Viewpoints about marijuana

Kitsu Tails wrote: Marijuana is a type of herb with many healing and positive properties. And so long as they are being used for these things, I see no wrong in it. It is only when one uses it in excess, gets themselves intoxicated for the sake/pleasure of it and becomes addicted to it. Then there is a problem that should be evaluated. Just my thoughts.

Rickie wrote: Make it legal and tax it. Use the $ to feed the poor.

Proteus wrote: What I find fun in threads like these is a game I call "replace the instance" where for example I replace every instance of the word Marijuana here with something else such as tea, sugar, coffee, etc, and see what the topic can inform about these kinds of things in general from different lights. You would be surprised.

Bareus wrote: I am personally against the usage of Marijuana unless it is for a medical purpose.

It is like alchohol and like cigarettes. All of them are addictive
If you don't belive me then here is what Dr. Drew Pinsky wich has been working with addicts for a long time thinks:

Warning: Spoiler!

It would be malpractice to say that cannabis isn't addictive. Anybody who's experienced it, actually been addicted to it, knows how profound that addiction is.... The difficult thing about marijuana addiction is some people, even though they're addicted can do fine with it for many many years before they start to have difficultly, but eventually the high starts wearing off, people start smoking a lot more to try to get that high back and that's when they descend into difficulties. ...I've been treating cannabis addiction for 20 years. When people are addicted to cannabis, cocaine and alcohol the drug they have the most difficult time giving up is the cannabis. It is extremely addictive...for some people. I think that's where people get confused. It's not very addictive for many people. It's a small subset of people with a genetic potential for addiction. But for them it is really tough. You only need talk to them, they'll tell you how tough it is.

And if we look at a place where it has been lagalised, amsterdam for example, and it is effecting young people there, here is what i saw in an article:

Warning: Spoiler!

Amsterdam today became the first city in the Netherlands to ban students from smoking marijuana at school.
The city's mayor Eberhard van der Laan introduced the law after school chiefs complained about pupils turning up to classes high after rolling up outside the grounds.

Marijuana is widely available in Holland as, although it is technically illegal, police can't prosecute people for possession of small amounts.

But it has also had the unwanted side effect that Dutch children are frequently exposed to the drug in public areas.

Do we want this to happen in our countries?
And it effects your health very badly:

Warning: Spoiler!

A recent Northwestern University study found that marijuana users have abnormal brain structure and poor memory and that chronic marijuana abuse may lead to brain changes resembling schizophrenia. The study also reported that the younger the person starts using marijuana, the worse the effects become.
In its own report arguing against marijuana legalization, the American Medical Association said: "Heavy cannabis use in adolescence causes persistent impairments in neurocognitive performance and IQ, and use is associated with increased rates of anxiety, mood and psychotic thought disorders."