Should marijuana be legal?

So here are the reasons why it should be illegal:

1. It keeps our prisons stocked with people guilty of nothing but relaxing at home. (Prison corporations love this)

2. It lets politicians ignore actual problems in favor of looking "tough on crime". (politicians love this)

3. It keeps homegrown marijuana from competing with the corporate-provided legal drugs, like alcohol. This is the same reason it's illegal to make your own liquor. (Alcohol and tobacco companies love this)

4. It upholds the Puritan ideals that Americans think the country was founded on; anything that feels good or is fun must be Bad. (hypocrites, TV preachers and Republicans love this. But I repeat myself.)

Reasons why it should be legal:

1. It's not bad for you. There has *never* in the millennia-long history of marijuana use been a death from overdose.

2. It's not a "gateway drug". This is one of the many myths that has never been proven, and is used by people with agendas to get their way.

3. People do it anyway. It's the third-most-popular drug in the United States, after alcohol and tobacco. Chances are, even if you don't know it, one of your neighbors or relatives smokes up regularly; they've all just learned to hide their use, because of fear of persecution by police.

4. Yeah, we could tax it too. Instead of *costing* the taxpayers by sending police out and putting these people in jail, what if we could *make* money off of them?

Controlled legality, like we have for alcohol, tobacco, Vicodin,

would be a responsible choice for us to make. It's also very unlikely right now, considering how hard it is to make any changes at all. But it might happen someday.

Absolutely!! I don't even need to list the numerous reasons and arguments why it should be legalised, we all know that it comes down to the greedy governments... Like Chris Rock says, weed is illegal (in America) because the best stuff isn't grown (in America)... but that applies to the UK as well.

They could easily start growing it here, which would benefit all the tokers and those in need of its medical properties, it would probably do a lot in reducing crime rates and weekend drunken violence as well, but legalising it and growing it here would involve admitting they had been wrong all along, and somehow I doubt they will do that. So, instead, they penalise us for trying to grow our own or to buy it from elsewhere, not because its harmful, but because they aren't making any money out of it.

Yes it should.

The British government asked an independent board of scientists to evaluate the risks of cannabis, and they recommend it stays class c. Yet Gordon Brown wants to move it to class b with no reason other than his own prejudice. If he goes ahead, it will be the first time they have ignored the advice of the board

The board can't find good enough evidence that it is harmful. I am pissed that our leaders can ignore scientific advice that the commission and do what they like regardless of the thousands of good, honest people they will be criminalising.

Marijuana is an effective medicine that can be grown at home. As such, it is anathema to the big drug-pushers in the USA - the pharmaceutical companies.

They will not allow the people to cut into their profits by making marijuana legal.

Yes it should! If cigarettes and alcohol are legal there is no reason weed shouldn't be. Mind you I do not smoke weed and I do drink and smoke cigarettes, so it's not just potheads that think weed should be legal!

Sure why not, its something else the goverments can Tax us on.

Yes. There aren't enough good reasons why it's still illegal.

no it should not be legal!!

We don't need stuff like that! in the world..

YES

Jonathan :)

YES