I'M NOT ENCOURAGING ANYBODY (STRICTLY CHILDREN) TO SMOKE MARIJUANA. MARIJUANA IS CURRENTLY ILLEGAL AND POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA IS STRICTLY ILLEGAL IN SOME COUNTRIES. I DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR MISUSE OF ANY INFORMATION HERE. THIS WHOLE DOCUMENT DEAL WITH MATURE CONTENT AND EXPRESS PERSONAL VIEWS ON AN ILLEGAL SUBSTANCE. READER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED!

Okay, So I decided to make a short resume about the movie The Union.

You can watch the full movie here.

I just took notes of the important keywords and put them in a word document to share it with all of you who won't have time to watch the movie/too lazy to and/or just can't watch the movie.

Brief marijuana history 101:
Cannabis can be hemp. It is the most durable natural soft fiber on the surface on this planet. Since thousands of years, hemp always had many uses on the industry. A lot of medicines and clothes were made from hemp. It is said that the famous movie "Reefer Madness" caused marijuana to be illegal. It was believed that marijuana caused the user to be violent but many politicians later opposed that myth. In fact, marijuana calms and mellows the user.

-Does prohibition really works?
Prohibition in fact has never worked. Prohibition has never stopped people from using marijuana. In 1937, it was estimated that there was 15,000 marijuana users. Now, it is estimated to be 15,000,000+ marijuana users.

-Dangerous of using marijuana?
People believe it kills brain cells, etc... The government did an experiment on monkeys to determine and see if marijuana kills or causes any damage to the brain or brain cells. The monkeys died. 6 years later it was finally released how the experiment was made. They pumped astronomical amount of smoke on monkeys. The smoke and the lack of oxygen made the monkeys suffocate and die. The dead brain cells were from the lack of oxygen and not from pot. Thus, the experiment results were invalid.
In fact, in 2005 a study showed that marijuana could stimulate the growth of brain cells on the brain.

-What about lung cancer?
All the studies used always that marijuana "may" or "should" cause lung cancer. But it has never been reported that someone had lung cancer solely from using marijuana. But smoke is harmful because of the proprieties of smoke. Any smoke could harm your lungs. But nothing in the cannabis plant ever caused lung cancer.
A study has been made and showed the tobacco smoke is more harmful than marijuana smoke.

-Which drug is causing more death per year?
Tobacco kills more people than all illegal drugs combined with accidents and aids per year.
It causes over 450,000 deaths per year. Even knowing that tobacco is being the number one killer in the country, the government still plants it and sells it.
Then we got alcohol. It is responsible for the death of over 85,000 people per year. Then we got caffeine which cause from one to 10,000 deaths per year. Even aspirin causes from one to 7500 deaths per year. What about marijuana? People believe it kills from 50,000 to hundreds of billions per year. In fact no single case of death has been attributed from using marijuana in the history of the human kind from thousands of years. You have to smoke 15,000 joints in 20 minutes to die from marijuana which is almost impossible.

-What about addiction?
Only 3% of the patients on the rehab system went voluntarily from being independent on marijuana. The others were either told by a judge or a guardian. Some people get the choices either going to jail or you go to a treatment. Everyone chooses to go to a treatment. They consider these people addicts. Marijuana is known to be less addictive than coffee. There are no severe withdrawal symptoms after stopping the use of marijuana. Its use can be discontinues easier than any other drugs.

-Marijuana is more potent now.
Marijuana being more potent now won't change its effects it had thousands of years ago. For it being more potent will just take fewer amounts from a user to get high thus, inhaling less smoke.

And marijuana could never be overdosed.

-Is marijuana a gateway drug?
Many studies had been done and never actually found something IN marijuana that could push user to go for "hard drugs"(such as cocaine, heroin, etc...)
In fact, any drug (such as food) could lead in using another drug. Example: milk could lead someone to drink alcohol.

Because of the current status of marijuana, users are forced to deal with the black market. Prohibition could be the reason of marijuana being a gateway drug. (Common scenario: -You got weed man? -No man but I got you these nice pills/powder/etc... I will let you try some for free.)
Many black market dealers now tend to go for harder drugs. Why? It is easier to carry pills and powder that could be easily hidden. Marijuana is harder to hard and to sell. It has a strong smell so it makes it harder for dealers to carry it.

-You will be useless to society if you use marijuana, right?
No. If that's true, then there are about 50 million people who smoke marijuana in the USA and over half of the population of Canada has tried marijuana at least once and yet both societies seems to flourish. Even some famous celebrities use marijuana. Many musicians and writers use marijuana daily. Even doctors and judges. Every presidential candidate has used marijuana at least once in their life.

