Pot shouldn't be legalized. No matter what, it is a mind altering drug, and there is no telling how that may effect everyone if it is legalized. Does it have medicinal purposes? Sure, but how often is it even useful in that? As a nation, we've evolved far past needing a drug as stupid as pot. With the legalization of it, it will be followed next by more and more drugs.

Frankly, as for the economy, it's laughable. I'm sorry, but the key to making California even remotely close to making money is to stop spending it on the stupid ass shit it already does. Pot won't stimulate the economy in the least. It's not in a high enough demand (let alone in demand to people with any brains.) I think some serious economy classes are in store for you to get that. No offense, but it's a severely ignorant statement at best. Tell me, if Cali gets its head out of its ass and stops the need for measuring car emissions, will all cars be more in demand? I don't want to deal with people smoking, let alone those who smoke that nasty shit. Wouldn't it just do wonders for your tourism? *sarcasm*

Also, just because it does less damage, doesn't mean shit. Once again, if it harms you in any way, it has no business being on the market. I already believe that cigs should be banned and made illegal for the damage it does to people who don't smoke it. I'm sorry, but when you want to do drugs, you have no business having any rights at all, let alone making it easier for people to acquire it.

What about the alchohol prohibiton? That caused a huge increase in crime and did nothing to stop people from drinking? Are you suggesting prohibiting cigarettes as well as alchohol because those are bad for your health. And where do you draw the line? Should fast food be banned because it makes us fat? I think the government should stay the hell out of my life, excluding the things that have been expressly written in our constitution. I should have the right to do whatever I want to my body. It's mine, if I chose to fuck up my liver and slowely drink myself to death, well that's my choice. It's not hurting anybody but me.

And actually there is a huge demand for pot. I almost don't know anybody who doesn't smoke and those who are serious about it can buy pot once or twice a week. It's a huge industry, not just here in California. Even if you don't agree with it, it's illegal right now and the problem obviously isn't just going away so ignoring it is doing nothing. We might as well utilize it much as we have cigarettes and alchohol.

Honestly I can't believe you'd want cigarettes to be illegal. I don't like them much either but I've never had any problem with someone else doing it. It's not allowed inside anywhere or near schools, wtf are you complaining about? It's not like pot would be allowed inside either...? It would pretty much be like cigarettes right now, just a little stinkier, but just as much out of your way. If you're talking about walking down the street and passing through a small cloud of smoke here and there well damn, you're too sensitive to even discuss this with.

Of course, I mean this with no animosity, simply my viewpoint on the matter.

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"Genius idea. I'm gonna paint my penis green like the serpent of sex."-760 (TFLN)

i totally agree

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I belive in Jesus Christ as my Savior. If you do too, and aren\'t afraid to admit it, put this in your signature.
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and just to add..even if it does have the same effect or not..alcohol,cigars..or whatever. Kills people and detroys family. what do you say baout that?

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I belive in Jesus Christ as my Savior. If you do too, and aren\'t afraid to admit it, put this in your signature.
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and cigars or drinking bothers me. one person it bothers is to many.

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I belive in Jesus Christ as my Savior. If you do too, and aren\'t afraid to admit it, put this in your signature.
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sorry for this...4 post, bt i couldn't think of it all at once. it really does hurt people..not just yourselves. people i know personally have been hurt. you know it hurts people.

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I belive in Jesus Christ as my Savior. If you do too, and aren\'t afraid to admit it, put this in your signature.
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No worries about all the posts.

And, I'm sorry that you or people you know have been hurt by it but I still believe in personal choice. We have natural rights and I don't want the government having a say in what I am and am not allowed to do to my own body. If they can control what sort of lifestyle choices I make, who's to say it wont continue further and further. Government, as part of its natural design, searches for more and more power over those it governs, and it is our job to keep it in check in order to continue to obtain our own rights. I'm a Libertarian in case it is not obvious. :]

As far as the emotional impact it may have on families and such, a million things can do that. A teenage daughter having sex and getting pregnant can cause extreme stress to her parents but that doesn't mean all teenage girls should be forced to have a contraceptive implant. And homophobic parents or close family members often have break-downs or upsets when their gay child comes out to them, but does that mean gay, lesbian, and bisexuals should be banned from having homosexual intercourse? Eating until you're so obese that you are unable to get out of bed can have a drastic and horrible impact on one's family and friends but does that mean McDonald's should be shut down or our dietary intake monitored? The government should have absolutely minimum control in our lives; only what is absolutely necessary and expressly written in our constitution.

