Why is alcohol legal and pot is not?

[ringmastery]

I don't see anything different in the health effects. Both are fine when used in moderation, and both can have devestating consequences if abused.

[DenverDem]

1. One makes you stupid

and one helps you see through the propaganda.

[elfwitch]

2. William Randolph Hearst

His was the most influential lobby for the criminalization of weed. He was losing his ass on his paper mills due to hemp paper production.

[Archae]

6. Also the racist SOB Harry Anslinger.

You see, pot was smoked a lot by non-whites, so Anslinger made up all those horrible "pot will make the niggers rape white women" stories.

[loftycity]

14. Anslinger what a Hack did it just to keep his job or else he would of

been out. Archae, didn't Anslinger have to leave because of alcoholism? Yeah, I think that was it. The irony of it all!

[Archae]

16. Some stuff about Anslinger.

In front of the Senate in 1937, he said these:

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others."

"...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races."

"Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death."

"You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother."

"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."

Here's a short bio of Anslinger, nothing about being a boozer.

http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/anslinger_harry/anslinger_harry.shtml

[loftycity]

21. Archae just a snip from"Drug Crazy," a book by Mike Gray

www.mikegray.com
Great book, I think you would like it.

Pauline Morton Sabin, a Republican aristocrat who administered the coup de grace to Prohibition by leading a million women into the arms of the Democrats.
Harry Anslinger, a former railroad cop who guided theBureau of Narcotics through five administrations and engineered some of the most enduring and pernicious myths of the drug war.
Pablo Escobar Gaviria, the Colombian kingpin who nailed asuspected informer with a bomb killing him along with a hundred innocent airline passengers.
From the men and women in the forward trenches, Drug Crazy brings back a grim report: the situation is deteriorating on all fronts. In a sobering tally of the cost in crime, human suffering, and cold, hard cash, it documents the failure of crop eradication in the source countries, the hopeless task of sealing the border, and the violent world of the major players. We see the steady erosion of the Bill of Rights and a grinding criminal justice mill so overwhelmed it s running a night shift.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

28. Wait....I thought pot just made you mellow...

I didn't know it caused you to kill people. God, that's such bullshit... And they all wonder why kids think they're dumb. BECAUSE THEY LIE!
Duckie

[LastKnight]

3. cause DA MAN DOSENT WANT IT TO BE LEGAL nt

[GumboYaYa]

4. Cause you can't make paper with sour mash.

[Warpy]

5. Racism, hypocrisy, classism, ageism

Alchohol has been the drug of choice for rich old white males. Pot is generally favored by the young, minorities and the poor. The rank hypocrisy comes in because unlike alcohol, pot is not physically addictive and is far less devastating to body systems than alcohol is.

That doesn't mean some of the psychological symptoms aren't devastating in heavy abusers. It just means when you withdraw the drug, there are no lasting physical symptoms.

Pot may be at least as carcinogenic as tobacoo, but consider the relative dosages. Few but the most dedicated stoners would average more than two joints a day; the average nicotine addict smokes two packs a day, or forty cigarettes. If anybody tried to smoke that much pot, he'd be unable to stay awake before he got halfway there!

There is no real reason to keep this drug illegal except the four cited in the title, and they are not flattering reasons.

(oh, and before the flames start, I don't do drugs and have no desire to start. The drug war is a waste of lives and resources and should be ended immediately just for those reasons)

[elfwitch]

7. weed ain't drugs man!

It is the sweet blessing of Mother Earth.

Seriously though... I saw a bumper sticker ones that sums it all up for me:

GOD made POT
MAN made ALCOHOL
Who do you trust?

[Mnemosyne]

10. AMEN!

[GumboYaYa]

9. "If anybody tried to smoke that much pot..."

If anyone wants to test that theory, I know some volunteers.

[chenGOD]

22. I've smoked upwards of a half oz. in a day

on three occasions.
One time it was ditch weed, the other two times were some high quality BC strains.

made it through the day on each of those occasions.

[LiberalVoice]

31. When I hit the lotte...

I am buying a pound and me and two of my friends are going to sit there and smoke ALL of it til it's gone. No matter how long it takes. Besides, you can always order in!

[Mnemosyne]

8. crack cocaine vs powder

rich vs poor

sentencing for powder coke {mainly used by wealthy} much lighter than for crack {mainly used by poor}

I use neither, just info.






Sorry, didn't mean ashamed to smoke, don't use coke since 70's though.

Cirrosis=alcohol abuse

[elfwitch]

11. One shouldn't have to be embarrassed...

to say that they have smoked pot. I have. I LOVE it!
I'll take weed over booze any day of the week.

[GumboYaYa]

13. Me too. I'm not ashamed at all that I smoke.

I associate with a lot of people who like to drink. I hardly ever drink, but I smoke every day. At parties where my friends are drinking there is always at least one who makes an ass out of him or herself. I don't do stupid shit like that anymore. Why should I be ashamed when they are the ones acting like idiots?

[gulfcoastliberal]

12. Whacko's like Gabriel Nahas

the feds pay these "scientists" to prove pot is just horrible, really terrible. Meanwhile, the "scientists" always come to the same conclusions as the DEA since they don't publish peer-reviewed work and derive their funding from the feds. The truth is out, though. Everyone knows marijuana has real medical advantages over many conventional treatments.

[johnnie]

15. Well.....

Haven't you ever seen "Reefer Madness"? That stuff makes you craaazzzyyy.....

[SlingBlade]

17. MONEY

Its all about the money.

[Apeplanet]

18. because politicians love to drink

and not many of them smoke pot

[FighttheFuture]

19. Imagine all the psychotropic pharmaceuticals that would not be needed...

if pot were legal!

No money in pot for corporations and government (maybe some as taxes). You can grow it yourself. Today's reason is drug companies and, well, little minds need something to color their black and white world.

[SouthALdem]

20. Good question!

If they legalized it, the government could potentially make a killing! Of course, the cops would have a lot less to do since a large number of defendants I see hauled off to jail are for marijuana possession (I'm a criminal defense attorney).

Alcohol was illegal at one time too. Society hasn't gone completely nuts as a result. Well maybe so but not from the alcohol. More from the crappy Republican leadership we've had since then.

[Mnemosyne]

26. Great point!

Welcome!

[dsc]

23. alcohol became very popular

before a law was passed to ban it. Ban a popular activity and either you have a nation of law breakers or you have to have draconian penalties.

[notadmblnd]

24. hemp has about 100 good uses

alcohol has one.

[jmowreader]

29. Alcohol has a lot of good uses

It is an excellent cleaner.

You can't French polish furniture without alcohol.

It is capable of pulling water into solution with gasoline.

A number of racing series use alcohol as race fuel.

It kills germs.

[Kat45]

25. Also, the drug companies can't patent it and make a fortune

off it like they do with other drugs.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

27. Because the man has to keep you down, man...

God, I'm channelling Hyde from That 70s Show. You know the government has to keep anything that is going to cause you even the remotest happy though illegal so that if you do partake of it, you will get arrested if caught.
Duckie

[LiberalVoice]

30. It's all about the $$$

It's illegal because our govt. couldn't make any money off of it. No one wants to go to the store and pay $20 for a pack of pot cigs. When they could just go to the corner and pay less for unprocessed pot.