When I was younger, I was what you would call a "pot head." Yes, I smoked nightly, daily, while home and out places. That stopped quite a few years ago, when my partner got fed up with it and told me that she'd leave me if I didn't stop getting stoned.

I do not smoke anymore, but I would smoke occasionally if I was able. The people these days lace all of the marijuana with cocaine and other heavy drugs, so it isn't pure anymore. If I had a child who wanted to try it, I would have to have it with them - I would not allow them to try it on their own, because I don't feel that it's safe.

But regardless, I have, and would in the future if the occasion arose. Generally speaking, though, it's not something that I do frequently anymore or even at all really. Those days are far long gone. less

I smoke weed pretty much every day. It helps with my anxieties, and it does not make me lazy, or stupid or unmotivated. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Pot has a terrible stigma attached to it BECAUSE it's illegal. Yes, some people do stupid things while high.. but is it because of the weed? Most likely not. Honestly, I think alcohol is a lot more harmful and I rarely drink because of this. less

Weed and sex were made to go together. The only way I've been able to achieve prostate orgasms fully is when I've been smoking weed too. At this point in my life, I only smoke pot if I'm going to have sex or trying to have an orgasm party in my butt for a couple of hours. less

Ecstasy and LSD - least damaging? Tell that to my dry as dirt tongue(x) and my aching back (LSD) in the morning. :p

I support the full legalization, trade and regulation of marijuana within the United States. As a high school student, I regularly smoked with the supervision of a trusted adult to deal with an eating disorder that was threatening to take over my life.

As an adult, I used marijuana to spur creative focus and sexual intensity. It's a plant. You grow it, you cut it down, you cure it and then you smoke it.

Sure, there are people who act like idiots after they've smoked a bowl or twelve but those are the same people who would act just as stupidly on any other drug, alcohol included.

Many people in high powered professions smoke once a day, twice a day, three times a day - and *shock and awe* they're some of the most powerful people in the world.

As with every single substance on the planet, what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander and vice versa. But there are a ton of people who could benefit from the legalization of this 'drug'.

The Greeks had a philosophy - for one to be free, another must be enslaved. There are very few arguments I hold this to be true, but when put against the benefits versus the cons of marijuana I do. One person smoking pot does not affect someone else who doesn't want to smoke pot adversely. You not wanting to smoke pot and make it a criminilized activity, does adversely affect me. It's wrong for you to impose your beliefs on my personal activities. Just as it is wrong for the extremist right to prevent two people who love each other from getting married. less

I really don't think there is a single rational argument to keep marijuana illegal. It is far less damaging than alcohol on a number of levels, and it is of course something that was growing naturally long before we ever invented laws or opinions.

That is of course the most basic argument for legalization, but there are plenty of other good ones. I think economics is quite high on the list. Keeping weed illegal makes the cash generated from the sale of it the province of criminals, some of whom are highly organized and violent. Mexican drug cartels not only actively import weed into the US, but operate large scale growing operations in this country. These operations are almost always bad for the environment, and often times they involve the destruction of property when they involve renting property from unsuspecting landlords. These costs are significant. Keeping Pot illegal only keeps the enormous revenue generated from its cultivation and use in the black market. There is also the reality if incarceration in this country which is has become an intolerable burden on our economy. Non violent criminals are put into prison for marijuana offenses only to be either abused or to just become even more sophisticated criminals. This cost is astronomical. In CA, it cost $45,045 (see link) in 2009 to incarcerate a single criminal. Meanwhile, the amount of money devoted to a public school student in CA is $9,863 (see link).

I think the calculus is pretty simple here when you have a staggering federal and state budget crisis as well as wholesale erosion of our educational system not mention the very values that underpin it. When you are paying 4.5 times more to incarcerate a criminal than you are educate your future, then you have a serious problem.

Not only does this seem like common sense to address, but there is the reality that MARIJUANA IS ALREADY AVAILABLE TO ANYONE THAT WISES TO USE IT. Please forgive the caps, but this is the elephant in the room. The laws as they currently exist (and admittedly they are slowly falling apart) do NOTHING but impose unecessary cost on the system. Furthermore, legalization would only serve to keep marijuana out of the hands of youth, who now have very easy access to it. It is far more difficult for a teen to get their hands on booze than it is to get their hands on weed, and this is because alcohol is regulated well. At this point what argument is there to keep weed illegal? Seriously? Not a single overdose has been attributed to marijuana, unlike marijuana or multitudes of prescription drugs. Pot smokers are generally non violent and just want to be left alone (there are exceptions to everything), so why should it be illegal? Should it be illegal just because you don't like people that are stoned? That's a ridiculous argument. Should it be illegal because you don't like the smell?...That's insane. Should it be illegal because it has always been illegal and it just seems like the right thing to do? Absolutely not. Should it be illegal because you've either never smoked it or you have smoked it and didn't like what it did to YOU? Don't be so self centered! Live your own life and let other live their own in peace! Sorry for the rant, but it's irritating still be dealing with this irrational view of a plant. less