People who are lazy and stay home and smoke weed were going to stay home and do nothing even without marijuana.

There is no evidence that marijuana had been the cause of a single crime. Legalizing it in Europe decreased the crime rate after being the highest crime rate in the world. Legalizing alcohol caused by far many more accidents and crimes then it is causing now from marijuana.

-What about drug availability?
Students in high school and schools claim that they could have access on illegal drugs easier than legal drugs.
Because of its current status on the country, its price and availability is unregulated and is on the hands of the growers. Marijuana could fully grow and flower in 2 months - 3 months. It is not hard to grow marijuana. It needs water, air and light just like any other plant.


The government spend over 7.7B$ to enforce marijuana prohibition. Legalizing marijuana and taxing it could give the government up to 14B$ in profit.

Some police officers know how marijuana is way safer than alcohol and would like to not prosecute criminals possessing marijuana but they don't want to lose their jobs. They just enforce the laws that already exist.
There are 786,566 marijuana arrests in 2005 for simple possession. 88% of marijuana arrests are for simple possession.
That's almost 1 million people in the USA arrested. either you go in jail or not, your future is destroyed. You don't find a job that will accept you with a criminal record. The government is telling us in other ways that's its okay to rape and murder but your career life will be deeply ruined if you do or smoke illegal drugs.

Drug tests:
They cost a lot of money. At first they said they are going to test pilots and police officers. Then they said they are going to DT professional athletes. Later on they planned on testing every child on every school.
In fact, THC (chemical produced from marijuana) stays on someone's system for up to 20 days (although people nowadays find ways to detoxification in several days) but harder drugs like heroine could leave someone's body in 3 days. That also tells the people to use the hard drugs and avoid soft drugs like marijuana.

What about its medical benefits?
Pharmaceutical companies are the most profitable industry on the US. What happened if marijuana is legalized? Well they will lose money because people found a lot of treatment coming from a natural plant.
Marijuana can slow Alzheimer. It treats glaucoma, back pain, depression, nausea, ADHD, anxiety, help patients with AIDS and cancer and could prevents cancer. There is no a product that provides as many as medical benefits as marijuana.
People in some states in US and in Canada could get a medical marijuana card if they have been checked and proven by a doctor that they qualify for a card. That card helps the patient against any arresting for possession of marijuana.

Marijuana is one of the most useful, if not the most useful plant known to mankind and it should not be illegal while keeping tobacco and alcohol legal.



Would like to see some comments and if that document changed your view about marijuana or not.


Some questions posted by another members in another forum and the answer:


Dealers out of the job? SO???? Who cares about the dealers. They put unfair price on a easy grow plant. And we pay more taxes just for the government to try and bust them. And they are making enormous amount of money by sitting home. Legalizing it would create more jobs and bring more profit to the government.
It causes "physiatric" problems? What kind of problem is that? Never heard of it. You might also want to cite your sources.


Well that's what's the government doing. Give an excuse to make something illegal or otherwise why the hell it is NOT illegal?
The information you get at school is BS my friend and all of what you learnt has been scientifically proven wrong.


Yep, thats true. Which kind of dealer will buy alcohol and sell it to minors these days? Not worth the money or the effort. And what will be his profit in the end anyway? Legalizing marijuana will keep it away from children (HIGHLY DON'T RECOMMEND MARIJUANA REGULAR SMOKING FOR PEOPLE UNDER 19)


Explain how please. How does it kill? I'm guessing you're one of those people who have never tried it and haven't really researched it and learned the truth, but I was like that one day too, but please at least look more into it other than just assuming that it kills people because your D.A.R.E. officer told you that.
All of anti-drugs organization got WRONG information about marijuana. They got some list of symptoms that has been proven WRONG. (I agree with short memory loss, but when they say it fries your brain, or I even heard it may grow boobies in men. NOW that's REALLY STUPID!)


Drinking alcohol is proved to be way more dangerous than smoking marijuana. Don't even get me started on the drunk drivers... You already know it.
Never heard of someone killing someone in a car accident while being 'intoxicated'.


Don't you realize that all the bad situation you been through are actually a result of the "prohibition" of marijuana?
That's why IT SHOULD BE LEGALIZED.

Weeds good shouldn't be illegal. I smoke it all the time and i'm doing just fine tyvm.

Actually i'm a huge loser but w/e

If people are going to fudge up their lives, the government should let them.

That's my opinion.

How does it fudge up lives?

