May 9, 2000
A Debate... On the legalisation of marijuana - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
VANCOUVER -- The subject of marijuna is an ever pressing subject currently. The federal government has sent out tenders for suppliers of marijuna for their pot study and the grow operations are being busted left and right in this town. BC’s biggest industry is arguably, pot. Herewith is the transcript of a debate on the subject...
< Joseph > My guest on The Commentary, this time around for a debate is Brian Nguyen. Brian is in Grade 11 at Sir Charles Tupper Secondary, and I had the pleasure of working alongside with him covering the NDP Leadership Convention of last February.
< Joseph >Good evening. I am of the opinion that marijuana should not be legalised. It is wrong for society to legalise a gateway drug.
< Brian > Hm, a gateway drug? As in......a soft drug that leads to harder drugs?
< Joseph > Right.
< Brian > By legalising marijuana, it allows the exchange of the drug to be controlled and regulated. The sale of marijuana is taken out of the hands of illegal drug dealers, who are generally the reason marijuana users sometimes move onto harder drugs. In Holland, where marijuana has been legalised, they've found that they have fewer users of soft and hard drugs, and they [the drug users] use those drugs in milder forms and in safer ways than we do here.
< Joseph > But legalising marijuana will create a bureaucracy just like cigarettes, and the size of government will grow, simply because they have to look after weed.
< Brian > Yes, but by legalising marijuana, you'll have less time spent on finding and arresting those who have illegal grow-ops in their homes. The legalization of marijuana doesn't necessarily mean that the size of the government will grow; there can be other ways for it to be carried out without increasing the bureaucracy. As well, in an article from the Washington government, the yearly revenue was estimated to be around $400 million.
< Joseph > 50% of high school kids, from a survey done by Prevention Source BC, have tried marijuana. Some of that 50% of them will probably go to harder drugs as they already smoke cigarettes. 50% of highschoolers try marijuana, I am simply making an assumption since cigarettes are a gateway drug already, marijuana speeds up the process of enticing people
< Brian > You say 50% of high school kids surveyed have tried marijuana.... Well, how many high school kids were actually surveyed? Anyways, it isn't actually marijuana that entices people to move onto other drugs; I think that a large part of the blame can be put squarely on the shoulders of the illegal drug dealers.
< Joseph > But the bigger picture, Brian is that marijuana is a drug and shouldn't be considered for legalisation.
< Brian > By the way, I personally think that cigarrettes can actually be worse than marijuana, as they are more addictive and have more severe withdrawal symptoms.
< Joseph > Than if marijuana is less stronger than cigarettes than they should make it legal... but they aren't legal now.
< Brian > Yes, but cigarettes and alcohol can also be considered drugs. In addition, they can do just as much damage to your health. In fact, any drug (legal or illegal) can.
< Joseph > One marijuana joint creates four times the amount of tar than tobacco smoke and 5 times the carbon monoxide intake.
< Brian > Cigars are just as bad if you want to put it that way.
< Joseph > But the proliferation of cigars are considerably less than marijuana. They cost more too.
< Brian > What costs more? Cigars, or marijuana?
< Joseph > Cigars do, and it's only the upper class that smoke stogies. Weed, any bum can get it.
< Brian > Wait, going back to one thing that you mentioned about the government... In the US, marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers $7.5 Billion annually.
< Joseph > Something that is not legal now, you'd want to make money off it in the future? Where are your morals?
< Brian > Well, legalising it would help in the regulation and control of marijuana use. Look at alcohol.... It used to be illegal too, but these days, I doubt people would question my morals if I started selling alcohol for profit (as a business mind you, not to high school kids.)
< Joseph > Marijuana is a hell of a lot more dangerous. It comes cheap, simply by dealers lacing the stuff or compromising its quality...
< Brian > As for your other comment on marijuana. I've mentioned already that in Holland, they've found that decriminalisation of marijuana actually allows users to use the drug in milder and safer forms.
< Joseph > Using a dangerous substance? That's wonderful...
< Brian > In milder and safer forms. I should also point out that alcohol and cigarrettes can also be considered dangerous substances.
< Joseph > How can you control quality on dealers and riff-raft?
