/corny intro

That point is very much subject to debate and evidence.

It's a historical trend that younger people tend to be more liberal and older people tend to be more conservative, regardless of whatever generation we currently happen to live in. Your "dying off" theory may not have any substance as you provide no additional reason to support the assertion that our generation is somehow more liberal than past generations.

Yes, and they've also got an entire subculture devoted to marijuana use. Hardly the most productive thing for society, isn't it? Though I suppose that isn't a very fair argument since leisure time isn't meant to be necessarily "productive". But are you forgetting the physical damage that smoking causes?

So?

This argument irritates me. You're essentially shifting the blame for the problem of overcrowded prisons from the actual drug offenders who willingly broke the law onto the "state" or the "government", whatever that means. We live in a democracy and we have a great judicial system. If you disagree with one of our laws, you have plenty means of challenging it, as Proposition 19 in California has demonstrated. Choosing to break these laws, however, seems like the poorest course of action.

*Source? Such statements are, until further notice, unfounded and accomplish nothing.

For example: "Every year, millions of teenagers across the nation cite the 'Above the Influence' campaign as a primary source of motivation for keeping their lives free of illegal drug use."

Such sweeping generalized statistics are already difficult to interpret and apply; ones without evidence are completely useless.

Is there any kind of point to this post?

Not a world of that made sense Vocal Bass.

Sure it did! I understand where VocalsBass is coming from. I choose not to smoke marijuana, and I never want to try it. Frankly, I don't see the benefit.

Of course you don't see the benefit if you've never tried it.

Do you see the benefit of seasonings on your food?

Yes, I read your previous post. The post I quoted still doesn't make much sense.

You say corny intro... I just call it factual info.

If I am sitting in my house smoking bud from a vaporizer, how am I harming anyone else? Or even myself? And even if I were harming myself, does that even play into the debate on whether it should be legal? Everyone knows how deadly alcohol and tobacco products are, yet they are illegal. Anything in excess is harmful. Too much sugar, caffeine, etc. All legal substances. The government has already set a precedent that the public's health is not their main concern - or else things like tobacco would be illegal.
Try to remember what I say and then what you say. I don't need to support the assertion that our generation is more liberal because that isn't what I am saying. That is what you are saying... See, the older generations grew up in a time when anti-marijuana movies were being created to falsely represent the affects of marijuana. Many people believed those 20-30 movies at the time (See Reefer Madness for an example). Now we know it was all propaganda and lies. The older generations also grew up in a time when marijuana was associated to communism by politicans. My generation wasn't exposed to these lies.

Eh, we have a good judicial system compared to many other countries, but it could be improved a lot. The prison system is a joke to me. A lot of ex-convicts just wind up back in jail. Most go to prison and meet more criminals, create networks, and hone their crime skills... Not sure really why that argument irritates you, it's a fact that prisons are over-crowded. Sometimes you have deadly criminals housed in a gymnasium with bunk beds. Imprisoning non-violent drug users just makes the over-crowding worse. Yes, they commited a crime, but we are discussing legalizing marijuana. Illegalizing obviously just leads to more criminals. I guess it comes down to... Why NOT legalize it?

Like you said, it's leisure activity...and whats wrong with a subculture of marijuana use? They can use it responsibly and Amsterdam has lower rates of drug use among teens and lower rats of hard drug use. Because like I said, they seperate the weed from the cocaine, heroin, etc. Smoking anything is bad for your health. Used from a vaporizer or eaten and there's not much health risk. Not that health risk really even matters, the government makes a ton of money annually by selling things that are bad for peoples health. If somebody chooses to damage their lungs, why is that a problem to anyone else anyways? Like I said, this is the 'land of the free' and yet you aren't able to do what you want to your own body.

As for Above the Influence, the government will tell you that it doesn't work. What a waste of money, not to mention their false respresentation of weed. The government has lied for years to the public and continue to do so. I do not know why. Assuming you don't read the entire article, let me quote on page 10:

"Westat’s evaluation found no significant favorable effects of campaign exposure on marijuana initiation among non-drug-using youth or cessation and declining use among prior marijuana users."

After admitting the campaign has not worked whatsoever, George Bush still increased the funding by 130 MILLION dollars. I've found numbers at around 1.5 billion dollars spent on the campaign. Regardless of the exact number, I think it's safe to say that it is a HUGE waste of money to accomplish nothing.

The war on drugs has failed because marijuana use is still very prevalent, especially to teens and college students. What have we really accomplished with this 'war on drugs.' It's a campaign that appeals to soccer moms and old white conservative white guys. And it's pretty obvious the government has to spend tons of money destroying fields and arresting and imprisoning people who are only arrested for marijuana offenses.

The government has been the ultimate fail with how they've handled marijuana for decades.

Sorry for the novel.

In short, you are wrong.

This is your brain on drugs.

I've heard that first argument over and over again! Marijuana being more potent today. I don't know what you had, but I've never smoked any Marijuana that gets me paralyzed.

The second thing I just though was funny. If you don't know that most high schools, at least where I live, more than 40% of the students have tried drugs, at least the ones who admit it. It is ironic that alcohol is legal and pot is not, one has the potential to kill, and one doesn't. Which one is legal?

In my opinion, it isn't legal due to the history behind it, and how it has never been seen as anything but bad. They say the word Marijuana, and people think that it is a deadly drug, that you get addicted in one hit, you go insane, and all that nonsense. But when people talk about alcohol, people just see it as a drink, a recreational thing, a relaxing thing, it sucks.