Bro, don't you get some people use it as a medicine?
A medicine with virtually NO harmful side-effects???
These people get their lives ruined if busted (their doctor sometimes refuse to prescribe a medical card, because "marijuana is not covered" in the doctor's assurance)...
Alcohol and nicotine had never been prescribed to a patient...

If you do way too much pot, it can totally fudge up your life.

Also it can send that lack of prioritization stuff into overdrive.

I agree with this principle, though it doesn't apply to marijuana. Every lazy person who smokes weed wouldn't be any different without weed. I also go by this principle with possessing hard drugs (which I personally find nasty), but that's another issue.

The OP pretty much finished this debate before it started. To add to this, I feel that a cultural acceptance of marijuana would greatly help society. In the U.S., weed is illegal and 40% of the population admits to trying weed (but I guarantee it's higher - many people lie). In Holland, weed is legal and only 20% of the population claims they've tried weed. The same goes with comparing alcohol in Germany to alcohol in America - Germans drink much more than Americans do, but Americans drive drunk much more than Germans do.

I find it wrong that a filthy and unhealthy drug like tobacco is both legal and culturally acceptable in America, but marijuana remains illegal.

Do too much of pot... and guess what will happen to you?
You will fall asleep..
If you mean by someone smoking a lot, well, you know already that moderation in ANYTHING (legal or illegal) is the key...
Drinking too much alcohol or smoking too much nicotine won't fudge up your life?
In fact, a study showed that users that smoke marijuana are more likely to live longer than people who smoke tobacco.

Almost anything can fudge up your life, if abused.

I believe marijuana should be legalised. As always, my stance is "It's your body, do what you want with it." As long as marijuana is only smoked responsibly and in moderation (the same applies to legal drugs such as alcohol), there is very little threat to others. The most common problem with marijuana is frequent overuse. I'm not going to claim the drug is harmless to the user; it can cause health problems, but I believe that it should be the user's choice whether or not to inflict harm on their body or mind.

The fact that marijuana is illegal also causes a negative attitude towards the law in general. Hundreds of thousands of people are arrested for marijuana offences every year. The majority of marijuana users, like most citizens would, also pay taxes and work for and love their families. However, they get treated like criminals simply because of their recreational drug use.

Not in Canada

Criminal=/=$100 fine.

Never knew there were so many ganja lovers here wow


Trust me bro, I'm in Canada and still paranoid about getting busted...
I know the laws about marijuana are almost ineffective and a cop would take weeed from you and smoke it himself BUT still, I heard MANY horror stories happening to some of my buddies from some nice doggy!y cops...

Except unless your carrying ounces of weed on you they can't do shizzle. It's not legal for them to do anything but give you a small fine. I've had a couple cops fine me for Marijuana possesion (only because i was 15 at the time ) i paid my fine and went on with my day it's that simple.

EDIT:


In which case your extremely retarded btw.

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if U.S. legalization was achieved in the next ten years, because it's already legal under state law in twenty states (also, in Texas, a crazy country singer named Kinky Friedman is running for governor and hopes to legalize it in the state). But, as long as it's illegal under federal law, state laws are insignificant. But you know, with the democrats overwhelmingly in power, there's a good chance that politicans will open up and admit that they'd like legal weed.

My friends get their weed at the back alley of my school, which shares one side with a police/fire station.

Also, I get mine from public places, like Guy/Concordia, Berri UQAM metros. I'm trying to find someone near McGill though.

These places are heavily populated, where police circulate.

Except Obama, who also happens to be nice doggy!slapping his party constantly these days into doing what he wants.


I didn't suggest that.

I think it should be legal. Personally, I don't think I'll be a huge pot smoker, but not because of the side effects of the weed it's self, but because of the legal side effects. Weed stays in your system for a long time, and I don't want to lose my job/get in trouble with the law because I smoked a little a week ago and failed the pee test.

I think it's ridicules how people (especially kids) are getting their reputations smashed because they get in trouble with the law for smoking weed on the weekends. It's even more awful how kids who smoke cigarettes (a much more harmful drug) get off with just a slap on the wrists.

In conclusion, I think it's silly and wrong how kids are essentially having a good part of their lives ruined for a pretty harmless act, and something almost everyone tries at least once.

Edit: Besides, weed is a great way for conically stressed people to unwind and forget about their troubles. That's a very hard thing for some people to do, and not relaxing can lead to health problems (even things as serious as heart disease).

Some crazy guy at the gas station told me that the government illegalized marijuana because they think they make more money ticketing people for it than for taxes.

That might have been true years ago.

I've also heard that in 1937, a man who was big in the hemp industry brought false information to the court and had it illegalized because it affected his industry.

