Should marijuana use be legalized?

Monday 29th June, 05:00 AM JST

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888naff at 10:31 PM JST - 2nd July

The Japan immigration office could probably use this as a evidence to make their policies stricter against more immigration ...and I suppose the Japanese police too could do more targeted checks.
888naff at 10:37 PM JST - 2nd July

"I think the bigger point is not which is worse, it's that prohibition on a substance doesn't work."

you could argue that in Japan it has. ..to the extent that attitudes to it here are far different to western countries that have a prevalence and take up of it and their own problems as a result: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/8115229.stm . and yes like most around the world i do make a "real" distinction between alcohol and "drugs" as i know some places are more prim about alcohol in "general".
sfjp330 at 04:28 AM JST - 3rd July

No. Also, the most addictive dangerous drug is cigarettes. The world will be a better place without cigarettes. Especially in Japan.
VOR at 10:10 AM JST - 4th July

Marijuana works for some and not for others. It should be an individual's decision and not the state's.

Japanese could use it. The ones I know who smoke had a better handle on life and were much more happier than the ones that didn't.

I bet it would cut the suicide rate in half.
jhk at 04:26 PM JST - 4th July

I had so called friends push me on cigarettes everyday until I started smoking when I was in grade eleven. I didn't even drink. But as per the gateway theory . . .

I don't mind smoking, and figure I can do it till I die, but the reality is that noone knows what happens when we die, and this is where things like cigarettes, weed, and alcohol begin to matter for anyone who has spent any time thinking about it.

If it wasn't for this I would be all over it, no problem, but that isn't the problem.

The easiest way to think of things is that while you do whatever you do, there are wars going on, people don't have jobs, and little black kids are dropping like flies everyday. In everyday parlance, our "brothers".

These are the main reasons why people should minimize "indulging" in the first place, while people you don't necessarily know are going through fairly tough times.

In simple terms we are either part of the problem, cleaning it up, or doing nothing. Pick up a spade brother.
badreligion at 10:42 PM JST - 4th July

All the pro MJ folks keep forgetting, when you light up, everyone around you is gonna be affected immediately. Second hand smoke doesn't just dissipate around you, it travels for a few blocks before it really does go away (affecting a few others in its path).

Yes, because we're gonna be lighting up in restaurants and bars. What an idiotic argument. Proper legalization would be restricted to homes and/or special "marijuana bars". Your secondhand smoke theory is a smokescreen for your puritanical fascism.
Kazamai at 12:34 PM JST - 5th July

Legalize Marijuana? Sure, let the public decide. I think the majority of people will try it once and forget it.

From experience:

-seen a whole dozen people smoke something they thought was weed and become sick -been very sick on baked goods -seen friends that had a lot of potential and creativity become totally inactive in their lives ... better to be an escapist than live life

Less competition in the world, when it is full of burn outs.
jhk at 01:50 PM JST - 5th July

I can also think of many reasons why ganj could be good, especially if you look at the many crack and heroine addicts in North America, and in the same sense, the many salarymen in Japan who drink until they can't remember which station they left their briefcase. I agree that ganj could be a better alternative, much more chill, and that it goes well with good music, girls, etc.

But, you never know what happens when you die, after a while I know many people who quit and don't touch that stuff because it costs a lot of money, the utility of it bottoms, and it wastes a lot of time.

But the number one thing to me, is that the most hardcore of these guys, are not your friend, they couldn't care less if you fell off the face of the earth, even though when you are with them, they seem like the best thing that ever happened.

It might get you girls, and friends, but that is not really what they want from you, they just want your ganj.

So the next time you smoke up, fine if you want to, but the guys next to you are not your real friends, it starts to gets really boring, your wasting your cash, unless of course you grow and sell to your friends who are wasting their cash, while the world is in a global recession, more than 10% have lost their jobs, 1BN around the world are now in poverty, and 26,000 kids are dying everyday.

You can smoke up and celebrate this great world and great life you have, but eventually you will start to wonder, what the f#%$ is going on?

We live in a crazy world, even if we don't smoke, and maybe even more so if MJ is legalized, but you can't ignore the world that you wake up to every morning. Your chains are this world, and that you will die some day, so it might be in your interest to try to understand why, regardless of what good or bad religion you live by.
griff at 02:19 PM JST - 5th July

Alchohol will only affect the person that intakes it

tell that to victims of domestic violence, drink driving victims, people who get puked on on trains, etc. your logic is horribly flawed
griff at 02:22 PM JST - 5th July

ask the majority of meth, cocaine, heroin users what their first drug was and they will say Pot

i guarantee that the majority of them drank alcohol LONG before they had their first smoke. if you want to talk about gateway drugs, alcohol is the real gateway drug
boboh at 05:12 PM JST - 5th July

griff nice last post, agreed with
goodDonkey at 05:38 PM JST - 5th July

USNinJapan2

Do you think marijuana should be legalized? I have heard several conservatives seem to say that it should. I would be interested in your opinion.
HonestDictator at 02:24 AM JST - 11th July

@Badreligion, Nothing fanatical about it , you apparantly don't have not experienced living and growing up in a "bad" neighborhood, people break the law and smoke it out on their porches daily. I am upset about this because I have to LIVE with it. I have to EXPERIENCE it.

Heaven forbid should I try to open my windows to get a breath of fresh air when somebody is outside on their porch smoking away their MJ... Think more about the various situations that happen beside these mythical "MJ bars". We don't even have Cigarette bars yet, what makes you think people aren't going to keep doing what they've been doing anyways? I'm living with reality, your thinking is from dream land. Live in a neighborhood where people are doing something that affects you negatively even if you're in your own home away from them. Then I might listen to you.
Damien15 at 11:59 AM JST - 20th August

Yes! and here's just one of the reason why. http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/07/23/driven-to-drink-by-marijuana-laws/ Another reason is that this is a plant sent by god for us to enjoy. I don't think anyone has right to restrict it. I understand that it shouldn't be consumed in public places or advertised. Only the ones with license should be allowed to consume. License taking should include mandatory training, just like the drivers license. How about yearly health checks? Anyone who has tried it knows that it's no big deal. It doesn't make you see hallucinations, or make you do stupid stuff, any more than alcohol does. Look at Dutch? They are not having any problem with it. They are now trying to restrict the tobacco you can add because it's damaging. Are they crazy? I think opposite. Law must be changed to protect innocent people from getting their lives ruined.
Damien15 at 12:04 PM JST - 20th August

And for the record, it's only a gateway drug because it's available in same place that other hard drugs are available. If it's legalized, most of those drug dealers will not be able to survive. Even terrorist organizations will have to find other ways to finance their wars. Worlwide legalization of pot can save the world.