Interesting point, but I don't think comparing books with crack is accurate at all.
You mean there's a difference between fine literature and fine crack?
Mainly because books can't harm you physically nor mentally as a human being.
[video=youtube;T60fljZNg5I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T60fljZNg5I[/video]
I think it's clear from this video that books can harm you physically. As for mentally, have you ever tried reading quantum mechanics without a solid background in mathematics? That'll definitely hurt you mentally, whether you're a human being or not (I'm looking at you, Heron, reptilian scum of the Earth's core!).
Crack is illegal for your safety!
If that were true, then guns would be illegal for our safety too. They aren't. Restricted, yes, illegal, no. Crack is illegal because it is an addictive substance that does a lot of harm, but most importantly it's illegal because the government (rightly so) doesn't trust you to keep clear of it.
Weed should be legalized as it is also meant to hurt your body, especially your brain if it becomes an xcessive habbit just like alcohol but the occasional weed is actually beneficial and removes cigarette tar from your lungs, relieves stress and makes you peaceful (never seen a violent stoned person), i know a bunch of people who need to smoke it to help them sleep etc.
Weed doesn't "hurt" your brain "just like alcohol". Weed is an entirely different substance from alcohol. It's even inbibed differently. The two substances barely have anything in common at all.
I would like at least two peer reviewed studies that show that:
- Smoking weed removes cigarette tar from your lungs (As if that weren't a feat in itself, how does it select cigarette tar from other tar?)
- Smoking weed relieves stress better than taking a walk, having a few drinks in the pub with friends, or killing a hobo
- Weed never induces a paradoxical effect in which subjects take on an active and violent behaviour
- Weed is beneficial for good sleep
Alcohol does none of that.
Alcohol doesn't relieve stress? No one has ever used alcohol to help them sleep? And whereas I'm fairly sure alcohol doesn't remove tar from your lungs, I've also never seen anyone smoke ethanol...
Alcohol is beneficial for your
he
ar
t for instance. By proxy, this increases your lifespan, as men are quite likely to die from heart-related events.
It can also save your life if you're poisoned by either ethylene glycol or methanol. I don't see any instance of weed saving someone from poisoning through sheer chemical awesomeness.
It's also an antitussant, which means it helps you not cough as much. Tell me, does weed help you
stop coughing?
Alcohol also happens to be an artform, at least the destillation of fine spirits such as whisky, whiskey, vodka, rum, gin, and any form of strange grape-based liquor you may think of is. It has also brought rise to fine things such as cola -- it was only popularized through mixing the syrup with largely alcoholic drinks in bars.
So, while alcohol doesn't do all the things that weed does, it certainly does its share. Not to say alcohol is good for everything -- obviously things like overdose and fighting happens, but that's to be expected when there's such an abundant supply of the drug and such a lack of knowledge about how it should be imbibed.
Further, before you start mentioning alcohol and cars -- weed isn't really better than alcohol here, it's just that more people drink than smoke weed.