The marijuana trails were very messed up. One of the primary reasons for banning it was to have an excuse to deport Mexicans.

i think marijuana should remain legal

and become legal where it isn't


yes overuse leads to big psychological and other problems but so do alcohol, sleeping pills, tobacco, painkillers...

and responsible use gives no problems


decriminalize it so criminals can't profit from it
banning it fails as hard as the banning of alcohol in the USA did...

I'm pretty sure I didn't say that but sure.

Anyways, it's not about whether you suggested that or not. He is asking you if you agree.

I think they do fudge up your life. Liver damage from alcohol, lung+heart (Respiratory) damage from tobacco/nicotine.

But, with alcohol, you have the same thing as pot but a bit different, alcohol can be okay, and even beneficial, if taken in moderated doses.

Otherwise, yes, I agree.

As can weed. Hence why theres medical marijuana. Also because weeds a downer your less like to hurt others while stoned then you are while drunk.

They're already phasing out tobacco, why would they legalize another toxic mess?

Because people should be able to do what they want with their own body. Just because they're doing something doesn't mean we should let them because it would be a hassle to do differently.

Because weed isn't a toxic mess. Tobacco is very addicting. It changes the chemicals in your brain, and causes withdrawal symptoms if you try to quit after being addicted. Your body physically needs the chemicals cigarettes provide. Marijuana is a mental addiction, like video games. It doesn't change any chemicals in your brain, and there are no withdrawal symptoms. Also, it's a lot harder to smoke cigarettes in moderation than it is pot. You don't see pot heads smoking the equivalent of two packs a day, do you?

I don't see potheads at all because pot is illegal and I don't go anywhere that people do things that are blatantly illegal. But I consider anything that drastically affects your perception of the outside and/or inside world to be a toxic mess.

Get out of your house?

People smoke weed on sidewalk corners it's not that hard to pretend to be smoking a regular cigarette.



Except it doesn't, infact i'm smoking a join write now but im nt tipynhg llllikei tis ro nthing.

Seriously some people on this thread (and every other marijuana thread theres like 1 a month) need to be educated on what weed actually does to you before they go judging it.

If weed was legal in the US, the US would be a better place.

You watch, marlbolo would have joints rollin' off the machines, lines of people at gas stations or what not ready to buy their mary jane.

I <3 weed, it should be legalized.

The current stance taken on the legalization of Marijuana (in those countries where it is illegal) clearly isn't working, what's to lose from trying something new? It's clear that no-one cares that it's against the law.

What I find hilarious is that if you get caught smoking it, all that happens is that you get a warning and are told to put it out, whereas if you are found 'in possession', as in not smoking it, you are arrested.

So the best thing to do if you have pot and you see a cop coming is roll a joint like crazy and light it?

Or you just not act retarded and move on so the cop doesn't feel an urge to reach into your pocket?

It's not like cops go around strip searching people looking for EV1L MAR1JU4NAZ.

Sorry, I meant if you're being chased by a cop, not just see one.

If you're being chased by a cop.... you should probably be concentrating on running, not trying to light a spliff.
Although that would be rather a cool time to get high

According to the MVA, marijuana is the 2nd leading cause of motor vehicle accidents (after alcohol, of course) while intoxicated. Some of the effects include:

Loss of tracking ability (The ability to maintain a vehicle in a given line.)

Distance judgment

Vigilance

Divided attention


Given this information, I think marijuana affects people at least as much as drinking to a blood alcohol level of... say 0.10%? AT least 0.08%. And this is an unavoidable effect, not something you get after you smoke several joints. Alcohol is considered toxic if you intake enough of it, so shouldn't marijuana be considered at least as toxic as drinking to the point of intoxication?

I'll acknowledge that marijuana may not have as directly toxic effects as alcohol, but if it affects your senses and judgment enough that it's like being drunk off of one joint, it needs to be as closely controlled as other potentially harmful substances.

I'll also admit that many man-made substances have similar effects and should not be taken without prescription and care. So it may seem that if prescription sleep aids, pain killers, etc. are legal under prescription, why shouldn't marijuana be?

Well, you can't really make prescription painkillers in your backyard. However, if you get possession of a marijuana plant, it can grow! Can't put a Vicodin in a pot and do that! So if marijuana becomes legal under prescription, it's less likely that people are going to be curious about who it's coming from, and people who grow pot won't be as heavily prosecuted.

There's no doubt that driving under any influence is bad, yes. If Pot was made legal no doubt such rules would be put in place.

