I define morality as “the act of mirroring the innate good of one’s essence in their physical and mental state, and doing their best to help the world with such a form, as well as maintaining purity of body and mind (through physical and mental homeostasis).

Pot affects people’s minds. It changes their personalities, which, you have stated. Pot makes people lazy, stupid, and often laugh at things that aren’t really that funny. The laughter is not authentic; it is simulated, it is false, it’s all the chemical. You’re not really having fun, and when you come down, you’ll realize it.

Also, there is the “Good Samaritan” scenario. Ignoring someone in need is just as horrible as harming them yourself–how often do you hear stories of people who are high saving people from being mugged or raped? I would expect if a stoner encountered someone being harmed, they’d just go “Oh shit” or something and move along, despite whether or not they would do anything sober. Though, statistically, most people don’t do anything, but I’d think that there’s less of a chance if the individual is under the influence.

And there’s just the issue of affecting one’s own intelligence. Even if it’s temporary, it’s still harm. WHY the hell would anyone want to make themselves stupider? I have had friends who were pot-stupid all the time while sober! You laugh at that character in movies and TV shows, but when it’s real and constant, and you have to deal with it, it is friggin’ annoying! Especially in serious situations.

Also, there’s some more personal opinion in here. Most people I know and am friendly with have weird-ass senses of humor sober. We’re weird, we’re fun, we have the sense of humor of really stoned guys–and I have been picked on all my life for it. Yet, every single person who ruined my high school life intentionally takes a substance to be more like I am, but with less rationality, less motor skills, and every other side-effect. It makes no sense to me, and it makes me laugh, because I don’t need a substance to have fun like that. I laugh at stupid jokes, I can meditate to relax, I eat weird shit, and, in the blink of an eye, I can drive a friend to the hospital or explain to an authority figure what we are doing on the jungle-gym of the elementary school at 3:00 AM.

1.Non-Addictive(could possible be habit-forming)
2.Not a “Gateway Drug”(People make their own choices)
3.Relaxing and Enlightening(Major Anti-Depressant Properties)
4.Safe(DISCLAIMER)
*5.Getting High is not dangerous.
99.9% of people’s comments I have read online portray getting “high” on marijuana as some kind of evil thing.(as if that’s abusing the drug.) That just doesn’t make sense but they’ve probably never done it before. Getting high is just the feeling of euphoria that you get when you are soooo relaxed. I’m serious, it’s an herb, not a medicine. It can be medicinal, but you shouldn’t need to make up some excuse to be able to use it just for medicine. It’s just like any other plant like carrots or corn.(Sounds unbelievable, but keep in mind that it is impossible to OD on Marijuana)

Disclaimer about safe:There are some carcinogens IF you Smoke the pot kind of like how tobacco has carcinogens. (This mainly can cause congestion but not much really.) It’s not going to cause lung cancer or lung disease though.

The absolute SAFEST way you can partake of the pot is either by ingesting it or vaporising it. Vaporising consists of heating up the pot just enough so the THC(active ingredient) evaporates from the cannabis. A common way to do this is with a lightbulb and hollowed out pen through a bottle cap.(not to be mistaken with meth!

I’m not saying that it’s a good idea to just sit around all the time and do nothing. That’s just laziness!!! But as an intelligent person who has had the pleasant experience, I would highly recommend more people try it! I guarantee you’ll love it. You won’t be addicted, but you will love the way it makes you feel. You’ll be happy. And, best of all, compared to Alcohol, it’s more natural and it is 1 million times better for you!

All I”m saying is be very careful what you believe!! The fact is there have been very little true scientific studies.(Don’t use that against anything though) Innocent until proven guilty.

“Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse”
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(07)60464-4/abstract

The abstract available on their website, and you can read the full article after free registration. How Stuff Works shows the ranking they came up with and the multidisciplinary scientific assessment they used to make it:

“Is alcohol more dangerous than ecstasy?”
http://health.howstuffworks.com/health-illness/treatment/medicine/medications/drug-ranking.htm

The long and short of it is, if our drug policy were based on science, marijuana would be legal. And if our drug morals were based on reason, marijuana would not be stigmatized.

“Scientists want new drug rankings”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6474053.stm

Thanks–glad you liked it. Yep, only article I’ve written on the ethics of illegal drug use. Surprisingly, this is one of the most popular articles on the site. Most readers land at Socrates Votes via google, and at least a third of the time they’re searching “is smoking pot immoral” or some close variant. I wonder how often portions have wound up in plagiarized term papers

Do indeed keep the risks and ethical implications of the negative effects in mind, do whatever you do responsibly, and come back anytime.

