Well..

Pot is called biggest cash crop - Los Angeles Times

A report released today by a marijuana public policy analyst contends that the market value of pot produced in the U.S. exceeds $35 billion — far more than the crop value of such heartland staples as corn, soybeans and hay, which are the top three legal cash crops.

Now come on. The 90's was the dot-com boom. The 00's will be the pot-sale boom.

Let's see, where shall I start?

It deadens the senses, slows the reflexes, lessens the abillity to feel pain (very important safety factor), keeps the mind from focusing, destroys brain cells, contains carcinigins...

Nope, can't think of a good thing about it, but I have known people to get killed or seriously injured because of mental impairment while on the drug.

Legalize it? I think not.

Let me guess, it's okay for people to drink alcohol though, because it's legal and doesn't hurt anyone. This is taken from MADD at the site listed below, gee, sounds familiar...

Alcohol can...
Impair motor coordination (the ability to walk or drive)
Impair memory (produces blackouts)
Impair judgment and decision making (people often think they are “OK” to drive when they are not)
Impair impulse control (increase the odds that you’ll do things you might regret later)
Cause death (by directly affecting the pons and medulla part of the brain which controls vital reflexes like breathing, heart rate, gagging, etc. - alcohol can shut down these reflexes, directly causing death)

There are specific parts of the brain that are affected by alcohol. The frontal lobe, the hippocampus, the pons and medulla and the cerebellum all suffer when alcohol is consumed. The frontal lobe plays an important part in planning, decision making, impulse control, memory and many other activities. The hippocampus is important in memory formation, particularly for new facts and events. Alcohol impairs memory in part by disrupting brain function here. The pons and medulla contain groups of cells that control vital reflexes - like breathing, heart rate, gagging, etc. Alcohol can shut down these reflexes, causing death. Alcohol also disrupts activity in the cerebellum which plays an important part in balance and motor coordination.

MADD - Alcohol's Effects on the Brain

People have been using substances since before the dawn of civilization for various uses, including the induction of hallucinations, which were and still are, in some cultures, the foundation for religious life, for seeking either internal truths or external truths.
People have also discovered, through trial and error, the various uses for plants that could be used to heal or kill. Marijuana, though not a powerful hallucinogen, can be used to distort the senses and help produce a meditative and calming state.
People also use drugs and alcohol as a means to escape from the pressures of life, the misery of day to day existence in meaningless, unfulfilling jobs, and unhealthy relationships, or simply as a way to reduce anxiety in social situations.
The use of substances is ingrained in the human psyche. In today's world, some people are addicted to power, some are addicted to freedom from those in power. By keeping substances like pot illegal, it further denies the freedom to pursue happiness that we the American people have fought for, and further divides those who are in power from those who are not.
I think it's ridiculous to deny a person the right to ingest into their own bodies whatever they want, so long as they are willing to deal with the consequenes of doing so, are aware of the risks they take and do not jeopardize others in doing so.
What is freedom for if not being able to make your own choices about your own self?

I grow my own (for medicinal purposes only) so I could care less what the government does.

I think it should be legalized so that Alias could establish a gainful little cottage industry!

OD

P.S. Alias, do you post here under the influence?

Why yes I do. I would never make a business of marijuana. I only grow enough for Mrs. Alias and myself.

Well as far as i'm concerned i regret a LOT of stuff i have done while drunk.. Atleast with pot i don't get that sick feeling the day after. I'm not talking about a physical hangover. I'm talking about the "moral" hangover. Drinking too often leads people to do things they would NEVER do.

Personally i have pretty much stopped drinking altogether. I smoke plenty of pot though. That brings it's own pitfalls no doubt. But it is certainly less harmful to my surroundings.

Many people often link pot to serious drug abuse, citing statistics that show young people starting with pot at progressing to harder drugs. Nobody ever cites whether those young people also DRANK before starting hard drugs.

Fact is that drug abuse is not caused by pot. Rather it is caused by how the young person FEELS. If somebody tries pot to alleviate their pain, chances are they will try harder drugs too. You can not combat that by making pot illegal. You can only combat that by finding out why young people are hurting so much that they look to booze, pot and other drugs to feel better.

Drug abuse is a disease. But pot is not the contagion. It is just a step along the road of pain, low self esteem and cynicism that is all too prevalent in today's youth.

I never did marijuana or any recreational drugs.

The closest I have come to that is drinking yerba mate tea, which is said to have properties that lend itself to being counted euphoric.

I do believe that marijuana should be legalized though. And that if it were, there would be more quality control on batches of it that are sold to people.

What scares me about people buying it off the street, is how they are going to drug dealers to get it, and who is to say that from joint to joint, there is not a mixture of other drugs in any given serving???

And that is the thing too, I think that there is a certain culture that is encouraged by going to drug dealers to get something, and it feeds a person a kind of edgy and rebellious, look-what-I-got-away-with attitude.

And pretty soon, everyone is wearing hoodies or ponchos, even in the hot weather. And losing sight of their goals and ways to truly leave their mark on the planet.

If it was legal, people would not have to sneak around, go to criminals to get the stuff, and it might not be done in dark, smoky rooms with incense burning and the song Mama Told Me Not to Come on repeat...

Still, I would not ever take any. I like being in command of my own faculties more often than not.

OD