Why is marijuana illegal while cigarettes are legal?

Can anyone tell me the difference between pot and everyday cigarettes?

Why is it that pot is illegal?

Because marijuana changes your personality and ability to react

before I begin I would like to state that I am a medical marijuana user, a smoker, and a drinker. I have unbiased views on all of the above and have always sought to get my OWN information from scientifically proven studies. That being said I would like to shed a bit of light for some seamingly very misguided or at least propaganda controlled people here. These are all UNDISPUTABLE facts of all three and can be used to enlighten quite a few people about this topic when studied side by side:

marijuana:
- not addictive
- high tar content ( this can be controlled or simply negated with varying tactics)
- no proven long term detriments (dont try to refute this with unproven propaganda)
- 35 deaths reported to be caused by marijuana in year 2001 in ALL of America! (literally safer to use than... well pretty much anything)
- impossible to overdose or cause death (scientists have even failed in trying to kill LAB RATS with marijuana) Recent study shows the amount of marjiuana it takes to kill the average man, which is to (eat, therefore none is wasted) 250 pounds every fifteen minutes for about 2 days! And dont just believe me, google search it yourself!
- Medical uses:
-Anxiety (most common medical use)
-Nneuropathic Pain (pain from nerve damage)
- nausea, spasticity, glaucoma, and movement disorders
- Anorexia(powerful appetite stimulant)
- HIV, the AIDS wasting syndrome, or dementia
- Emerging research suggests that marijuana's medicinal properties may protect the body against some types of malignant tumors and are neuroprotective!
Cigarettes
- highly addictive
- high tar content
- long term ill effects (too many to list, too obviously bad for you anyway)
- 435,000 deaths caused in 2000 in AMERICA ALONE!! (OMG I need to quit!)
- Obviously causes death, cancer, limp genetalia, on and on
- NO medical uses
Alcohol:
- Highly Addicive
- long term effects (kills brain cells, liver damage, death, high car accident rate,etc.)
- killed 17,524 in 2002 in America alone
- Medical use: red wine lowers metabolism with moderate drinking =)

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7305 --- VERY INFORMATIVE SITE

Many of the people here exclaim that marijuana Makes you stupid, Potheads are all morons!, etc. therefore knowing that I smoke you must think I too am a moron. Let me tell you something about myself; I am 21 and I have a college degree in comp.sci, I am a Network Admin/Programmer and make $60,000 annually, I have the same IQ I was tested to have before I smoked pot(6yrs prior now) which is 145. I am also fit, I have a 6 pack, I am a kickboxer, a motorcyclist, and a surfer, I have many friends, a girl, and an active life too! NOW can you tell me I am a moron 'kamex' (poor uninformed above poster), I am BARELY drinking age! Now tell me, what makes you so great.

Correction to the end of the above post (comment system must have cut it):
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http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7305 --- VERY INFORMATIVE SITE

Many of the people here exclaim that marijuana Makes you stupid, Potheads are all morons!, etc. therefore knowing that I smoke you must think I too am a moron. Let me tell you something about myself; I am 21 and I have a college degree in comp.sci, I am a Network Admin/Programmer and make $60,000 annually, I have the same IQ I was tested to have before I smoked pot(6yrs prior now) which is 145. I am also fit, I have a 6 pack, I am a kickboxer, a motorcyclist, and a surfer, I have many friends, a girl, and an active life too! NOW can you tell me I am a moron 'kamex' (poor uninformed above poster), I am BARELY drinking age! Now tell me, what makes you so great.

Many of the people here exclaim that marijuana Makes you stupid, Potheads are all morons!, etc. therefore knowing that I smoke you must think I too am a moron. Let me tell you something about myself; I am 21 and I have a college degree in comp.sci, I am a Network Admin/Programmer and make $60,000 annually, I have the same IQ I was tested to have before I smoked pot(6yrs prior now) which is 145. I am also fit, I have a 6 pack, I am a kickboxer, a motorcyclist, and a surfer, I have many friends, a girl, and an active life too! NOW can you tell me I am a moron 'kamex' (poor uninformed above poster), I am BARELY drinking age! Now tell me, what makes you so great.
OMG PLEASE TAKE THE POST THIS TIME WEBSITE!

Because marijuana changes your personality and ability to react.

Talk about indoctrination. You could make the same argument about beer.

But then, you can't grow beer in your spare room for practically nothing. No money to be made from marijuana, so let's force people to buy cans of liquid that will clog their arteries and give them strokes and coronaries.

