Top Ten Reasons To Legalize Marijuana Now

7/30/13
Top Ten Reasons to Legalize Marijuana Now - Care2 News Network
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Top Ten Reasons to Legalize Marijuana Now

Society & Culture (tags: abuse, activists, americans, crime, culture, dishonesty, education, ethics, freedoms, government, law , police, politics, rights, society, violence ) Kit - 49 days ago - truth-out.org
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The drug war is a blatantly dishonest, extremely expensive, highly destructive, grossly unjust, abject failure of our government.
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Monday June 10, 2013, 10:28 am (Photo: Blind Nomad)
Kit B. (335)
Top Ten Reasons to Legalize Marijuana Now
10. Hemp benefits are denied. Hemp can be made into paper, paneling, plastics, clothing and thousands of other useful products. The highly nutritious seeds can be used to make flour, cooking oil and cattle feed. This environmentally friendly plant grows without herbicides, nourishes the soil, matures quickly and provides high yields. It's the number-one biomass producer in the world - ten tons per acre in four months. It could be an excellent fuel-producing crop. Hemp, "nature's perfect plant," could bring a bonanza to hurting American farmers while greatly reducing America's dependence on fossil fuels, which could significantly mitigate climate change. 9. Prohibition diverts billions from the needy. More than 50 government agencies feed at the drug war trough. Food stamps and other social programs are being slashed while billions are spent trying to stop adults from using marijuana. 8. Prohibition is clearly counterproductive. Guaranteeing massive profits to anyone on earth who can produce and deliver marijuana to our streets cannot do anything but assure that even more will be produced and delivered. 7. Criminalizing marijuana lacks moral justification. A real crime implies a victim and a perpetrator. Can you imagine being jailed for robbing yourself? As insane as this
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perpetrator. Can you imagine being jailed for robbing yourself? As insane as this sounds, our government has done the equivalent by making adult use of marijuana a crime. Only a depraved, corrupt government could invent a crime you commit against yourself. 6. Marijuana users are not debased human beings. Cultures throughout history - and pre-history! - have altered their minds with a variety of drugs. Billions around the world derive positive benefits from mind-altering drugs (especially from alcohol, nicotine, caffeine and marijuana). Demonizing and criminalizing some drugs, while approving others without rational criteria, is clearly arbitrary and deceitful. Why are marijuana users criminals while alcohol and tobacco users are not? Why are marijuana dealers demonized, but alcohol and tobacco dealers are not? 5. Marijuana is effective medicine. There's overwhelming evidence that marijuana can safely relieve pain, nausea and vomiting caused by various illnesses. In fact, marijuana is patently safer than many commonly prescribed drugs. 4. Promising medical research is thwarted. The discovery of naturally occurring marijuana-like substances in the human body that activate so-called cannabinoid receptors has opened up vast possibilities for new medicines derived from the 66 or so cannabinoids identified in marijuana. These receptors are not just in the brain, but also found in many other parts of the body including the immune, endocrine and reproductive systems. 3. Billions in potential taxes go to drug cartels. Our cash-strapped states are being cheated out of billions that could be obtained by taxing and regulating marijuana like alcohol.
2. Thousands of prohibition murders occur each year. Mexico is the world's largest exporter of marijuana (most goes to the United States). There were at least 24,000 prohibition-related murders in Mexico since 2006. Thousands more died here, also a direct result of marijuana prohibition. 1. Prohibition denies our most basic human right. Prohibition takes away our right of sovereignty over our own bodies and gives this power to government. Does any other human right make sense if we don't have sovereignty over our own bodies? There's a word for people who don't have sovereignty over their own bodies: slaves. The Glaring Truth About the Drug War The drug war is a blatantly dishonest, extremely expensive, highly destructive, grossly unjust, abject failure of our government. Despite 40 years and $1 trillion-plus of taxpayer money spent trying to stop - not robbery, not rape, not murder, not even shoplifting - but mostly trying to stop adults from using marijuana; despite draconian punishments; despite jailing millions of nonviolent Americans; despite thousands of prohibition-related murders each year, illegal drugs are cheaper, purer and more readily available than ever. The drug war is a vast government scam guaranteed to be perpetually futile. Prohibition only pretends to fight drugs. In fact, it guarantees massive profits to anyone on the planet who can produce and deliver prohibited drugs to our streets. Jailing drug dealers just creates lucrative job openings for more efficient, more ruthless, eager replacements. Only a small percentage of illegal drugs are intercepted, and these are easily and cheaply replaced. Prohibition creates, sustains and handsomely rewards the illegal drug industry while pretending to fight that very same industry. Like the classic mafia protection racket, our government creates a perpetual problem and then charges us exorbitantly to "protect" us from it. This abomination continues unabated because our government is addicted to the taxpayer billions it wastes year after year after year pretending to fight an enemy created and sustained by prohibition itself.
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Marijuana is the linchpin of the drug war. Legalizing marijuana will sound the death knell for this devastating crime against humanity. *** By Carmen Yarrusso, Truthout | Op-Ed |
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Monday June 10, 2013, 12:21 pm Thank you! (s, n, p, t)

