Why impose tax on people who use it as medicine? That's just cruel. Recreational use - yes.

reasonably tax it and this country will probably be out of debt in 10 years

kitty, I agree. Tax it (reasonably) and America will be out of debt in 10 years or less.

Maybe we could tax it for recreational use (18 years and over, of course) but not for medicinal use.

(By the way, I am not a pot fan myself, nor do I intend to partake, but it just seems to me that pot is far less dangerous than alcohol.)

I'm in favor of medicinal use in a very broad range of ailments.

The fact that's it's still listed as a Schedule 1 drug (no medicinal value) is abolutely ridiculous and just demonstrates how far out of touch with medicine and reality the federal govt has been for years before Obama. It may be stuck that way, but at least Obama has found a way to stop the federal harrassment of states where voters have made it legal.

I agree it should be legal. I think they refuse to make it legal because then 90% of our prisons would be empty and then law enforcement would have to actually go after real bad guys! In most places in America you recieve more punishment for marijuana then if you are a child molestor or a murderer. Our priorites have gotten lost somewhere!

The use of medical marijuana relieves my physical pain enough on a daily basis for me to go to work. I am 39 and have years of sports injuries. I'm pretty sure most folks with my levels of pain would file for SSI/Disability; I'd rather use the marijuana and keep paying my taxes.

I agree with Dmitri - don't tax medical marijuana, it's too expensive anyway. But OK to tax recreational use marijuana, but the same as cigarettes, not any more.

"reasonably tax it and this country will probably be out of debt in 10 years" ~ #1.2

"I agree. Tax it (reasonably) and America will be out of debt in 10 years or less." ~ #1.3

I disagree!

The history of the U.S. government proves otherwise: it's policy has always been...

"Tax More ~ Spend More!"

you have that backwards spend more tax more the govt spends way to f...n much .....deficit is perfect example.....v should have stayed on gold standard

The reason of why it isnt legal is because it would be nearly impossible to regulate...everyone could grow their own and in a fairly small space compaired to tobacco and the acres it requires...It would be hard to tax

I agree. If smoking marijuana here and there is the worst crime that a responsible, tax paying adult commits, then they are A-OK in my book. There are a million logical reasons to legalize it and only a handful of dumb and opinionated reasons not to. I don't buy that gateway drug crap. Or that it makes you lazy. As long as you use it during a time that its OK to be lazy.

I don't buy the gateway drug argument either.

Saying pot leads to crack or heroin is like saying aspirin leads to morphine or oxycotin.

I agree with you, 52 and been off and on for years. And I mean years, 13 the first time.

NOT a crimminal or lazy sit around do nothing. Raised 2 kids and have 4 grandkids.

One of the biggest lobbyists against marijuana legalization is the DEA. Can you believe a government agency spends part of its budget lobbying the government? Go figure.

- Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:38 AM EDT, A healthy tax would be tolerated right now!

Do you realize how very weak you sound? "it's hurting our economy and ruining lives" Those are the words of a coward who is too afraid to take the moral high road and would rather sink into an inescapable pit of depravity.

I wouldn't say it sounds "cowardly". Nor does it have a thing to do with morals. Does what they said make sense? No. But I don't see how that equates to being a coward with no morals. Sounds almost as dumb as first post.

Anyone who spouts the same old untrue warnings about the "demon weed" exhibits a complete inability to separate fact from fiction; and as such, has no right to define the "moral high ground". Further, anyone who would ask someone in pain to abstain from relief is not being "moral"; they are being "prideful", which is an "abomination unto the Lord". I just can't wait to get to heaven. I hear they have the best weed up there!

I don't think it's cowardly. It's pragmatic. What's depraved about marijuana? Recreationally, it's no different than alcohol & I don't hear you complaining about the end of Prohibition. What I think is depraved is how the Religious Right doesn't care about ending poverty, torture, or environmental distruction, but they're all worked up over some cancer patient or MS victim smoking pot to ease their pain & boost their appetite.

Does death&taxes think our founding fathers cowardly? They all grew hemp!!! That is historical fact. The reason why they grew it was because of not only it's positive medicinal properties, but innumerable other qualities, like durability.

Hemp clothing lasts longer as it does not detiorate like cotton. It makes much better paper as it pulps very easily. The original money in America was made from hemp paper. The only reason that Hemp is illegal is that the DuPont company found that stockings made from Hemp, lasted longer and wore better than those from their new product called nylon made from fossil fuels by the way.

