I have seen more immature-irresponsible behavior from people who drink.

It all depends on what your job is. If you are responsible for the lives of others then you shouldn't be impairing your judgement in any way during work hours. I know it's hard to believe but some people actually do better work when they are stoned - the stereo-type of a lazy, munchie eating stoner is just that a stereo-type. For some it energizes and sparks creative thinking and problem solving. As far as immature behavior - alcohol is a bigger offender - hands down!

While I agree with the legal ideals of taxation & regulation. I feel that people over the age of 19 "still smoking" are not immature; rather discerning of the elements they allow into their bodies. It is proven that marijuana does not have the horrible effects on other body systems that prescription anti-anxiety meds do. Its benefits far outweigh its dangers when consumed appropriately. Know the facts when trying to determine the flaws of its usage. Alcohol is imbibe by many and they act far more immature in my opinion than the philosophical & mellow smokers.

So drinking is mature! It is just legal and socially accepted! I smoke pot and I have off and on since I was 13. I am currently obtaining my second degree from Penn State and I have a 3.7 GPA. I am 47 years old and if I want to wind down and relax with a bowl, then let me. furthermore, lower the price to purchase it and regulate it. I do not believe pot should be smoked around children due to the second-hand smoke type contact buzz. Secure a place in the home or in public to smoke. Create jobs by constructing smoke houses/restaurants/lodges mainly for smoking pot! Society does it for alcohol, which is considered the most addictive drug and the gateway drug. Alcohol ruins lives and family relationships. It is deadly and dangerous. Smoke pot; feel peace.

I would say your ignorance and judgment are more immature than those who indulge in marijuana....

I own a tobacco retail store and Hookah Lounge and while I no longer use pot I hear many people speak openly that they do. Many many of them young to middle aged women. Some in their 50's. They all are professional, either long career postions or college students who also work (internships, etc.) who hate to drink and are weary of pills, as they should be and even a few grandmothers. I have never heard of someone going home, getting high on pot alone and shooting someone in rage. I have never heard of a Marijuana overdose (though I am sure it happens but is rare and ultimately non fatal). I have never heard of someone loosing their eyesight and pooping their pants as a side effect of Marijuana. On the contrary, THC reduces glaucoma, fights brain cancer, reduces pain and anxiety, aids in depression and cancer treatment and too much more to post. The only reason we have not re-legalized marijuana is because the pharmacutical companies would loose millions ++ on their anti depressants, pain relievers, anti- anxiety and narcotic medications. There would probably be less crime if it were legal (after learning about crime rates in countries where marijuana is legal) More tax dollars could be spent fighting real drug crimes involving Meth, crack, cocaine, prescription drug abuse, terrorism and the like. We could possibly pull our country out of debt if it were taxed properly. Also since it was made illegal, suicide rates have skyrocketed although there are more "depression treatment medications" on the market than ever before who have side effects of all things that include suicidal tendencies! Just my opinion though. Thought I would share it.

I completely agree with everything you have said in this post. I am a Grandmother, 50 years old, and often relax by smoking a small amount of Marijuana, a half a joint or less. I have been prescribed anti anxiety drugs that have many more side effects, and think that marijuana is better at handling insomnia. I very seldom drink alcohol, it causes upset stomach, headaches and interferes with my good sense. There are many more problems caused by those who consume alcohol - violence, automobile accidents, sexual assaults and many other unproductive activities, which happen as a result of drinking. I have first hand knowledge of this, having been involved with a drinker who was extremely violent after drinking. When I smoke, I feel relaxed and still able to take care of all my "home chores".

Marijuana would be a crop that many of our American Farmers could produce in most any region of the country, and it could revive the lives of small farmers who have been pushed out by the mega corporate farms. Tax it, regulate it and our economy would benefit!

I think it should be legalized. I smoke it. Why? I have 3rd stage mesothelioma, and over a period of 6 years, I have consumed 19,400 dilaudids, and over 12,900 norco's for the pain I have. I smoke weed and I don't get sick from the sideeffects and don't wake up puking in the mornings from the narcotics. You call drinking safe? Bull crap. I do not drink, and have had one beer and threw up and never drank again. Drinking and driving you hear it all the time, you don't hardly hear of marijuana smoking and driving. If the government was smart, they would legalize it, and in turn moderate it, and get us out of this financial mess we are in right now. It would give back to the government billions if not trillions of dollars for their investment. Get real people. And in the crunch, people are growing it to survive. Come on you idiots in DC, stop talking the talk without walking the walk. You are trying to find monies for health care, and it could come from the sale of marijuana. I will continue to smoke it regardless of the stupidity of the government. You are no better no worse than are we, shame on you for your drinking habits and getting so drunk you don't know what you are doing, and the person that smoke a bowl or joint is going to be busted for it, and you aren't. I think this is the most illiterate millstones around the governments necks. Get real or have somebody else run for your seat that has some sense.

