# The Highest Reason why Marijuana should NOT be legalized



## belthagor (Dec 21, 2013)

Recently I saw on the news channel, I really don't remember which one,  there being talk about legalizing marijuana in my state, NYS.

I have come up with the reason why i feel it, along with all other plant-based drugs should not be legalized, even in States which already have legalized it.
Any plant requires land to grow, so if something like marijuana were legal, and grown in the open, what would that do to farmers and farms in general?
Farmers make crops, food which everyone needs. If they use less land than before, it would mean lower crop production. I studied economics and the concept of supply and demand before, so I learned that when there is less of something that people want, the price rises. In short, please explain what you think would have a bigger impact. Everyone's unstoppable addiction to food (i believe both fat and skinny people would understand me) or some people's addiction to marijuana.


P.S. Since  I have not made a decent piece of writing and posted here for a while I  thought I would try to contribute something, anyway tell me your  thoughts and opinions.

Sorry for the grammar issues


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## bookmasta (Dec 21, 2013)

Think of healthcare and the long term risks in general that could come with legalizing a drug like marijuana. The annual healthcare cost to Americans yearly for tobacco use is 96 billion which is only second to obesity at 196 billion. The current total tax on tobacco is about 7 billion annually via the federal government and 13 billion for the states. If marijuana were legalized on a national level, there would be a high tax and an increase of users in the millions, especially in teens. The use of marijuana can lead to serious mental development problems. Beyond this, teens who use marijuana are more likely to engage in delinquent and dangerous behavior, and experience increased risk of schizophrenia and depression, including being three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts. Marijuana-using teens are also more likely to have multiple sexual partners and engage in unsafe sex. And unlike others think, the drug is addictive, as THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient, have never been higher. The point is, the costs of mental illness and side effects of long term pot use would end up like smoking has, being a massive burden on the healthcare system. Since I'm not writing an essay here, I wont add more details, but primarily, legalization would bring with it a lot more consequences that would out weigh its "feel good" use.


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## escorial (Dec 21, 2013)

money overrides all logic dude.


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## The Tourist (Dec 21, 2013)

belthagor said:


> Farmers make crops, food which everyone needs.



You had me right up until this point.  While I believe there are no harmless recreational drugs, the USA is a free country, and if we have our way despite canonizing Hillary, it will never be a communist, state run grocery store for welfare mothers.

If marijuana drives up the price of food--which I doubt since the only thing Obama's corn mandate did was to deplete soil--then you pay more for food, eat less, or eat something else.  It was economics 101 for me, when the price of apples goes up, you eat fewer of them or switch to bananas, you don't throw rocks at the farmer.

Right now there is a similar problem with oil, and we have too many deaths of young soldiers.  I say buy oil from the winner of the foreigners' self-inflicted civil war.

And the same applies here.  You like to smoke dope, be my guest.  You'll just pay more for your Twinkie fix, but that's your problem...


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## Elvenswordsman (Dec 21, 2013)

This argument is invalid.

Your point of contest is that there isn't enough arable land in the US to produce anything other than food.

US Arable land ~ 1 million square miles. If that's right, there's enough arable land to feed 2.4 - 4.8 billion people. Just a thought, maybe a problem in the future, but agro farms are starting to be built vertically (yeah, they can farm in sky scrapers, and the costs are coming down significantly).

Still against the legalization of pot, it's just a bad argument.

Edit: Just had a scary thought... There's only about enough arable land to support 28 billion people on varied food (about 90 billion on potatoes .

Maybe we should be concerned? Although the fertility rate is down to 2.33, so I mean it'll take us around 4 generations to get there, but that could be as early as 2040. Sheeze.

Just read another article that talks about requiring a 2.1 for the fertility rate to maintain. So as long as, by 2050, people are only having 2.1 children, then we'll be fine.


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## belthagor (Dec 21, 2013)

Elvenswordsman said:


> .............................
> US Arable land ~ 1 million square miles. If that's right, there's enough arable land to feed 2.4 - 4.8 billion people. Just a thought, maybe a problem in the future, but agro farms are starting to be built vertically (yeah, they can farm in sky scrapers, and the costs are coming down significantly).
> .............................



oh wow, there's that much land? I assumed it would be less since we have genetically modified foods, like so they grow bigger and stay fresh longer and stuff


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## dale (Dec 21, 2013)

bookmasta said:


> Think of healthcare and the long term risks in general that could come with legalizing a drug like marijuana. The annual healthcare cost to Americans yearly for tobacco use is 96 billion which is only second to obesity at 196 billion. The current total tax on tobacco is about 7 billion annually via the federal government and 13 billion for the states. If marijuana were legalized on a national level, there would be a high tax and an increase of users in the millions, especially in teens. The use of marijuana can lead to serious mental development problems. Beyond this, teens who use marijuana are more likely to engage in delinquent and dangerous behavior, and experience increased risk of schizophrenia and depression, including being three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts. Marijuana-using teens are also more likely to have multiple sexual partners and engage in unsafe sex. And unlike others think, the drug is addictive, as THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient, have never been higher. The point is, the costs of mental illness and side effects of long term pot use would end up like smoking has, being a massive burden on the healthcare system. Since I'm not writing an essay here, I wont add more details, but primarily, legalization would bring with it a lot more consequences that would out weigh its "feel good" use.


