If it really is a first step towards a life of a loser. How do you explain Micheal Phelps?

Hi Drew,
I totally agree with you. It seems we're in the minority however. Pot smokers are losers in my eyes. But I'm telling you, WAY too many people are using it. You'd be surprised. It saddens me deeply. No matter what they say – no matter the excuse – they're losers for assaulting their own bodies and brains. Legalize being a loser – that's exactly right.

Aside from the legality–what's the difference between a couple drinks and a couple puffs? Have you ever tried it? If so, what was your experience like and if not, how are you able to judge it so effectively?

I wonder how so many successful celibrities and record-holding atheletes are immune from this terrible "loser" recipe. Successful politicians, businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and countless others apparently have found a way to recover from the scourge of the evil weed. Pot is easy for kids to get because those selling it don't check IDs. Beyond the question of legalization for recreational purposes, what right do we have to deny access to those sick, disabled, and dying patients who might benefit from what thousands of doctors in America are recommending? Are all those doctors wrong? Don't let this legalization argument cloud the urgent issue of the medical benefits of cannabis.

I totally agree with you Drew!! Just because we can't contain drugs doesn't mean we should give up and let it be legal and everyone go crazy with it!! We can't control cocaine, crack, meth, heroine or any of the other stuff either so I guess we should just let those be legal also if we go by that rule!

And you are so right! We need to tell kids that just because celebs glorify pot it doesn't make it cool or any less dangerous. It has the same bad effects on your lungs as smoking cigarettes. In fact it has more tar than cigarettes so it's worse on that end. But of course pot smokers don't want you to think about that though.

Pot smoking does lead you down the path to loserville IMO.

Cindy..Ga.

I am amazed by the points you make in this article. What gives you the idea that anyone that smokes pot is a "loser"? If you consider the number of people in this country that smoke pot regularly one would think that we are a nation of losers. I disagree.
As far as your research for this story, I wonder why you think it appropriate to speak only to the people that make their living in part by cannabis remaining ilegal? Do you think that there is a chance that there might be a little bias there? Also, there are l large portion of law enforcement that does not share this view. They are called LEAP, and I would suggest you look them up.
I am also concerned by you comment that we should not "allow rappers to glorify the wonders of living high". Do you mean to say that you as a journalist are in favor of limiting these "rappers" free speach?
I find the general slant of this peice to be one sided and biased. I for one would like to see a rational discussion on this matter free of emotional distractions like your attempts to frighten people.

That is the most ridiculous thing I have almost ever heard.
Of course the judicial system doesnt want to legalize, they will lose
millions. Judges, jails, dea, dtf, prisons, programs, counseling the list in endless. Not to mention all of the confiscated items they take from people. Personals, homes, cars.....and so on and so on.
And do you really think all of these confiscated items end up in auction? NO!! Agents find it a virtual shopping bonanza. Think I am
kidding? The pharmacuetical industry doesn't want it legalized either.
They also would lose millions. So would the doctors who get kick-backs for prescribing medicines. Restless leg syndrome!? c-mon.
Whats next? One should be free to choose. Oh, but lets make abortion legal. HMM

First of all I think that it is highly unfair and offensive to classify casual users of marijuana as losers. There are proven medicinal purposes behind it's consumption. There are also stories of very successful people who have smoked it, including current and past presidents...
You're right in your article, the DEA could raid homes 24/7 and yet marijuana would still grow. That should tell them something...there is a demand for it. With that demand, and without regulation there is going to continue to be the dangerous underground manufacturing and dispensing from cartels, the only way to get around that is legalization.
Let's face it, marijuana is safer than alcohol and cigarettes. As far as the problem of putting smoke into your lungs, if that is the only true opposition, you can always consume it through foods.

why doen't California who is in such financial distress sell Illgal marijuana coming across the borders to dispensories ? It would help the income of the state and keep the dispensories from buying from the illegals smuggling the pot.