Bryna Pizzo (66)
Monday June 10, 2013, 1:28 pm Excellent summary! Thanks Kit!

JL A. (206)
Monday June 10, 2013, 4:03 pm I agree with each and every one of these points. BUT.... PLEASE DO NOT LEGALIZE MARIJUANA! DECRIMINALIZE IT! "Legalizing" means the government can regulate/tax/inspect, blah, blah, blah. "DECRIMINALIZE" means I can grow a plant in my garden right next to my basil, my cilantro and my spinach! It's a PLANT! It's not a manufactured concoction like alcohol! Or cocaine! Or heroin! It's a PLANT! Why in blazes should a PLANT be "legalized/taxed/restricted," etc?
pam w . (185)
Monday June 10, 2013, 4:25 pm Is that the only difference, Pam? If so, I do think decriminalizing it would be better - but legalizing it sounds Safer to me. Certain seeds are Legal & yet what you do with them
Yvonne White pot seeds, etc. & grow your own & I would think that means it'd Have to be Legal first. ? (221) *shrug* send green star | flag as inappropriate
can make poison..not gonna mention their name. But I think you should be able to buy
Monday June 10, 2013, 4:31 pm Legalize it
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Rose NoFWDSPLZ (231)
MJ M. (490)
Monday June 10, 2013, 4:40 pm Tomatoes can be grown for personal use without being taxed. They are taxed only when sold. Tomatoes are fully legal, not 'decriminalized'. How would legalized cannabis be any different? I've been listening to this argument for 40 years. It seems to me that if something is 'decriminalized', it wouldn't take much at all at a future date to 'recriminalize' the substance. Once something is 'legal', I would think it would be quite difficult to reverse that status. I want my weed as legal as tomatoes and broccoli.
Monday June 10, 2013, 5:05 pm Thank you.

Jennifer C. (155) Lois Jordan (49)
Monday June 10, 2013, 5:09 pm Thanks for posting this very sensible article, Kit.
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(49)

First it HAS to come off Schedule 1. There was a panel nearly a year ago that decided NOT to remove it. I don't know how often this panel meets. It's now listed with heroin and cocaine. I remember when I was pregnant 22 yrs. ago and the doctor had to check to see where pseudoephedrine was listed because I was badly congested...it was way down the schedule, even though it caused tumors in mice. I agree with pam w. & MJM. #11 should be: Because it's a freely growing plant/weed/herb. Plus, it should NOT be taxed. Monday June 10, 2013, 5:49 pm
Angelika Roll (123)
I wonder if anyone-except of course US govt - has or will ever come up with ONE, let alone 10 reasons for it being illegal?! I am not speaking of the cash flow or the privat prison business. anything REASONABLE ? Monday June 10, 2013, 5:50 pm I have another concern in legalization -v- decriminalizing, that would be akin to what
Kit B. (335)
happened tomatoes and corn. I think that natural marijuana holds many positives for humans, I don't know about what GMO marijuana might be turned into. If the US government holds the patents that turn marijuana into such a healing plant for people, then how dare they say it has no beneficial use? (they do hold the patents Google it) Another item to consider from Marijuana is hemp. Neither the OIL companies who manufacture plastic nor the lumber industry want legal hemp. Both products of the Marijuana plant, both hold so much potential for a world inundated with plastics and suffering from forests being destroyed. Marijuana has no lobbies speaking in it's behalf. Many doctors have spoken openly to issue of the healing potential of Marijuana. At the worst, it can do no harm, at it's best is the potential to heal cancer and so many other diseases.
Angelika Roll (123)
Monday June 10, 2013, 5:51 pm Great article of course, thanks Kit! and it's been known all the time.
Monday June 10, 2013, 6:03 pm The Age of Deception is ending. Cannabis has the capacity to save both the planet and the human race. If we will only let it.
MJ M. (490)
Thank you Kit for the article, and your more than brilliant comments on this issue.
Monday June 10, 2013, 6:12 pm

