Legalization of Marijuana

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You don't have to convince me, I'm very much for legalization of marijuana.

so what about legalizing prostitution, too? thievery is already legal, as the government colects taxes. it's interesting who gets put in prison-they generally are not paying off the 'right' people, or not stealing or creating enough harm to people around them if they go to jail has been my observation in the last 30 years...

yeah, legalize all drugs. get rid of the fda, and the center for disease control. they are politicized and owned by the wrong people. in fact, cut the government down to 1/4th the size it is now-by only allowing 1/4th the budget...let the chips fall where they may.
reb

reb wrote:so what about legalizing prostitution, too? thievery is already legal, as the government colects taxes. it's interesting who gets put in prison-they generally are not paying off the 'right' people, or not stealing or creating enough harm to people around them if they go to jail has been my observation in the last 30 years...

yeah, legalize all drugs. get rid of the fda, and the center for disease control. they are politicized and owned by the wrong people. in fact, cut the government down to 1/4th the size it is now-by only allowing 1/4th the budget...let the chips fall where they may.
reb

I agree, and I would add legalizing suicide to that list. I'm strongly against the government protecting people from themselves.

Well, I'm not so sure I agree with the prostitution being legalized. See, from my point of view, it is a usary type of thing. And I'm just not big on that. It's probably because I'm more into the spirituality stuff than most people, and, no, I don't much see this as a morals type thing. Just that "using" others in this fashion makes them mere objects. When we "objectify" someone, it is much easier to just toss them out, irreparably hurt them, or even kill them. Look at the snuff films as a fine example. Look at white slavery. I mean, like how can you say prostitution is okay when these things also abound? Which also leads into using sex to sell merchandise. Our society has fallen pretty danged low to do this, at least in my mind. Sex is not the end all, be all, etc. And, no, I have not lived as a puritan and celibate my whole life. I guess I just see a far bigger picture than most people.

I do agree that objectifying people in these ways is very damaging. Unfortunately, it also seems to be a dark part of human nature; there is evidence we've been doing stuff like this since the beginnings of our species; and maybe even before.

There is also evidence that other animals in nature also engage in objectifying their members as well. I believe I've seen a special on tv on chimpanzees recently that showed them engaging in some of the darkest behavior, including war, and slavery. Dolfins have been known to kidnap and enslave a female for forced sex and procreation. There are other examples as well. It's both fascinating and depressing.

Nan,

i read some study recently (in the week magazine, i think) that said that between 15 and 20% of both sexes admit to having sex to receive something in return...so one in 5 people is already a ho. if you take into account the people who sell out their principles (if they ever had any) for private gain, then the number becomes higher.

i knew a 'private' prostitute pretty well when i lived in jersey. she had lost her 'regular' job, and dint want to wait tables or any of th eohter sad sack junk she was offered. she was making money hand over fist; if i can sock away a bunch of cash, then i'm fine with being objectified...frankly, many people will objectify you, or view you as 'just a problem to get rid of' over lots of things other than sex....it's nice to have high standards, but they don't pay the bills or put food on the table, and i'm too proud to take a government hand out...so are some other people. i say bully for them.....

so, let the working girls go legal. pay taxes, get medical exams, set up a union, and toss their pimps out on their ear. bring them into the light, and let them have a chance at respectability...i know too many women who got married 'for money', and a few men. i don't respect that, but i do respect a prostitute. the ones i have known have been very honest about what they do...never fails to amuse me when i hear some woman say 'i think prostitution is awful', and then i find out she has never worked; her old man brings it home, and she spends it....the other way around, i've seen too.....gigolos...what a bunch of sad excuses for humans...
reb

reb wrote:...so, let the working girls go legal. pay taxes, get medical exams, set up a union, and toss their pimps out on their ear. bring them into the light, and let them have a chance at respectability...i know too many women who got married 'for money', and a few men. i don't respect that, but i do respect a prostitute. the ones i have known have been very honest about what they do...never fails to amuse me when i hear some woman say 'i think prostitution is awful', and then i find out she has never worked; her old man brings it home, and she spends it....the other way around, i've seen too.....gigolos...what a bunch of sad excuses for humans...
reb

I might have fully agreed with this only a year ago, but now, Reb, I'm not so sure:

http://www.childrenofthenight.org/home.html

which, iirc, was started in Hollywood, CA, by a woman who was a graduate student at the time.

i wasn't talking about children, but, yes, that is a terrible problem. how can a person 11 or even 17 make those kinds of decisions? bleh! but we send foreign aid to other countries, because we don't have any problems in the u.s. not a one....(bs-thieves in washington and state and local governments...)
reb

reb wrote:i wasn't talking about children, but, yes, that is a terrible problem. how can a person 11 or even 17 make those kinds of decisions? bleh! but we send foreign aid to other countries, because we don't have any problems in the u.s. not a one....(bs-thieves in washington and state and local governments...)
reb

Reb, I know you were not talking about children. Iirc, the ancient Greeks thought the best age to reach before you were ready to vote would be 26, so if prostitution were legalized, then a miimum age of 25 today for someone to become a legal prrostitute would not be unreasonable.

As to pimps, murderers, muggers, rapists, child molesters, etc., I'd rather see them sentenced to life at hard labor in one of our military prisons. It seems that isn't 'cruel and unusual' punisiment for those U.S. citizens who commit crimes while serving in the military, so it doesn't seem to me it's 'cruel and unusual' for civilians.

