Matter of Debate: Should Pot Be Legal? (Full Session)

[@yarbgreat1]

Primates dictating other primates on which plants they can have.

[@davey21502]

I think the bottom line is.. No matter if its Legal or NOT, people will continue to use it... Period....How many pot smokers will there be if it stays Illegal? I really don't think it matters... So they just as well better just make the best of it and Tax it... I don't wanna say regulate, because they wont regulate anything, cause again, PEOPLE WILL DO WHAT THEY WANT....You know for a country that was made on Freedom, we sure do have a lot of Laws.

[@user-pl5zx9km4f]

I’ll be posting a video of my dad soon. He is just 59 years old experiencing the beginning stages of Parkinson’s. In his now “normal” state, his hand shakes non stop uncontrollably, his body is stiff, there’s a slight limp in his walk as his leg decides that it doesn’t want to move with the rest of his body so just imagine that for yourself, and imagine knowing that it just simply doesn’t get any better because you’re absolutely stuck with a condition that will only continue to worsen. Imagine your hand shaking profusely this very moment with no control. Imagine your doctor with nothing but an expensive cocktail of drugs that dull the last remaining senses of normality that you have. Imagine these medicines worsening your cognitive ability, increasing depression, causing you to recluse into your bed on a bright sunny day where just a year before, you’d be on the golf course by 4pm as a semi-retiree. So imagine your life crashing around you physically and mentally and think about what it would feel like to hit a bowl or a joint at any given time only to find that your symptoms completely disappear within seconds of the first hit. Literally the moment of, your hand stops shaking, your eyes open wide, you become more flexible and relaxed, you can somehow now communicate with your stiff leg, you can walk and it’ll will stay caught up with the rest of your body and strides as you move. Now sorry, but imagine watching this fucker on the right, as kind and gentle as he is, disagreeing with you, disagreeing with what science can prove, with what you can prove and furthermore disagreeing with the professionals who insist that we’ve only just begun to realize the extensive medical benefits of natural herb. This guy opponent to natural remedy fucking sucks, as sweet as he is, he sucks. With every valid concern he draws the underlying consequences of his message remains clear to someone like me. He has no right standing in the way of progress, he fuxking sucks. Goodbye.

[@pwnm0thers]

i'm a teen who smokes, whether you legalize it or not i'll still be able to get just as much as i usually do. let's say i can't get a connect to buy from a cannabis shop, i'll just say, "okay whatever, i'll just go around the corner to my normal guy." the legalization won't make it any harder or easier to get from me. maybe that's just a personal scenario for myself but still.

[@pwnm0thers]

*****​ i would steer clear from heroin

[@pwnm0thers]

*****​ where do you live? sounds like a party

[@benphish]

Best debate I've seen on this issue. Well done aspen institute.

[@ohnoitsthatguy09]

starting at 20:10, my question in response is..... WHY? why do you need a bureaucracy ? leave people alone. the end.

[@byroncroft2365]

+Rob Calton exactly. Remove pot from the schedule of drugs and there is no more need to spend money on it, at all

[@steelcash]

How long will people debate the legalization of a plant which is everywhere? This world is comical. Absolutely comical.

[@bjrnovebufoss2734]

steelcash Oh YES.

[@ptony-zk3vs]

The only argument against legalizing marijuana is "protecting" teens. Complete bs. People who are against legalization come off as the type of people who feel they are better than people who smoke. Legalization or not, people are gonna smoke. The reason it's not legal is bcuz the prisons are privately owned and the more bodies locked up, the more money they make. America is all fucked up.

[@taintman2114]

22:40 - 24:10 spot on.

[@snowkajira7600]

100% Funny part, I read your post right before he started that. And yeah... Spot on.

[@PhoenixFlamezz]

+Taint Man Oh man did that prohibitionist get owned there, lol. Ethan Nadelmann is the man!

