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I want to take your points one at a time.
First, marijuana is non-addictive. Period. You cannot form a physical addiction, nor a mental addiction to marijuana. You can form a habit, but that is not the same thing as an addiction. You can form a habit of have a morning cup of coffee, or read a newspaper while you shit. Doesn't mean you're addicted to either of those actions.
Second, if you want to call pot a gateway drug, you should recognize that it's only a gateway because it's illegal. You have to go to a drug dealer to buy marijuana. As the act of possessing, the act of selling, and the intent to distribute marijuana are all illegal, is it any wonder that drug dealers are likely to sell other drugs as well? Go for broke. Most of them are anyway.
I have no idea why I (or anyone else for that matter) should care that religious organizations are opposed. The Mormons are against caffeine consumption, and the Shakers are opposed to sex. Does that stop anyone from their morning cuppa, or from giving their significant other some TLC?
Racism? Lolwut.
No convincing reason for the plant to be legal - you must be kidding. Hemp makes better paper, rope and cloth than lumber or cotton, and at a cheaper production cost to boot. This set of facts is the reason (but not the justification) for the initial law outlawing marijuana; the lumber and cotton lobbies took issue with someone stepping on their turf, so they started a smear campaign.
Besides that, hemp with an active THC content (i.e. marijuana) has been proven to relieve pain in cancer patients, lower blood pressure of the eye for glaucoma patients, and has been used as a treatment for stress, trauma and a variety of more specific diseases and disorders.
As to your bullshit claim that alcohol costs more in regulation than it generates in sin taxes, I'd like some source before I take the time to fully respond. You obviously don't know anything about how alcohol and cigarettes are taxed in the US, or you'd know that 90% of the cost of cigarettes and probably half the cost of liquor (varies by state) is taxes. That's taxes before you hit the register and pay sales tax.
Really, this may be a forum about a kids game, but that doesn't mean you can just make stuff up and people will believe you. You won't convince me the tooth fairy is real either.
First of all, you're hilariously off-the-mark. This is a big misunderstanding. I'm not trying to argue that marijuana should not be legalized. I'm only listing the many points of contention surrounding this issue. These are not my opinions. These are the major talking points surrounding the issue of marijuana legalization. Let me go through them for you.
Addiction: My use of the term refers to the definition as provided by the American Psychological Association. You can find scholarly, peer-reviewed articles on marijuana being an addictive substance for yourself. Here's a good place to start: http://www.apa.org/t...tion/index.aspx. It is certainly recognized by the psychology community that marijuana is addictive. Here's something specific and fairly recent (2011).
Gateway drug: I do not necessarily agree with the assertion that marijuana is a gateway drug, but it is one of the most commonly used arguments against marijuana. That's why I listed it.
Religious factions are opposed. That is a fact.
Racism is often associated with anti-legalization. I don't feel like I need to go into detail, but I'll just say that Black and Hispanic Americans are often the targets here. There are racists in this country and people use that information to obtain political advantages. That's a given.
The "there is no convincing reason to legalize the drug" reason is obviously hotly debated, but most voters who have been indifferent to legalization have this opinion. I actually had data for this at one point, but it would be quite irrelevant now. There was a recent article in the NYTimes about how marijuana legalization is growing substantially in support. Regardless, I only included it because it has been a common point of opposition to legalization.
The medical benefits of marijuana are also not well-founded. That is not to say that benefits have not been discovered, it is only to say that it is still a very young study in medicine. Again, not using this to argue against, only pointing out facts.
Finally, we come to alcohol. What exactly about my claim is bullshit? The estimated amount of revenue collected by alcohol per year in taxes is $5.6 billion. I do not even have to go into detail here. Alcohol-related car accidents alone cost taxpayers an estimated $50 billion each year. That's ten times the amount gained in taxes. We're not even taking into consideration the costs of rehabilitation programs, other alcohol-related medical costs, and the billions lost in productivity. I will go out on a limb here and include my personal opinion that I think alcohol abuse is a more apparent threat to society than marijuana use.
Before you write some very heated response, remember that I was only answering a question as to why marijuana is perceived and treated as a "big deal." I am not defending the points. I am not arguing against marijuana. Honestly, I don't care one way or another because I do not smoke. I also want to say that I do not harbor any ill feelings toward you for the misunderstanding.
Have a good day.
