Do you think weed should stay illegal?

Personally i think it should stay illegal. Thats just telling people its ok to smoke weed all the freaking time out in public. Then youd never get away from it. More and more people would turn to drugs to make them "cool" well smoking dope doesent make you cool, my friend cares more about weed then the people they care about. If you like it, thats fine. But i dont think it should be in everybodys face. Not everybody wants to see it. Annoy somebody about a stupid plant why dont ya?

The question you are asking is a matter of usage over experience, the drug itself can give negative effects, but in turn so can cigarrettes and alcohol. Now the usage of the plant can provide a stimulus for the economy, if the government were to highly tax sales, likewise the plant can be used to make all kinds of materials and products, form clothes to paper to relaxing agents.

This is one subject I have some difficulty with. I used to consume a large amount of cannabis daily. Since getting clean my life has improved 100%. I fully believe that pot is a negative thing (no matter what the hippies or "functional potheads" say.) I am a much better person since I stopped getting high.
So I am typically against the legislation movement that seems to bet getting momentum. One point that always sticks in my mind when I hear about it on the news is, if it was illegal when I had a problem with it who's to say that the fact that it is illegal has any deterrent effect? I mean I could get pot in High-School easier than anything including cigarettes and alcohol. Perhaps if it was legal it would be even harder to get? Or perhaps it would have been easier to say "hey I have a problem and I need help!" But then If i could just go to the "pot-store" and get more then it would have been A LOT harder to stop. I never liked dealing with drug dealers so not having to call them to get back on the wagon made it easier to stay away.
This is such a complicated issue I don't really know if there is a "right" or "wrong" answer. Just many opinions.

In my country New Zealand, drug use is viewed very strictly by the law and get huge jail sentences, a few have avoided it as they were unwell or growing it for medical use a recent case was a elderly women selling it by giving the money to charity and not a threat and does a lot in the community got community service instead. I think that, it being legal could lower crime and may do good for the economy and government would benefit from the tax they would impose on it and could be used to make things as well. I reckon it is a hard subject and also, there may be some benefits and some negatives if it is legal or not and in my country is not legal and not a good thing to do as you will be punished for selling or growing it.

This concerns me as an old friend just moved to NZ and I am sure he must still smoke a lot, as if he didn't I sure he would have approached me as a support to help him quit with my recent cessation. I pray for him once in a while.
But you raise a great point about the taxes, I hear Colorado is very happy with the revenues. One other interesting point is that the people who would lose the most if its legal is the drug dealers and drug gangs. If legitimate companies who operate under the rule of law takeover the business, then the criminals lose a stream of income. Just look at Mexico and Columbia. How much hardship have the common people of these places suffered as a result of drug related activity?

Your opinion on keeping weed illegal seems to imply that prohibition works. We've seen that it doesn't though. Would you really be okay with someone rotting in a jail cell next to rapists and murderers simply for smoking weed? I'm not. Also, just because weed is legal, doesn't mean it has to be legal to smoke in public areas.

I think that it is bad for you, but that does not mean it should be illegal. What I do not want is teens thinking this stuff will improve your health. Although, it may not hurt you directly, I know from a personal experience it changes your mindset. We should keep this in mind.

I think weed should be legal. The side effects aren't more harmful than other legal substances. Also, the reason why weed is illegal in so many parts of the US and Canada is mostly political.

Making weed legal does NOT mean you can smoke it in public. It should have the same laws as smoking does now. You can only do it in certain areas, no public places.

Yes, weed should be legal.

No. It's not as bad as alcohol. Alcohol should be illegal if anything. Many cultures smoke it publicly at ceremonies and it's tradition, they don't kill each other or anything. I wouldn't smoke it, I'm not for drugs. But it would save people from trying to smuggle it in and killing each other for it.

Money unfortunately is what drives the world. If they can tax it, use it, and spread it, then the revenues they earn can simply be STAGGERING. Have you seen what Colorado did in sales? It's stupidly high. Somewhere in the ballpark of 76 million or something (at least in 2014, I know it's probably more now.)

But the same could be said of the Prohibition Era - the government was tired of not being able to make money of the sales and distribution of alcohol because the gangsters cornered the market. They then with heavy rules imposed allowed it back. Why? To tax it. To make money.

I see it as a cycle. It's just time. Most things will be become legal in time if they make the government even that much more money.

First of all, let me just say I don't advocate for it. But it should be legal. If cigarettes and Alcohol (two substances that have killed far more people that weed) are legal, then weed should be too. The fact is, there are more reasons to make it legal than to keep it

I've asked the same thing in another forum but majority of the replies I received were in favor of legalizing weed, saying it makes for an effective pain killer and that there are several weed-smokers who have remained good people. When I looked at current stats, however, I came across this information: "8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010." Knowing that prevents me from warming up to the idea of legalization. If crime rates caused by marijuana are higher than the number of people saved by it, better to do away with the drug.

You are right but not they way you think you are.
Please allow me to conduct a little thought experiment. Lets say criminals treat these "avenues to ...make money" as stocks on the stock market.
So you have the marijuana stock, the cocaine stock, the weapons stock, the illegal immigration stock, the prostitution stock ect. It's been a good year for weed and your stock is up! What do you do with all that profit, well you re-invest. Perhaps you start to use that money to import more cocaine. Then you pay a guy to bring you some girls from an impoverished country to pimp out. You buy a crate of firearms, and add another coyote to you smuggling operation. Profits from one stock allow you to buy more stocks.
But let's say the government makes marijuana legal. You had 100 million in marijuana stock and the market just crashed and now its worthless! OF COURSE your going to look to other ways to make money, but now you have less money to invest in illegal activities.

In my opinion, weed isn't really the problem, but given how is it looked nowadays, it would only be a "transitory" drug to help go on other ones like cocaine, heroin and all drugs that fall in this rigorous category. This is how most people begin their "journey", shall I call it this way.

In my opinion, marijuana should be made legal, or failing that, at least decriminalized. Your not going to get marauding gangs of pot heads, roaming the streets for munchies, if it's made legal. People who smoke it now, will still smoke it, people who don't, won't all of a sudden have the urge to roll a joint, just because it's now legal to do so.

Very little will change, as regarding it being a gateway drug to lead in to other things, that can be said for any drug, including nicotine and alcohol...and they've been legal for years, so what's the difference?

I think it should be legal. Less drug dealers, better quality of life. I't's not like everyone and their uncle is going to jump on the weed wagon. My guess would be it's going to be controlled, just like alcohol and cigarettes. And you can bet there will be lots of places where smoking weed will not be allowed, just like cigarettes. At least we should give it a try and see what happens. If it doesn't work, ban it again.

I think recreational use should be illegal. It has medicinal properties and that alone should keep it from not getting banned.