[@LostInIce4]

Ethan Nadelmann is a terrific example of how sane humans think. His reasoning on this matter was spot on. Everything he said is exactly how I have been seeing this issue that we call prohibition. Lets wake up people and unite and end this war on drugs. We are at war with our own citizens and children. The system in place today is a failure. I smoked weed many times when I was in high school. No damage was done to me and marijuana was not a gateway to other harder substances. What I am saying here is that lets be factual when we are talking to our youth about marijuana and not undermine their intelligence. Thankfully to the internet we have access to any information that we want at any given time. If we the adults are lying to our youth we are only pushing them towards the forbidden fruit. Lets say that Aunt Jamima is using medicinal cannabis due to her arthritis than how cool is cannabis in the mind of teenagers?It is all about marketing and we can make marijuana uncool but lets not be fooled since our youth will always find another drug to turn to. This is a battle that can not be won, and having marijuana an illegal drug is foolish to say the least.

[@lachiwainberg]

LOL the one football mom in a pink sun hat opposing it 😂

[@kanejacob]

It becomes quite obvious just 10 min into the debate who makes total sense and who talks pessimistic drivel

[@user-ki1vb2rt1e]

Is that even a question?

[@benjaminhubbard9235]

Study high Take the test high Get high scores

[@xianteen]

lmaooooo love that movie

[@jaccbolton]

If it wasnt for weed i wouldnt have had a nann notta notha bitch

[@debostep2220]

Smort

[@lukesanchez1024]

@Toby Henderson it makese more emotional usually I'm not emotional at all

[@joh380]

This is how debates should be. Respectful, regardless of our opinions

[@Fareseru]

As an Australian, I think that what the US has done in regards to the legalization of weed (in CO and WA) has been a huge step forwards. Here it's only decriminalized in a few states. I think the main thing is; regardless of the possible adverse health effects, regardless of the black market that will still definitely exist (and will continually attempt to undercut dispensary prices), regardless of the fact that weed is a gateway drug in many cases (for me it led to the availability of other drugs, although I guess legalization would change that) - weed should be legalized. The positives are endless. Anyway - what does it matter if weed does turn out to be bad for your health? Cigarettes are horrific in comparison! On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.Tobacco use costs the US $289 billion a year in the medical industry alone. And yet no one is really questioning America's laws regarding tobacco - here in Aus it costs $21 for a pack of Marlboro Reds and we also have plain packaging. All forms of advertising are illegal. Americans are so tied up (in this case Asa) with worrying about the legalization of pot that they forget that they should, in reality, be concentrating on anti-smoking legislation. As a casual user, I shouldn't be criminalized for something that confines me to my bed for a few hours whilst listening to some good music and enjoying munchies. As we've now seen in CO, the revenues are pouring in (and going straight to schools etc) and the rate of arrests has also gone down. Perhaps these things will change in the future, but for now we're getting real evidence that legalization works. Either way, the push for legalization is growing daily and it will only be a matter of time before the rest of the world follows suit. In the mean time, I'll just have to keep being a criminal and dreaming about heading to the US to enjoy a legal joint. 

[@Unclejamsarmy]

The truth is the drug war was never about health or crime, it was about social control and money. In the early 1900s when drug prohibition began it was a blatantly racist fearmongering campaign against Mexicans and blacks, partially motivated by wanting to enhance cotton market share over hemp. Then, when the actual war on drugs was declared in the Nixon admin, one of his cabinet members recently admitted that it was to target anti war protesters, civil rights movement, black panthers, environmental groups, and poor blacks in general (Nixon ran as being tough on crime as a racist dog whistle) etc. It was done as a way to target political adversaries, undesirables, and enhance police power to find a reason to lock people up. Then later you have anheuser Busch and other big alcohol companies donating against state level legalization initiatives, as well as prison guard and police unions, and the neverending drive of self perpetuation on the DEA level where they’ll waste extra money just to make sure their budget goes up the next year. And today, most people that still think it should be illegal acknowledge that it’s not more unhealthy than alcohol or cigarettes, they just come up with other reasons. It’s really a cultural and economic issue.