to Wondering 889785 you are too inmature to realize every benefit of marijuana. The medicine, stronger fiber, oils, and taxes. YOU ARE INMATURE

im really getting annoyed with all the people telling us pot smokers that we r immature!!! im not a 18 year old sitting around getting stoned all day!!! i take 1 or 2 "one hits" at a time. and MOST of the time, i only do it at night.. after my kids are in bed. i will only take a hit during a day when i am really sick or have a really bad headache and i KNOW i wont be leaving the house. this is the reason why it should be leagalized. if i drink a few beers and go to the store with my kids.. is that better to you than a puff of pot and staying home??? NO I DONT THINK SO!!! understand that i have medical issues and the pills i have been given.... do more harm to me than the pot! they dont work most of the time and make me feel terrible. alcohol also makes me feel terrible! i dont see what the big deal is here people!! its grown from the earth.. its natural.... it can be used for many MANY MANY medical reasons... and u can make stuff out of it too. next time u r feeling sick and want to throw up.. try smoking a lil!! u will feel better! next time u are a lil stressed or cant concentrate.... TRY SMOKING!!! im telling ya.. IT WORKS!! stop judging us. if u dont like it.. well just drink ur nasty man made.. really bad for u.. alcohol! and then go out and drive and kill someone on your way home from the bar!! OK IDIOTS!!!! u know WHY i have all these medical problems?? I SERVED OUR COUNTRY AND WAS HURT!!!!!!!!!! i am a US army verteran!!! Go ahead , call me immature. But i serve for YOU!!!

That makes no sense at all. Anyone over 19 who smokes pot is immature?

They choose the safer alternative to enjoy their downtime and unwind. That in itself shows the maturity they possess. Choosing to smoke rather than drink or use other drugs, shows they have matured and can see that choosing to smoke cannabis is much safer and responsible than drinking or using other drugs.

I think you need to step back and re-evaluate YOUR life.

I play board-games with the kids, go for walks after dinner, watch a movie, and play rockband.

Except for you playing Rockband (we play GH), we could be related!! LOL!!

Exactly! Make it legal and regulated and take the stigma away. Then moms and dads can be truthful and live within the law.

I totally agree!! Legalize it so we can all be happy!

Please count my vote...smoking pot is harmless.

Getting high to raise your kids? You are a loser! Get involved with them and their interests instead of coping with them. It is a lot better than pot, believe me!

Come on! You haven't discussed the millions of people who have drinks in the evenings to relax and "enjoy" their children! Lock the drunken moms and dads up... make them attend manditory "get involved with your kids" classes! Be serious, there are far more parents who make bad choices in their parenting responsibilities after drinking alcohol than after smoking a joint!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, who are you to judge someone you don't know?
That is a problem to me, I would venture to guess that their children are very much loved and attended to. Someone who is quick to judge and condemn is someone I would not like my children learning from, I teach my children to love and accept people off all walks of life. I am an occasional smoker myself and my baby is far from neglected and knows that I am there for her and love her very much.

Yes! I find I have more patience and actually enjoy activities w/ the kids more. I'll play games (video or board), do coloring books, playdough or spend time outside with the kids and I'm not thinking as much about the 50 million other things I could be doing as "more productive." I am able to enjoy quality time with my kids and have that be my focus.

I think the thing people don't understand is the difference between getting "high" and getting "stoned". It's like the difference between having a beer and having 4 beers. It's about being responsible for your own actions. Once the kids are asleep and your not driving anywhere drink or smoke as much as you want. Just don't let it affect your life in a negative way.

Come on! You haven't discussed the millions of people who have drinks in the evenings to relax and "enjoy" their children! Lock the drunken moms and dads up... make them attend manditory "get involved with your kids" classes!

Agreed! Getting drunk to be with your kids is just as bad as getting stoned to be with them. Quit trying to use one bad behavior to justify another. Children that see their parents partake in this type of behavior often become users themself. Neither drinking alcohol or smoking pot are very good examples to be setting for a child. And, don't give me the "I do it in privacy so they don't know" arguement - they do know.

