Do not legalize the Devils lettuce
"No, We Should Not Legalize Recreational Marijuana Use"
-Tim Bradley
Morality of Marijuana
Freedom of the USA
Policies
Drugs vs...
"Use of marijuana with the intention of getting high, whether as a means or an end, harms the basic good of health in obvious ways. The effects experienced by someone who has imbibed alcoholic beverages too freely—impaired motor skills and disrupted psychological functioning—are similar to the effects experienced by someone who is high on marijuana."
"Marijuana abuse also damages friendship....intention involves harm to the basic goods of health and friendship, acting with that intention is always wrong."
"Even if such psychoactive substances can be used morally, they can certainly be abused and used immorally."
"While prohibition is not likely to make drug users choose to forgo drugs for the right reasons, criminalization at least indirectly discourages the vice by providing an incentive for people to avoid the behaviors that are occasions for abuse."
"The future of our project in self-government depends on the existence of a free and virtuous citizenry. Widespread drug abuse is a not a sign of liberty realized, but of liberty lost"
"No family is better off when one of its own abuses drugs. No child is better off with parents or family members who are drug users or living in neighborhoods and attending schools where marijuana is accessible. No community is better off when a large number of its people are drug users"
"Regulation of dangerous drugs is not an instance where federalism demands that the individual states be allowed to set their own rules over and against federal policy. Rather than eliminating illegal sales of marijuana, legalization has made Colorado “the black market for the rest of the country.”
"Child-oriented approach to drug policy would seek to inform children of the health risks of marijuana use."
"Conflict between states over legalized marijuana has resulted in the states of Nebraska and Oklahoma filing a lawsuit against the state of Colorado with the Supreme Court."
"Many people consume alcohol frequently without intending to get drunk. While excessive drinking is a serious problem for some people, the central case of alcohol use is not one of abuse, as in the case of marijuana use."
"This difference between alcohol use and marijuana use is morally relevant for the question of what stance the law ought to take toward the recreational use of either psychoactive substance."
"We have judged that despite the potential for abuse of alcohol it is more prudent to regulate its possession, sale, and consumption than to outlaw it altogether.
Why should the law treat marijuana any differently?"
"Not simply a private vice but an act that affects others beside the user, justifies the government, at least in principle, in banning the substance of marijuana and prohibiting its possession, sale, and use."
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Marijuana is being asses form a morality point of view. Bradley goes into a discussion about how any substance, especially a substance that already is known for abuse, is able to be legalized would be a hazard for people. Its intention is to essentially lose ones self-control and just relax. That means someone who is high off the drug would not be able to be 100%, which could present risks.
A big argument for the legalization of marijuana is saying that it hinders the full freedom of the United States of America as it hinders the full use of the freedom that our founding fathers intended. This argument is also discussed by Bradley as he points to the fact that allowing a drug, such as marijuana, to be legalized would hinder freedom as it would not allow citizens to be fully capable to be with families or participate in projects. The other point is that nobody wants to live or have a drug abuser as a family member or friend which can happen. This would hinder relationships indirectly.
Policies for any sort of new substance are a difficult task but when the details of the legalization tears apart states and causes certain states to fight over it is not a good sign. Education would also have to be changed to accommodate the new legal drug for kids to understand and not go into the wrong path.
The comparison of other substances is always made for marijuana. It can be a little complicated as alcohol can be a depressant while marijuana is not. Weeds main intention would be to get high also, which Bradley touches on, that alcohol can be a conversation starter in public areas, while weed is not