I bet you that if we were to take a Litteral NATIONAL survey detailing how Marijuana would be Legal and stating the laws that should come in effect if it becomes legal, I assure, you would get at least 70% of the votes for a Yes to legalize.

A nice little one-sided history. Even if that sordid history is true, it still doesn't address the issue of why it remains illegal today, or even why it should be legal. Therefore, it is completely irrelevant to the conversation at hand.

The narrative since then has been a continual litany of:

Politicians wanting to appear tough on crime and passing tougher penalties
Constant increases in spending on law enforcement and prisons
Racist application of drug laws
Taxpayer funded propaganda
Stifling of opposition speech
Political contributions from corporations that profit from marijuana being illegal (pharmaceuticals, alcohol, etc.)
... but that's another whole story.

"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."
"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."
"Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing"
"You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother."
"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."

I don;t think anymore tests need to be done, just the spread of false information needs to be reversed. If people are so afraid of even discussing Marijuana that they believe that it will have an entire forum shut down there's definitely something wrong. Sure, you often hear people preach about not using drugs, but I've yet to encounter a situation when someone will give the straight, unbiased facts.

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

Does anyone remember that scene from The Godfather, where the mobsters all decide it's okay to sell drugs to the blacks "because they're all just a bunch of animals anyway"? Racism a motivating factor on both sides of the issue?

Because we vote for those people and those people are supposed to act on our behalf.

That's not what I meant. I wasn't saying that it shouldn't be their choice if we should use it all, I meant they shouldn't choose that some should be illeagel and some shouldn't be even when they have equally bad effects. I mean, People who were addicted to Marijuana before it was illeagel got arrested, unless they could quit. But people who smoke can just keep on killing themselves. I actually think they should both be made illeagel.

Okay, so far we have aggreed that:

• Marijuana Doesn't Kill
• Marijuana may or may not cause addiction
• Marijuana May or may not cause retardation
• Once you smoke pot, you may or may not be turned on to harder drugs.
  
  Do we all agree?

Mmhmm, inhaling the smoke from anything is bad. The particles in the smoke can form tiny cuts in your throat/lungs and those tiny cuts can get infected. You can vaporize pot and that removes the smoke/gives you a better high. I'd vaporize if I smoked more often.

Question: Aren't you still inhaling smoke when you use marijuana? That can't be good for you.

I'm far more worried about the quality of the "fresh air" I'm breathing here in Los Angeles.

Eh, legalizing it takes all the fun out of it.

I have a feeling that, if the government puts high taxes on marijuana, smokers simply won't buy it from stores who tax it and they'll go on obtaining it the way they have been. Rather than avoiding the fact that marijuana is illegal, they'll just be avoiding the taxes, and it would be much easier to get away with.