People of Reddit against mass legalisation of Weed/Marijuana, why?

1. Coming into this thread, I figured most of the top comments would be "I'm not actually against legalization", while the bottom/controversial comments would be a mixture of actual well-reasoned arguments and "I don't like it". I was right.
   — schwagle


2. Ok, here is where I get downvoted... 1 - I am totally fine with legalizing recreational marijuana. It's no different than alcohol, actually less risk and long term side effects. Regulate it. Tax it. Do something good with those profits (healthcare, education). 2 - I am somewhat against medical marijuana legislation. I am not completely against medical marijuana, but against the way much of the legislation was passed. I believe there are benefits to marijuana, but there is also a lot of propaganda around it as well. There are people on the internet touting it as a miracle drug, basically a cure-all. People are forgoing well documented and studied treatments because they were told marijuana was the better option. Often there is little real data (not anecdotal stories) to back up these claims. I work in healthcare. I have spent a significant amount of time researching the validity of these claims, and while some may be true, data is really lacking. It's hard to give my patients good recommendations as there are very few actual clinical studies. I am not saying it doesn't help with pain or seizures, but often isn't the definitive answer. In the real world, I have not seen my patients replace their opioids with marijuana - maybe just use slightly less opioids. With seizures there are reports of it helping, but also some studies claiming it lowers seizure threshold. It's probably individual dependent, but needs more research. Similarly with various mental illnesses, maybe it helps some but maybe it hurts others. It's a bit irresponsible to just say take this and it will fix you. Medical marijuana is unlike any other drug. It gets passed by popular vote. This wouldn't happen with any other type of medication. There aren't referendums to pass new chemotherapy or blood pressure drugs. They would go through randomized controlled studies and a number of other approval processes. I think the fact that medical marijuana didn't go through this type of approval significantly hurt its credibility. I get the FDA is far from perfect and performing studies is near impossible with the current schedule 1 classification, but I would have preferred we fix the system instead of finding a loophole. Prescribing practices are also abnormal - basically yes or no. You wouldn't do this with any other controlled substance. People who need oxycodone don't just get to regulate their own doses. Yes, I get marijuana doesn't come with nearly the same risks. The regulations around prescribing it are insanely strict. Either regulate distribution to the same degree or loosen up prescribing regulations. There shouldn't be such a discrepancy. In summary, I am not innately against medical marijuana. I would have preferred it to be reclassified as a schedule 3-4 drug and go through real clinical trials. I would also like more studies to be performed on the actual compounds and doses giving benefits, so they could be extracted, purified, and compounded into drugs that limit the side effect of getting high (I am aware low THC strains exist, but think we can do better). There is nothing wrong with getting high recreationally (preferably in moderation and a controlled setting), but this is an unwanted side effect with most medical purposes as you want the patient as functional as possible. I would also like these marijuana compounds to be tested against other available pharmaceutical options to see where the real benefit lies.
   — sailphish


3. I have a little kid and live in a "nonsmoking" apartment complex. With cigarettes, people are generally considerate to do that outside. With alcohol, people can do that privately in their own room and I never have to know. But it ticks me off when people think "nonsmoking" doesn't apply to marijuana and I have to leave the building because some idiot is letting fumes down the hall. I don't know exactly what the health risks are, but I don't want to breathe that. Don't want my kid to breathe it either.
   — calculuschild






4. I think there are many industrial and medical benefits to the legalization of weed, but recreationally I can't stand being around people whose lives revolve around getting high.
   — NotABeardedCook