Although I imagine Jim Arciero and Jim Antonelli would disagree, I say absolutely. There are lots of students who could use a legal prescription for reefer joints and this would help keep our police focusing on real crime and not a user of ganja for legit medicinal purposes... The war on drugs is a failure and a huge waste of resources so lets move in a progressive direction and besides it would solve the WA drug problem if students were bringing their medicine to school

Legalize and tax it already!

Reminds me of a professor in school. Simple logic: capital is needed by Governments, so legalize something and tax the hell out of it.

It's a really bad idea. California and Colorado are experencing serious abuses of this so-called medicinal use of marijuana. It's an addict's and drug dealer's delight. Since Massachusetts decriminalized the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana the schools are filled with students taking these drugs and then driving.

According to which studies on the MA and student connection? It's purely annicdotal

Legalize it and tax it! I don't think marijuana is going to "go away" as this same fight has been going on for the last 40+ years. Take the taxes collected and use it for education in the state.

To Juno: No studies need to be cited. Simply read the news as reported. California and Colorado are actively seeking to close the phoney clinics.

Sure, might as well keep the Mexican drug cartels who have killed 10000's innocent people in last few years in business, then their money then filters back to terrorist organizations and Marxist groups, who then kill young american soldiers. Really Intrigues me how the college students who claim conservative values get wasted on the weekends smoking pot. Some of their college friends are down in South America as army special ops soldiers fighting against those same drug suppliers that they are buying their marijuana.

Please read today's Lowell Sun for the story on Jeff Allison. He says that marijuana is indeed a gateway drug and almost cost him his life. http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_21533043/back-from-dead-ex-baseball-star-makes-fiery

Allison was headed for the needle regardless, he started with cigarettes before pot so is that the real gateway drug? Most crackheads start with pot but most who try pot don't smoke crack or inject. It's not a casual relationship

Statistics show that people who smoke marijuana are also 60% more likely to get cancer, so then it becomes a health issue. Men who were smoking between 1-3 joints per week are testing positive for prostate cancer and we all know its much more than 3 per week with today's college crowd, to add: marijuana now is much stronger than in the 80' and 90's. What your going to have is a real nightmare in 5-10 years.

Oh no reefer madness, our kids will never make it!!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reefer_Madness

it is not a gateway drug - that is nonsense . alcohol is the true gateway drug .

It doesn't lead to anything but enjoying food and sex and having less pain/symptoms for one's given condition . period .

you apparently have none .

so, you're a 12-stepper who can't deal/hang with the realities of life, I guess . truth is the best role model there is. i'm here to bring it . take your narrow-minded lies somewhere else .

No, cannabis aka marijuana is NOT a gateway drug. alcohol and other currently-legal drugs/substances are the true gateway drugs. this gateway thing is a big LIE that has been perpetuated by interested parties (any corporation that stands to lose big profits if it's legalized - tobacco, booze and big pharma as they know their drugs are nowhere near as effective or healthy. they're all terrified.)
guarantee any perc-addict simply has a weakness for opiates which are a WHOLE other can of worms. a much much harder class of easily-abused substances that are LEGAL and widely distributed/prescribed by just about every M.D. out there. and part of why ? because the pharm. reps. schmooze them and push their given drugs.

If you smoke crack you probably smoked pot (poly drug use) BUT and this is key the cast vast vast majority of marijuana smokers don't move on to hard drugs

Countless scientific studies. Here is one I am familiar with:

http://news.ufl.edu/2012/07/10/alcohol-gateway/

You can refute the same tired propaganda but let's see the studies supporting the casual correlation between pot and hard drug abuse

Or more
http://scienceblog.com/12116/study-says-marijuana-no-gateway-drug/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2538065.stm

Scientific studies vs personal experiences.. hmmmmmmm. There is a flip side to every coin. Would you not say that best bet to give young adolescents is not to try drugs at ALL?

You said show evidence, I did....you change the line of conversation.
Typical.
You assert that's its most certainly a gateway drug show me more than anecdotal experiences of a very small group of marijuana users

How can you say that? Drug abuse is out of control. What is the best advice to give young adults? answer.......

