Marijuana legalised for recreational use: What do you think?

I have showed you the effects of marijuana. I have given you the pros and the cons of legalising marijuana. I have even given you the breakdown of what marijuana is and how common it is. What needs to be decided is what we as a society think of this touchy subject. Will any politician ever legalise marijuana? Would any supreme court pass this law? Where do you think marijuana rights and freedom will be in the next 20 years? First off I would like to say that I am for the legalisation of marijuana. The government in Canada especially has literally slapped us with so many rules here that the word ridiculous does not fit. Gun laws for one are most likely the most worst kind in North America. We are not even allowed to protect our own families if a burglar enters our home. We keep allowing the law to pass so many judgements over us without our say in any single one of them. When will this stop?

My belief is that marijuana still has a huge race to win. As long as we have the same politicians we will not get different results. We need somebody that looks like the people that is for the people, and does not care what the "government" will think about the decisions they make for the people. We need to kick these old geezers out of power and instill people that represent the current generation. The reason as to why marijuana is not legalised in my opinion is because of moral standards. There will be a heavy load of backlash that politicians do not want to deal with. There was a recent case that came to mind about how the medical marijuana system in Canada was a joke. People were not getting fast service as to renewing there licences to smoke, or getting the prescriptions from the doctors in a certain amount of time. This would therefore force them to the black market, and purchase illegally for something they were suppose to get from the government. This system was turning people who were law abiding citizens into criminals. A Ontario judge ruled that the marijuana laws were unconstitutional, and gave the government  90 days to fix the law or else marijuana would be legal in the province on Ontario.

 

I will like to conclude with saying that, sometimes I guess it is not about the money. Even though the legalisation of marijuana would put billions of dollars in the governments pocket, image is more important. Even some doctors don't prescribe there patients marijuana when they have the power to, because no doctor wants that reputation. People getting medical treatment is not more important. Laws can be passed down and written in  stone, but people will still do whatever they want to. The laws might have been the same for the past 100 years, but the people have not put down there weed either, why stop now?

Cited Story : http://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2011/04/13/Ontario-Judge-Rules-Canadas-Marijuana-Laws-Unconstitutional

All pictures were obtained through Google Images.

Effects marijuana has on the body

You probably heard it before. The effects of marijuana. You start seeing flying dragons and rainbows everywhere. Your eyes turn bloodshot red as if you were dancing with the devil himself. You get so hungry that you could eat a horse. I am here today to tell you there is a lot of misconceptions of the effects of marijuana. First off some people do get the red eye effect of marijuana. You get the red eye because marijuana decreases the blood pressure in the body which dilates the blood vessels in the body. The arteries in the eyeball expand which causes the red eye effect. This is the exact reason as to why marijuana is used to treat glaucoma as well.



Different people are known to have different effects occur to them. Some people can handle smoking a ton of marijuana, and some people cannot even handle a little bit. Some people get really red eyes and some never get them. Every body receives marijuana in different ways. From years of marijuana research the most common known effects of marijuana are rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure, increased rate of breathing, red eyes, a dry mouth, increased appetite and also slower reaction time.

Some people think that marijuana use makes them smarter whilst other say it makes them dumber. It is not the most commonly used drug in North America for nothing. Marijuana has been used by famous politicians and celebrities as well. There have been numerous movies on marijuana and movements to make the drug legal in North America. Somehow the effects of marijuana can only be the sole purpose for its ban. We all know there are worse drugs with worse effects as well, however I will let you decide if you think the effects of marijuana are justifiable for its ban.

Cited work:

http://www.weedist.com/2012/07/red-eyes-and-marijuana-why-why-me-and-what-to-do-about-it/

 http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/marijuana-use-and-its-effects

 

All Pictures were obtained through Google Images.

Marijuana legalised for recreational use: Cons

Here we go. This is what everyone is waiting for. I made such a deliberating argument in the pros section. What could I possibly say wrong about marijuana that would not contradict my previous entry. Well at first, I want everyone to have a open mind when dealing with this drug. It is not crack, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin or cristal meth. It is marijuana and I have stated the dangers of it below. However, there are certain cons to legalising the substance that I would like to bring to attention. You cant have a positive without some negatives. If marijuana was legalised in Canada, we would have the entire criminal world staring directly towards us, especially America. Why would any criminal have to break there back buying tons of marijuana from a middleman source, when they can come to Canada and get the marijuana at a wholesale price. The government would be selling the product ten times better and more potent then you would get on your average street sale. Gangs would target Canada as a place to set up shop and smuggle marijuana from here with ease. That could possibly raise the crime rates to a higher percentage.


Another thing that I would like to state that would be a possible con is the attention we would get from the rest of the world. Canada would become the new Amsterdam. People would come from all around the world not to see our land marks or beautiful scenery, but to smoke weed. Also Canada is similar to America, so imagine how many people would want to not just visit but live here. That would also refer to the point I made above. With people comes crime, poverty and problems. If someone wants to come to the country for the sole purpose of the freedom of marijuana, what asset could they possibly be to society?



The final con that came to mind was society. Just because it would be legal in Canada wouldn't matter to the rest of the world. It would still be illegal in the States and everywhere else. We would be raising our children in a environment where the use of marijuana would be a norm. With this in effect a lot of lives could change. The balance of society could crumble possibly if every ones children were smoking weed besides going to school because of the easy access to the drug being legal.