[@thewyngman]

Mr. Hutchinson keeps saying that undoubtedly you will not be arrest for smoking pot or having small amounts of Marijuana. WHAT? Of coarse, you will be arrested for having pot if it's illegal. You may be able to make bail and later get probation, but you will be ARRESTED.

[@davidsmith-ws4bz]

Legalising takes the Criminal element out of it.

[@davidsmith-ws4bz]

Hard one to call "for or against." Very interesting discussion though.

[@troyevitt2437]

It's not hard at all. You have EVERY RIGHT to choose not to smoke M/J. You have NO RIGHT to advocate for the arrest, prosecution and incarceration of persons who choose to engage in an activity which isn't impacting negatively upon anybody (to exclude driving under its influence or using it when you're supposed to be looking after little children).

[@deathangel4200]

Simple fact for people, anything is addictive. Weather it's people or money or a drug, the addiction starts with receiving dopamine for a specific action. Gambling is fun for some, for others they're now thousands of dollars in debt because they simply only feel happy when gambling. Should we make gambling illegal? Or your wife/husband? You'd kids? I for one have been addicted to spending time with specific people or playing a video game simply because they or it made me happy in a gloomy world. That doesn't mean my love or a favorite past time should be band.

[@sdcisk2799]

Capitalism doesnt support marijuana legalization. "Whats wrong with capitalism? Its dumb. Its retro. Its very non competative, its messy, it wastes the environment, it wastes human resources, it runs on stereotypes, it runs on a low sampling rate which is what creates stereotypes. Low sample rates make everyone appear the same when the glory is in our differences." -Terence Mckenna

[@MrAlexmiele8910]

Capitalism isn't dumb, maybe not the best but, There has yet to be a system that works better.

[@JohnnyThceeds]

As to the addiction problem, we know that cannabis is not in this category. I have stopped and started enough times to know it is not difficult to give up cannabis. I had much greater problems with coffee. You may ask why did you restart. My health has worsened in many aspects because I stopped. I am a PTSD vet and symptoms that were once handled by cannabis have become very pronounced to the point of disability. There are some other physical conditions I suffer from that have become more pronounced as well. Taking up cannabis again will greatly improve my quality of life, as well as extend it. ............. These people who have serious drug problems do not get help from law enforcement. Incarceration only makes this situation worse taking money from the families on these people. Just a phone call from jail costs the family of a prisoner serious money, as much as $5 a minute for a call. Hard core drug users, overall, are not going to change. Give them their drugs an allow them to end their life as they see fit. ........ The majority of cannabis users lead productive lives, without complications as these people would have you to believe. This lie about causing health issues or unstable behavior has gone on long enough.

[@davidsmith-ws4bz]

Go hard on hard drugs. Allow pot users to grow for personal use only as registered users.

[@charlesgoldbach9239]

i have four children, they don't care about cannabis. that guy who hates cannabis and says it is because he wants to protect children, is an evil person. in fact cannabis has helped children with terrible diseases.

[@troyevitt2437]

The only issue with kids is that their prefrontal cortexes don't finish forming until around 20ish. Non-medical use should be restricted to adults. I think a lot of potentially addictive behavior should be avoided by adolescents for that same reason: high-risk extreme sports, gambling, sexual promiscuity (No, I don't care about religious bullshit regarding sexuality in general; I'm talking about high-risk, multiple partner excesses) If there's a 12-Steps group for people who want to quit something, that something is not a good idea for a developing prefrontal cortex.

[@Unclejamsarmy]

Troy Evitt I tend to agree, but it’s more of a cultural view than a scientific one. Other countries where parents usually give kids small amounts of alcohol from even like 8 years old on in family situations, and have lower drinking ages, tend to have lower rates of binge drinking and alcoholism. So despite what I agree is probably a negative in terms of brain chemistry (but maybe it’s so tiny it’s meaningless) it results in better, healthier outcomes for individuals and society. That’s not American culture, we still have that deep rooted Puritanism unfortunately, and without that cultural change we need to keep it to 18 or 21 year olds.

