Ask Lemmy

Never smoked anything in my life, having one side of the family wiped out prematurely by nicotine, all of them.

Lived in Colorado. The pros outweigh the cons a million to one. The biggest positive was the massive reduction in DUIs, since people drink in bars but smoke weed at home. There may be a reduction in harder drugs, too, given how much easier and cheaper it is to get weed. The tax revenue from weed sales is huge (was bigger, though) and because the laws were changed after Colorado turned liberal-ish, the money was mostly allocated to great causes.

Government loves having a law that can be selectively enforced and is broken by a lot of people. Taking it away is a huge plus, especially in times where the government is looking for easy ways to control the population. Even before now, White people caught in possession or smoking marijuana rarely got more than probation, while some Black people were three-striked for the same.

The only downside is that it still smells bad, and I am still not sure that hacking up your lungs is all that sane or safe.

Yes, it appears that young humans can have very negative reactions to weed, and that it can affect their brains negatively. That would absolutely be a problem if legalization increased week use among teenagers, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I don't agree with recreational marijuana use. I've had it personally affect my life negatively and wouldn't advise people to smoke it.

If it's medically needed and a doctor approves, sure but smoking it everywhere just because you can and because it looks cool is not the move.

I also don't think people should get thrown in jail for it, maybe rehabbed but not thrown in jail for it.

I can't think of a single negative consequence of legalizing marijuana here, while the positives are numerous such as earning the state more money and people having alternatives for pain management that isn't a highly addictive opioid.

Decriminalisation is the way IMO.

I don't want lots of people taking up smoking even. But being punished for smoking weed? Ridiculous.

weed smokers are not cool anymore, like wow bro you're going to go home and follow the law. Lame

I think that the pros are obvious. It should simply be legal, and other comments have given good reasons.

However, there are some cons that I haven't seen mentioned yet.

It impairs you, so any activity where that is a problem, like driving, may need extra attention or public education.

For smokers, inhaling smoke is dangerous.

Cons: capitalism is already ruining it with monoculture strains and subsequent crop loss from one little thing wiping out everything. Industry trade groups are forming to be the next generation of lobbyists. For now, they're on our side by focusing on legalization, but they won't be on our side forever.

Pros: I don't have to sneak around like a criminal just to get a plant.

Pros if properly managed, takes away profits for criminals and helps prevent grow ops causing a lot of problems in communities.

Con Managed poorly fucks over consumers and propogates the criminals by creating a bigger market for them

Pro new tax revenue to pay for services

My state has 10 million people and made over $300 million in tax last year distributed around $100 million each divided between roads, schools, and local municipalities/community organizations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug)

It's not completely safe. Regulation makes sense. Especially for protecting developing brains from long-term negative damage.

If you look at it as an illegal drug, it's obvious that it doesn't work to criminalize. It seems much more appropriate and effective to legalize, regulate, and have information and support programmes in place.

In Germany, it was legalized, but only in a very limited form, to get it through the coalition government. I think the current form is too bureaucratic, too restrictive. The most important thing is that it legalized holding personal consumption belongings.