Why are alcohal and cigarrettes still legal?

I am not saying it is completely without risk. I am just saying it is far less risky than alcohol, tobacco, and even prescription drugs.

I am not going to ask you the details of your friend’s death, but I am sure there were other complications. Pot was not the primary cause. Again, there is not one recorded instance of marijuana being the primary cause of someone’s death. Could it contribute? Possibly. No matter what, the odds of you dying from complications from prescription drugs is much much higher than marijuana. And I know a lot about, and have first hand experience, dealing with schizophrenia. Marijuana does not cause schizophrenia. It might exacerbate symptoms, but so would alcohol and many other legal drugs.

It was directly related to cannabis. It can happen, people respond differently to things. It may not be that common but it can happen. More importantly, you’re screwing with neurotransmitter levels in your brain and we just dont know enough about the brain to really understand how much damage that can do. I would think its best not to chance it. Schitzophrenia isnt fun and there are definate links.

luthien - I am sorry for your loss, but if this person died from health issues directly related to pot smoking, it would be a first. I am not talking about dying while driving impared or something like that. I would like to see these scientific papers. Because I have read many that show it not to be nearly as dangerous as alcohol. And hallucinations with pot are very rare, usually occuring only with massive doses of THC.

There is a lot of money behind tobacco and alcohol. Both industries can ply legislators with large amounts of cash which is the main reason they are legal.

Other recreational drugs have been illegal for various reasons for a long time. In the late 19th century opium smoking was associated with Chinese immigrants so smoking opium was made illegal due to anti-immigrant sentiments but it was still legal in other forms like patent medicines. In the early 20th century heroin and cocaine were made illegal based largely on fears marauding black addicts. Enforcement was greatly stepped up in the 1960’s as drug use was associated with the counterculture and anti-war movement. Fears of recreational drug use are still being stoked with stories of users on methamphetamine overpowering police with superhuman strength and still resisting even after being repeatedly shot and of crack babies which were mainly a media invented phenomenon.

Alcohol and tobacco are some of the most addictive drugs out there and do cause a lot of damage. But prohibition did not work and so they made it legal. There’s no logic here, it’s just what the conservatives see as moral and immoral (dont expect logic to follow that).

:sigh:

…we already tried alcohol prohibition and it failed. We’ve also tried general drug prohibition and that failed too, but as a nation we are insane and think that someday drug laws will magically become beneficial rather than creating catastrophe like they presently do.

And the fact that alcohol is 20X worse than weed; etc. is really an opinion of yours.

That is not just an opinion. Smoking pot has never killed anyone. Millions have died from alcohol related disease. Drinking alcohol is far more damaging to your body and mind than it is to smoke pot.

Anything that the government can import which brings lots of money to the economy they are not going to stop. Yes cigarettes are highly dangerous, many innocent people die as a result of drink driving but seing as it is such a huge market which is good for the economy of the country, as of now it is still legal.

Look back to the Prohibition Era. Did banning alcohol work? No. Why would it work now? And the “fact” that alcohol is 20X worse than weed; etc. is really an opinion of yours.

It takes the Senate, Congress, and the president to pass a bill or law and out of all of those people almost all of them drink alcohol and a lot smoke and they love it. So why wud they want to ban it? Though the government had raised the tax on those products to discourage people from using them.

b/c they are bad fgor you