So I read a question asking if people think marijuana should be legalized. After replying to this post it made me wonder...

WHY is it that marijuana is illegal (which i don't think i should be legal) but yet alcohol, causing thousands of problems, is still legal?

Don't get me wrong, I would be devastated is alcohol was illegal, cause I love to drink, but I ALWAYS hear of people getting into accidents because they were drinking and everyday someone is getting pulled over for it or hurting or even killing innocent people. So WHY IS IT LEGAL??

just let me know what you think! |m|

Marijuana is illegal because the hippie counter-culture scared people. It was incorrectly categorized by the government as a Schedule I Controlled Substance in 1970.

Here are the requirements for drug to be listed as Schedule I, according to the DEA website,

(A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.

(B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.

(C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.

http://www.dea.gov/pubs/csa/812.htm#a

Drinking in moderation does not affect a person's judgement and perception. Only when drinking too much is it a problem. Therefore, the problem is not the alchol itself but the amount the person drinks.

Mary Jane is another story. Doing the MJ will make an instant affect. If you take one puff the thing is still there in your hand beconing you to finish it. Of course you will since u took one puff already. It is just like a cigarette. MJ make people act totally retarded even with just a little. Maybe some will dispute this but I have seen the effects on another and they aren't good. I think that doing MJ is totally degrading because most people do so to escape their problems. However, u can't escape them. They are still there when morning comes. Same with excessive drinking.

Like i said, I don't think alcohol should be illegal, nor marijuana be legalized. But do you ever hear of someone getting into an accident and killing someone because they are high? I DO know what the effects of marijuana are and have seen people drive when they are really stoned. It makes you feel lazy but you are totally aware of what you are doing in a situation like that.
Drinking on another hand, sure if you are a moderate drinker, you know when to stop so it's not so bad. But there are hundreds of accidents onvolving drunk drivers, because there are a LOT of stupid people that think they are good enough to drive, when clearly alcohol is the totaly opposite from smoking pot!

First of all, i do not think alcohol will ever be illegal again, it did not go over so well the first time!

Im not for legalizing marijuana, but i do agree with jrfiregurl. Alcohol causes a lot of accidents and impairs your driving judgement. M.J. effects you too, but from what i have seen and heard, people drive alot slower and more cautiously. Also, some people get angry and violent from alcohol, but i have never met a mean pot head. They are either laid back or laughing.

Ok.. First if you think about never in our history has marijuana been leagal but alcohol had been until prohibition was set. After prohibition was set into place people were looking for ways to get alcohol even though it was illigalized. Some started making liquor at home and since it wasnt being made the right way they were getting ill. To prevent people from poisoning themselves with self made liqour they decided to make it leagal again

Sorry, you need your check your facts. Marijuana was legal in the U. S. until 1937. At that time the "Marihuana(sc) Tax Act was passed. The Hearst newspapers were mainly responsible for stories stating that marijuana was responsible for "murderous rampages by balscks and Mexicans." How utterly stupid. The pot smokers I know are so laid back that they could never go on "a murderous rampage."

They've tried to ban drinking years ago and there are even dry towns that ban selling it. I do think the side affects of drinking are worse than smoking pot but marijuana is a gate way drug. The majority of my friends who smoke also try other drugs like acid and abuse pain killers. That's why marijuana is illegal.

I totally agree, marijuana makes you calm and lazy, I have NEVER met an angry pothead either!
But yea, I've seen some potheads than eventually try another drug, but most are satisfied with the affects of marijuana since most people are smoking it to calm their nerves.

You made excellent points Semaj. Actually the stigma from marijuana and it's use predates Hippies! It's legal status was very much based on prejudice and propaganda about it's effects. Marijuana is the only schedule I drug that does not actually meet all of the requirements to be "schedule I". Physically and psychologically, it's effects are FAR less damaging than alcohol. Some have mentioned that in moderation alcohol is not damaging and this is true. However, half of all the alcohol consumed in the US is consumed by about 10% of the drinkers. So this tells me that there are a considerable amount of people who clearly aren't familiar with moderation. As far as marijuana use "leading" to the abuse of other drugs.... Perhaps people who moved on the other drugs simply had a propensity for substance abuse. Do you think they altered their mood with marijuana before they ever consumed alcohol? If they began drinking first then moved on to marijuana, would you accept that alcohol was actually their "gateway drug"?

While I don't think that Marijuana will ever be legalized, it's astounding how socially acceptable it is to ABUSE alcohol.

So Jrfiregurl, that is an excellent question you pose. Why indeed is marijuana illegal while alcohol is legal? Perhaps the answer would be different if it could be taxed and profited from in the same fashion!

personally i dont believe marajuana should be legalized and i know alcohol will never become illegal again because it such a large part of our everyday lives and it didnt work the first time.

But i think the reason why marajuana hasnt been legalized is because you cant test the level of highness in a person.

For example, with alcohol you can be breathilized and they have limit amounts, that cannot be done with marijuana and thats why it isnt legal. people who cannot be held to accountable standards

Alcohol is legal because it's been a part of most cultures since we figured out how to produce it.