Mitchell D. (39) the War on Drugs has morphed into a tool for racism, and large profits for the prison
entrepreneurs! Monday June 10, 2013, 6:13 pm
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Kit B. (335)
I don't think many of us know the laws and issues better than you MJ. Though I do try to keep up with this. There is one fact that can not be ignored. we humans have cannabinoid receptors in our brain. There are dozens of cannabinoids within Marijuana and to date only Marijuana. Only the use of Marijuana turns on those cannabinoid receptors, which in turn releases many chemical responses that work to inhibit and often stop cancer from reproducing. That alone should be a case for why it should not be illegal. send green star | flag as inappropriate Monday June 10, 2013, 6:15 pm I think, Mitchell it always was intended to do just that.
Kit B. (335)
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Monday June 10, 2013, 7:41 pm Kit's right (as is so often the case.) The human brain has evolved with receptors for the "pleasant" effects of some drugs. It's fun to speculate on why that should be.
pam w . (185)
She's ALSO right when suggesting that "legalization" might lead to patents on seeds and
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She's ALSO right when suggesting that "legalization" might lead to patents on seeds and corporate control of those seeds. Give me space in my little garden to grow DECRIMINALIZED marijuana! That's as it should be!
As MJ points out....I WANT MY WEED AS LEGAL AS TOMATOES AND BROCCOLI! They're PLANTS, after all. send green star | flag as inappropriate Monday June 10, 2013, 7:49 pm Medicalmarijuana.procon.org is a good site for additional arguments and mpp.org keeps up with policy for each state. Prohibition has been a total failure. Like the Volstead Act a
Alison Baker (25)
century ago, illegalization was a bad idea from the very inception. Note: --Someone is arrested for a marijuana offense every 42 seconds. --86% of these are for marijuana possession not for sale or manufacture. --In the U.S., there are more arrests for marijuana possession each year than for all violent crimes combined. Monday June 10, 2013, 8:10 pm Every time I spark I'm mindful of the cost in human lives and the difficulties that so many endure because of our backward laws and corporate criminalization system! Yes Kit is yet again right - and I do agree, and we haven't touched the value of this amazing plant, and the positive uses for which it may be employed!
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lee e. (101)
Monday June 10, 2013, 8:55 pm Evolution and cannabis human brain is hard-wired to experience marijuanas highs. Some food for thought. Human and Cannabis Coevolution
MJ M. (490)
Monday June 10, 2013, 9:04 pm Great post. Thanks Kit :")
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Monday June 10, 2013, 10:09 pm I was once told that the reason MJ was made illegal was to have a was to deport Mexican labor BEFORE they got paid. I suppose if you could shot it like a gun it would be OK>
Robert Hardy (61) send green star | flag as inappropriate
Monday June 10, 2013, 10:32 pm Marijuana's illegal status attained through racism, fraud and greed. The Racist Origins of Cannabis Prohibition
MJ M. (490)
Fred Boulton (9)
Tuesday June 11, 2013, 12:25 am Going right back to basics, and I'm not a prude, I have smoked tobacco, I have drunk alcohol and I've sampled MJ a couple of times. What I really want to know is why humans feel the need to put all this awful stuff into their bodies? We have enough health problems, road traffic problems, mental problems, more than enough with the drugs that are legal. Why compound the problems by adding more legal drugs? We need to educate humans that they don't NEED to put rubbish into their bodies, wrecking their minds and their cardiovascular systems, destroying their lungs. This includes alcohol, tobacco and all current illegal drugs. Why can't we concentrate on building a more natural type of human? The need for drugs is like the need for religion. It needs to be taken away, wean humans off all unnecessary stimulation. send green star | flag as inappropriate Tuesday June 11, 2013, 12:41 am Thank you for sharing dear Miss Kitty!
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chantal v. (203)
Tuesday June 11, 2013, 12:43 am