I can't believe that this "loser" is comparing smoking pot to being a junkie! If you don't know anything about pot, then don't write about it.
The only loser is Drew Griffin, for believing all the gov't propaganda that he has listened to all his life!

For full disclosure's sake, I must say I am a medical marijuana patient in California.

The argument that pot is a "gateway drug" is absurd. If weed brings someone to heroin or cocaine, it would be because that person is in contact with people who illegally sell weed, heroin and cocaine. If marijuana was legalized, there would be no need for people to go to the street dealer, thereby not being placed in a position to be approached to buy something harder.

Legalize it, regulate it, and tax it. I'm paying 10 percent tax for my prescription marijuana purchases. I understand California gets a lot of $$ from taxes. Just think if we weren't spending $$ on incarcerating folks who smoke a little weed, we could apply that money to something else that is needed.

Thank you Drew Griffin! This is what I needed to see. I am still very much opposed to the legalization of marijuanna. And this report is one of the many reasons why. Again, thank you Mr. Griffin.

Donna Wood
Lil' Tennessee

Greetings:

While we are talking about advocating legalizing pot so that the economy can recover i.e., from the revenue from pot sales and the jobs that can be generated from growing it, there is another thing we can talk about.

Why don't we legalize suicide? We can build an industry where we employ people to assemble suicide kits.
The customer who buys it dies and reduces the burden on the economy.

See what we can justify using the arguement of helping to improve the economy?

Right is right and wrong is wrong. You want to make wrongdoing something permitted so that you can make money.
That happens everyday with regard to prostitution.

Boring!!

don't legalize pot-- just decriminalize small amounts so the good guys can still bust the moron, screw up ,jerk, idiot, fools- and the responsible smokers don't have there lives ruined like me!!!

Good point and hilarious topic

I never did anything stupid high on weed. But I have done a lot of stupid and dangerous things drunk. What's so bad about pot? it's not a gateway drug thats a myth.

What can I say.....Weed is a hell of a drug.

wow. what a strong argument. pot smoker = loser. you should really be hired to write for anti-marijuana campaigns, you dolt.

I'd like to preface my statement by saying I do not smoke marijuana. You mention several times that marijuana isn't as harmelss as many would like us to believe, but don't mention a single fact or study. To further accentuate your hypocrisy, you also compare marijuana use to alcohol, a far more dangerous drug. Let go of your assumptions and look at the situation with an honest and open mind.

just to be clear: your argument is that marijuana should be illegal because people who get paid to punish those who smoke pot think those same people are "losers"? solid argument. i'm sold.

Couldn't agree more. Pot is a de-motivator, and that's one thing we don't need in this country, we're quite lazy enough without smoking ourselves into a lethargic state.

I'm not going to debate the "loser" aspect, but if it' is so bad, why aren't cigars, cigarettes and alcohol prohibited outright as well? These are all drugs that have been legalized.

Whether from nicotine, which is a known killer or from pot, smoke is still entering users' lungs.

Liver Cirrhosis is associated with alcohol usage and countless drunk driving deaths.

I see no difference, except public perception.

OMG...and they can't sell that house without disclosing that it was a pot house.

Living life straight up is best...these "drugs" are just escapes from reality and eventually they have to come back to it...but the problems they tried to escape didn't go away.

Yoga or nature walks...that is the best way to deal.

Drew , your the loser and a facist since you feel you are an authority over free people. Stop pretending you care about children that excuse has always been used by police states to control adults as if they were children.

It will never become legal, at least not in my lifetime anyways. I think it's funny that they say it leads to harder drugs and makes you a loser. Then again, alcohol creates losers too.

Oh and I guess the millions of people that go to bars every Friday and Saturday night that smoke cigarettes are American Winners and Heros.

And of course, the ads for Budweiser, Absolute Vodka, Corona, etc are aimed at these American Winners.

Come on, folks.... Are we just a nation of hypocrites?