Also, I had thought the article asked about legalization and not about young adolescents specifically? I most certainly wouldn't support arresting adults for recreational drug use in their home or possession of pot merely because kids might get the drug (all ready easy)
Answer to your question yes, I would rather kids not smoke pot ( and many otht things) but that's another conversation, I think alcohol should be legal for adults and again I think its preferable kids not drink

Compared to the number of pot smokers, the % ( as detailed in the study I posted) who go on to hard drugs is less than 1℅ , this is a very small ℅

Legalization. I say NO. Medical marijuana is prescribed to some degree now and morphine is used in hospitals with cancer patients and the terminally ill. legalizing marijuana will just open a can of worms, like always. Look at CA. its a mess.. I Agree on the rest.

Can't help but notice when your key assertion is shown to be skaky at best you move to another smoke and mirrors scare tactic, this is why a failed war on marijuana continues, its called throw it all against the wall and see what sticks approach

Sorry Rocky but you cannot convince any former poly drug abuser that legalizing marijuana is a good thing....... Only Time will tell, as always..

"Sorry Rocky but you cannot convince any former poly drug abuser that legalizing marijuana is a good thing....... Only Time will tell, as always."

I'm a former poly drug user & agree w/him.

The gateway argument is a silly tale our elders told us to keep us away from the drug. It didn't work. It's counterproductive & self fulfilling. What happens the first time a kid gets high & they realize it isn't the crazy dangerous substance they were told? What other harmless fun were we keeping them from? Then w/everyone around them saying "it's not addictive" they try it, only to discover this time we didn't lie. We are doing kids a huge disservice with the gateway rhetoric. What about alcohol? Cigarettes? Caffeine even?

Do people start smoking cigarettes because they're legal & easily obtained?

On the flip side did prohibition stop alcoholism?

Legalizing doesn't create a bunch of reefer addicts out of people who would otherwise not be & keeping it illegal doesn't stop people from using it. It's pointless.
Tell kids like it is.

The article though is about Medical MJ. IMO alcohol is far more dangerous, abused by a lot of people but it's legal, produced, sold & taxed. Alcohol & cigarettes have no medicinal value, purely recreational, yet legal. Both are also physically addictive, MJ is not.

The problems of CA & CO can be avoided. The fact that so many other states have already done it is beneficial for us. We can see what aspects should be included or avoided.

Also MJ doesn't need to be smoked making it's consumption relatively healthy. THC is released from MJ at a lower temperature than combustion. So they make vaporizers that basically heat it & you inhale warm air. No tar, combusted material or, as far as we know - carcinogens. It can also be cooked/eaten. The "smoking causes cancer" argument isn't relevant anymore.

Joe, you really should renew your research on the subject instead of using whatever anecdotal evidence you've accumulated. Every argument you make against it is either untrue en mass or just more scare tactics that you haven't come to terms with yet. Legalizing really doesn't do much more than make the Govt revenue, remove a bunch of useless noise from the conversation & reduce crime.

Oh, I forgot one thing. It reduces drug use. Yes, where it is made legal usage actually decreases, not increases. As prohibition showed us, making it illegal does the opposite. Portugal decriminalized all drugs, and I do mean ALL. Reefer madness reigned supreme, it's been a huge success story. Keeping non violent people out of prison alone saves them millions.

http://www.businessinsider.com/portugal-drug-policy-decriminalization-works-2012-7

Everyone sitting here complaining about how cancer patients and people in serious need who can benefit from marijuana shouldn't be allowed to are straight up ignorant.
I can also guarantee that none of you have actually smoked marijuana since you were in high school and are left with vague memories.
I can guarantee if you tried smoking marijuana now you would see why so many people are supporting this. You are in so much more in control while under the influence of marijuana opposed to alcohol. Look how many deaths there have been directly related to alcohol... How many for marijuana? NONE. Point proven.
Also there is so many other ways to consume marijuana besides smoking it which lots of people clearly aren't getting threw their minds. Are you telling me if you had a family member who decided that marijuana was there remedy of choice for dealing with pain that you wouldn't support them? You would rather them popping OC's,perks, and all other kinds of narcotics?....
No one who isn't in favor of medical marijuana has even brought up a valid point as of yet. People talking about marijuana supplying mexican drug cartels?! Are you serious? This is professionally grown marijuana that is being supplied to medical patients.... Not big marijuana fields ran by drug cartels in the middle of Mexico which is getting smuggled in peoples gas tanks over the border.

jo