From what you’ve said, it sounds like you and your buds do have things in perspective, and so long as you’re being honest with yourselves and not doing anything dangerous, behaving ethically. Keep one another in check though. Take that commitment seriously and don’t be afraid to call someone out if they start slipping–you’d expect the same.

P.S. “milking the snake” —

I think marijuana catches a worse reputation than it deserves. I think anyone who has both, smoked pot and drank alcohol, would be willing to say that pot is definitely the safer among the two. (Except of course the occasional person that pot just really messes with for some reason! Maybe it’s allergies?!) Alcohol should be illegal before marijuana. Look at the statistics of drunk driving accidents. Do you hear about marijuana related accidents the way you do accidents involving alcohol? NO. Not to mention as you said Matt, the domestic problems that arise.

I actually think that pot is a topic that many people are not even completely honest with others on for the fear of being criticized. Matt, Perfect example with Michael Phelps. Do you really think he would have EVER publicly admitted smoking pot if not forced too? And, he is still forced to publicly claim it is a bad choice whether he actually feels that way or not, due to his status. I think many of us would actually be surprised to know how many people around us actually smoke marijuana on a regular basis. These people may not participate in other “bad” activity, even drinking. I actually know people that smoke marijuana on a daily basis that function just fine; they get up and go to work, go to school, take care of families, etc., the point is they are fully functional, smart, responsible people. It’s just a great stress relief for many.

If marijuana was to become legal, it may actually decrease the use of other drugs. Who knows the real truth of that, but it would be a hope. Like Matt said it would also reduce violence at our borders. Not to mention the reduction of dealers and the tax dollars that would actually benefit the economy. Chaching! Oh, and don’t forget the growers; someone would have to produce it.

Overall, I take a positive stance on marijuana. I see where people can see negatives about it but, what is their real knowledge and experience with marijuana. It is not for some people. If you don’t like it, don’t smoke it.

By the way Matt..cool website, I’ll have to keep an eye on it!

I do recall there was a time when alcohol was banned from the land of the free (the USA) in the 1920’s, as this ban was going on, people were sneaking around and serving the alcohol illegal much like we do with drugs like weed.

Which brings me to my theory that alcohol was in high demand in those time (1920’s) which became extremely scares, so that meant people paid ridicules amounts of money to get there hands on some moon shine. In the 1920’s guess who were the biggest bootleggers in the country? The Kennedy’s. John F. K. became president did he not? My theory is the government did this ban on alcohol because the rich were getting richer off of it and while the poor were getting drunker. So who is to say that the government is banning the usage of weed because they make a profit off of it, maybe our next president’s family are under ground dope dealers.

Commenting on weed as a gateway drug, alcohol is a gateway to anger, rage, and behavior that can be unruly. Many people react to substance in different ways. Although I have never smoked weed, I know plenty of people who do smoke weed and they function great. But of course there are those who can’t function at all but there can be restrictions to this if it were legal.

People that are rich can only afford harder drugs …so most college student just stick to the gonja. Yes, crack is cheap …but seriously how many college students do you know that actually do crack? And actually stay as a college student; there priorities were not straight to begin with.

So you make several observations: 1) It’s puzzling why weed’s illegal why alcohol is not; 2) Culture shapes our moral biases; 3) Smoking is a personal decision; 4) Pop entertainment generally glamorizes soft drug use.

Those are all good points. I might add to #2 that while culture and upbringing certainly predisposes our moral lens, almost everyone is capable of revising their morality on reflection. Actually, everyone is probably “capable,” but different people refuse to seriously analyze their personal ethics for different reasons. Some are afraid that their status with friends and family depends on a shared set of values, so they don’t challenge those values, no matter how unsupportable they may be, just for the sake of maintaining those relationships. Some people find their moral biases convenient, since maybe they already dislike someone they deem immoral, or their own behavior is somehow rationalized. Some people’s personal ethics are tied up with their religion, and they’re afraid that thinking too hard about what we ought to do would be blasphemous. And some people are just intellectually lazy.

Moving beyond those barriers probably takes courage, self-confidence, and some innate desire to do the right thing. So I shouldn’t say everyone has it within their power to think about ethical issues with their own mind. Just everyone with a sliver of courage, dignity and goodness