It's not news, it's CNN! Flamewar infotainment at it's finest. Congratulations on lowering the journalistic bar yet again.

So, does that make Melissa Etheridge a loser now, Anderson?

Not all pot smokers are losers. Your article is seriously offensive to those who work hard and also happen to smoke pot.

Does drinking wine or beer make you a loser? I am sure in your view it does not.

Never expected Drew to say such a thing.

"and in the case of pot, a first step towards a life of a loser." Youre a loser. usually you come off as smarter than this. legalize it. you compare it to tobacco, but thats legal. so fine, lets handle it the same way. tell all our children not to smoke it and legalize it. problem solved.

Or should I sarcastically say.... "Aren't we just a nation of hypocrites?"

Well said Mr Cooper

I don't smoke it anymore, however, it's pathetic the money wasted in fighting this mostly harmless drug.
The naysayers who say it's a gateway drug leading to heavier illicit drug use don't acknowledge the reason that is they have to hide the use of pot. That is to say pot users socialize with that element of the drug ladder because it is illegal, therefore it is easily accepted by other drug users

While I believe it is a bit odd that marijuana has effects on the body similar in severity to alcohol, which is legal, and that alcohol is only legal and marijuana illegal because of socialization and society's history with alcohol used in social situations; I agree that marijuana use is a recipe for laziness and leads to being a loser.

It's already legal to be a loser. What planet have you been living on? There's no shortage of people who drink alcohol excessively, smoke cigarettes even though they KNOW that cigarettes cause harm, drink and drive etc. If everyone who needs some kind of vice switched from booze to pot I'm not sure it would be worse.

If people choose to be losers, let them. Why should we spend tax payers' money on saving losers? There are lots of things people are free to do legally that are neither particularly smart nor contribute to the greater good of society. Why is there this outrage against a weed when we have far bigger dangers to society like guns.

Why is it anyone's business? Let people do what they want unless we're willing to take the step of banning all alcohol and tobacco, which cause far more social harm. Until then, it is hypocrisy.

Its not always about the children. If it were to be made legal, it would be given as much glorification as alcohol

For the most part it IS legal to be a loser.

You're a loser for writing one of the worst articles I have ever read on this issue.

the war on drugs is the loser here!!! People that want to smoke pot are going to do so legal or not.

I won't debate, I'll just offer some things to consider.

Your comments are well-taken, if smoking were the only method of marijuana consumption. It isn't. It can be ingested in other far less harmful ways without the lung and throat tissue damage.

I'll let others argue the finer points of medicinal marijuana as a opposed to *any* therapeutic ingestion of smoking tobacco. Tax revenue notwithstanding.

Also remember, haven't prohibited drinking, even when proven to be the "gateway" to drunk driving, violence, and suicide.

Lastly, from your headline, being a loser isn't "illegal," last I checked!

Obviously if you ask those people who depend on the criminalization of pot for their living they will tell you NO, don't make it legal. You people just can't believe that an herb when inhaled or swallowed can relieve the suffering of millions. Keeping pot illegal is just another way for the government to interfere in our lives. And no one who is in favor of legalized pot wants children to use it so why don't you put that tired old argument to bed. And as for pot being a "gateway" drug, the first drug most kids try is not pot, it is either alcohol or tobacco. Those are the drugs that people first use. The only reason people who smoke pot even come into contact with other drugs is because it is ILLEGAL! And the people who sell pot also sell coke, pills, heroin. Remove pot from the blackmarket and people who want to smoke pot will never come into contact with the other drugs. Additionally, people who smoke pot don't want to use other drugs. Smoking pot and snorting coke are totally different experiences. The people who claim pot is a "gateway" drug haven't been asking the right questions. Ask the people who smoke pot and use other drugs if they used pot first, before alcohol or tobacco and I bet they tell you that no, pot wasn't the first drug. Pot legalization will result in billions of dollars saved that is currently wasted prosecuting and locking up pot smokers. Call people who smoke pot losers and you immediately close the door on any rational debate. Labeling people who would rather smoke pot than take very addictive drugs to manage their pain losers just shows that in this argument the real losers are the ones who won't let people make up their own minds.