Paul Burton (4) I agree with the points and with Pam W. that it should be decriminalized instead of
legalized.
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Dan and Tina Partlow (94)
Tuesday June 11, 2013, 5:47 am Whether it is legalized or decriminalized, it should just be made available. We need our industries to start utilizing it ASAP. Our world may well depend on it. I know we need to stop oil and other fossil fuel production and get going on other alternatives like marijuana and the new solar and wind energies. But the hemp could be used in so many other materisl ways to save our rainforests too. Weknow how, we just need to DO it!
Tuesday June 11, 2013, 6:05 am While it is true that we have receptors for pleasure in our brains, we also have specific
Kit B. (335)
cannabiniod receptors and with the use of marijuana we "switch" on these receptors which in turn promote healing. These receptors are in our central and peripheral nervous system. In today's world one does not have to get "high" nor smoke to reap the benefits of the healthy attributes of marijuana. This can be done at home, using the right recipe you can "juice" the plant and leave out the THC only using the parts of the plant that have cannabinoids, no fillers, no strange and unknown additives from a pharmaceutical company. Whether you seek to get high or want the unexpected benefits of marijuana, in the form of personal healing, or uses for the care and health of this planet, there is no logical reason it should be illegal. Remove the influence of years of propaganda and allow people to learn the facts. If that is not natural then nothing is natural. If our bodies could heal us without any assistance, pharmaceutical companies would not exist. You have a strong opinion Fred Boulton just not based on the actual facts.
Tuesday June 11, 2013, 7:52 am

Jaime A. (5)
Thanks, legalize it.!!
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Tuesday June 11, 2013, 12:08 pm Worth repeating: National Cancer Institute says pot fights cancer How many people has pot prohibition killed, in terms of cancer patients not treated and research not done? Marijuana: Gateway to Health author Clint Werner says potentially tens of thousands. These federal policies hurt people. Thats one reason I get angry. When you know these compounds block the progression of cancer and you do research to promote the idea that it doesnt work, when it really does this is evil. Its a moral evil to keep people from having these remedies. Something tells me that it is more than just plain ignorance that prompts comments like Fred B's.
MJ M. (490)
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Tuesday June 11, 2013, 12:39 pm Documentary made by Wealth TV and uploaded to You Tube by Allan Frankel, MD. Frankel has been a part of the testing of medical marijuana for many years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm6Is0a5WVY --- Part 1
Kit B. (335)
Tuesday June 11, 2013, 1:30 pm

Ryan Yehling Thanks for sharing! (47) send green star | flag as inappropriate
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Tuesday June 11, 2013, 1:47 pm There is no plant on Earth more condemned than marijuana. Were talking about a living organism which governments have taken upon themselves to designate as an illegal
MJ M. (490)
substance. Despite no existing evidence of anyone ever dying of a marijuana overdose, possession of this plant is still illegal in many parts. Marijuana has been found to suppress cancer, reduce blood pressure, treat glaucoma, alleviate pain and even inhibit HIV. It is an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuro-protective. Can you understand more now why it remains illegal? Still Believe Nature Got It Wrong?
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Kit B. (335)
Thanks MJ, I think that's a new site for me anyway. Even the Egyptians left hieroglyphics about their most treasured drug, used by societies, until confronted by lobbies for pharmaceutical companies, the lumber industry and OIL companies. All have some financial stake in keeping Marijuana illegal.

