Do you think medical marijuana legalization is a baby step to full legalization?

Wow. I wasn't going to attempt to answer this question until I read the previous respondent. "When they smoke themselves to lung cancer, they'll want public help with paying for their cancer meds."

Harsh, man...harsh. Well, the good news is that THC (the active chemical in marijuana) is prescribed for cancer patients! How serendipitous!

I state for the record that it is my sincere and heartfelt hope that I will see legalization of marijuana in my lifetime. However, I doubt that outcome. I realize that I am probably in the minority here, but I believe that the whole reason that cannabis has not yet been legalized, legislated, and standardized is that there is a whole lot of money that will then be lost by the pharmaceutical industry.Do a standard web search on the benefits and/or usages of marijuana (OK, discard the crackpot pages) and you are likely to find that cannabis is a plentiful, cheap answer to many current medical dilemmas including pain relief, nausea relief for cancer patients, and even treatment for ADHD.

And look how much money Big Business would lose if these ideas became mainstream! Case in point...I am an individual who cannot, for multiple health reasons that I will not bore you by naming, take any pain medications. Yes, you read that correctly, "any.

" No, not even Tylenol. No anti-inflammatory drugs.No opiates or synthetic opiates. This made my life quite...um, "awkward" when I snapped my tibia one year ago.

While most folks are released from the hospital post surgery with a veritable pharmacopia of good drugs, yours truly was sent home with nada. I was told to avoid alcohol as well. Whee!

If you ever have an opportunity to recover from a broken bone and subsequent surgery without the benefit of decent pain-relieving drugs...just say NO! Seriously, take a pass. While I'm sure it was a character-building experience, it is most assuredly not an experience that I ever want to repeat.

Contrary to the responder who stated that "the vast majority of medical marijuana supporters couldn't actually care less about sick people, and are just chomping at the bit for their party drug of choice to be legalized, and thus tickled pink that sick people can be their sympathetic spokesmen," there are actually people out there who would love to have pain relief/nausea relief and have it legally. There is anti-marijuana prejudice, and it is wrong and unfair, as well as ignorant. Hell, I don't need to SMOKE it, just extract the THC and give me a pain medication that I can use!

But you know what? That's not going to happen as long as there are myriads of folks who can tolerate and then become addicted to opiates such as morphine, oxycontin, oxycodone, etc. Because the same people who manufacture those drugs also make methadone to ease addicts off. It's a win/win situation as far as their bottom line goes.So, count me in for either medical or legal marijuana.

And spare me the crowd of sneering vindictive folks who denigrate marijuana use, then pop their Valiums, oxycodones, vicodins, and percocets. Limp a mile in my shoes.

Not only has the legalizations of medicinal marijuana shown a proximity to full legalizations, several states are decriminalizing small amounts to that of a citation. For example, Massachusetts recently passed a law in January 2009, stating that an ounce or less of marijuana is now a civil offense, and only carries a $100 fine, and they confiscate your "pot". With that said, you can stroll around Boston with a blunt, and you are not committing a criminal act.An ounce of marijuana is shown in this picture.

That's alot of weed! (Please note this picture was taken from the internet and was NOT taken by me!) My personal opinion, I do not use marijuana. I would never be able to function, and I am not fond of the idea of walking around "stoned".

However, I am a smoker. Yes, I know, shame on me. But I say this to prove a point.

The taxation of cigarettes has taken the average price of one pack to $8. Imagine the revenue should marijuana become a legal and regulated substance like alcohol or tobacco. Granted, I certainly do not want to introduce those substances to children or encourage it's use, but the truth remains, it will be used regardless of it's legal standing.

By legalizing it we would not only see an enormous amount of revenue flowing into the economy, but you would also have regulations in place as we do now with alcohol.It is illegal to drive while intoxicated, it is illegal to purchase by minors, to distribute to minors etc. You must have a license to distribute etc. By placing restrictions and regulations on such a "hot" commodity, you would be more equipt to enforce them as well.By taking the criminal element out of marijuana, we are reducing it's public safety impact, and possibly reducing it's usage. I know that it certainly wasn't as fun to drink alcohol, once I was legally old enough to do so.

On the one hand, I would say there is little precedent for something going from a regulated medication to a recreational drug. Most things that are available through prescription (painkillers, most notably) that addicts would like to have accessible are no closer to being legal for recreational use today than they were at any point in time. That having been said, I believe that the vast majority of medical marijuana supporters couldn't actually care less about sick people, and are just chomping at the bit for their party drug of choice to be legalized, and thus tickled pink that sick people can be their sympathetic spokesmen.

They've wanted this drug to be legal for decades, and have found their "in. " That gives the advantage of social pressure to the legalization argument that just doesn't exist for other medications. The large amount of money sitting on the table, just out of the grasp of very broke state governments, is also going to play a large role.So, I guess were it any other drug, I would say no.

But because people have wanted this drug legal for so long anyway, I would say yes, this is a step towards full legalization. Ironically, when they smoke themselves to lung cancer, they'll want public help with paying for their cancer meds.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.