I'll stick with the weed.

because so many people are addicted to tobacco that if we all of the sudden made it illegal there would be a HUGE riot. same thing with alcohol, and I think alcohol effects the mind so much worse than marijuana.

because so many people are addicted to tobacco that if we all of the sudden made it illegal there would be a HUGE riot. same thing with alcohol.

my mother has to take marijuana in pill form every day and she doesn't do anything differently when she's on it, except maybe she's calmer. I think it should be the only drug that IS legal.

because pot is an addictive drug that can kill u...

The difference is that the government has not found a way to make weed profitable for them --- once they do it will be legal again.

because it impares your judgement. Their trying to take out the chemicle that makes you basicly high and then legalize it

THE REAL ANSWER TO THIS IS THE GOVERNMENT MAKES MONEY AND CREATES JOBS CATCHING PEOPLE ITS ALL ABOUT MONEY, MONEY, MONEY. I THINK WHAT A PERSON DOES IN THE PRIVACY OF THEIR OWN HOME IS THEIR BUSINESS JUST AS LONG AS THEY ARENT SELLING IT OR GIVING IT TO A CHILD WEED IS NATURAL IT IS ALSO A SEED BEARING PLANT IN THE BIBLE IT STATES THAT GOD SAW THE SEED BEARING PLANTS AND LIKED WHAT HE SAW (SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT)

all the illegal drugs are illegal because the goverment doesnt make profit from it because itts smuggled into the country
and ciggarets are legal because they make money from it all the stop smoking bullcrap is to make it look like they wana stop smoking if the did stop seeling tobacco products the country would loose millions in sales and imflation would go up insanely

wow, I just read on your comments that the gov't's trying to make pot legal by taking out the THC. I'm not smoking no THCless pot. anyways, the stupid gov't. Pot is a natural herb that God created here (and yes I'm a strong believer of christ and God. Anyways, the reason is this man back in the day blamed pot for the reason why he went out and slaughtered his parents. I guess it's just like Video Games, I love them, but people are saying that video games are why they decide to go out and drive crazy/hurt people. So I dont understand why that's not even illegal (and I'm glad it's not) but when pot is. Also, everytime a cop gets someone for pot, they turn around, put it back on the streets, then catch that person they sold it 2, then will take that pot they were trying 2 sell, and smoke it. (that's how it is here in Ga where I live) I actually smoked once w/ a cop off work, and he explained everything to me, he even wished it was legal, but said the crime rate would go up. I disagreed w/ him on that, b/c I dont see it hurting other countries. It does slow time down and you really shouldn't drive while high, but then again you shouldn't drive drunk either. I just dont understand why the USA is so hard on us when we're supposably free.

I live in the Netherlands as a foreigner. Most of you will know that Marijuana and its derivates are legal here. It used to shock me before. And despite not smoking it, I've learnt to accept it. Over here there are very strict laws on the sale/purchase/use of cannabis. Also driving under the influence is illegal, and punished.

However I dont understand why some people are being so anti-marijuana. If someone enjoys sitting down on a friday evening and rolling a joint, isnt that their issue. So long as it causes others no harm wheres the problem? I like a glass of wine with my dinner on friday, alcohol kills more people a year than most drugs put together. And also, pot smoke is much less foul smelling than Tobacco smoke.

So quite honestly, dont get so heated about it. If you like marijuana, smoke it. Please dont drive in my neighbourhood afterwards (please dont drive at all).
If you dont, then let it rest, if you dont care about something, how is it your problem.

I can understand parents wanting their kids to stay away from pot, but trust me, their more likely to have something bad happen to them after the drinking their going to do when they turn 16/17, than a little gram of weed they will try behind the bike shed.

“I think people need to be educated to the fact that marijuana is not a drug. Marijuana is an herb and a flower. God put it here. If He put it here and He wants it to grow, what gives the government the right to say that God is wrong?”

Willie Nelson

the united states of america and great britan are the only 2 counrys in the world that mary jane is illigal and if you notic those are the best two countries becous we have the most money highest work rates and the (HIGHES AMOUNTS OF DRUG USE ) so if we legalise it there will b less people using it and if we do legalize it all the major drug deleres will have no more money and whats the fun in that walkin into a gas station and buyin weed nah id rather sneak around at 2 am and meet some guy up and buy an ounce for 100$ hehe and we all know what happenes when you start bangin the mary j hehe you laugh at anything but weed also has some benifits you can smoke it whne you are sick and for some reason it will make you better quicker so it has helth benifits and you know the lotions that have weed extract in them how come that isent illigal if they can tax that why can they just legalise it and not sell it in stores so I can b off state probation