'in the case of pot, a first step towards a life of a loser" Would this be like President Obama? Or more like Bill Clinton? Or maybe even George Bush? Listen to your own comments.

There are anti-pot ads, but the problem is they misrepresent the drug and user know it. The problem is that tobacco and alcohol kill, pot creates lethargy. The problem is that there are other countries with far more enlightened drug policies, and while we can't compare population size, we can see for certain a reversal in the using populations of these countries. Remember, prohibition created the most violent and powerful era of organized crime, what do you expect then with marijuana? The killings south of the border are more about coke and meth, but also to an extent about pot as well. If there was a way to legalize, oversee, manage, heavily tax, and aggressively market against it, I believe pot and other drug use will be largely eradicated or at least be used in statistically insignificant numbers within 10 or 20 years. Laws should be made strict against growing without a license, so that it's use is not prohibited but its sources are known and controlled.

Full disclosure: I am not a user. I have smoked pot once and didn't like it. I have also tried salvia once, and while I liked it considerably, not enough to do it again. So i may not be the best person to speak on it.

Anti-smoking campaigns work for tobacco. Why won’t they work for marijuana?

Your kidding right?

I do smoke but not often enough to say I'm a pothead but I do think that the idea of marijuana being a pathway drug and what not is absurd. I never have and never will try anything else. I don't think it should be legalized just to save the economy though, it should be based on solid arguments from both sides. There actually are ad campaigns against marijuana but they are pretty lame. They apply habits of drinkers to marijuana smokers that are not even true and that why no one takes it seriously. I do agree it is addictive because I see it but its such a diverse population of losers and professionals alike. You should do a little more research from other side you would be very surprised.

Willie Nelson, Paul McCartney and Carlos Santana are all losers?

All three of these guys have made it very well known that they smoke daily and have all been doing so for the last 30+ years.

Pathway drug?...show me your facts... oh right taken from thew 1964 drug book, you probably still believe that IRAQ does have WMD's.

Where is the balance in this piece of journalism ?...I thought this was CNN and not the Fox network.

The number #1 question to Obama was "why dont we legalize it ?".
Cigarette smoking WILL kill you , please someone please show me a death from pot.

My boyfriend smokes pot. He has a job, goes to work Monday through Friday and works at least 40 hours a week. He maintains his home, pays all his bills, has plenty of savings. It helps his insomnia and anxiety.

I don't see the difference between pot and alcohol. Both have the potential for abuse but can be consumed without doing so. I think that at the very least medical marijuana should be legal in this country, in every state. People who are against it have complaints about it's side effects, but what about all the legal drugs advertised on TV with the long list of side effects at the end of the commercial?

Pot is not a gateway drug. Most pot users I know do not do other drugs. I would like the hear complaints against pot's legaisation that couldn't be said against alcohol, tobacco, or any current drug that is approved by the FDA.

I'd have to disagree with pot being the first step to being a loser. I attend a very prestigious college and, honestly, many of my college friends smoke all the time. Does this make it right? No, but neither is drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes. I also have friends who have never and choose to never go any further in the drug ladder than marijuana. Smoking marijuana is completely different from snorting lines of cocaine. People don't overdose and die from marijuana. And honestly, being a loser is legal. No one persecutes that overweight man who sits on his couch watching reality TV shows and drinking beers all day. Now he's a loser. The girl out with her girlfriends who smokes a doob, could probably be considered a loser to some and maybe one day she'll regret it because she has cancer, but alcohol is legal and you can end up with liver cancer just as easily.

