Pew/Gizmodo Reports

Kind of nice to see.

I'm fucking sick of this shit. It really brings out the stupid in people. I read an article on aol today listing 13 things that could help the economy. First they're saying "zomg maek teh w33d legalz so we can save teh conomiez", but then right after that they're saying get rid of taxes. Followed by the brilliance of giving stay-at-home parents money for each kid they have. Yes, lets encourage people to reproduce like rabbits so they can get more money for sitting on their asses at home. Lastly, they say we should make public transportation and healthcare free, I mean fucking seriously do they really think that shit is "free"?

...end min-rant.

Legalizing weed would bring in a lot of tax income.  You could replace a vanishing manufacturing industry with tourism.  What better way to stay ahead than to have money from other countries enter your own?

Beyond that its downright retarded to imprison people for a plant.  Both as a human rights issue and economic.  How many billions does it cost to chase after this tail? 

I'm becoming more and more ameanable to the idea of legalized but heavily taxed marijuana in the US.  The drug prevention when it comes to marijuana is a huge waste of money and isn't really stopping anything at all, its also taking those same forces away from far more dangerous drugs that still exist here. 

Now that being said I'm not sure Obama will be willing to do it as he still wants his second term in office, but then again if there is enough support he might do it to try and win favor for the re-election.

Oh and I think the point masta was trying to make was that the article was retarded and contradicted itself, as the biggest reason to legalize marijuana is to tax it, which is the opposite of the article. 

As a proponent of limited government, I can't get behind taxing weed the same way we tax our alcohol and tobacco.

I don't think it's in the best interest of the country to impose excessive "lifestyle" taxes on things like guns, cigarettes, alcohol, and junk food just because there are those in Washington who don't wish us to have them. The issues isn't even really about revenue. It's a means of de-facto restriction on things that Washington knows they could never prohibit in a free society.

With that being said though, a reasonably-taxed marijuana industry would be a good thing for the country. Some 90% of all illegal contraband traffic across our southern border is in weed, you cut off, and provide a new means of supply, and you take the legs out from under some of the scummiest criminals entering the country. Our prisons are chock full of low-level "posession" offenders. Legalizing marijuana would take an enormous burden off of the taxpayer.

I wouldn't ever smoke, or drink, or much of anything. I don't like not being in control of my behavior, however any responsible adult who wants to make that decision should have the right.

Legalizing weed really wouldn't help that much considering the taxes on it would rape you and it would be so fucking easy to grow. I personally don't give two shits if its legal or not. The only way I see it helping is we wouldn't have to spend billions per year trying to enforce the prohibition of weed. I'm tired of hearing emo 13 year olds bitch about "teh govmentz" just doesn't won't them to have weed and how it has zero negative effects. I swear, every youtube video about weed always starts with "weed has never killed anybody". ORLY? So nobody has ever gotten stoned and killed themselves doing stupid shit?

mastachefbkw


Legalizing weed really wouldn't help that much considering the taxes on it would rape you and it would be so fucking easy to grow. I personally don't give two shits if its legal or not. The only way I see it helping is we wouldn't have to spend billions per year trying to enforce the prohibition of weed. I'm tired of hearing emo 13 year olds bitch about "teh govmentz" just doesn't won't them to have weed and how it has zero negative effects. I swear, every youtube video about weed always starts with "weed has never killed anybody". ORLY? So nobody has ever gotten stoned and killed themselves doing stupid shit?

Valid point. But people also do stupid shit sober. Either way, anyone who cant do without any drug is more or less worthless.

It doesn't really matter whether or not somebody could die doing it. It's not about that.

It's about freedom of choice, and personal responsibility.

It's about freedom of choice, and personal responsibility.

Responsibility which most do not have.

Eddie_the_Hated


It doesn't really matter whether or not somebody could die doing it. It's not about that.

It's about freedom of choice, and personal responsibility.

Youre right. Cigarettes, alcohol, food high in trans-fat, and caffeine will all kill you, but theyre legal. So maybe we should start banning those too.