Be serious, there are far more parents who make bad choices in their parenting responsibilities after drinking alcohol than after smoking a joint!

And you get this "fact" from what source?

Someone who is quick to judge and condemn is someone I would not like my children learning from

And I wouldn't want my children to learn from someone that knowingly breaks the law.

I teach my children to love and accept people off all walks of life.

As do I. I also teach them to be law abiding citizens and to accept responsibility for their actions.

Sounds to me like you're teaching your children to be good sheeple. My children are taught to question what they think is wrong.....something our country's forefathers taught their children.

CharlieMac has it exactly right.... where are we to go moving forward if our children are taught to just be little clones of each other... where does there natural "self" come from in that kind of enviroment. You can raise you're little robot, and I will raise free thinkers.

i'm sorry but i have to disagree with you. marijuana is grown from the earth naturally...there is nothing "put in" marijuana and it is not deadly. maybe you should research it for yourself and find the facts about how marijuana has helped tons of cancer and pain patients and have not killed them.

Yes, sometimes people are way too judgemental. People take pills that have all these side effects and it seems to be okay, but something as natural as marijuana that can do the same thing without all the side effects is still illegal. As far as what's in it, well, just like anything else, people can add things to it, just like someone spiking your drink, has nothing to do with marijuana itself.

I also disagree with Deborahs comment: I find people who do not understand the drug are simply afraid of it and are quick to judge those who indulge in marijuana. Unlike alcohol and cigarettes and many over the counter drugs, there is nothing added to marijuana. You cannot overdose on the drug (trust me) :) And you never hear of people killing others in a car accident because they were high on pot. You do however hear many stories of drunk drivers killing people b/c they drank too much, yet thats legal to use. Doesn't make much sense to me... seems to be a hypocritical law to have pot be illegal. Especially when its natural grown on God's beautiful earth!! Yet we allow cigarettes which have so many nasty harmful additives to be legal when we KNOW it kills people!! Many people assume if you smoke pot you are this lazy bum who can't hold a job and are half brain-dead and all you do is sit around and get high. In fact it couldn't be further from the truth. My husband and I have been smoking pot for nine years on a regular basis and we both have great jobs, a beautiful home, a gorgeous daughter and love spending time with our family and friends. We just enjoy life and see no harm on smoking a little weed if we feel like it. Why is this country so afraid of legalizing a drug that simply relaxes and calms the mind? Maybe if doctors prescribed marijuana for stress and anxiety instead of all these addictive anti-depressants we could all get along so much better :) Think of all the money the goverment could make if they legalized it and sold joints like cigarettes and took the crime out of the drug? I'd be buying cartons of cigaweeds!! I say LEGALIZE MARIJUANA AND SAVE OUR ECONOMY! ;)

All drugs are dangerous to some point, Deborah, but not all are illegal. Alcohol is dangerous and it's legal. Why the double standard?

As for what else could be in it, it might be laced with other ingredients if the drug dealer ADDS things, but otherwise it is strictly THC. If it were legal, this would likely be controlled. The danger with marijuana is not what is in it or added, but that THC is a drug that is considered "reverse" tolerant. Unlike other drugs where you need to do more and more to get the same buzz, marijuana actually requires less and less to give the same "high" effect. That is because it is not released through urine, but stored in your fat cells. That's why you can sometimes test people long after they have done some marijuana and still find traces. I have not seen any studies that focus on the possible dangers with this and it's long-term effect on the body.

Im am pro marijuana.... but make no mistake, like the soda we drink, the food we eat, and the air we breath, it certainly has adverse long term effects. I can say this first hand having smoked pot for over 15years and counting (I am only 28). But I WOULD agree that like most things it is a measurable risk, and significantly less harmful than these "legal" drugs, (like the ones we shove down our kids throat because they like to jump around more than they like to do math). Simple fact is ... if you take protien powder to work out, or diet pills to lose weight, I mean in some sense we are all addicted to something. So for people to sit on here and bash other people just because your government says what you do is legal and what they do is not... well that is pure ignorance.

Thank you for making the ingesting point. If it were legal the price would come down or we could grow our own and I think ingesting would become a preferred method.

I agree.... ingesting it is the future, not if it is legalized but when.

You are implying pot smoking is destructive when it helps so many and that pot smokers don't exercise when that is simply not the case. It is used for more than stress relief.

Deb Sharp needs a puff.