I think this is BS. I know many many people who smoke pot on a regular basis and live extremely productive lives. To generalize something like smoking pot, calling all who participate "losers" is ignorant and extremely unfair. I respect that some people are against the legalization of marijuana, and the use of it, and would never want anyone to push them to think otherwise. However, I also do not think that you should categorize people who are for the legalization or use of marijuana and being a detriment to society.

Any drug use of any kind (including tobacco and alcohol) is due to people feeling the need to escape temporarily from reality. Coping skills and life skills classes should be taught in every school in the country. Addictions start with the first puff or the first drink. If you never do it the first time then you don't have to worry about becoming and addict. They should also develop programs that parade "pot heads" in front of teens so they can tell their story and the teens can see how "fabulous" that life really is. Take away the future users and you cure the entire problem.

What do you mean by losers? Please define...

What does the DEA say about chronic pain patients who sustain comfort by using opiates? It is interesting also that health insurance and the dangers of smoking to ones health are an issue for legalization. I would like to see and expose on the effects of marijuana use for pain management or insomnia in comparison to the inebriating effects of pain and sleep medication not to mention high potential for physical addiction and overdose. Florida is actually the best place to start. There are pain management clinics that fill prescriptions for oxycontin etc on site. In California medical marijuana dispensaries do the exact same thing.

Smoke is bad for your lungs. And alcohol is bad for your liver. Use either in moderation, and you most likely will not die from a disease directly caused by one of them, although they could be confounding factors. Tobacco is legal. It is just as harmful, if not more so, than marijuana. Alcohol is legal... it vastly impairs your judgement when overused, as does marijuana. Regulate marijuana use, and you generate vast revenue for the U.S. End of story.

I absolutely agree with you. There is a distinct difference between telling society and our young people that it's "ok" to use marijuana, and legalizing it's use to those who are of legal age and responsible nature. We don't want to send the wrong message here. We must continue to strive to keep Alcohol, Tobacco and Marijuana out of our children's lives. Period. At least until they are of legal age to make the responsible decision for themselves. (which, in my view, is 21+.)

People can be trusted to buy alcohol and tobacco, and they aren't considered "losers". Why can't the same be done with pot? Oh yeah, because Big Tobacco had pot and hemp crushed as a product when they decided they wanted to make money selling an addictive, poisonous product to the public. Alcohol's no better than cigarettes, and it's legal. Instead of demonizing marijuana, why not turn some of that hatred to the drunks and cigarette junkies?

You asked people who profit from marijuana prohibition if they would like to see it legalized? And they said NO?! Groundbreaking investigating you're doing here. Keep up the good work. Maybe you can figure out why the sun is so hot next.

You compare marijuana users to alcohol users, call it (as if it's an absolute) a "gateway drug" (any drug is a gateway drug), maintain that marijuana should be illegal, and yet alcohol, which affects people far more negatively (physically and emotionally) and has greater effects on the families of the users (abuse) and strangers (DUI), is legal.

There are many things we "shouldn't" do. We "shoudn't" have fast food joints selling cheap, fattening food to children and contributing to childhood obesity.

We "shouldn't" have so many commercials pushing unnecessary medications.

We "shouldn't" ignore the many medicinal benefits of marijuana that far exceed those of the chemically produced (and mistakenly called "comparable") alternatives.

But we do.

Llast time I looked, unfortunately being a loser is not illegal

Why don't anti-smoking campaigns work for marijuana?

Well, because drug dealers aren't regulated and aren't required to ask for identification from their customers. There are also other ways to consume cannabis – not to mention industrial hemp, which is also illegal in the US despite the fact that it isn't a drug at all. Unfortunately our laws don't distinguish between cannabis grown for hemp and cannabis grown for smoking or other recreational or medical purposes.

Plenty of people who smoke pot aren't "losers", as you put it, and plenty of people who are losers don't smoke pot. Some of the biggest losers I've encountered in my life were alcoholics and never used cannabis at all.