Ecstasy and LSD - least damaging? Tell that to my dry as dirt tongue(x) and my aching back (LSD) in the morning. :p

I support the full legalization, trade and regulation of marijuana within the United States. As a high school student, I regularly smoked with the supervision of a trusted adult to deal with an eating disorder that was threatening to take over my life.

As an adult, I used marijuana to spur creative focus and sexual intensity. It's a plant. You grow it, you cut it down, you cure it and then you smoke it.

Sure, there are people who act like idiots after they've smoked a bowl or twelve but those are the same people who would act just as stupidly on any other drug, alcohol included.

Many people in high powered professions smoke once a day, twice a day, three times a day - and *shock and awe* they're some of the most powerful people in the world.

As with every single substance on the planet, what is good for the goose is not necessarily good for the gander and vice versa. But there are a ton of people who could benefit from the legalization of this 'drug'.

The Greeks had a philosophy - for one to be free, another must be enslaved. There are very few arguments I hold this to be true, but when put against the benefits versus the cons of marijuana I do. One person smoking pot does not affect someone else who doesn't want to smoke pot adversely. You not wanting to smoke pot and make it a criminilized activity, does adversely affect me. It's wrong for you to impose your beliefs on my personal activities. Just as it is wrong for the extremist right to prevent two people who love each other from getting married. less

I really don't think there is a single rational argument to keep marijuana illegal. It is far less damaging than alcohol on a number of levels, and it is of course something that was growing naturally long before we ever invented laws or opinions.

That is of course the most basic argument for legalization, but there are plenty of other good ones. I think economics is quite high on the list. Keeping weed illegal makes the cash generated from the sale of it the province of criminals, some of whom are highly organized and violent. Mexican drug cartels not only actively import weed into the US, but operate large scale growing operations in this country. These operations are almost always bad for the environment, and often times they involve the destruction of property when they involve renting property from unsuspecting landlords. These costs are significant. Keeping Pot illegal only keeps the enormous revenue generated from its cultivation and use in the black market. There is also the reality if incarceration in this country which is has become an intolerable burden on our economy. Non violent criminals are put into prison for marijuana offenses only to be either abused or to just become even more sophisticated criminals. This cost is astronomical. In CA, it cost $45,045 (see link) in 2009 to incarcerate a single criminal. Meanwhile, the amount of money devoted to a public school student in CA is $9,863 (see link).

I think the calculus is pretty simple here when you have a staggering federal and state budget crisis as well as wholesale erosion of our educational system not mention the very values that underpin it. When you are paying 4.5 times more to incarcerate a criminal than you are educate your future, then you have a serious problem.

Not only does this seem like common sense to address, but there is the reality that MARIJUANA IS ALREADY AVAILABLE TO ANYONE THAT WISES TO USE IT. Please forgive the caps, but this is the elephant in the room. The laws as they currently exist (and admittedly they are slowly falling apart) do NOTHING but impose unecessary cost on the system. Furthermore, legalization would only serve to keep marijuana out of the hands of youth, who now have very easy access to it. It is far more difficult for a teen to get their hands on booze than it is to get their hands on weed, and this is because alcohol is regulated well. At this point what argument is there to keep weed illegal? Seriously? Not a single overdose has been attributed to marijuana, unlike marijuana or multitudes of prescription drugs. Pot smokers are generally non violent and just want to be left alone (there are exceptions to everything), so why should it be illegal? Should it be illegal just because you don't like people that are stoned? That's a ridiculous argument. Should it be illegal because you don't like the smell?...That's insane. Should it be illegal because it has always been illegal and it just seems like the right thing to do? Absolutely not. Should it be illegal because you've either never smoked it or you have smoked it and didn't like what it did to YOU? Don't be so self centered! Live your own life and let other live their own in peace! Sorry for the rant, but it's irritating still be dealing with this irrational view of a plant. less

Weed and sex were made to go together. The only way I've been able to achieve prostate orgasms fully is when I've been smoking weed too. At this point in my life, I only smoke pot if I'm going to have sex or trying to have an orgasm party in my butt for a couple of hours. less