All DuPont needed to do was partner with some conservative Congressmen (line their pockets) to start the reefer madness scare and they had the religious right in their back pocket. DuPont knew that the RR does not like to think too had about matters, but would rather be told what to think. Hemp is illegal because DuPont wanted to make a buck. Study some real history and the truth is out there.

I would conclude by stating that hemp stockings allow the skin to breathe which nylon does not. If someone wants to do the research, if it hasn't been done already, I'll bet there is a significant relationship between the use of nylon in clothing and stockings and the increase in dermatological problems.

Bottom line, it still makes the best rope in the world. Those huge hawsers used aboard all civilian and Military ships are made of Hemp as it does not detiorate in salt water.

Finally! someone who knows the history of why Hemp was originally made illegal. It has nothing to do with health, or hurting people, it about politics and old rich men making money. Open your eyes everyone, This has gone on for generations! Hemp has been the cash crop of America for a very long time, until recent history. I am currently a 23 yr. old medicinal marijuana patient, I suffer from diverticulitis. So for me it's either be spun-out on Vicodin all day, OR smoke some pot and have instant release with no chemical addiction, and for the record there has never been a documented case of any human overdosing on marijuana. Unlike alcohol which has a long history of hurting society, or tobacco for that matter which the staticstics are staggering. But as long as the men up top are making THERE money, smoking there cigar, and drinking there scotch on the rocks. The rest of us will have to deal with the laws for drug control, with no scientific backing other than a lobbyist linning the pockets of congressmen.

"I just can't wait to get to heaven. I hear they have the best weed up there!" ~ #4.3

There are no weeds in heaven ~ and everybody's on a super~natural high !!!"

where do you live my wife has been trying to get pot for her bi polar.of course she self medicates for it cuz the meds are just so messed up she rather be crazy than a zombie..Please if you have any suggestions for her to get leagaly medicated my E-mail is stepkajam@yahoo.com....oh the pot helps termendisly!!!!

Pot is truly natures chill pill. You can't overdose and it won't make you sick to your stomach. How good is that! In a humane country where dollars didn't dictate decisions it would have remained legal.

Effects of smoking marijuana and drinking grapefruit juice need to be researched. Anecdotal stories confirm these 2 substances should not be consumed at the same time. Grapefruit juice can detrimentely increases blood levels of medication, which has been proven in other studies.

What the hell does this have to do with cigarettes? Or health coverage? Why don't you propose a fast food tax? So all of the fatties out there with heart problems can pay for everyone else's health care? None of it will go to healthcare anyway.

who Cares tax it anyway . if you don't like the tax, don't buy it.

AMEN to dman!! What the hell does it have to do with cigarettes!!
the fast food tax for the fatties makes more sense!

"legalize it and tax the crap out of it. also raise the taxes on cigarettes again. let those who use these items pay for the health coverage we all need." ~ #9

Yeah! And raise the taxes on all luxury items "sky high" too ~ things like boats, luxury automobiles, jet-skis, plasma televisions, high speed internet and personal cell phones too (at a two cents for every web page you land on, every call you make and every single letter of your text messages) !!!

Right on the button!! Good Post -

by the way, how dare you state the obvious "the emporer has no clothes."

Preposterous!

I disagree. If medical marijuana's legalized, they could process it to refine and purify the THC into a pill or powder that could be injested, absorbed through a patch, or inhaled with a vaporizer. Then patients wouldn't have to deal with the tar & other contaminants present in pot smoke. Although the top positions at the phamaceutical companies are businesspeople, the industry as a whole is powered by scientific research. Scientists tend to be realists who will support an idea if research shows it's reliable and worthwhile.

Just a comment......the people who use medical pot ALREADY process it into oils and powders that are pure THC....I do it and I am a legalized medical user. My stuff is better than any pharmacy could issue.

They already have a pill.  Its called marinol.  It costs $600 for a months supply. Thats why they don't want everyone to be able to grow their own. 

Marinol is only used to help people (normally cancer patients) regain their appetite after treatment. It has no effect on pain, nor will it help people with bi-polar disease. Plus it is tampered with by man. Pot in its natural state helps appetite, depression and pain, and it has done so for thousands of years. It's the drug companies and their lobbys that don't want pot to be legalized because many of the people they have been poisioning for years will find they no longer need them and they would lose too much money. Want proof, just watch TV and count how many drug related commercials there are in 1/2 hr.

god also made all the chemicals we use to make all the other s drugs we use today. if he didn't, we could not produce them. god made cocaine, meth. and all the other stuff too. so does this make it ok to use?

obviously you are anti-legalization... but how does it affect you if it does become legalized? what gives you the right to say what others should and should not be able to do?