All pictures were obtained through Google Images.

Marijuana legalised for recreational use: Pros

Before I start of this section I would like whoever is reading to ask themselves a question. What do you think are the pros of legalising marijuana? Do you think everybody will be walking around high all the time? Do you think that society will crumble into a cesspool of drug users and dealers at every corner? Well first of you must understand what substance we are dealing with and what are the dangers involved. Has anybody ever died from using marijuana? According to the mpp.org, not one single death has been recorded due to a marijuana overdose, ever. Nor does marijuana use relate to cancer in any such way. On the site  drugwarfacts.org, it shows how many deaths occurred in the United States in the year of 2009 from certain substances. Alcohol induced deaths were in the range of 24000. Alcohol is legal, marijuana is not? You must ask your self why the government is banning a substance that does not have any risks to it what so ever.
                         

Lets discuss what could possibly happen if marijuana was legalised for recreational use with the public. Police would be able to focus on a lot more serious crimes then your average misdemeanour for possession. Drug dealing would decrease since you could purchase the substance anywhere legally. According to about.com, the revenue that the government could generate if they labelled a tax on marijuana would be in the billions. If the cost of retailing and distribution is the same as for legal tobacco cigarettes, about 10¢ a gram, then selling the (legal) product at exactly the same price as on the street today ($10 per gram) could raise $40 billion to $100 billion in new revenue. If we are discussing a move, that could generate numbers in the billions for the government, why would they want to block out such a substance?

      


Lets bring this discussion to a end with also discussing the worlds look on marijuana. Amsterdam has decriminalised marijuana. You can walk into a coffee shop and buy and smoke a certain amount of marijuana. Canada has also decriminalised it for medical users only, as well as the state of California. Far from killing you, marijuana is used to cure and treat certain sicknesses, and is approved to be used by the same government that bans it. For god sakes, Oxycontin is legal with a prescription from the doctor and it contains traces of heroin. Same with codeine, the infamous cough syrup that is used to treat a cold can actually get you " high" and people have been known to have died from overdosing from it. The hypocrisy the government displays is not being brought under the light. Marijuana has been known to treat certain cancers, yes I said cancer, one of the most deadliest disease known to man without a cure in the most common forms. Why are cigarettes allowed to be legal? Second hand smoke can even kill you from a cigarette. You could have never smoked your whole life and could end up dying because you had a family member who choose to smoke or a significant other. Sometimes you need to ask your self does the government even care about whats in our best interests, or is it all just.....politics?



Cited works :

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Causes_of_Death

 http://www.mpp.org/reports/faq-mj.html

 http://economics.about.com/od/incometaxestaxcuts/a/marijuana.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2010/03/legalize_mariju.html

All pictures were obtained through : Google Images.

 

Mary Jane, oh how I love your name.

Mary Jane, Ganja, Reefer, Chronic, Sticky Icky, Kush, Weed, Cannabis or the one name that is familiar to everybody; Marijuana. This one substance has always been a huge talk of discussion since before time. According to About.com, marijuana is the most widely used drug in the world, with a 2006 survey stating that there are a estimated 14.8 million users in the United States alone. This blog is strictly to bring awareness of certain facts about marijuana to the general public who are not aware, and also to refresh the memories of those who are. Marijuana has always been a controversial topic to begin with. Some people think of it as a gateway drug that will lead to destruction, while other have involved it in religious purposes such as the Rastafarian religion.


I shall take you back in time with a quick brief of what marijuana is. Why do people smoke it? what effects or feelings does it give? and why is it banned? First off marijuana is a leaf that is grown. According to  medical news today.com, it has 3 variates of plants which are Cannabis Sativa, Cannabis Indica and Cannabis ruderalis.The word marijuana, with its current meaning, is said to come from Mexican Spanish, which then spread to other Spanish-speaking nations, and then made its way into English, and other languages as well. Marijuana, which means "Maria" (Mary) and "Juana" (Joan or Jane), is sometimes misspelled as marihuana or mariguana. The active ingredient in marijuana is called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC for short.

There are many ways one can smoke marijuana. The buds of the leaf are generally smoked and not the actual leaf. However in some places in the world, the leaves can be grinded into a certain slimy substance which can be mixed in drinks and ingested. The most common way to smoke marijuana is through a joint, or a spliff as some might call it. It is usually a very thin paper that gives the least chemicals whilst burning if the smoker decides to roll his weed. Another very common way to smoke it is in a blunt. A blunt is usually cigar paper but also can be a tobacco leaf. The smoke would get there marijuana "high" as well as a mix of tobacco in it as well if they smoke cigarettes. The third most common way of smoking marijuana is through a bong. It is a long glass pipe that is filled with water, and has a stem which is filled with marijuana. Once the stem is lit, the smoke travels through the water to give the smoker a more cleaner and rich form of smoke to be inhaled that travels upwards out of the bong through the hole. Over the years however, other ways of smoking have included pipes, vapourisers, flavoured zig zags etc. So grab your seats, free your minds and lets explore natures own; marijuana

 
SPLIFF                                                           BLUNT          


BONG

Cited work:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/246392.php

http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana

http://zebraisfood.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/big_spliff.jpg?w=500


All pictures were obtained through : Google Images.