Why is it illogical to argue that marijuana should be legal because alcohol...

[AnonymousAnonymous]

...is more harmful, yet legal? Is it not reasonable to expect the legal substances to be safer than the illegal ones? Preventing potential harm to oneself/others is the basis for outlawing substances in the first place, right?

Please only answer my question, no ramblings on the topic in general.

 

[tomusiaka]

You should not assume that a substance is less harmful just because it's legal. There are many legal drugs in pharmacy that are much more harmful to you than marijuana and some other drugs that are illegal. Also, glues and other chemicals that can make you high are legal but they are very harmful to your body.

People who want to make marijuana legal have other reasons, too. For example, there are couple countries where legalizing drugs made people use them less and safer, or that if someone wants to hurt himself, he will do it any other way using any other substance that is legal or just will buy an illegal drug from a drug dealer that potentially could be even more harmful because it is not regulated by the law.

People who don't want to make marijuana legal believe that making it legal would make a lot of people use it and hurt themselves and others. Hurting others would include families (father got addicted and is not supporting his own family), other drivers (driving when "on high" can be life threatening), other poeple (accidental) and government's budget (more accidents would mean more filled up hospitals and drug addicts usually can't afford to pay their medical bills because they spend all their money on drugs).

There are other valid arguments on both sides though but the one you gave is actually not a valid one.

 

[MoonlitPharoah]

It's not an illogical argument, but now no one wants to address the issue because the government would have to admit it made a "mistake", to put it in the most benign of terms. The most honest would be that the politicians which are majorly funded by the pharmaceutical industry wants you to buy their drug (whether it be more harmful or not.) Also keeping marijuana illegal is big business when it comes to arresting otherwise law-abiding citizens (cops, lawyers, more prisons). This is prohibition just as it was with alcohol,only in this case they have conveniently grouped marijuana with much more destructive drugs so they can further penalize citizens and take away even more freedoms in the guise of protecting america from the scourge of drugs. They have even used their propaganda to try and group those who buy drugs with those who support terrorism. The only thing that is fueling drug related crime and lining the pockets of the worst criminals is the continued prohibition of marijuana.

 

[trai]

"Why is it illogical to argue that marijuana should be legal because alcohol is more harmful, yet legal?" Because chemotherapy is more harmful than both. But it should not be illegal, as it is currently our most efficient, non-invasive treatment for cancer.

"Is it not reasonable to expect the legal substances to be safer than the illegal ones?" No. Substances are (supposed to be, at least) controlled based on their potential for abuse verses their potential benefits. Example: Toluene. It's an industrial solvent. Some people use at as in inhalant. Prolonged use literally rots holes in the brain. It's not illegal, because a much larger majority of people use it to manufacture things like paints and rubber. If more of society used it to rot their brains than manufacture things, it probably would be illegal. In fact, there are cities and counties where it is more strictly regulated than most of the country, as result of epidemic abuse.

"Preventing potential harm to oneself/others is the basis for outlawing substances in the first place, right?" No. Criminalizing a substance altogether is the basis for eliminating access entirely. Regulating and labeling are the basis for "preventing potential harm to oneself/others."