Legal weed would be like any other legal drug: regulated and taxed. Instead of paying drug dealers for it you will be paying the government.

Yeah, it be exactly like cigarettes.

Smoking cigarettes should be illegal so I don't think it's a good idea to legalize weed. This is exactly like smoking cigarettes but you can get frozen.

Studies reveal that smoking weed is even worse for the health than smoking cigarettes.

Give me a case of someone dying due to marijuana related causes from a notable and reliable website.

You can't. It's never happened.

Also...if weed is so "bad for your health," then why is it prescribed as medication for some illnesses?

You, my friend, deserve a facepalm.

Legalizing weed? There are always non-smoking ways of getting THC in your system, like making some special brownies.

Portugal did not in any way legalize drugs. The only thing that has changed is that those who possess small amounts of drugs for personal use are not criminally prosecuted. However, they are still subject to arrest, and when arrested are taken to a special commissioner who counsels them on the problems of drug use and addiction. They are also fined, and required to perform community service or other acts as a penalty.

Drug dealers, and those who possess larger amounts of drugs face the same criminal prosecution that they always have.

Smoking weed is a major contributor to developing schizophrenia in young people, and this has been documented by national governments as well as mental health professionals. Some doctors have gone so far to say that the majority of new cases of schizophrenia today are explicitly linked to marijuana use.

Schizophrenia is not a terminal disease, but schizophrenics cannot enjoy a "normal" life. There is no cure for schizophrenia, only anti-psychotic drug treatments which must be carefully followed.

You can look it up yourself at schizophrenia.com, or read the national studies conducted in America, England, or Holland.

Marijuana is not harmless.

The success of drug decriminalization in Portugal - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

In 2001, Portugal became the only EU-member state to decriminalize drugs, a distinction which continues through to the present.

Drugs: To Legalize or Not - WSJ.com

A most impressive experiment has been underway in Portugal since 2001, when that country decriminalized the possession and personal use of all psychotropic drugs. According to a study just published by the Cato Institute, "judged by virtually every metric," the Portuguese decriminalization "has been a resounding success."

5 Years After: Portugal's Drug Decriminalization Policy Shows Positive Results: Scientific American

In the face of a growing number of deaths and cases of HIV linked to drug abuse, the Portuguese government in 2001 tried a new tack to get a handle on the problem—it decriminalized the use and possession of heroin, cocaine, marijuana, LSD and other illicit street drugs.

im pro - weed

anti legalising it !

its said that ppl with schizophrenia and young ppl that smoke weed have under developed accurate nucleus but it was only the left side in SOME teenagers that smoke weed and it was both sides with ppl who have schizophrenia....and it might cause schizophrenia LIKE symptoms..ive had a collapsed lung b4 and it feels like your having an asthma attack and cant breath but the two are not the same...THEN it was said that thc can cause schizophrenia BUT most experts DO NOT BELIEVE THIS and its more likely that the emergence of schizophrenia can be found in patients that were already predisposed to developing schizophrenia....if schizophrenia runs in your family then u should avoid weed..just like if diabetes runs in your family you should avoid eating too many sweets

nah you know what it is? - believe me i got the knowledge on this one - it doesnt make you schizo but if you got mental problems and a succeptibilty to it then it acts a a key that opens those doors within the brain the real problem is that there is no way of knowing which individual person that would relate to.

I been witness of this twice.

One who turned schizo and the other who did a psychosis.

its a shame when it happens

The guy who did a psychosis had to take strong medications for a couple of years. he really turned wrong.

He smoked just once and that triggered instantly.

my mate got locked up for manslaughter he killed three people

after he went crazy - we discovered that his grandfather and his uncle had suffered from scizophrenia - it had run within his family, but he did not suffer from it at all - then one day he started smoking weed and about a week later he vanished !!

i eventually found him in a secure hospital for like crazy people and went to see him - he was talking about devils and shit and demons and was real insane they were giving him this liquid solution that turned him into a zombie just to keep him calm.

but i would be a hypocrite if i said it was bad cuz i smoke it all the time i would class myself as a heavy user

Weed is totally safe, deffinately more safe than anyother addiction.

Alcohol: Beat your wife then drive off into a semi truck killing you and 3 others.
Tobacco: Lung cancer, tooth decay, throat damage, etc.
Weed: You'll want to take your wife and kids to Dairy Queen.

As me and pumpum said, it can trigger latent mental disease and I believe it because I saw it with my own eyes, twice.
So you cant say its totally safe.

But I can say it, I just did. I'm even saying it aloud as I'm typing this.

Because someone smoked weed and then was somehow "diagnosed with schizophrenia," does not mean weed was the culprit.

Weed does cloud the mind and since its a mood-altering drug, the chances of you getting 1.addicted 2.becoming a schizophreniac are high.

Legalising it then gives anyone the oppurtunity is plant at low cost in a legalised state and transfer to other states to obtain huge profit there.

