To think that marijuana shouldn't be legalised?

[adoggymama]

Just that really, I'm a 19 year old & honestly given all the experiences people I know have had using it, it seems like a horribly unhealthy and dangerous thing to legalise?

I've never smoked it or taken any drugs myself so I guess I don't know everything, but it has been proven to make people depressed, lazy & unproductive! (Insert mental image of 30yr old living in parents basement)

What's everyone's opinions? If you believe it should be, can you explain why? And vice versa :) thanks!

l used CBD oil two years ago when l was waiting for hip replacement surgery. lt worked on my pain when nothing the doctor gave me even touched it.
THC is the stuff that gets you stoned. lt's the CBD chemicals that give you pain relief. l also have a friend who has very, very bad arthritis pain and he's vaping it. lt's actually giving him pretty good pain relief.

@TheQueef I don’t smoke it, sorry. DPs friend vapes it and apparently it involves bitcoins and the dark web which all sounds a bit scary to me. (His comes from somewhere in the US where it is legal)

Hope you manage to find somewhere though

Queef makes the other point as well.

If it was legal and there were a range of types and methods of taking it available, just like in the states, smoking pretty rapidly moves down the list of consumption methods.

Whilst it remains illegal, the dealers just want the core product out there, skunk, its not beneficial to them to offer variety.

Legalise it, and then edibles, vape oils, tinctures etc all become available as the market evolves and differentiates and the smoke that seems to piss everyone off will hugely reduce.

I think it should be legal purely because if it was legal i feel there would be more help for people with an addiction to it, at the minute the stigma around it (and the fact a lot of people still falsely belive you can't become addicted) stops a lot of people accessing help or if they do there is little help and even less knowledge around the subject. I also think that if your only experience of the drug is a dabble in the 80's and what's been portrayed by the media your opinion is kind of invalid.

Sorry to read that TheQueef

Can you buy the vape oils online, or do you have any US based friends that could post to you?

It should never be legalised unless it's specifically used for medical conditions. It causes more car crashes and fights that we don’t need not to mention the affects on future mental health

running what's your source for that?

Fair point TheQueef if you know anyone in the US (or where it’s legal there) they could send it to you?

@Runninggnomeintothedesertfree yeah, please source the evidence of these fighting potheads you speak of

And if it’s causing so many car crashes, could you explain why should we leave alcohol as legal on the same basis?

And whilst you are at it, also the evidence that shows marijuana causes as many crashes as alcohol does

As long as you don't use the national mail USPS or RM here you should be ok. I know some US based people that send to friends in the UK with MS for exactly that reason.

I agree to a certain degree but I have epilepsy and there is tonnes of research that it can significantly reduce the suffering of people with epilepsy. I think it should be legalised medically.

Because its illegal, the stuff on the streets is the super-strong nasty stuff - it's like saying all alcohol should be illegal because you've only ever seen people drinking rotgut bootleg spirits. When everyone was smoking it in the 60s, the actual drug content of what they were smoking was vastly lower than the skunk being sold today.

Legalising it would open the way for the much milder and less harmful varieties, in addition to redirecting all the revenue from it from the pockets of dealers towards reputable companies and then onto the government via tax.

Making it illegal hasn’t worked! What’s the point?
I’m into harm reduction, putting my judgement aside.
People over eat, choose to stay in abusivs relationships, drink alcohol, all legal. Or they might do drugs. Pick your poison. Most self-destructive stuff is legal, why not drugs? We could regulate it, almost abolish the modern day that is the mode of production for cannabis, earn tax, reduce police spending and reduce the harm that the illegal drugs trade does all in one sweep. Portugal’s drug deaths and adverse events have decreased dramatically by legalisation and regulation. Some of the American states are building new public facilities using the revenue from cannabis sales.
The only groups of people who want cannabis and other drugs made illegal are politicians and drug dealers. Speak to half of the cops I work with and they’ll tell you it should be made legal.
I’m not particularly pro-drugs, just pragmatic. Research has shown that legalising drugs reduces harm time and time again, yet folks insist on moralising and judging on anecdotal evidence rather than science.
Stopping cannabis is like trying to keep sand out using chicken wire.

katseyes what oil did you use? My DM is in constant pain.

If the government taxes it the way they do cigarettes then people will still be buying from dealers and not "official" sources. I already know a few people who buy "dodgy" cigarettes as they're cheaper. The same would be true of cannabis.

There are plenty of real reasons it should be legalised imo. Not least the fact it would enable a smoker to chose something that’s not super skunk. The damage done to young people smoking that stuff is horrendous.

And then if you look at synthetic highs eg spice, that takes it to a whole new level.

Legalising would have a positive effect on the rise of the two (nasty) types.

Weed is already everywhere. I don’t think it’s popularity would increase by any significant amount imo.

But everyone who wants to smoke it is anyway??
It's a bit of a farce. There aren't enough Police available to police it properly. They are tackling much huger problems and desperately overstretched as it is.

I walk down my street and whereas twenty years ago it wasn't obvious now you can smell it in the air. You can smell it overpoweringly sometimes in cars that go past you at 8am.

Kids smoke it. And don't kid yourself it's confined to the inner city either. I've a friend who works in a high school in a posh suburb outside Manchester - very affluent area - and they have terrible problems with it within the school.

Other kids sell it for the bigger dealers - if they make enough deliveries ( usually on a bike) they can make up to 1K a week when they are 15.

The oil should be legalised as it's good for so many things and the stuff they sell in Holland and Barrett is also good for certain ailments.

I don't know what the solution is but it's not working as it is and very easy to get hold of.

At least if they taxed it some good could come out of it.

It's not like the old stuff - it's very damaging. But I think it's a waste of desperately needed resources and like pushing a knob of butter up a mountain. The present system isn't getting us anywhere, it's getting worse and worse.

I wonder about how it works in places like Amsterdam?

Legalising any recreational drug is a very slippery slope.

Most people can cope with life without needing to be anaethetised

But let me guess, you drink alcohol?

Anyone who drinks alcohol but is anti marijuana is just hypocrtical beyond belief

Most people can cope with life without needing to be anaethetised hmm

I take it you have the same view of people who drink then?

While alcohol is legal I think weed should be too, it's far less harmful, and less likely to cause someone to incite violence. Marijuana ingested or vaped is a low scale risk to health unlike alcohol. Legalising takes away from drug dealers and makes it harder for children to get, it also means people have more control over what they're smoking. I barely know anyone who doesn't actually smoke it at least occasionally. I don't drink or smoke but I don't begrudge those who want to do either the choice to do it.

Its actually irrelevant whether or not its 'legalised'. Its easier to get than alcohol, local supplier has even been doing a 2 for 1 offer whilst the world cup is on.

What we need to do is REGULATE marijuana so we can be confident what strength we are buying. That would be much safer than the current system we have for purchasing it.

I am fortunate enough to have a Dutch cousin who has been my saviour, in the Netherlands.

The law is ridiculous, I darent (instant dismissal) do the logical thing and bring homegrown organic, balanced cbd-thc weed from my cousin because I would risk being a drug trafficker.

Instead it's less of a crime for me to buy small quantities from a local guy. With all the ramifications that brings.

It's ok that my betters (government) can benefit from the profits of selling marijuana to the world but keep me with a choice of pain or crime?