[@dexgames4366]

Man, I've been through 50 & more debates. Those guys against the reform are all losing the debates they're on, I mean, disregarding the side you're supporting. They just lose on every points.

[@dexgames4366]

Oh & especially against Nadelmann. That man could go for Presidency easy. Awesome Orator.

[@juniorg54]

+Dex Games I have to give a debate in class on why marijuana should remain illegal and watching these debates I am realizing I am going to look like a complete idiot trying to persuade people this shit is actually dangerous lmfao.

[@cassisstrand7799]

Debates like these are too speculative to make legitimate progress. The problem is that there's little concrete information about the actual health risks of cannabis. There's actually no legitimate evidence of brain damage as a direct result of cannabis consumption. Cannabis has been labeled as an illegal substance, a "drug", and the war on drugs narrative (represented here by Hutchinson) has implemented the assumed consequences of cannabis use. It's social cognition. My friends introduced me to cannabis telling me pot makes you spacy, lazy, fucks with your memory, strangles your motivation, etc. This is what we have all decided we know, just some of us choose to use anyway. If I had never questioned what I was told about cannabis, I would never have realized that my grades, my productivity, my motivation, and my quality of life can all be improved by cannabis as a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. It's only a matter of time before the lies dissipate, too many people are living the truth now. As long as cannabis users are shamed and criminalized, the "consequences" of cannabis use will be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[@symphonyno.9744]

RIGHT ON👏✌👍.... END PROHIBITION💥💚👏 NOWWWWW!!!!!!!!

[@bmxmyth166]

weed, shrooms, LSD... legalize them all

[@TawandaTD97]

what?

[@TheTurbanator123]

+Tawanda Batana he's right u know

[@Karistonschannel]

dmt aswell :D

[@lukesanchez1024]

Marijuana absolutely but psychedelics are a slippery slope for the mentally ill and unstable individuals

[@devandestudios128]

Of course there is an adverse health consequence of smoking anything, obviously. I do have a question in that regard though. Are we not considered adults? Do we not have a choice as to what we do with our own bodies? The answer to both of those questions is yes. Why then, can we not, as responsible adults choose the consequences when we choose to smoke marijuana, if we are aloud to do when we choose to drink, or smoke a cigar, or cigarette? Obviously marijuana usage will increase if it is legalized. Still, I think that the biggest question here is, why are we, as responsible adults not able to make our own choices? Why is that the government sees fit to dictate what we can or cannot choose to do? We are not children. We are able to clearly think through our choices and realize what the ramifications of using are because our brains are developed enough to do so. This is why we make decisions for our children. Because their brains are not developed enough to understand the consequences and ramifications of their choices. States are constitutionally allowed to enact their own laws and self govern even when those laws contradict federal law. Asa continues to speak about abuses of marijuana, Yeah because adults, teens whomever, don't abuse alcohol or caffeine or nicotine or prescriptions. And then he says that you have to be pretty serious offender to go to jail for using marijuana. No you really don't. You just have to get caught with it. Then he says if its legalized, "What are you going to create? He answers by saying that there will be "A huge government bureaucracy". I.E. jobs.Licencing authority, tax collection authority, enforcement authority. Everything that Asa is using to argue against Marijuana legalization, is really only showing why it should be legalized. "Pot scholarships" OH NO! You can send your kid to college because of Marijuana Tax Revenue. Really? Isn't that kind of the point? To generate revenue! Retail shops, distribution, cultivation, i.e. JOBS!