The main reason that anti-marijuana campaigns aren't having a significant effect on cannabis production and use is that people aren't buying into the opinion that cannabis makes you lazy or stupid, and they don't think the government should decide what's too "dangerous" when it comes to drugs (especially since there is very little rational evidence to suggest that cannabis, as a drug, is any more dangerous than any existing prescription or legal recreational drugs -namely tobacco and alcohol).

Furthermore, there is a growing consensus that prohibition is more detrimental in terms of societal impact than the actual use of cannabis as a recreational drug.

Legalize and regulate cannabis (for industrial and recreational purposes) and you effectively remove the black market (which is entirely created and driven by prohibition). Sure, there will still be people trading these goods illegally, but isn't that already the case with so-callled legal drugs, from prescription painkillers to viagra?

We need to have an intelligent, informed discussion about cannabis. Name-calling is neither.

Being a loser is already legalized – just ask the millions addicted to cigarettes and/or alcohol.

Not legalizing marijuana makes about as much sense as passing laws to make tobacco and alcohol illegal.

you are a condescending prick..since when does smoking make you a loser? there have been lots of people who smoke and are productive americans..you need to watch your tone in the future buddy

Amen AC!

Why legalize 'being a loser'? Because here in America we're aloud to be losers if we want. lol. Worse title for the article. I dont smoke pot but I have epilepsy and I've been learning lately it can help me.

We need more people like you telling it how it is!
I am an architect and I have worked with people that were obviously under the influence and they were completely useless! They were not by any means more creative or productive. They were a total waste of money for our company. Some people pick up this "habit" at collegue and when they graduate they pretend they can keep living their lives succesfully giggling at the fan.
No thanks. No pot smokers allowed here.

Marijuana smoking does not make a person a loser, that person may well have been a loser regardless, bad parenting and poor education makes a loser, among many other possible factors. I know many intelligent and successful regular marijuana smokers, some people prefer a joint over a beer after a long day of work. How is it that alcohol and tobacco, being addictive to those who are prone to it and more dangerous to a person's body than marijuana, is considered acceptable whereas marijuana is demonized? If a person prefers a drug that causes no hangover and does minimal damage to their body, they are considered losers and criminals. That seems like a double standard to me.

P.S. And being a loser is perfectly legal. It may not be the best choice of lifestyles, but that is freewill. And this is a "free" country after all. Right??

Remember however, Marijuana is only acceptable if you have a Legal Document to use it for prescribed Medical Use and in a place where that is Legal. That is the current law anyways. That being said, if it were to become legal like alcohol or cigarettes, I would probably have to support that.

There are lots of losers who do not use pot, I don't think being loser is illegal so who cares. This argument is getting old. I don't know anymore, I think its just about money. I wonder if the amount of money the DEA and other agencies get for fighting drug crimes would be cut if pot was legalized. I think that makes a difference, this is just a nonesense article. "Junkies" in an article related to pot use stupid. This whole thing just irritates, i gotta go get high to forget i ever read this, then i may have to rob a liquor store to support by junkie mj habit, lame.

Anderson,
Where is pot legal? How's it working for them?

Alternative to cigarettes for me...and I can't smoke pot at my job or all day long so it's been a cigarette before bed to me and I've almost quit smoking cigarettes. Legalizing it is not an option but I would accept it. Loser ...may be a happy loser for couple of years ......I know so many non smokers who would smoke pot if it was legal.( Amsterdam has less crimes and I guess less losers than we do)

It doesn't merit a response CNN is so out of touch, no wonder we get our news online.

i am definitely not a pothead...and i have never even tried pot...but what exactly makes it really bad for you besides the fact that you allegedly smoke it? because thats all you really said in your article.."putting smoke into your lungs is unhealthy". just like tobacco...so why isnt tobacco illegal??