Responsibility which most do not have.

Responsibility is a burden of obligation.

They may not have the maturity to intoxicate, but the onus of personal responsibility doesn't disappear just because you're not capable of fulfilling said responsibilities.

As a proponent of limited government, I can't get behind taxing weed the same way we tax our alcohol and tobacco.

I don't think it's in the best interest of the country to impose excessive "lifestyle" taxes on things like guns, cigarettes, alcohol, and junk food just because there are those in Washington who don't wish us to have them. The issues isn't even really about revenue. It's a means of de-facto restriction on things that Washington knows they could never prohibit in a free society.

I lean towards libertarianism too, even more so when it comes to civil issues.  In a country like the US where you essentially don't have a working health care program I can agree that maybe it shouldn't be taxed.  However in a country like Canada or Britain where healthcare is payed for by the tax payer, we need to take personal responsibility but this is also even more aligned with what's best for tax payers as a whole.  If we have a system where healthcare is a shared cost, and we're going to legalize something that has medical costs associated with it.  It makes sense to tax it.  Otherwise that tax money will come from somewhere unrelated. 

In the case of weed the cost for the country exists because there are many smokers but no tax to cover even a fraction of the hidden bills.  Even if more people decide to smoke weed when legalized, tax payers would still get a better deal if more people smoked weed and it was taxed, as opposed to no tax at all.  I personally believe legalization will happen in Canada within 15 years, internet polls show that most people want it legalized.  Its just a matter of waiting for the old fuck vote to die off.

Trust me, most people would not grow their own stuff, people are lazy.  Even if they did, so what?  That wouldn't hurt the tourism which is where the real bucks come in.  People just want to visit the place where its legal.  Look at Amsterdam.  Cannibis put that place on the map.

Eddie_the_Hated

Responsibility which most do not have.

Responsibility is a burden of obligation.

They may not have the maturity to intoxicate, but the onus of personal responsibility doesn't disappear just because you're not capable of fulfilling said responsibilities.

That's true.  Although a totally free society would just be anarchy - humans as a whole don't have the capacity to look after themselves.  If we were allowed to be totally free we would kill ourselves and each other.  So when we do have our sane moments we make certain judgements, rules and limitations on ourselves that are deemed in our best interests eg speed limits, CCTV, licensing, trading laws etc etc.  If we were all responsible all the time, we wouldn't need to spend our precious resources on any of this.

We should be as free as possible on the other hand to make our own mistakes - imposing these restrictions is an artform - striking the right balance with restrictions to keep us in check without causing too many of us to rise up against them.

Even with alcohol/smoking being legal I choose not to use any of it - mostly as I see the harmful effects of them everyday at work.  Plus my background afforded me a childhood without them which makes it easier for me to go without now.

As for weed, I have to say I've never tried it, so I can't attest to the benefits - however, smoking it will cause some of the same harmful effects as tobacco, plus like Eddie I prefer to stay in control of my own behaviour.  Friends of mine who smoke weed become no fun to talk to once they're stoned.  Imo the world would suck if people were constantly stoned on the street.  Plus I fucking hate the smell when you walk past a 12 year old on the bus that has blatently been smoking it all day.   Almost as bad as the stench of urine you get when you walk past a tramp.

I lean towards libertarianism too, even more so when it comes to civil issues.  In a country like the US where you essentially don't have a working health care program I can agree that maybe it shouldn't be taxed.  However in a country like Canada or Britain where healthcare is payed for by the tax payer,

Meh. I'll let sleeping dogs lie for the most part on that one. Suffice to say, I'd not consider a system that puts a set dollar value on cancer patients, and brings people to pull their own teeth to be effective. I haven't studied CanuckCare any though, so I can't say.

In the case of weed the cost for the country exists because there are many smokers but no tax to cover even a fraction of the hidden bills.  I personally believe legalization will happen in Canada within 15 years, internet polls show that most people want it legalized.  Its just a matter of waiting for the old fuck vote to die off.

I'm all for it being a state's rights issue. If you don't like it, vote with your feet.