actually, if you research it, you'll find that marijuana smoke isn't even close to being as harmful to a person's health as tobacco. 
i honestly don't even smoke it, but that's just because i don't like the way it makes me feel. but if you do the research, it's less harmful
than both tobacco and alcohol. as far as the OPs point....i don't agree that it would hurt farmers or cause people to suffer in that context.
my only reason for being against the total legalization of marijuana is just the anarchist in me coming out. i'd rather not have government 
getting it's greedy little meathooks into the business. it's bad enough that it does anyway through the courts and such...but i'd really rather see
the trade kept on a black market status.


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## Pandora (Dec 22, 2013)

I recently found myself at a bail bondsman, unrelated to drug charges, the Dad at the table next to me was trying to make
bail for his daughter. It was something like $2500 for a small amount of pot. It was tough because he was in from Alabama and not working.
The poor girl was about to sit and rot if he couldn't post bond. Seems with all the violence out there this young woman should not be
in our overcrowded prison system. I see both sides of the drug debate, I've lost young people to addiction, drug related deaths, lengthy prison time.
Many who want pot legal want all drugs legal. After seeing what meth and heroin do to young people, take their souls and spirit, 
it's hard to agree with that. I don't know the answer but the present system is not working or helping.

For me the best reason not to legalize is because we want a healthier society all around in the future. Less drink, less smoke, less
prescription meds, less fat, more exercise, more happy. This we want for the children.


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## Pluralized (Dec 22, 2013)

Plants shouldn't be "illegal" under any circumstances. The processed, manufactured, chemical substances like prescription painkillers are legal, and cause way more harm to the organism. The only reason cannabis hurts anyone is due to the illegality and related complications. To believe otherwise is simply latching onto propaganda. There's a lot of vested interest in keeping the prisons full, keeping hemp out of agriculture, and for a plant to be illegal is tyrannical.


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## The Tourist (Dec 22, 2013)

You guys are missing the point.  We do not work on government run communes.  Farmers own their own land, and decide what to plant on their own business plan, borrowing money and leveraging other capital expenditures like any other business.

My job adult job was saving companies about to go bankrupt.  It was a job I was good at, I just hated it.  Now that I'm no longer engaged in that job, you could make a good case that hundreds (if not thousands) of people and families are no longer employed at any job.  I'm no longer there to save them.

In the movie "It's A Wonderful Life," Clarence the angel tells George Bailey that the entire complement of sailors on a ship died because his brother wasn't there to save them, since he was never there to save the brother.

I could care less.  We do not have a politburo system where I was told to keep working for "the good of the state."  When I had a belly full, I quit.

Same with farmers, land usage and the frivolous expectations of the public.


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## Olly Buckle (Dec 22, 2013)

Are we talking about writing, or have we gotthe discussion forum back?

Recently I saw on the news channel, I really don't remember which one, there being talk about legalizing marijuana in my state, NYS.

If you don't remember which one it should be 'a' news channel, non specific.
If you take that sub clause out you will also see that the sentence is somewhat awkwardly phrased
'Recently I saw on the news channel there being talk about legalizing marijuana in my state, NYS.'
I would suggest 'I saw on a news channel recently there is talk of legalizing marijuana in my state of NYS' I am not sure what NYS stands for, but if, as I suspect. it is New York State repeating the 'State', even in abbreviation strikes me as wrong. Note also there 'is talk' rather than 'being talk'. 

I have come up with the reason why i feel it, along with all other plant-based drugs should not be legalized, even in States which already have legalized it.
Capitalize your 'I', you are important and deserve it  You might do well to differentiate recreational drugs from medicinal. 'not be legalized, even in States which already have legalized it.' There is a logical fallacy here, states which have already legalized it can't do so again, you want 'Should not be legal even in States ...'

Any plant requires land to grow, so if something like marijuana were legal, and grown in the open, what would that do to farmers and farms in general?
Farmers make crops, food which everyone needs. If they use less land than before, it would mean lower crop production. I studied economics and the concept of supply and demand before, so I learned that when there is less of something that people want, the price rises. In short, please explain what you think would have a bigger impact. Everyone's unstoppable addiction to food (i believe both fat and skinny people would understand me) or some people's addiction to marijuana.

Asking people to explain is a rhetorical device that works in oratory where they at least have a theoretical chance to explain, in writing it is not really on, especially as we no longer permit discussion on the forum, I do not think the full stop is appropriate punctuation between impact and everyone's, another lower case 'I'.

P.S. Since I have not made a decent piece of writing and posted here for a while I thought I would try to contribute something, anyway tell me your thoughts and opinions

Without wanting to join in the discussion, it would be interesting to know how you feel about pet foods and about the huge quantities of food grown as animal feed for those who are not vegetarian.


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## Terry D (Dec 22, 2013)

Olly's right. This is not a forum for debating any topic. It is for the posting of creative non-fiction.


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## Lucifer (Dec 31, 2013)

Thank You Olly.


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