I know it might be painful and like you said, families get torn apart but it is not the drug's fault. Drugs are inanimate objects. People carry out actions and make decisions: some bad, some good; the point is that the decisions are OURS to make. That's the point of freedom.

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"Genius idea. I'm gonna paint my penis green like the serpent of sex."-760 (TFLN)

Alcohol prohibition was alcohol. People went to Mexico, and that's what brought about the mobs, essentially. I know this. This is nothing new with me in the least. You also have to understand the times to truly get it. It was a time of big troubles in the economy, and guess what? Booze was cheap. It was also a time when we didn't have the means to entirely handle it like we do now. As for drinking yourself to death, it's a disorder called alcoholism. That's abusing power, and frankly you shouldn't have a right to kill yourself. To even want to do such things to your body is a severe lack of self respect for yourself, as well as everyone around you. People who do shit like that are severely sick people who need help, not drugs of any kind.

Hun, I really really really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but California is the land of fruits, nuts, and hypocrites. None of them are taught to think for themselves, and only know what's told to them. Demand for pot doesn't justify crap. It's been an illegal drug and should remain an illegal drug.

"A 2007 study by the Canadian government found cannabis smoke contained more toxic substances than tobacco smoke.[30] The study determined that marijuana smoke contained 20 times more ammonia, and five times more hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxides than tobacco smoke. In spite of this, recent studies have been unable to demonstrate a direct link between lung cancer and frequent direct inhalation of marijuana smoke. While many researchers have failed to find a correlation,[31][32] some researchers still conclude that cannabis smoke poses a higher risk of lung cancer than tobacco"

I'm sorry, but a drug like that has NO business being on the market, let alone being smoked. The problem isn't going away because your state has no damn money left to deal with it. Sorry, but Cali is in a dire need of a punch to the face. Pot is not going to stimulate any economy. Once again, it's too complicated to explain and even a basic course in econ will make you realize how false and ignorant the statement is. It needs to be dealt with, and legalizing it is not the solution. I'm tired of giving in to every whiny bitch who wants their way. Cigs should be banned. I lived with a smoker, and I can honestly say that having it 'as their right' was a load of bullshit. I got to breath that shit in. Sorry, but it harms others, and I think they should be charged with involuntary manslaughter for what they do to the 3000 + people a year who don't smoke and don't deserve lung cancer from that poison. Someone willing to kill themself is sick in the mind, and someone unwilling to break a deadly addiction is sick in so many ways of itself. With pot doing the same things, if not having worse effects, it has no need to be on the market. What needs to happen is to have it nipped in the bud and taken care of.

I'm sorry, but people who have no choice to be around these kinds of people everyday are harmed, and if I get lung cancer later in life, I have a hell of a lot of people to blame. Pot will do the exact same thing, and it will create another company with their hand in the cookie jar, but will get away with the deaths of millions upon millions of people. The fact you only see the fact that people want to do it is ignorant as hell. Screw the rest of us who want to live in a breathable environment. I'm tired of people claiming shit as their right when it's far beyond not even being close.

Okay, okay, wait a minute, who the fuck is standing around and blowing smoke in your face? Are there just people hanging around your town smoking in front of your doorway and all the way to school? I don't understand how smoking bugs you so damn much, it's fucking OUTSIDE and people usually don't just stand on the sidewalk and do it? And even those that do aren't numerous enough for me to ever have felt the need to punch someone in the face for it. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke and I go out a lot but hardly ever have it in my face? As for living with someone who smokes, umm...that's pretty much a ridiculous reason. Fucking move out! Or tell them to stop smoking in your vicinity, Queen Alicia.

As for it not being your right to kill yourself, um, there are millions of ways to kill yourself, one that I mentioned was overeating yourself into oblivion. So, I ask you, are we to also have a restricted diet so that we don't consume excess ammounts of fatty foods that shorten lifespans and cause long-term negative effect? WHERE THE HELL WILL IT STOP?? I refuse to allow the government to dictate what I can and cannot do with my own body. I am a legal adult and I am fully capable of making my own decisions. You're crazy if you think banning cigarettes and alchohol would even work, or that the government would stop there. The government is designed to search for as much power as possible and the people have to keep it in check to uphold our human rights. Or perhaps you'd preffer we were under a totalitarian dictatorship? Funny thoughts for a supposed conservative. I guess you don't believe in rights or freedom? Hmm, perhaps you should move to North Korea...?

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"Genius idea. I'm gonna paint my penis green like the serpent of sex."-760 (TFLN)