Yes.
It should be completely legalised in my opinion, at least for medical reasons.

Yes.

medical reasons maybe but recreational i dont know...though the fact that it is illegal doesn't stop anyone from using it...and those that argue that it shouldn't be legal because "drugs are bad" yet drink on ocassion are completely contradicting themselves..i dont smoke, never have..i dont support it...i can see both sides to the argument so i'm sort of iffy on this topic..regardless it doesn't effect me, i was raised not to smoke and rarely drink and will preach the same to my children

I just think it should be completely legal. If someone wanted a "high", there are plenty of other things they can get. Most people that want that high start with MJ because it's cheap and usually the easiest to get. That's the main reason people label it the 'gateway drug'. When in fact it's because the person who started on the MJ wanted a 'better' high and went on to whatever. But there are PLENTY of people that smoke only when they need it (pain wise).

If it was legalized, IMO some people wouldn't start out with it. Some people do it just because they know it's illegal and it's that first step to doing other illegal things. Look what happened when alcohol was made illegal, then what happened when it was legalized again.

There are plenty of other drugs that we shove in peoples' faces that are completely legal. Not getting down on my mother, but every time I told her I was hurting, her respond would be "Take a pill".

If it were legal, I would rather see anyone smoke it rather than cigarettes. It's not chemically addictive and has so much more to give than cigarettes. Plus I think it smells so much better than tobacco!

if people didn't abuse it and drug dealers didn't make money off of it, maybe it would be legal. whenever i see it, it is side by side with crack, guns, and other worse drugs. you can't blame the lawmakers for wanting to use it to bust people who are involved with the distribution of worse drugs and guns because they seem to go hand in hand in many cases. if a drug dealer is selling weed, there is a really good chance he/she is selling worse drugs and may be involved in other illegal activity or with gangs. if the police use anti-marijuana law to sieze the profits or charge a drug dealer, that is totally fine with me. i don't have anything to do with drugs because, first off, i don't need them and because i don't want to be associated with the people who sell them. i actually think they need to crack down more on people who drive while they are high.

But people abuse alcohol and look what happens there.

MJ is rarely linked with violence, the only reason it is seen as bad is because of it's illegal status. People think that because it is illegal it must be seriously messed up stuff.
If anything MJ actually makes you feel really chilled out and therefore LESS likely to commit acts of violence. The majority of MJ users only smoke it every now and then and therefore don't have much of an incentive to go out and commit acts of violence in order to obtain it.
Also in proportion to the number of users more people probably drive under the influence of alcohol, and driving under the influence of alcohol is more dangerous. I know a couple of people who have used weed in the past and they found that it actually helped enhance their concentration.
People shouldn't drive under the influence of ANYTHING fullstop, so I'm not condoning it, but alcohol related deaths are far higher in proportion to the number of users. Also I'd like to point out the number of people a year who are involved in traffic accidents due to side effects of LEGAL medicines (such as painkillers or antihistamines).

Tobacco and alcohol especially are far more damaging both to health and society.

Also if they legalised it, that would be taking it OUT of the hands of dealers, therefore people wouldn't feel the need to resort to petty crime or violence in order to obtain it, they could just go and buy it in an off-licence.

Generally most of the population don't associate MJ with gun crime. When the word "marijuana" is mentioned the majority of people think of a group of chilled out hippies, whereas if I say "alcohol" loads of people immediately think of disorderly or violent behaviour, such is the effect of this drug.
MJ is also not a gateway drug. The majority of people who use MJ for its effects are happy sticking to it, and have no desire to progress to more harmful illegal drugs. The ones who do take other illegal drugs alongside, probably would have taken these drugs anyway regardless as to whether or not they take MJ.

Yes, the laws should be lessened. It's no more a crime than alcohol consumption.

Strictly speaking it is a "crime" but thats only because the government have decided it should be illegal in the first place.

Both of my parents and about 80% of my friends also agree that it should be legalised.

It should be legalized.I have used MJ for the last five years and have never wished to feel how a hard drug would feel like.I rarely get sick.It makes have a great appreciation and sensitivity to nature.This herb is just a wonder.