So asking the question of people who make their living off eradicating marijuana if the drug should be made legalized is the point of your article? Look up LEAP
We have had 70+ years of a failed prohibition, billions of dollars wasted for programs like DARE, Just Say No and the like. Not to mention the lives ruined over a plant that grows almost anywhere, under most conditions (ie it grows like a weed) but I guess doing the work that it took to type your article most likely kept you from doing your due diligence and fact checking.

To say marijuana use is a 'first step toward a life of a loser' then sign me up right behind:
• Conan O'Brian.
• Bill Clinton
• Walt Disney. Cartoonist.
• Will Self. Author.
• William Shakespeare. Playwright.
• Willie Nelson.
• Winston Churchill. British Prime Minister, poet, artist & multi drug user.
• Woody Harrelson.
• Michael Phelps
•Dave Chappelle
•Barack Obama
Please forgive me for leaving many people out but I have another appointment to get to where I volunteer my time assisting the blind with shopping.

wow, you can't call it addictive or dangerous so you call the people who use it losers. well I can tell you I know some winners that make more than 300k a year who use marijuana as a wind down for their day with no side effects. Of course there would be idiots who ABUSE marijuana. Just like alcohol. But in your research, if your opinion wasn't so one-sided, you'd see that there are people performing perfectly fine in their lives toking up everyday. And they don't use any other drugs.

I agree with your article but you need to include some facts to back up your arguement. Marijuana is a gateway drug believe it or not. The stigma of its "cool" to smoke (anything) needs to change.

Since I was crippled with pain and placed on S.S. disability I do so appreciate yet another tunnel visioned idiot acting like they have any interest at all in anybody else except when it's to tell them what they can and can't do, no matter how much a simple plant can help. Living inside of a box of pain year in and year out and having the one thing that could actually makes life enjoyable kept away because of ignorance is so typical of this country's 'we know better than you' preppie busy-bodies. Let me tell you one little secret, no matter how much marijuana you gave away to the entire country it wouldn't hurt the country half as much as the de-regulated, white collar only, trod on the downtrodden,completely forget educating anybody, make a buck quick, grovel to all powerful wall street right wing moral majority knuckle dragger's have done since the 80's.

CORRECTION: i meant to direct my letter to Drew Griffin. My apologies to anderson, unless he helped in writing this...

This article is absolute garbage and spews the same propoganda we've heard for years.

First off cannabis is NOT a gateway drug. If 1% of people who have ever smoked cannabis go on to something 'harder' (unless you consider alcohol harder), how can you consider it a 'gateway drug'. Makes no sense.

2nd is what exactly is so bad about cannabis use that concerns you? Is it that it's less dangerous than tobacco on your lungs? Or the fact that you can't overdose from it? Or that it is safer than aspirin and ibuprofen?

3rd, how do you explain the severe decriminalization of drugs in places like Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands and the corresponding decrease in use AND crime?

Lastly, why is it ok to spend billions upon billions of dollars on police, raids, lawyers, judges, prisons, etc.. when we could treat it like wine, tax it, regulate it for adult use, and instead of spending money we could actually earn money.

But by all means, keep insulting responsible users while regurgitating police and govt propoganda. Real reporting here... ugh...

The logic train derailed on this one.

1. As much as we might wish, being a loser isn't illegal.

2. You are arguing from a false premise that smoking pot and being a loser are the same thing. If this were the case so many successful individuals would not smoke it.

3. If anything, your comparison to Tobacco shows that this can be controlled better if it were legal and regulated.

Ask yourself, would pot sellers be losers if they weren't automatically criminals under the current law? More over, if they would be, is it the pot selling that makes them a loser to begin with?

I forgot what I was gonna say.

Drew, your ignorance and hate show. Your punishment should be...never listening to music written by cannabis users. No more Beatles, Rolling Stones, Mozart, Willie Nelson, Bob Marley.........If it wasn't for all your so called losers....we would not have art, music..or the last three Presidents.
Your arrogance and bigotry against cannabis use is ugly.....educate yourself....maybe listen to Dr Gupta

You just killed your own argument by comparing pot with alcohol and cigarettes, noting pot is just as harmful. Fine. Then why are the other two legal?