JIMB , God  didnt make all those chemicals or meth that stuff is processed by humans if it wasnt for man making drugs there would be only Marijuana and Cocoa plant and shrooms,,natural occuring plants from God!! Its not right to jail people for a plant that is made by God.Theres never been a death due to a marijuana overdose,unlike alcohol theres been hundreds of thousands..

What about all the lives messed up by people being incarcerated for it, like husbands and dads losing a job for smoking a joint,its not right considering its ok to sit at home and drink a beer or two,,I cant think of one person who smokes pot who gets violent after a joint but its well known alcohol makes alot of wife beaters!!!

Its time to legalize!!

"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die... ~ Genesis 3:4 & 5

I hate it when anyone uses scripture to try and justify an argument based on an illogical hypothesis ~ by taking a fact and twisting it (perverting it) to suit their intentions...(Ex:)

"God also made all the chemicals we use to make all the other s drugs we use today. If he didn't, we could not produce them. God made cocaine, meth. and all the other stuff too. So does this make it ok to use?" ~ #12.1

Actually ~ God "did" create all the chemicals, yet he created them in a natural formulation(or state of existence). But it was man who then took these natural substances and perverted them into an un-natural state (separating them into their various individual compounds and components) ~ Scripture refers to this process as "sorcery" (something which God hardly endorses ~ and, in fact, condemns)!

God is Holy ~ It is man who perverts things from their natural use... (including those who try to twist His Word to suit their own reasoning ~ attempting to justify themselves and their own righteousness (e.g., "I'm better than you are because I do this and this and avoid that and that..." ~ whereby and thereby opposing, offending, compromising, belittling, subjecting and "judging"; attempting to subdue their own brothers and sisters....)! (Ex:)

I have said, Ye are gods; and ALL OF YOU ARE CHILDREN OF THE MOST HIGH. ~ Psalms 82:6

God also advises the human being to do things in moderation ~ not to excess (something a meth or crack addict can hardly be accused of is "moderation")!

It is easy to overdose on either meth or cocaine. Even over the counter medications can be misused ~ over a hundred deaths per year attributed to asperin. No one has ever overdosed on marijuana !!!

The obvious most obvious long-term effect of marijuana use is that it tends to make one complacent (or contented). And God certainly never intended for man to be contented - now did he?

: p

Would people stop bringing up god? What a way to ruin a rational discussion! What with your talking snakes, pregnant virgins and zombie saviors, mass et cetera... sheesh

I'd rather introduce 400+ chemicals into my OWN system than poison our water supply, fish, children, ourselves with the "miracle" pharmaceuticals- And that's the problem, CONTROL OF PROFIT- It's too easy to make the stuff! People talking about taxes, but that would only apply to those who don't have the room or time to grow it! But my state's in debt, I'd be happy to pay the tax.

The key is education, it always was! We see how 'abstinence only' is pitiful, so was 'just say no'! My generation never knew what we where saying 'no' to! Properly educate the kids what the dangers are, and addiction will work itself out of society, if only imprisonment wasn't so profitable... People are kept dumb for a very strong reason!

Amen Brandon....I was really enjoying the legalization views, then someone has to bring "god" into a debate.. We can bring god into it when they come up with church where you can light up freely.... or is still a sin?

hey

It is good to see that there are still "true" Christians out there!

Being a true christian myself, I could not get by dealing with my pain if it weren't for mary jane. I feel sorry for all the patients out there that have doctors threatening to cut off their other important medications if they didnt stop smoking. My cousin in law just had part of his foot amputated due to diabetes and can't smoke anymore or his doctor won't give him his heart, diabetes or blood pressure medicine. My wife relieves her ocular pressure caused by glaucoma by toking up, yet we risk our freedom because we don't live in one of the 13 states. We shouldn't have to leave our families behind and move to another state to avoid prosecution.

joey, good post.

I'd say too much exercise would have a negative effect on one's body, or too many vitamins, or too much sleep, etc., etc.

Legalize weed and let's just all move on to solving world peace!

I second that....great post.

Just think, expanding our minds instead of our arsenals...whatt a concept!