Why is pot illegal? and whats with the above the influence campaign?

Question

I don't understand why marijuana is illegal, its less harmful or addicting than any drug out there including alcohol. Also, I don't get the whole above the influence campaign. They spend so much money lying to teens telling us that weed will turn us into lazy, unambitious zombies, while I and nearly every teen I know can see straight through it. I'm 17 and I drink and smoke weed once in a while at parties. I have a 4.0 gpa and part-time job, and weed doesn't make me stupid or fail at life. Seriously, the most dangerous thing about weed is getting caught with it by the cops, unless you smoke it a lot, in which case you would probably get cancer or something. They should spend their money campaigning against crack, meth, cigarettes, and the really dangerous addicting drugs instead of weed. Just wondering what your thoughts about all this are.

Answer 1

Marijuana is illegal today because of one man's twisted hatred for Mexican Immigrants in the 1930's.  Henry Anslinger launched smear campaigns in US before most citizens even knew what it was.  Today's Above The Influence commercials are just the latest in his (and his predecessor's) long line of slanderous statements including: Weed will make you go crazy, Weed will make you a murderer, Weed supports communism, weed makes you stupid, and now, Weed makes you lazy.  While the lies are continuously getting less aggressive, they are still just that, lies.  

The US Government has spent of $34 Billion just this year on the War on Drugs.  Over the last 10 years it is closer to half a trillion dollars.  

I'm very glad you posted your gpa and age.  I am 18 and just started college.  I graduated with a 3.7 after having smoke all four years of high school.  I got a 32 on the ACT (I never took the SAT because my college didn't require me to).  I never missed school because I was high or hung over, and I have never experimented with cocaine or heroine.  

Answer 2

1. Fact: smoking one joint has the equivalent effect on your lungs as smoking 20 regular cigarettes.  So that keep that in mind if you don't want to be Mr. Lung Cancer in your old age.

2. Fact: pot DOES shrink your testicles. No joke. That has an effect on your voice. Look at the two biggest weed-smoking singers out there: Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg.  Listen to their voices: that's the sound of shrunken balls.

3. You're right, it shouldn't be illegal. The "War on Drugs" has been a huge failure and I don't know how many more years the U.S. government will continue wasting money and making Columbians wealthy.

edit: check em yourself schmitty. Fact 1 is true indirectly (THC lowers your testosterone, which over time leads to shrunken balls).  Fact 2: you're correct. It's 20 times, not 100.

edit2: yes, actually I have tried it. I enjoyed it. But guess what? There are better drugs out there to do (ie better effects AND less damaging) so why would I waste my time with a sub-par drug for 13-year-olds?

Answer 3

the above the influence campaign is nothing more than religious right wing propaganda- they've been doing this (and by "doing this" i mean "assuming we are all idiots") for years.

there is simply no debate about pot being amongst the least harmful of drugs, at least in educated circles.  these nutjobs would have you believe that pot, cocaine, and heroin are pretty much the same, and its an insult to anybody of even average intellect.

edit: @yo mama- recheck your first two "facts"

edit: @ yo mama- most smokers i know smoke at least 20+ cigs a day, and no one i know smokes more than a joint or two a day, so the tar comparison, while statistically correct, is not quite jake.

as for being indirectly responsible for shrinking your junk, i suspect that they took lab rats and gave them doses thousands of times higher than what an average human could possibly consume. i may be wrong on this, but thats exactly what they did with the stats on saccharine and nearly every other potentially harmful substance.  i know tons of smokers, and none of them have abnormally high voices.

edit: thumbs down away folks, but when you're done research this for yourself instead of parroting what your preachers and parents say about weed. but you probably wont; you'll probably give me some tear jerker urban legend about some guy who lost his mind then died from smoking pot. fantasyland.

edit: @ kerry k- dont forget hatred for blacks as well

Answer 4

You can find a lot of interesting info here...I've become too lazy to answer this question because I've answered it so many times.

http://abovetheignorance.org/

-Yo Momma, you've never tried herb so you don't know ****.

-Omagus, I knew you were a pothead!!!

Answer 5

Marijuana does less harm to your body than alcohol and is FAR less likely to impair a driver, so why is it illegal?  It's all politics.

After prohibition ended, the government needed to turn its attention to something.  At that time the only people really smoking marijuana were jazz musicians.  What better target than poor Black musicians?  And if it were to be legalized now, the government would essentially be admitting such.  Can't have that now, can we?

EDIT

Ha, Zion.  True story:  I've never smoked in my life.