ER C. (54)
WOW ! GOOD POINTS ! Tuesday June 11, 2013, 5:27 pm Noted Tuesday June 11, 2013, 6:55 pm Thank you!
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Theodore Shayne (47)
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Bryna Pizzo (66)

David Lilja (50) Make it legal send green star | flag as inappropriate
Tuesday June 11, 2013, 11:10 pm RE-Legalize! Cannabis was legal in this country for 140 years before the conspiracy began. send green star | flag as inappropriate Wednesday June 12, 2013, 9:00 am Alison Baker _____GOOD POINTS ! SO MUCH OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS ARE WASTED WITH THE PROCESS FROM CITATIONS, ARRESTS, THE COURT PROCESS, etc.
MJ M. (490)
ER C. (54)
Wednesday June 12, 2013, 9:02 am

ER C. (54)
SAD POINT _____ MORE THAN LIKELY MONSANTO WILL GET AHOLD OF IT :~((
Wednesday June 12, 2013, 9:40 am

Gene Jacobson (211)
" Why are marijuana users criminals while alcohol and tobacco users are not? Why are marijuana dealers demonized, but alcohol and tobacco dealers are not? " The reason hemp was originally outlawed, prohibited, was because of the incredible diversity of uses for it. The robber barons who owned cotton plantations, paper making mills, and the other products mentioned wanted this banned because it hurt them economically. So the American people have had to endure this prohibition and this incredibly ridiculous war on a drug far less harmful than alcohol, because business wanted it so. It should be legalized, produced, taxed and sold as alcohol is, in the same places. It would be a great new source of revenue and would save billions in the fruitless attempt to keep it from people who want it. And it would put violent criminal cartels out of
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business. There is NO downside. Adults can make decisions about what they choose to do recreationally and this should not be an exception. Everything points to legalization as rational, necessary and prudent policy. So let's get it done already.
Sunday June 30, 2013, 7:41 pm

Jeanne Rogers It should've been legalized years ago. (2) send green star | flag as inappropriate
Sunday June 30, 2013, 7:45 pm The Latest Cannabis Discoveries That the Federal Government Doesnt Want You to Know About
MJ M. (490) send green star | flag as inappropriate
Monday July 1, 2013, 11:21 pm

ER C. (54)
THE REASON IT IS TAKING SO LONG TO MAKE IT LEGAL IS
BECAUSE MONSANTO HASN'T WORKED OUT ALL OF THEIR BUGS TO RUIN THE PLANTS & SEEDS BEFORE IT'S READY TO BE LEGALIZED. mmmmmmmmmmm GMO BUD GOVERNMENT + MONSANTO + CORPORATIONS + SHAREHOLDERS ... WOW ! ! ! IMAGINE HOW THAT'S GOING TO ROCK & ROLL ON THE WALL STREET TICKERS ! ! ! WON'T AFFECT THE WALL STREET WORKERS, CAUSE THEY'RE ALREADY SNORTING WHITE LINES.
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Top Ten Reasons to Legalize Marijuana Now

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Monday June 10, 2013, 12:21 pm Thank you! (s, n, p, t)

Bryna Pizzo (66)

Monday June 10, 2013, 1:28 pm Excellent summary! Thanks Kit!

Monday June 10, 2013, 4:31 pm Legalize it

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Rose NoFWDSPLZ (231)

Monday June 10, 2013, 5:05 pm Thank you.

Jennifer C. (155) Lois Jordan (49)

Top Ten Reasons to Legalize Marijuana Now - Care2 News Network

Angelika Roll (123)

Angelika Roll (123)

Monday June 10, 2013, 6:12 pm

entrepreneurs! Monday June 10, 2013, 6:13 pm

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Top Ten Reasons to Legalize Marijuana Now - Care2 News Network

Fred Boulton (9)

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Top Ten Reasons to Legalize Marijuana Now - Care2 News Network

Tuesday June 11, 2013, 12:43 am

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Dan and Tina Partlow (94)

Tuesday June 11, 2013, 7:52 am

Thanks, legalize it.!!

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Tuesday June 11, 2013, 1:30 pm

Top Ten Reasons to Legalize Marijuana Now - Care2 News Network

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Tuesday June 11, 2013, 2:00 pm

Tuesday June 11, 2013, 3:41 pm

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Tuesday June 11, 2013, 10:53 pm

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Wednesday June 12, 2013, 9:40 am

Top Ten Reasons to Legalize Marijuana Now - Care2 News Network

Sunday June 30, 2013, 7:41 pm

Monday July 1, 2013, 11:21 pm

THE REASON IT IS TAKING SO LONG TO MAKE IT LEGAL IS

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