Its risky.

Or, you can develop an incurable mental condition which will prevent your ever having a normal life. If you smoke pot in your teens, you are 300% more likely to develop schizophrenia than someone who didn't. If you are one of the 25% of people who carry the gene related to schizophrenia, you are 1000% more likely to develop the disease if you smoke pot. As much as 80% of new schizophrenia cases are thought to be triggered by marijuana use.

Marijuana users are 400% more likely to commit suicide than those who don't use it, as well as being 500% more likely to develop clinical depression.

Do you still think it's "completely safe"?

legalize it.....now O.O haha jk jk

But drugs have not been legalized in Portugal, merely decriminalized. "Decriminalized" does not mean "legal". Possess any amount of drugs in Portugal, and you are subject to arrest. If you are caught with drugs, they will be taken away from you, and you will be arrested until you are interviewed by a commissioner. You will be fined, you will be required to perform whatever service you are sentenced to. You will also be required to see a drug abuse counselor, and receive addiction treatment if it is thought necessary.

Please to not tell people that drugs are legal in Portugal when they aren't.

I don't think it should be legalized.
I really don't.
Even though, on the flip side, I do realize that usage may be very likely to go down now the "risk" is somewhat lower, or whatever reason.

But I couldn't agree with it morally or ethically.

If they keep cigarettes and alcohol legal, legalize green as how much better or worse could it possibly be.

Have you ever walked outside of your mother's basement? I guarantee you have never stepped foot inside a public school. And just because I'm curious of where you got this BS from, please send me a link.

I know AT LEAST 50 people JUST AT MY PUBLIC SCHOOL who have smoked marijuana for at least 5 years. Do any of them have schizophrenia? Obviously not.

Please provide me with your resources. I am literally lolling at you right now.

Well, Marijuana is like any drug; Russian Roulette. Believe me, I've asked every doctor/science teacher I know - and medicine IS a family business of sorts. Marijuana CAN and WILL have harmful affects, it just may take longer than it does for other people. Same with tobacco; Some people have used it for a short time and got empyzemia, and others, like my mother, are getting the negative results slowly. (Although, then again, they could be there without our knowledge- she refuses to go to the doctor)
I know of people who seem fine now on Marijuana, but others, like my brother, who have negative reactions to it.
You just can't tell who and when it will come to affect. Your friends may be lucky now, but don't always assume so.

Hahaha, is it what you call proofs ? Now it's you who should be laughed at.

"I know no one that ever suffered from schizo at my school so therefore it can't happen"

What a sham.

It's like if I said "I know over 100 persons who smoke cigarettes for many years and no one ever suffered from lungs cancer so it can't happen"

That is just stupid thing to say.

Smoking marijuana raise risk of psychosis and schizophrenia. It is clinically proved. Maybe you think you know better than scientists ?

If you want sources just google it, it's easy and I won't do it for you.

It's an age thing.

I would say at such a young age, the risks are lower and increase with the years.

I'm not saying weed in healthy, by any means. However, I'm sticking to "weed is not unhealthy."

Knowing 50 people just in my high school who use marijuana almost on a daily basis, and having used it myself from time to time, and still having no signs or symptoms of schizophrenia whatsoever, none of us, is not proof to anyone except myself.

Also: It's not really that big a deal. You light one up, you get high, then it's done. Who cares? Get over it. I will probably be made legal sometime in the future, just accept it. Like ciggies. They're worse than weed, and they are legal. And unlike weed, cigarettes have an actually death count. Marijuana's is: 0.

the whole world is inside your head alan, none of us are real, its all an elaborate dream. wake up

Oh, damm, I think you're right.

Marijuana doesn't have a death count simply because they don't have statistics about this.

It's very usual for youngers to underestimates the effects of THC.
They mostly say "oh, its harmless" but just aren't conscious.

Smoking pots also developp paranoia and other social disorders.

I don't say I'm against that, I'm just against the statement that "weed is perfectly safe"

that's a lot of people to know who use weed..

The death count isn't because the stuff is not legal!

You can be against whatever you want, my friend.
Everyone is entitled to their wrong opinions.

Yes it is, thanks for pointing that out! I do know a lot of people who use marijuana.

and they are entitled to tell you with their opinion that your opinion is wrong haha (not directed at you, just a statement)

There is a lot worse things in life than Jonny Bob Joe getting high in his mother's attic. People need to learn to pick and choose their fights.

i used it for around one year full time at the ripe age of 18..

I was surfing everyday, and the sessions were morning, lunch and night.

I'm glad I pulled out of it as it was a real downer..

It must do something as it certainly affects the brain hugely when under the influence..

Legalisation of weed is not about moral issues, its about economical issues.

You are obviously missing the point of my statement, you should go back to the chat thread. :D

Then you must have an extremely unstable mentality.