[@briansartin3432]

how about this take the children out of the talks for government and the state, an let the parents raise their kids

[@trevynramsey531]

I been stopped by law enforcement officers, many times. Some warning, some tickets. Two arrest

[@mckernan603]

Wow, good for The Aspen Institute for putting this on. Funny that no more than 100 people showed up in person (judging by the video), yet more than 35K have watched online. It also came out at an interesting time for the debate in CO, with A64 just having passed but the recreational roll-out still to come. I notice that Asa seemed a bit down in the dumps, not sure if his heart was still in it. Can't blame him...

[@vetsaway]

The guy in the middle now does lectures for TED and he is helping to draw hundreds to his lectures even thousands.

[@eglynn101]

Why the fuck is there no crowd?! Great debate

[@a.r.k2875]

i want everyone to try marijuana and then give your opinon on it

[@madman2028]

I want everyone to be made to try don,t give them strong weed mid strength will be enough..

[@troyevitt2437]

It's actually NOT a matter of debate. If you don't want to use marijuana yourself, don't use it, but it is in no way, shape or form your place to advocate for the arrest, prosecution and incarceration of individuals whose personal choice doesn't concern you.

[@grimwhistler9272]

The fact that the use of marijuana has increased should be a compliment the area because the law binding citizens only want to use it when it's legal!

[@troyevitt2437]

Syntax is indecipherable. What is this word-salad even supposed to mean?!??

[@Peaches08861]

The former DEA guy really can't say anything because he knows he is wrong. You can't just ban weed because it's addictive and has adverse effects if you abuse it. That concept is with everything in the entire world, hell if you take too much aspirin you can die. Should we make that illegal? No because when used properly we can enjoy the benefits. Same is with weed, use it in moderation and you will enjoy life. what's the harm in that?

[@benphish]

Chris Banks the interesting thing here is that it isn't even physically addictive like nicotine and alcohol. The studies that show it kills brain cells and cause cancer were also funded by pharmaceutical companies that would lose large amounts of money from the regulation of marijuana. The reason why the DEA is against it is because the majority of their job and relevance is dependent on the continuation of the drug war and cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug.

[@Peaches08861]

Ben Poisson your absolutely right man. They need to stop the bull and the propaganda. It's over we all know now that America is full of sh** when they say marijuanna is dangerous. They need to just legalize it and allow mankind the state and the government enjoy the benefits of a plant legalized.

[@benphish]

Chris Banks I think that locking people up for the USE of drugs is stupid in any case. The best way to cut down on the use of drugs, especially dangerous drugs, is to educate people on the effects, risks, and side effects of the substances. That is the main problem with cannabis right now, is that we have propaganda telling us that it is horrible with no evidence to back it up. I want a better reason to tell some one not to do a drug other than because it is against the law.

[@Peaches08861]

Ben Poisson exactly! Education and safety is first. with the proper education people will be able to rationally make decisions on not to use dangerous drugs.

[@benphish]

Chris Banks Right, no one who knows the effects of krokodil would want to try it. But people are told by one side that weed is evil, the other that its not and they want to find out for themselves. If we simply educated people on the endocanabinoid system in humans and that cannabis can effect everyone differently then there would be the less of a curiosity effect in teenagers and people who shouldn't be using any form of intoxicant.

[@vetsaway]

This is the reason I don't want you to smoke pot.The guy on the far right is going to arrest you and the punishment is for life.

[@benphish]

Bruce Kefauver That's half the problem, they need to come up with a better reason to not use it other than you'll be arrested.

[@billhughes5638]

Ben Poisson A good reason to not use it is simply because you don't want to use it. I'm not trying to sidestep the point, but if I don't want to use cannabis (snicker-snicker), I don't need to furnish a reason why. If I DO want to use it, for whatever reason, I'd rather do it under legal circumstances.

[@vetsaway]

I don't smoke it and I'm only trying to help those who do it for relaxation and medical purpose's.Some folks just don't like getting high or drunk on booze and pot is much safer than booze

[@bobwellington7580]

There is no debate, pot is cheap and widely available. Accept it.