< Brian > That's exactly why people want to legalise marijuana. By doing so, the drug is taken out of the hands of unscrupulous dealers and is then able to be regulated and controlled.
< Joseph > Regulating and controlling marijuana would simply be a headache and pain in the butt for bureaucrats and the public alike. Legalisation for you folks is to simply find a quick and easy solution. Drugs and the legalisation thereof, are not simple things to deal with...
< Brian > Well, you can also say that policing illegal marijuana grow-ops and marijuana users is a pain in the butt for bureaucrats and the public alike. The ideal plan would be to sell the drug at cheaper prices than what the dealers sell it for. That would put them out of business.
< Joseph > But if you're selling at cheap prices, it would solve the problems that are there, why would you need to pay for prohibition?
< Brian > Legalisation is a solution, yes. As for being quick and easy, well, that depends on how you see it. It's obvious that marijuana prohibition isn't exactly working, and perhaps it's time that something new is tried. And you wouldn't be paying for marijuana prohibition if the stuff were legalised.
< Joseph > I think you look to legalisation as quick and easy...
< Brian > I never said that I looked to it as a quick and easy solution.
< Joseph > Sure seems like it...
< Brian > I get the feeling you're going to try portraying me as a 60's hippie for your article... Heh... Anyways, back to the debate...
< Joseph > Bill C-8 says that those caught possessing, producing, importing and exporting, weed carries a $1000.00 fine and max of 6 months in jail... With all these raids, and these busts, don't you think punishments are being lobbed? Instead of legalising it, why not concentrate the efforts of those wanting legalisation into informing kids and folks alike that marijuana is bad.
< Brian > Obviously, if you legalise marijuana, then Bill C-8 would be abolished. Currently, some people who are caught growing marijuana are forced to spend more time in jail than (pause as I check my sources again.) violent offenders, and, as I've mentioned before, the cost to taxpayers is enormous.
(On education to kids, regarding marijuana's negatives) Well, you would still be able to do that if marijuana were legalized. Oh, perhaps at this point, I should mention that marijuana does have valid medical use.
< Joseph > The medical use of marijuana has not been proven... I agree with you on the prison thing...
< Brian > I'm glad we agree on something. As for marijuana's medical use, it is effective against diseases caused by tension and high blood pressure, menstrual bleeding, and glaucoma. As well, it relieves symptoms such as nausea and anxiety, and has also been shown to be an effective reliever of pain. I should probably mention that they have done tests on the effects of marijuana.
< Joseph > It's a synthetic form of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is sold in the US in the form of a pill called Marinol.
< Joseph > Marinol is very restricted as it has harmful side effects including mental illness
< Brian > Well, yes, THC is the main chemical in marijuana. (Pause as Brian checks some sources) In fact, some states in America have voted for the medical use of marijuana. If you want, I can get the names of the states that voted in November.
< Joseph > Pause for a sec... is synthetic meaning man made?
< Brian > Marijuana consists of more than just THC, and doesn't typically cause harmful side effects such as mental illness. Yes, it means man-made.
< Joseph > If it is than the THC used in Marinol is a synthetic FORM...
< Brian > Yes, that's what I was about to point out. Marijuana isn't man-made, whereas synthetic THC is.......and we all know that humans certainly don't control every aspect of nature.
< Joseph > Marinol is a smidget less real than weed, why should it not cause harmful side effects if we're using the big stuff?
Do cigarettes alter perception, Brian?
Do they? Because pot alters perception, causes excitement and mild euphoria, as well as fatigue. Regular use would reduce one's motivation level...
< Brian > Well, does alcohol alter perception? If you insist on that, then I'd like to go back to my points that cigarettes are much more addictive and have more severe withdrawal symptoms.
That would depend on how much of the substance you take. As I've mentioned before, if marijuana were legalised, intake of the drug would be regulated and controlled.
< Joseph > But alcohol and cigarettes are a hell of a lot more acceptable (socially) than weed.
< Brian > Yes, and why are they more acceptable? Simply because they've been around for so long. Look back a couple of decades.... Wasn't alcohol prohibited? That didn't stop the same debates about the legalisation of alcohol. My point is that if marijuana were legalised, then after a period of time, it would seem normal and socially acceptable as well.