So here goes. The harrison tax act (early part of the 20th century) required you to have a 'tax stamp' to own cannibis products. the catch is you couldn't get the stamp unless you had the product. Anti - Cannibis legislation began in the south-westernn states as an excuse to deport immigrant populations (the most common users of marijuana in the region). Later, federal legislation came in to place due to lobbying by the wood paper industry, for fear that hemp (the basic form of the cannibis plant) and the ease and speed of which it could be grown, would turn the wood (tree) paper industry upside down (as hemp is a far easier product to produce and work with -- for many reasons) There was a large congressional hearing -- to which a bare minimum of legislators attended. The head of the AMA (american medical association) stated that there was no medical reason to make it illegal, and was promptly asked to leave and informed that his opinion was irrelevant to their decision.

So the real reasons it is illegal is due to corporate lobbying and racism.

Funny thing, there are cannabinoid receptors in the brain, and as mammals we produce certain quantities of cannabinoid chemicals. Deficiencies in these can result in chronic pain and fibromyalgia. Thus an acceptible treatment for these can be the use of cannibis.

the real reason these drugs are still illegal is due to the paranoia instilled in us in the 30's to justify the legislation, and the simple fact that the anti-drug paranoia has run amok.

You may think pot has made people you know dumb -- odds are they were dumb to begin with -- and/or are heavy users of other drugs or alcohol. I for one have been a regular marijuana for many years, and as you can see can still form a coherent, reasoned argument - at least as well as anybody on this page - so I for one do not see any significant impairment on cognitive functioning.

But yes it basically comes down to lobbying by established, versus non established, industries.

Also on a side note -- the purpose of the use of marijuana marijuana, AND alcohol always has been intoxication -- whether it is mild, or severe.

The driving issue -- There are numerous reports that cannibis has little or no effect on your driving abilities, while alcohol has been shown to have massive effects. But lets break this down simply. It comes down to knowing your limits. The vast majority of people I know who smoke, always know their limits, and when they are too high to drive safely. However these same people have no regard for the amount of alcohol in their system in regard to driving. I would safely conjecture that marijuana does not impair yo8u in such a way that you are unaware of the level of your impairment -- whereas alcohol most definitely does.

I know! .. it's absurd.. cigarettes are soo much worse for your body.. and pft drinking too! .. people need to do their reseach .. I know about all that stuff becuase mt older sister have a very argumentative.. ? [sp] with that subject. this isn't really an answer but yeah..

I really think it should be
in a nutshell from personal experiance it just makes you happy,hungry,sleepy thats about it!

it makes me so mad when people think marijuana is bad for you.

but what you dont understrand is that weed is a blessing, put here by god, meant for use. and it doesnt have negitive effects, I can just as easaily find a source that says the oppisite as to what yours said.

you cannot compare weed to cigarettes ever. your source says that if one were to smoke the same amount of weed as cigarettes, but the average cigarette smoker smoke about two packs a day, where a heavy marijuana smoker would smoke 1/50th that. and that is a HEAVY weed smoker. weed is not addictive, and unless you smoke as much weed as you do cigarettes (which would mean your out of your mind high every second of your life, and you have absolutly no money) it would not have any effects on your health in your lifetime.

also, you are brainwashed. for some reason, the governtment sets up DARE and things to brainwash people into thinking marijuana is bad. IT ISNT. IT IS A GREAT THING. it causes peace, happiness, love and has ZERO negitive health effects as I just proved. If they were to spend time warning people about drugs that are ACTUALLY DANGEROUS they would save a lot more lives than lying about weed; a safe drug.

OPEN YOUR MIND. You have ZERO evidence of ANYTHING bad about weed. in canada, our neighbor, it is legal to have weed. illeagle to smoke in public, but leagle. but they have a higher tax on cigarettes; LIFE EXPECTANCY IN CANADA IS HIGHER THAN US. think about it.

weed is also not used to escape reality, so dont pull that string. it is used to enjoy onesself, and facilitates in the NATURALLY living life to the fullest.

btw, I am against any drug that has dangers of negitive effects. I am an intelligent and educated person; who would never do anything that would harm my body. I want to live life to the fullest, but without consequences, b/c consequences mean your life is not the fullest.

marijuana is a natural plant, making it illeagle is.. UNNATURAL.
the prohibition of weed has created more fuss, and done more damage to society than the plant could ever do.
also think, any stoner is always the most chill and nicest person ever. so it doesnt effect people to be bad.