Yes I have tryed to get my alcocolic husband to walk, ya know do something healthy like you say, it lasted 2 or 3 walks after he detoxed, then he went right back to his addiction. This has happened, oh -five or six times in the past 2 years. He is still drinking and can't even eat and keep it down. I wish he still smoked pot so he could have those"munches" and maybe he would gain back some of the 16 lbs. he's lost so far ( in the last 2 months) in THIS addiction! Unless you know one it's really hard to relate to their disease.

I am also a "motivated" smoker. It makes the household chores sometimes fun. :) The household projects, like getting rid of clothes my kids have outgrown or reorganizing that closet, is more of a focus for me. I also agree the illegal aspect of it causes some paranoia...that is the only thing I worry about. And, drinking alcohol, for me, makes me more dismissive...less attentive... and I don't like that at all. I think we need to reap the benefits...legal, tax and create thousands of new jobs!!

Jeanie, I agree. so sorry for what your going thur. I also love an alcoholic and wish like you he could smoke. This is an issue that NEEDS to be addressed before so many more loved ones are lost.

Thank you for your response. I lay awake at night crying, while he coughs so hard in the other room. He has to sleep in the livingroom upright, in the recliner because of the discomfort of the acid from not eating and has to drink to get rid of the shakes. Its a terrible cycle.. Ihave been married to him for 28 years, What a terrible thing to see the love of your life shrink to just a small being. Yes the should legalize pot for sure!

Dear Jeanie0812,

I hope you have a strong support system to help you though this, your right people don't understand if they are not living it. They think it's as simple as just stop drinking.

Im so sorry to hear this... I have seen many of my family lost to alcohol. I sincerely hope you get the help that your family needs. Stay strong

It is also illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to consume or buy alcohol but they're still doing it. Alcohol poisoning, drunk driving, is that socially acceptable?

Did anyone say anything about addiction? Pot is a choice and is not an addiction, alcohol is! Alcohol is too available- too cheap- and very addictive, once an alcoholic ALWAYS an alcoholic!! I have 2 siblings that are, and my good friend and MY HYSBAND! How many alcoholics do you know, or know of? People that are alcoholics are very good at hiding it, at first then it becomes too obvious because of the steady "take over", it's a very sad disease.

How many people go to rehab for pot? Rehabs are not overflowing with potheads.

The only reason it is illegal is because of corporate greed - do some research. Why aren't alcohol or tobacco illegal - because they are good for you? NO! Because they have powerful lobbies behind them.

It was very responsible air time, if you only knew how many happy people around you were that way because they took a puff. It's safer than all the antidepressants being pushed by the doctors with so many harmful side affects. That should be illegal!There should be more air time on this topic. Legal it could help solve our national dept problem.

Marajuana is not physically addictive. That is proven. As a "regular" smoker (about once a day, 4-5 days a week) and I can stop whenever and have zero side effects. There is nothing addictive about marajuana which cannot be said for alcohol, cigarrettes or coffee....or prescription drugs.

Illegal is not Illegal if the people take a stand....that is the point. I grew up watching drunks in my family beat there wives and children, I had to call police as a child (several times) to stop my alcoholic father from strangling my mother, my uncle spent 16 years in prison for killing a woman while drinking and driving. I do not drink because Ive seen first hand how destructive it is.....but legal is legal right? This sounds like it comes from a person with very little real life experience. Sorry to say, you just sound like you have no idea what you are talking about..... illegal is illegal. Hah!

I seem to remember a story about how a black person sitting in the front a public bus was illegal. A story about a woman named Rosa Parks whom we know consider an American hero.

The point is, just because something is illegal, it doesn't mean it should be.

And survey after survey (see above for example), news report after news report, tell us that the vast majority of the American people think that marijuana should be legal. Yet it isn't. Hhmmmm... I thought this was a democratic country?!?!

The only reason pot is illegal is because of the deep pockets of the lobbyists representing the alcohol, tobacco, lumber, and cotton industries. All of whom know they will take a massive hit if it is legalized.

I agree!! Unfortunately, I have a sister who is a heavy drinker, and it definately affects how she is raising her children. She becomes irrational and sometimes violent, and these extremes in her personality are scary for her children. She is often too "hung over" to get things going in the morning, and her daughter is the one who makes certain my sister's 9 year old son is ready for school, fed and dressed most mornings. Alcohol is very addictive, and is THE gateway drug for most every person in America...

I totally agree! I've been a user for 30+ years myself and have NEVER had the desire to use another drug. Come on you non-users get off of your soapbox and let it be. I am a strong believer that pot is MUCH safer than drinking. I've told users and non users that I'd rather smoke than drink anyday!