Prohibition is pointless?

Question

to start off, id like to say that i do not use drugs, but i dont see why the government has to make a law to stop americans from smoking marijuana, that should be there choice. and to everyone that is thinking, its better illegal because its bad for the united states environment are stupid. if a person wants drugs they will get drugs, it is very easy to grow on your own and there are countless sellers. Before high school i had the impression that only scums and low lifes smoked weed, but After highschool and college i realize that a majority of people smoke or have tried it, not just low lifes, but alot of members of the football team, and other members of the school as well.

my point is that they should not leagalize somthing that should be your choice because even if you want the drugs they are so easy to get anyway. i honestly dont believe that the usa made weed illigial beacuse they care about the health of its citizens, i have many theories of why they did, but in the end you realize that prohibition is pointless.

Answer 1

ron paul was one of the best president nominees in my opinion, im not just saying that because he said he would leagalize weed, i have read a book about him and i think was one of the best choices, but when he said he would make weed legal was part of his downfall.

On the issue of drugs, we have spent nearly five hundred billion dollars on the War on Drugs, since the 1970s. Total failure. Some day, we have to admit it. Today, we have the federal government going into states that have legal medical marijuana, arresting people--undermining state laws--arresting people who use marijuana when they're dying with cancer and AIDS, and it's done with, as a compassionate conservative. And it doesn't work.

Answer 2

While I certainly agree that the "war on drugs" is far from successful, that does not mean drugs should be legalized. While the provable dangers of smoking marijuana may be in question, there is very little question as to the dangers of being on cocaine, meth, heroin, etc. Those dangers are why such drugs are now illegal in most nations of the world.

Answer 3

If you mean "Should we legalize the sale and use of Pot'? I'd say no...because thats all it would take to get Phillip-Morris to start marketing to 8th graders.....remember "Joe Camel".......say hello to Puff the MaJic Dragon.  We should decriminalize it and then make potheads a social pariah much like we do drunks/ homeless today.

Answer 4

Yes. It was tried in the 1920s with alcohol and just played into the hands of criminal gangs who made a fortune just as dope dealers do now.

Answer 5

I'll play the devil's advocate here.

Prohibition works. If your goal is to reduce the overall consumption.  Prohibition in the US reduced the average consumption of alcohol to roughly 25% of what it was previously.  

      Of course this comes at the expense of a growth of organized crime, increased taxes for courts and prisons, and an infringement of personal liberty (property rights begin at the body.)

Answer 6

it didn't work in the '20s with alcohol and isn't working now with anything else.

and yes, you are correct, that many people would be VERY surprised to find out the number of well educated, articulate, successful, and otherwise unassuming professional career people like myself who do indulge in the wonderful bounty mother nature has provided us. I do not extend my feelings toward the chemicals and/or pills, but mother nature can't be wrong, can she?

I have been in a solid and successful career in senior management for over 2 decades, do my job well and manage an operation with over 15 million in annual revenue, as well as having an advanced degree with a 4.0 with honors, and it hasn't adversely affected me or my career one bit.....nor did it in college.

having said that, they never will legalize it because then all the politicians and so called 'experts' would have to admit they were wrong....and we can't have THAT, now can we? lol......

Answer 7

heck no, i don't want to buy my weed at walmart, they'll mess it all up and pretty soon people will be smoking cheap shwag cut with laundry detergent. Keep the govt and the corporations out of my pipe.  

Answer 8

Prohibition isn't pointless: it's profitable.

Government makes their money off of tobacco; organized crime gets to make the money off "illegal" drugs. It's a marriage of convenience.

Answer 9

While I don't disagree with you, part of the laws are what they call "parental laws." Why do you have to wear your seatbelt? Well, the government kind of needs the people to stay alive.

So while pot for all intents and purposes is harmless, the problem becomes, where do you stop? The government can't really afford to get on this slippery slope, because as soon as one person says "well, coke is totally fine, I don't see what the big deal is, and not to mention, you made pot legal, so why not coke," you're dealing with a whole slew of problems.

But I do think the war on drugs is failing. We pump billions every year into the DEA yet every year, more Americans are becoming hooked on harder, and more pure drugs than ever.

Answer 10

h**l YES!!!

Answer 11

Prohibition in any form never ever works and the public will always find a way to get what they want.

Answer 12

Yes.  Do you have a question?

Marijuana is for the United States what Jews were in n**i Germany. In our country, you can't get away with discrimination against groups of people, so we manufacture an enemy that we can use to arouse the passion of the people the way Hitler aroused Germany, and marijuana serves as a very handy alternative.  It allows us to discriminate against African-Americans and Mexican-Americans, who are disproportionately incarcerated under anti-drug laws, without anyone being able to accuse us of racism.