10 outrageously stupid arguments against legalising weed

Today, a Utah DEA stood up and claimed, in all seriousness, that if dope was legalised, rabbits would turn into kamikaze stoners.

Worse, he was actually sober at the time.

But the ‘crazy rabbits’ argument isn’t actually the most insane one employed by anti-cannabis advocates over the years.

 Smoking weed makes white women sleep with black men

This was actually one of the earliest arguments against weed, employed (frequently) by boss of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger.

‘This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and others,’ he said.

 One joint makes you criminally insane

Watch Reefer Madness. The guy smokes a joint, then is put in an asylum ‘for the rest of his natural life’.

JESUS! This stuff should totally be illegal!

 ‘It’s not the same as the weed I smoked at Woodstock’

Anti-weed activists frequently claim that skunk is a totally different drug.

But it’s actually the same chemical – THC – just in a new, hybrid form of the same herb.

Arguing that the two are totally different, and should have different legal status, is like saying that beer should be legal and vodka should be Class A.

 It turns you into a crazy Mexican

The fear of turning into a Mexican, or behaving like a Mexican, seems to have consumed early anti-dope activists.

‘All Mexicans are crazy, and this marijuana is what makes them crazy,’ a prohibitionist senator said.

 The munchies will lead to an obesity epidemic

So says American maniac Nancy Grace, based on zero evidence.

 Dope makes you lazy

Barack Obama admitted to smoking it. He doesn’t seem THAT lazy.

 Weed causes crime

Actually, in Colorado, which legalised recreational use of marijuana, the opposite has happened.

Overall, crime has fallen by 15% and murder has dropped by 50%.

No it isn’t. This is a misuse of statistics.

Yes, smoking weed does often precede use of hard drugs, but there is an even stronger correlation with using alcohol and then progressing to drugs.

Dope makes you stupid

A recurring theme of anti-weed activists is to seize on one scientific study and ignore all others to prove their point.

Hence, people jumped on a study that suggested that marijuana could lower IQ by eight points – even though it remains controversial, with researchers suggesting the difference could have been caused by other factors such as socio-economic status.

 Weed makes black people angry

Yep, another gem from early marijuana prohibitionists, who were a pretty despicable lot.

The FBN’s charming Harry Anslinger claimed, ‘’Reefer makes ******s think they’re as good as white men.’

 Dope makes you murder people

Yep, people have frequently used this one, despite a distinct lack of the one crucial thing needed – namely proof that smoking dope causes violence to the extent that, say, alcohol does.

‘Hasheesh makes a murderer who kills for the love of killing out of the mildest mannered man,’ the San Francisco Examiner claimed, during the first anti-dope hysteria.