Legalize Marijuana

I have looked at your profile and it does not appear that you have ever been married or have had kids or had kids that you have raised through high school? If I am right about that, I am not sure you are qualified to talk about the legalization of marijuana; unless, you are a high school counselor or psychologist or MD - medical doctor. And, from your profile, that does not appear to be the case since you only have "some college."My argument against legalizing marijuana is based primarily on.1. The increasing number of countries that have tried it and are tightening up their regulations because of increased crime and addiction.2. The addictive and medically destructive effects caused by marijuana.3. Marijuana will become more readily available to kids in grade and high school.4. The increased number of deaths that will occur because of those who will be driving stoned.5. The increased number of grade school and high school students that are currently getting stoned, which will only increase dramatically once marijuana is legalized in many states.6. My experience dealing with a step-daughter and her friends being stoned in high school and discussions with high school teachers and counselors.7. My own personal experience with marijuana in the early 1970s.Marijuana is a harmful substance that has many known adverse health effects, even in moderation - you can't be partially stoned. Booze is a harmful substance too because most people cant just have one or two drinks and stop, even if they don't get fall-down drunk - thankfully most are over drinking at home and don't have to drive. Too many folks smoke the dope and drink the booze at the same time. Too many drink and smoke too much, especially underage. It is epidemic in the USA."Survey: 17% of high schoolers drink, smoke, use drugs during school day""The survey found that 44% of high school students know a classmate who sells drugs at school, and 60% say that drugs are available on campus. Marijuana was the most-sold on school grounds, students said, as well as prescription drugs, cocaine and ecstasy."http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com...This will only get worse if marijuana is made legal throughout the USA.And, the weed we were smoking today is much stronger than the weed we smoked in the 1970s. We usually smoked some local grown stuff that was strong; but, not as strong as the stuff grown today. But, I do remember getting some Vietnamese Black Tea once (3 lids of it) back in 1972-1973. Had some friends over, one got so high from this stuff that he threw up. One joint and 5 of us were totally zoned out. I mean numb and watching Monty Python Flying Circus on TV. We had life all figured out then; it was so crystal clear; everyone else was wrong and funny. Anyway, there is no valid reason for anyone to get that stoned. If you have to get that stoned; you have a problem with accepting life as it is and should be get some form of therapy.Drunk drivers kill over 16,000 annually. And, when you mix in pot, which many do; it is a nightmare. I used to drive stoned, not a lot, just a few times in the early 1970s after graduating from college; I was just lucky I did not kill someone. Legalizing pot will just increase the number of drivers driving while stoned or stoned and drinking."Stoned Driving Nearly Doubles the Risk of a Fatal Crash""People who drive within three hours of smoking marijuana are at nearly twice the risk of being in an accident that leads to serious injury or death, compared with sober drivers, according to a new review of the research.""For the new review, published in BMJ, Canadian researchers pooled the results of nine well-designed, high-quality studies that included nearly 50,000 drivers involved in crashes in multiple countries. They found that recent marijuana use was associated with a 92% increased risk of fatal or near-fatal accidents. The better the quality of the study, the more likely it was to show an increase in marijuana-related risk."Read more: http://healthland.time.com...You are now going to say, well booze causes more deaths and accidents than pot so pot should be legal. Sure right now because not as many people do pot as drink booze. You legalize pot, and just as many or more will be doing pot within a few years. So, we will have double the problem and thousands more will die from drunk and stoned drivers.Too many people have drinking problems, and many of these have drug problems too. Saying that pot is no worse than booze; therefore, it should be allowed is insane.We should be teaching our children that not drinking booze and smoking pot is how life is supposed to be lived, not being high on booze or dope. Free of drugs and booze is how life is meant to be lived.Clean and Sober Should be USA's Motto; not, let"s get stoned and or drunk! Too many teens are having their futures ruined because of pot."A new study finds that teens who smoke are 14 times more likely to use marijuana than nonsmokers." The survey, conducted by researchers at the American Legacy Foundation and the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, looked at nearly 2,000 teens ages 12 to 17. They found that 84 percent of the kids who have tried pot have smoked cigarettes within the past 30 days. Also, the study finds those teens who smoke are 18 times more likely to say most of their friends smoke pot.""In the 1970s, the baby boom generation was coming of age, and its drug of choice was marijuana. By 1979, more than 60 percent of 12th-graders had tried marijuana at least once in their lives. From this peak, the percentage of 12th-graders who had ever used marijuana decreased for more than a decade, dropping to a low of 33 percent in 1992. However, in 1993, first-time marijuana use by 12th-graders was on the upswing, reaching 50 percent by 1997. Although the percentage of 12th-graders who have experience with marijuana has remained roughly level since then, there is still reason to be concerned. In 1999, more than 2 million Americans used marijuana for the first time. Two-thirds of them were between the ages of 12 and 17. Furthermore, the marijuana that is available today can be 5 times more potent than the marijuana of the 1970s.""The use of marijuana can produce adverse physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral changes, and - contrary to popular belief - it can be addictive. Marijuana smoke, like cigarette smoke, can harm the lungs. The use of marijuana can impair short-term memory, verbal skills, and judgment and distort perception. It also may weaken the immune system and possibly increase a user's likelihood of developing cancer. Finally, the increasing use of marijuana by very young teens may have a profoundly negative effect upon their development."http://www.teen-success.org...Legalizing marijuana will only make this hundreds of times worse than it is now. Too many will buy pot legally and sell it to kids illegally. End of Part One