
Of course I'm going to say FOR.
Why?
I could write a novel about this subject. I could go into the history of Cannabis, analyze the motives as to why after about 5000 years of use with little harm done to humanity why it suddenly became legal in the US in 1937(?) which was the real starting point in our current drug war. I could also criticize the current drug war. I won't do any of that, however I will say this: it seems that the current illegal status is designed to make criminals of large parts of our population, which benefits the DEA and the prison-industrial complex.
Now that I got that out of the way...
First of all, cannabis really isn't as harmful as drug warriors would have you believe. Nobody has ever died from cannabis alone in the 5000 years it has been used. Time and time again, the idea that somehow it causes brain damage has been proven false. The talking point that it causes more cancer than cigarettes has also been time and time again proven to be false. Alcohol misuse causes infinitely more harm when you look at it overall (ranging from drunk driving to domestic abuse) than cannabis abuse ever will.
Alcohol prohibition of the 1920's failed horrendously, so I wonder what makes the establishment think that the war on drugs will work. It's like fighting a war on oxygen! Drugs will always be around, just like people who hate the West, just like oxygen. I think this whole foolish prohibition is simply designed to fail, because it isn't a war on drugs, it's a war on us! The only winners in this war are the DEA, big pharma., gangs, and any other groups that would have a vested interest in this war. It's all a game of money. I say it a thousand times, it's the money, Lebowski.
Cannabis also presents a great deal of medical benefits as well, and it does not come with the same kind of overall health detriments that pills being forced on us do.
There are long-term mental detriments brought on by cannabis, but that is really only caused by long-term use, and it doesn't even effect everyone. After all, if someone drinks a bit of wine every night for their heart health, does that make them an alcoholic? No. Another downside to marijuana use is that it shouldn't be used by anyone with pre-existing mental issues such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ect. ect. There are ways to use it responsibly, and ways to use it irresponsibly. And even then, the consequences of irresponsible use of cannabis is BY FAR less dangerous than irresponsible use of alcohol. If you drink to the point of overdose, you could fcking die. If you smoke a ton of weed, you'll probably end up falling asleep or having a panic attack, neither of which are fatal, unless you have a heart condition that would be exacerbated by a panic attack...and even then, it's probably not fatal. I've also read threads on here about people having other problems, mainly concerned with stomach issues (acid reflux?) and collapsing lungs, but those are extremely rare.
/2cents
Good luck sir, more power to you!
z. for personal use). Fines for unauthorized sales (don't want everyone & his mom to become dealers - make sellers get a license). Big fines or jail time (repeat offenders) for selling or giving to minors. Tokers may need to be licensed too - then the license can be revoked for DUI or illegal selling or whatever.