Marijuana is illegal for a few reasons, none of which are good.


My theory is it's hard to make money off of a non-habit forming, non-overdosing, intoxicating substance, that you can grow in your closet. Essentially, there are a lot of economic incentives for the powers that be to keep marijuana illegal. Why would people buy paxil when they can grow pot?

A study in The Lancet showed that marijuana is less addictive and cause less physical harm than alcohol or tobacco. Meanwhile, weed's sale and distribution is controlled by criminals who aren't afraid of violence instead of small businesses and private citizens.

they are both on the same boat and they both can cause addiction, but marijuana can be legal for medical reasons...

I don't think it matters if MJ is illegal or not.. people still smoke it. haha

To answer your question. It is because of societies bogus standards.

Now about your post.

drinking and driving is a totally seperate issue than drinking being legal.

something should only be illegal if it does direct harm to someone else.

by that standard marijuana and alcohol should both be legal.

it is only when someone decides to get behind the wheel or get into a fight, that someone else gets hurt

Marijuana is illegal because it pretty much is the drug that starts addictions to other drugs.
My friends' brother started smoking pot, then he took LSD and all other sorts of crap.
Pot may not be the worst drug, but LSD can screw your mind-make you think you can fly and see monsters and whatever else is on your mind.
Alcohol is just bad if you drink excessively. In moderation it's harmless-to judgement anyway. That is why it's legal

Hmmm...
WHY?
The answer is simple because our Gov't is ridiculous.
Some facts;
-Marijuana may be illegal but no one has EVER died of "TOO MUCH" MaryJ.
-Meanwhile people die EVERYDAY from the affects of alcohol poisoning.
-Marijuana may swat your brain cells like flies but that's the worst of it.
-Alcohol on the other hand will attack your liver.
-Marijuana may turn you into a good ol' fried couch potato.
-But alcohol will turn you into big ol' couch potatoe with liver problems!
As for the smoke and your lungs? People don't smoke weed like they do a cigarette you don't need to much to feel the affects of being high. So if cigs are legal so should weed!

I personally have never smoked marijuana (I know what your thinking this girl is awfully passionate about something she has NEVER taken part in but what can I say? The facts speak for themselves.) but when I look at the facts it only convinces me more and more that our Gov't is just plain stupid for NOT legalizing it. Do you know how much cash it could bring in?!

Of course driving under the influence of any sort of substance can cause an accident. So don't drink or smoke and drive!

They are both very negative items to have in a population

yet people demand them. More people feel that alcohol is

a way of life, we as people have always had alcohol in our

lives. I personally would rather them both to be illegal but

knowing that the world we live in is not going to

drastically change i just keep hope alive that we won't go

as far as legalization of marijuana. Its difficult enough

to keep children and teens from drinking and drug abuse.

Marijuana was actually the first substance ever banned. Basically, it was banned because it was seen as a Mexican drug and it was a way for the government to be anti-Mexican (this was around the time the U.S. got the southwest). It basically set the precedent for substance bans. However, this is a little besides the point, although it does explain what would allow marijuana to be banned in the first place (when many worse drugs were actually legal).

First, the reason of alcohol being illegal. As demonstrated during Prohibition, a ban on alcohol can't work because it's too ingrained into America's culture. In moderation, it's not that bad for you, either, and there are some benefits.

I'm not entirely positive on the actual effects of marijuana. I've heard studies that say it's not addictive nor does it have harmful effects, but I have some friends who seem like they're addicted to it considering how much they smoke it. Also, my dad used to smoke it in College, but he stopped because it was supposedly affecting his memory, so there's conflicting evidence in my case at least.

However, as far as I'm concerned, a more important question could be why cigarettes are legal. Cigarettes have no health benefits, do of damage to the lungs no matter how infrequent the use, and are one of the most addictive substances on earth. There is no up side to them. In a way, they can't be illegal for similar reasons to alcohol. However, cigarettes are, fortunately, losing a lot of their place in the culture and will, hopefully, be outlawed some day.

obviously none of yall if few smoke marijuana, im proud to say i do and frequently. marijuana is a way to get a relief from your problems, when u dont have alot of money its the quickest way. same as if you go on vacation same as if you play video games, take trips to the amusement parks. recreational, but some people cant afford to place or do things all the time. and its not a gateway drug because if you are the type of person that was smoking weed and u try other things you would have done it anyways, just like the ppl who start on meds or start with cough syrup, u can abuse almost anything. weed doesnt stop u from functioning, and if it does then you shouldnt do it. most ppl that smoke weed and do thing usually become more aware do to paranoia, but yall wouldnt know that because you dont kno the if youve never done it. and weed being illegal destroys more lives then it being legal. since i want to sit in my house when i get off work and smoke a blunt, im destroying the world. when you come home and just want a beer does it make the world stop. and when i smoke within 30 mins im not high anymore, maybe an hour. when u get drunk ur drunk for a while unless u sweat it out, or pass out. the other day in tampa a drunk lady hit a mother and a killed her and put her 4 month old baby in critical condition, have u eva heard of weed doin that, didnt think so.