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Should marijuana be decriminalized?

Background

Decriminalizing marijuana means reducing criminal charges associated with the possession of marijuana, and for smaller offenses, replacing criminal charges with fines. Decriminalization is not equivalent to legalization.

Implications to Other Questions


Experts

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Agree
Experts In Drugs


Drug Policy Alliance    Organization
Agree
There are, of course, some risks associated with using marijuana. These risks, however, should be weighed against the harms associated with current marijuana policy. Every comprehensive, objective commission that has examined marijuana throughout the past 100 years has concluded that criminalization of adult marijuana use does more harm than marijuana use itself, including President Nixon's 1972 marijuana commission, the National Academy of Sciences' 1982 marijuana report...
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26 Apr 2009    Source


Experts In Politics


Barney Frank    US Politician
Agree
I now think it's time for the politicians to catch up to the public... The notion that you lock people up for smoking marijuana is pretty silly. I'm going to call it the 'Make Room for Serious Criminals' bill.
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28 Mar 2008    Source


Ron Paul    U.S. Politician, Libertarian
Agree
Drugs are very dangerous but there's a lot of things that are very dangerous. The question is, should we regulate danger? Should we take responsibility for ourselves or should the government take care of us? I don't believe in the nanny state.
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13 Mar 2009    Source


Disagree
Experts In Drugs


Office of National Drug Control Policy    (ONDCP) Department in U.S. President's Executive Office
Disagree
The DOJ earlier this week issued guidelines for Federal prosecutors regarding laws authorizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. This prompted a flurry of news reports, analysis and commentary, some arguing that the guidelines could be read as the Federal government's tacit approval of "medical" marijuana. Advocates of marijuana legalization tried to cast the guidelines as a victory, portraying them as a step toward full legalization. Neither of these analyses is correct.
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23 Oct 2009    Source

Sub-Arguments Of This Expert:
Should marijuana be legal?
   Disagree
Is modest marijuana use detrimental to your health?
   Agree

Experts In Law


Hillary Clinton    US Secretary of State 2009-, Democrat
Disagree
We ought to [investigate claims that] marijuana might help people who are suffering from cancer and nausea related to treatment [but] I don't think we should decriminalize it.
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11 Oct 2007    Source


Ambiguous or Flip-Flop
Experts In Law


Barack Obama    United States President
Agree
...I think we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws...
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21 Jan 2004    Source


Barack Obama    United States President
Disagree
[Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor] Senator Obama does not believe in legalization of marijuana, but agrees with President Bush that long minimum sentences for first-time drug users may not be the best way to occupy jail space or heal people from their disease.
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31 Jan 2008    Source

Sub-Arguments Of This Expert:
Should marijuana be legal?
   Disagree


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