Time to decriminalize

[308_Husker]

Couple quick questions.

 

 

Do you guys 'n' gals think prostitution should be legal?

 

Does anyone actually oppose legalizing marijuana?

 

I am not opposed to legalizing marijuana, but honestly I haven't given a lot of thought to the ramifications of it.

 

I cannot for the life of me figure out why prostitution is illegal. We have Roe v. Wade that has sparked three decades of shouting about a "woman's right to choose" what she does with her body, but she cannot choose to use her body for sex-for-profit. I'm guessing this has a lot more to do with women-as-property than right and wrong.

It is if there's a camera involved. It's weird; you can take a girl into your room and have it illegal. However, as soon as you decide to film it and maybe make a profit off of it, it becomes legal.

[Enhance]

I would argue that it's too high. If you can make the decision to sign up for the armed services and go across seas and risk dying, then you're old enough to make the decision whether to drink alcohol. I would be okay with the legal age of smoking marijuana to be 18 as well. You can buy tobacco at that age, which is entirely way worse for you than cannabis.

All good points, but if I may counter...

 

I completely agree with you regarding the armed services. But, I think there's a significant difference between the 18-year-old who decides to sign up for the Army, and the 18-year-old who wants to join a fraternity/sorority and go to college. There's a difference in maturity there. I wouldn't be opposed to giving armed servicemen a liquor pass, but there's one other obstacle. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 said states had to raise their minimum drinking age to 21 lest they lose 10 percent of their highway funding - that's a serious amount of money, an amount no state was willing to give up. That's the biggest reason we have the drinking age where it is - money.

 

I can see states taking a similar stance towards marijuana, because it has similar impairing effects to alcohol i.e. loss of motor skill functions.

 

I agree that it all boils down to money, just like any political issue. Yes there is a difference in maturity between the two groups you listed, but what about the responsible students that go to college? They're barred from enjoying it because of the irresponsible actions of others, which I don't think is right. Adults aren't barred from enjoying a beer even though you can see everywhere people abusing it.

All I have to say to that is...a few ruin it for the many (in regards to those under 21).

 

However, the issue at hand boils down to the 1984 Act. Society has decided that being 21 is the arbitrary number for which you are a mature adult, capable of handling alcohol. Age is just a number, though, and is no way, shape or form directly correlated to a person's maturity or responsibility. My 22-year-old cousin is about as wreckless, foolish and stupid with alcohol as anybody I know, and is completely incapable of handling it in a mature fashion. But, our law says he's allowed to consume alcohol. I'm sure there are plenty of 18 to 20-year-olds who could consume alcohol in a more mature fashion, but they're not allowed to.

 

As it stands right now, the 1984 Act prevents states from changing the drinking age else they lose a significant portion of their highway funding. I don't know a lot about the law, specifically, but my guess is there's little wiggle room to try and circumvent it.

 

In a perfect society, everybody would be equal and we wouldn't have to worry about maturity and responsibility. Unfortunately, there are people of all ages that can't handle alcohol. Judging maturity is difficult and subjective, and it'd be a nightmare for policy creators to write an alcohol law without some age attached to it, you know? I think that's the biggest issue at hand - one simply can't effectively or objectively judge maturity, thus, we deal with arbitrary numbers.

[husker_99]

I would argue that it's too high. If you can make the decision to sign up for the armed services and go across seas and risk dying, then you're old enough to make the decision whether to drink alcohol. I would be okay with the legal age of smoking marijuana to be 18 as well. You can buy tobacco at that age, which is entirely way worse for you than cannabis.

All good points, but if I may counter...

 

I completely agree with you regarding the armed services. But, I think there's a significant difference between the 18-year-old who decides to sign up for the Army, and the 18-year-old who wants to join a fraternity/sorority and go to college. There's a difference in maturity there. I wouldn't be opposed to giving armed servicemen a liquor pass, but there's one other obstacle. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 said states had to raise their minimum drinking age to 21 lest they lose 10 percent of their highway funding - that's a serious amount of money, an amount no state was willing to give up. That's the biggest reason we have the drinking age where it is - money.

 

I can see states taking a similar stance towards marijuana, because it has similar impairing effects to alcohol i.e. loss of motor skill functions.

 

I agree that it all boils down to money, just like any political issue. Yes there is a difference in maturity between the two groups you listed, but what about the responsible students that go to college? They're barred from enjoying it because of the irresponsible actions of others, which I don't think is right. Adults aren't barred from enjoying a beer even though you can see everywhere people abusing it.

All I have to say to that is...a few ruin it for the many (in regards to those under 21).

 

However, the issue at hand boils down to the 1984 Act. Society has decided that being 21 is the arbitrary number for which you are a mature adult, capable of handling alcohol. Age is just a number, though, and is no way, shape or form directly correlated to a person's maturity or responsibility. My 22-year-old cousin is about as wreckless, foolish and stupid with alcohol as anybody I know, and is completely incapable of handling it in a mature fashion. But, our law says he's allowed to consume alcohol. I'm sure there are plenty of 18 to 20-year-olds who could consume alcohol in a more mature fashion, but they're not allowed to.

 

As it stands right now, the 1984 Act prevents states from changing the drinking age else they lose a significant portion of their highway funding. I don't know a lot about the law, specifically, but my guess is there's little wiggle room to try and circumvent it.

 

In a perfect society, everybody would be equal and we wouldn't have to worry about maturity and responsibility. Unfortunately, there are people of all ages that can't handle alcohol. Judging maturity is difficult and subjective, and it'd be a nightmare for policy creators to write an alcohol law without some age attached to it, you know? I think that's the biggest issue at hand - one simply can't effectively or objectively judge maturity, thus, we deal with arbitrary numbers.

 

Americans are becoming less and less responsible. that's why the finger is pointed at everyone else but them. As long as we have a society that bends to people who don't want to take responsibility we will have too many problems.