the three contraversies: where we stand on marijuana legalization, gay mariage, and

[mj2397]

This thread is made to mainly disscuss these three controversial issues. In the end, however, anything may be disscussed as long as it sticks to the rules of dont insult or make fun, dont become to inappropriate, and stick to those three topics as much as possible.

I myself believe in full marijuana legalization, gay marriage as a personal freedom, and that the economy is like a really bad joke; your trying to laugh so as to not make things awkward, but in the end, you gotta admit that it sucks badly.
Anyone willing to keep an open mind is welcom

[martin48]

I support all three - is that enough in-depth discussion? No chance to vote though

[trish]

legalization of marijuana: count me in (though it will never happen and it's politically wise never to mention it).
legalize same sex marriage: count me in (and it will definitely happen and probably sooner than later).
the economy: Could be better for laborers; i.e. they could use more jobs, better working conditions and higher pay for their record increases in production. Couldn't be better for corporations; they're making record profits, paying virtually nothing in taxes, exploiting workers by reducing their benefits, decreasing their pay, hiring less and getting more production from them. Stock market's up. Relative to world markets the U.S. is doing fine. The do-nothing-congress has vowed not to do a thing to help the economy until Obama's out of office. Don't believe them, they won't do anything then either because they are philosophically opposed to all the programs that came out of the new deal. They want to go back to the days of the robber barons. In the meantime, GOP governors have dumped thousands of teachers, postal workers, policemen, fireman and others onto the job market.

[martin48]

legalization of marijuana: count me in (though it will never happen and it's politically wise never to mention it).


Something radical needs to be proposed for the drug culture, but no politician dare mention it.

Stephen Rolles (British Meical Journal) argued that:


Consensus is growing within the drugs field and beyond that the prohibition on production, supply, and use of certain drugs has not only failed to deliver its intended goals but has been counterproductive. Evidence is mounting that this policy has not only exacerbated many public health problems, such as adulterated drugs and the spread of HIV and hepatitis B and C infection among injecting drug users, but has created a much larger set of secondary harms associated with the criminal market. These now include vast networks of organised crime, endemic violence related to the drug market, corruption of law enforcement and governments.

[Prospero]

The foolish war on drugs will continue i susect. Marijuana should be legalised. (Not acid, cocaine, heroin etc)

Sane sex marriage. 100 per cent.
The economy.... I'll take a raincheck on that one (but NOT Romney/Ryan!)

[Stavros]

Marijuana, and indeed all so-called hard drugs such as heroin, cocaine and its crackling buddy should be legalised in the same way that most pharmaceuticals, tobacco and alcohol are legalised, even though in the case of alcohol, it does not prevent bootleggers making their own bathtime vodka (and often poisoning people as a consequence). The concept of illegality is a strange one because humans have been taking stimulants since the beginning of recorded time; if there are bans on some medicines, it is because the clinical trials have not been able to establish that they are safe, although drugs prescribed in the US can be banned in the UK.

The core issue with addiction and the crime it can generate, is not the drug, which tells you nothing about the person using it. Why they are addicted at all is the issue. Years ago there was a theory that heroin addicts were schizophrenic, that they had severe problems in communicating and relating to the world they lived in, and used heroin to deal with it, only to discover that their tendency to malfunction in their social milieu was worsened through addiction, thereby increasing their psychological dependency on the drug. I once worked in a hospital where addicts were in and out all the time, and once saw one of them die on the table. In another case, I was told the addict had never been able to get over the death of his sister, which may have been partly his fault, even though they were both children at the time. There are psychological reasons for addiction, and it doesn't have to be an addiction to hard drugs. Re-classify it as obessive-compulsive behaviour, and you have the case of a man who used to eat 150 packets of pork scratchings a day until the salt intake landed him in hospital.

Drugs are mostly controlled, and mostly safe -legalise them all and take them out of the control of crime syndicates.

Gay marriage is an irrelevance to contemporary society, and a waste of government resources and time. The question is: why do people want to get married? What does marriage mean?

The economy is not a single policy issue, so the question, if there is one, has no single answer.

[danthepoetman]

Pot should obviously be legalized or at the very least decriminalized. I agree with Stavros that some other of the so-called hard drugs could also be. Punishing people for “offences” related to the use of substances in itself is totally absurd. Let people deal with what they want to consume, if there isn’t a chemical danger, intrinsic to the substance itself, of addiction or harm.
People should also so obviously have the right to love and marry anyone they like. That gays don’t have the same rights as anybody else in this society to this day is a shame that will resound in history forever. Simply put, it’s disgusting.
I think we should extend this idea to the rights of transsexuals, of course. They should have every possible facilitations to deal with their condition and every institutional rights every body else has.
One thing you haven’t touched in your post, Mj2397, is the right to die. It should every bit as obviously be granted to very sick people. But I even think, personally, that it should be given to people who rationally wants to die. It shouldn’t be necessarily considered a mental illness to have the desire to end your life; such a desire can be legitimate in itself and justifiable.
Generally speaking, I find that we are still being treated like childs by the State. To me, it has a lot to do with historical Christianity, which presented God as a father whom of course knew better than we did ourselves, what to do with our lives, and imposed his heavenly will through proper, appointed authorities. We don’t need such so-called guidance anymore. We should be allowed to decide of our lives and of our personal faith in every possible way as citizens. Anything else is a remnant of values belonging to the former faith. We should take to the full extent the principle of separation of Church and State, and liberate moral values from civil liberties.