I Grow some plants do you want me to go to jail

Also you CAN go to the drugstore and buy stockpiles of tylonel but growing a decent sized cannabis plant takes WEEKS and sometimes months to grow.




Did you know you can be charged with impaired driving for having loud kids in your backseat. Anything that impairs your ability to drive in anyway is technically illegal it wouldn't matter if the government started encoraging marijuana use it would still be illegal to drive stoned so i don't see your point.

...yet Alcohol is still illegal?

If you're saying marijuana should remain illegal due to it causing a large majority of vehicle accidents surely by that reasoning alcohol should be illegal since it causes even more? I'm not sure if that actually is your belief but if you don't think alcohol should be made illegal then I'd be careful about posting stuff that trips up your own argument.

No. My point, if you read anything after that sentence, was that you can drink to enjoyment without becoming intoxicated. You can't smoke weed for any reasonable result (such as pain-killing or enjoyment) without becoming intoxicated.

So you think it should be illegal to drink alcohol to the point of intoxication? The principle of your argument is rather contradictory and makes little sense..

Although I am for the legalisation of marijuana, I am firmly against driving whilst intoxicated with any drug.

I say legalize it. It could help the government get some money. Just limit the use of it to household and cafes.

My opinion of the drug:

Fashion drug. All this nonsense about how people smoke it because "it mellows them out" is utter bull crap, sure it does do that but that's not the real reason they smoke it.

But i smoke alone whilst on my computer. Although i'm sure it wouldn't be a huge shock if i told others so far the only people who know that i'm a frequent marijuana user are my roommate, his girlfriend, my badass russian friend (cuz thats how russians role) and my grandma. All of whom couldn't care less if i was smoking a plastic dildo so your point while still partially valid isn't absolute. There are those who simply enjoy the effects of marijuana.

Just a few units of alcohol can still affect your driving even if you 'don't feel it' so it would have to be a very small amount of alcohol you're talking about.

Incorrect. While some people can get really high quickly, no one's going to get baked with just one hit. It's possibly to get just a little bit high. I am opposed to driving while high, but I know some people who actually drive better when they're high. You know what'd be a good way to stop people from driving while toasted? A cultural acceptance and legalization of marijuana. I've made this point many times before - Germans drink a whole lot more than Americans, are allowed to drink at younger ages, and drive much faster on their highways, yet they have less accidents. This is because alcohol is culturally revered by Germans, so they know how to responsibly drink. People wouldn't drive while high if they were encouraged to smoke responsibly instead of not smoking at all.


If it's a "fashion" drug, why do people smoke it alone? I'll agree that there's psychological effects with weed, because everyone who smokes it expect to become quite chill, but weed really does have its effects. Some people smoke weed to be cool, but many people smoke it because it feels good.

No, stick it in your sock or down your pants. The police can't search you there without arresting you, which they can't do unless they have a reason to.

A dog would ruin this though, works better with other drugs tbh.

Smoking it alone doesn't really null out the fact that it is (in my eyes) a fashion drug. Chances are the person decided to start smoking due to cultural influences or the need to "fit in" with their peers. Unless the person is using it for medical purposes which is a different story entirely.

That however is my opinion on the subject. So naturally I could be wrong. =/

Have you even ever smoked weed before to know what you're talking about?

You're not either sober or stoned. There's a whole wide range of gray area, just like with alcohol.

Does it matter how they started though? I mean, that same idea could be applied to a ton of other things. I know a bunch of people who started playing an instrument to look cool, but fell in love with it because after trying it they genuinely enjoyed it. The same goes for a lot of sports. Should these people not be allowed to do what they want to do because of how they started doing it?

Hold up a sec bro. Instruments, sports, and pot are three different things. I don't think pot is bad, legalize it for all I care. People have the right to do whatever they want with their bodies (however stupid the things may be). All I am saying is that people shouldn't follow other peoples life choices. If your always following someone it could (in thoery) make it harder for you, as a person, to make your own genuine choices that are vital to living a decent life. If you want to smoke pot then fine. I won't stop you from doing so.

Not saying that your going to be a homeless loser if you take up the habit. Just to throwing that out there before someone brings it up.

[coolnarratorvoice]How do you know if you've had just one too many? Buzzed driving is still drunk driving.[/coolnarratorvoice]

Fact is, with marijuana, I've recently applied this to a lot of things I'll note, but I'd let the free market principle take over. If it's a bad thing for society, marijuana use will decrease. If it's not a bad thing, or has no effect, it will stay the same or increase.

That's my view of it. Kind of like if someone found a gold generator...

If someone wants to make a genuine choice of smoking pot to look cool, why should it matter? Let conformists be conformists.