< Joseph > How can you regulate one's buying of marijuana in a controlled society?
< Brian > In exactly the same way we regulate one's buying of alcohol and cigarettes. Heh heh.....
< Joseph > If we regulate like alcohol and drugs, it'll be a week max, before an underground market spurts up.
< Brian > The whole point of regulating marijuana is to eliminate the current underground market.
Other little facts..... In a study done by the National Academy of Sciences, they found that alcoholism was actually our worst drug problem, and heroin our second. (I should point out that this study applies to the US.)
< Joseph > So with your plan of legalisation, weed will be our worse drug problem and you will bring that upon society? Even if it is the US?
< Brian > Look at this way..... We're trying to control marijuana right now, and an underground market has sprung up. When alcohol was prohibited, an underground alcohol market sprung up as well. There is no evidence that marijuana would become our worst drug problem if it were legalised. And again, I'd like to go back to my example of Holland decriminalising marijuana use. They certainly don't have a big marijuana (or any other drug) problem simply because they've legalised it. You're just making assumptions now. Heh... If you're trying to portray marijuana as this big evil shadow appearing over all of us, it's not working. Heh.....
What are you, a tabloid writer? Heh heh.... (I hope you put that in your article!)
< Joseph > Legalising it will bring more people to the habit simply by giving society greater access than now... I am not a tab writer.. that's that Bacchus fellow
< Brian > Hey, don't you bring Lee into this!
< Joseph > The greater access, the greater the number smoking pot...
< Brian > Marijuana regulation would allow us to control who gets it, and in what amounts. At the moment, we can't do that, because of the black market. This is exactly the same way alcohol and cigarette regulation is supposed to work.
< Joseph > I think that marijuana is a danger to society, if it were not it would have been legalised in the 60's. It's a drug and drugs are bad, simply said Nancy Reagan was right. We should all say no. I can't agree with you just said re: regulation. Either we have it in full or not. I think weed should be removed from us, because we have enough crap going into us.
< Brian > Any drug has it's pros and cons. Yes, marijuana is a drug, but so is alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine.....as well as dozens of prescription drugs which are sold over the counter. The legalisation of marijuana wouldn't mean that you'd *have* to take it; it would be a choice, just like cigarettes or alcohol.
< Joseph > I know I wouldn't have to take it, but would I want to live amongst alcoholics, cancer inflicted bums and pot heads on top of that... Our neighbourhoods would be inflicted with such filth.
< Brian > Just because it isn't legal doesn't mean that it's bad. Alcohol was once illegal, but look at it now. Our society would fall into anarchy if the government tried prohibiting alcohol now. (Yes, I *am* just kidding.) There is a beginning for everything, and you can't look to the past for every example. Just because they didn't legalise marijuana in the past doesn't mean that we can't do it now. Perhaps they didn't know enough about the stuff in the past. We have enough information now to know that legalisation wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.
< Joseph > I am not looking to the past!!! Damnit, can you not see that alcohol and tobacco are legal and I support that, because that's the way it went... now is different... we know a hell of a lot more about medical stuff that marijuana is simply not constructive to people's well being.
< Brian > Nobody says that you'd have to be around people like that; it's completely your choice. Aside from that, your personal biases and stereotypes against people are showing. Heh.....
< Joseph > I'm paid to wear my biases on my sleeve, sue me. The last word is yours... Okay we agree to disagree.
< Brian > Anyways, it is my belief that marijuana should be legalised. As with any other drug, it has pros and cons to it; however, in the case of marijuana, I feel that the pros (for legalization) far outweigh the cons, and........my god, that sounds like garbage.
Wait, let me try again.
I'm for the legalisation of marijuana; it's obvious the marijuana prohibition isn't working well, and it's time that we tried something new. The legalisation of marijuana would allow an illegal black market that currently sells the stuff. The additional revenue would be a huge plus, and taxpayers would benefit from not having to incur the costs of maintaining prohibition.
< Joseph > It should be noted that Planta disagrees with disdain and disgust.
< Brian > Okay, for a medical report on marijuana, go to... http://books.nap.edu/html/marimed/... For a comprehensive page on marijuana and other drugs, go to... http://www.mapinc.org/
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