This would create a very powerful incentive to not commit such crimes. But then, I also believe such a penality should also apply to politicians, who either get elected to political office by them or their handlers engaging in the slightest prevarication to the general public, or pssing legislation via prevarication. E.g., telling our ancestors that the income tax was going to apply to only the 'upper one peecent of the income levels' back when the sham 16th Amendment was passed. This wouild, though, have 1st Amendment implications, not to mention who defines what prevarication is, let alone what is is. I've often wondered if our founding fathers of the U.S. were around today, if there would be another 'Boston Tea Party,' because the "Stamp Tax" that was over - what was it, something like 3 percent?

No need to lock up people for personal use of marijuana, either, unless they drive while using the stuff and injure someone else, in which case, there should be a mnimum of several years in jail. Oe even if no one is injured. But I believe the same thing about driving while drunk as well.

I'm all for legalizing marijuana, and prostitution too for that matter. One of the advantages of legalizing things is that they can then be dealt with out in the open. It becomes possible to do things like prohibit sales to minors, add licensing & inspections, etc. in order to keep things reasonable. Once legal, all the nasty stuff, like inhuman abusive treatment, rip-offs, and whatever can be dealt with in a normal fashion by the rest of the legal system. If something's illegal, none of that's possible.

It's also ridiculous to take people who would otherwise be productive citizens of a society and throw them in jail. Victimless crimes are nonsense in my opinion. Laws should only be setup to prohibit things that society can't function with if allowed to happen. It's not about telling people what to do, it's about keeping people from doing things that would cause society to collapse. Law shouldn't even be a judgment thing. Society is based on the principle of ownership (even communist ones), so theft of property has to be against the law. Similarly, it's based on "trade" between individuals & groups, so it needs to have laws about intimidation and the use of threats & physical force in order to level the playing field. We have strongly held beliefs in personal freedom, so the law needs to protect those as well. Marijuana use simply doesn't fall into those categories, and neither does prostitution. I think most of the evils of both would evaporate if they were legalized. When law tries to set morality, and force people to do what some feel they should do, it's entering the abuse category in my opinion.

When law tries to set morality, and force people to do what some feel they should do, it's entering the abuse category in my opinion.

I've been a bit undecided about the issues, but when put that way, I do totally agree. It falls under the same category as same sex marraige (or any other nonconforming social or familial arraingement for that matter) or any behavior that isn't forced or causes harm to other people.

My picture may not be a big as some, but I see merit in legalizing both prostitution and marijuana.

Please leave 'sin' out of this. imho, animal abuse is a 'sin', but noone asks me to detail the Sin List.

Think of the revenue to the Government! The jobs!

I so agree that animal abuse is evil; a term I don't use lightly. I am curious to know what your list of "sin" might include.

melodiccolor wrote: I am curious to know what your list of "sin" might include.

Ya, me too, but make a new thread of it okay?

I am against legalizing marijuana. I had a roommate who was very much into it & she was a mess.

Taught kids & went to the loo to 'calm down' inbetween breaks sometimes... OoO

I think hemp is another thing. Nutritional & very useful plant. I'm glad it's legal here now.

As alcohol, marijuana does destroy brain cells & can cause (mental) addiction - I've seen it!! & it can help people 'take off' & go to other drugs... (I've seen another friend who started with just alcohol & cannabis 'go bad' in a few years...!!)

Also, a friend said to me, 'If you feel good, you'll feel better, if you feel sucky, you'll feel worse' - what's the use of marijuana then?!!!

That said, I would (even more) heavily tax alcohol & cigarettes & disposable consumer goods adding to waste & unhealthy food too. (Ideally I'd ban it all but that might only create undercover markets or mafia selling disposable pads or throwaway plastic cutlery lol)

I'm not sure about prostitution, cause I can see both ways... Legalizing could improve conditions for 'the girls' but on the other hand it could just make it flourish more, & bad stuff could still happen behind closed doors...

IMO most could be done on prevention & such in the 1st place...
If people learnt healthy ways of eating, living & being & relaxing & communicating, they would not need artificial 'calmers' or stimulants... & they could meet people in other ways than 'objectified'... or 'for money'... (!!)

I've tried pot before, it's not all that great, in fact, it sucks. Did absolutely nothing for me except dumb me down and make me paranoid. Didn't get any buzz at all, in fact if anything it was somewhat dysphoric. But apparently many people like that for some reason. Maybe some people are more resistant to its negative effects and the supposed "buzz" is a placebo effect?


But, hey, whatever does it for ya. I certainly see no reason why people who do it should go to jail. That doesn't even begin to compute with me.

Hm, I heard you have to try it at least 3 times to get any effect

& I thought, 'Why bother?' lolz

You also have to know how to smoke & inhale... (Another thing one's better off not even knowing it! )

About people who do it having to go to jail... Hmm... I can understand both sides of the argument. But then are you also okay with people selling it to high school kids? Possibly 'smart' people who sell it to kids struggling at school as it is... & the smart guys still pass the grade okay, while the kids who have struggled flunk the year? (Happened in high school)
Noone may need to go to jail, but upped surveillance may help a bit... or, a lot...
/& if it's all legal, is there a reason for upped surveillance?/

StrawberryLife wrote:But then are you also okay with people selling it to high school kids?

No, I'm not ok with that at all. It should be subject to laws regulating it and prohibiting its sale to minors.

...just as alcohol is here in this country. It would save much prison space and make things fairer if marajuana were regulated exactly the same way alcohol is, with the same restrictions, lisences, and driving prohibitions, etc.

No one advocates selling alcohol to minors in this country; it is highly illegal to do so. They still manage to get their hands on it, but right now, they also manage to get their hands on pot just as easily. It has been this way since I was a kid.

Until the laws are changed . . . .