[@RomaniaDeAzi]

why are ads and porn videos so fucking loud and this video where is a debate I need to crank my volume to 50% to even hear the discussion

[@porscheowns16]

wow from 1:57 to 2:02 the guy looks like Jeffery Tambor from arrested development yes I am high

[@Unclejamsarmy]

I wish there was a way to lock up all the DEA agents. Their immorality runs so deep, law and cultural approval isn’t a moral excuse. We decided that in Nuremberg trials. Taking orders isn’t an excuse, we need to make it clear no matter what your superiors say, no matter what is popular in the culture, if you’re using violence for the govt or not you must be an individual human being responsible and making your own moral assessments.

[@actionstyleusa23]

Been time to legalize.

[@annk.1326]

This mediator is so painful to listen to

[@isaacclay218]

Smoking pot is wrong and that is why it should be illegal.

[@debostep2220]

Have you even met a pothead? The last thing they want to do is start a fight. Weed makes you chill out not start a riot

[@symphonyno.9744]

Legalize freedom to choose!!! 👍weed SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN ILLEGAL ANYWAY!!!

[@IHMadeThis]

Asa's arguments seem so weird to me. I just can't getting into people's heads that think like this.

[@suzanneparker2355]

of course it should!

[@rikitikitavi7454]

where are our rights? this is still a free place right? apparently not!

[@xXV1tal3Xx]

"the stuff you learn when your high you forget" ... ill tell you first hand that is bullshit, cannabis causes nuero genesis (the growth of new braincells) which is a huge advantage in memory quality... i would also argue that cannabis promotes neuro plasticity, which promotes empathy by virtue of the inherent tenancy, the effects of its use have, to diminish the forming of ego-centric perspectives and promote more socio-centric perspectives, making people less likely to be deceived by propaganda and dogma and overall better positioned, cognitively speaking, to question the things they are told... memories aren't snapshots of experiences, they are reconstructions, the more creative a persons cognitive processes the more likely they are to make novel connections in information and more likely a person is to make sense of there experiences and spot false value orientations, obviously this is contingent on a persons ability to ground such processing in good quality evidence/information, but you get the point... as for the fear that cannabis makes people indifferent, less proactive, or maladjusted, ya know the whole wake and bake mentality, I think the rout of this problem is sourced not to substance use or even abuse, but, a variety of systemic socio economic pressures be they absolute or relative, (i.e the highly dubious labour for income paradigm in an age of mechanisation, technical/ informational/ material resource abundance.) that prevent or make person less able to mobilize in accordance with their best interests, let alone in the interests of others and the environment, this exacerbates the tendency of people to abuse drugs, it is not caused by it... that being said, I'm sure cannabis use has played its part in waking many people up to the degree in which our bureaucratic systems are debilitating to our collective ability to prioritise in the endeavour of our necessary adaptation to sustainable practices.

[@FreeCandyMyVan]

Bureaucracy problem in Colorado? It sounds like you just created jobs.... I wonder how many people recognise that majority of the arguments against legalisation are actually irrelevant as all of the aforementioned problems are all occurring while under the current enforcement policies...

[@DeBoss3]

Smoking pot occasionally will lead to addiction. Weekly usage will become a daily usage. Total addiction...

[@kanejacob]

Ha. You can say the same about that glass of wine or shot of whiskey.

[@debostep2220]

@@kanejacob or cigarettes or sugar or television or social media or porn or shopping or caffeine or pills or food. Marijuana is not addictive, it might be habit forming but certainly not addictive. Same with psychedelics.

[@MrMaddox57]

same arguments today? NOOOOOOOO lol or wait, but still, NOOOOOO :D

[@mrwobblebass]

keep it illegal

[@johnrambo9155]

no.

[@chadw8481]

if you dont like it. dont burn it. why do you think you should tell others that burning vegetation is bad or they can't do it... its fucking scary to think you want nature to be illegal. you probably are not all that smart. I'll be on it.

[@optician53]

Probably a Big Pharma shill ....

[@troyevitt2437]

Then YOU do the jail time.