Marijuana is a recipe for losers?

Sure, there are losers that smoke marijuana, but I would bet that there are just as many, if not MORE losers that have never smoked marijuana.

So, what's your point?

Some of these commenter are as dumb as the blogger ("Well said Mr. Cooper"...is you serious?). It's comedic that both Mr. Griffin and his employer consider him to be an "investigative journalist". All he seems to be investigating is the empty space within his cranium.

I don't smoke marijuana so don't call me a "pot head".

I have two young children and I agree with the police, prosecutors and DEA agents you spoke to who said they cannot eradicate marijuana from this country.

They've pursued the current prohibition policy for seventy years now and the result is 15 million regular marijuana users, and a further 100 million people (a third of this country) who acknowledge they obtained and consumed marijuana during the prohibition. The prohibition is a failure! It does NOT reduce marijuana use!!

Are you calling a third of the people in this country "losers", including your president? Does that even sound logical to you?

And if marijuana is so harmful then why is it so hard to determine if someone has been smoking it? When cops pull a person over they need to rely on hair and pee tests just to determine whether they've even consumed marijuana. If it was as bad as you say then it'd be BLATANTLY obvious that they'd consumed it, we wouldn't be needing to be doing random pee tests all over the country!

Marijuana doesn't cause cancer, heart disease, emphysema or brain damage, and there has never been a single death by marijuana in all of recorded history.

However, marijuana's prohibition costs us $40 billion a year and causes 2,000 arrests for possession every day and 6,000 cartel murders every year.

The costs way outweigh the benefits!!

Legalize marijuana's production and sale to adults at after-tax prices too low for dealers to meet. RESULT: no dealers, no easy access to marijuana by children, no cartel murders.

Write to your legislators TODAY.

Please know that this IS NOT Anderson's POST!

He is NOT this narrow minded and would never label marijuana users as "Loser's."

Drew Griffin owes alot of people in this country an apology especially those that are using "Medical Marijuana" legally.

I already asked for the apology...

But... NOT POSTED

Drew is Paranoid. His fear is biased and unwarranted. His name calling and/or labeling was uncalled for...

I hope that Anderson will address the issue and whoever this guy Drew is fairly.

He probably smokes cigarettes’. What a Butt Head.

The reason marijuana is not legal is because the lobbyists of the textile, the pharmaceutical drug, alcohol, and the tabaco industry all oppose it because they would have to compete with the legal marijuana market and they would loose sales. Marijuana can be used for many more things than just as a drug. It can be used to make rope, cloth, paper, seed oil, and many different types of building material. The legalization of marijuana would save the tax payers billions of dollars and creat bilions more in tax revenue not to mention the creation of millions of jobs. The legalization of this plant would also take the market and sales of this substance out of the hands of criminals and drug cartels.

Andreson I know u are a very good investigative reporter but being a loser is already legal.... Ours is a government for the people and by the people and clearly the people are smoking. I think it is safe to say all drugs are bad, including cigaretts and alchohol. Hell, Anderson there is a case to be made that soda is worse for u than weed. The crazy reality is young people can buy drugs easier than cigaretts and alchohol..... Why is the war on drugs a failure, I'll give u one word DEMAND!!!!!!! Legalize it, Tax it, Control it and lets move forward.

It's true pot relaxes you, I have heard others say don't smoke until after your thru working or you won't get anything accomplished. But to say if you have ever smoked weed your lazy. That is like saying if you ever drink alcohol your a drunker, or if you ever eaten chocolate your a fat person. If being lazy was illegal, then most people in America would be
in jail. People say if you legalized weed, then people would just grow their own, and not pay taxes. But let's think about it, if they grew their own, they wouldn't have to spend money on it. The money they would have spent wouldn't leave the country. The money would be spent on tangible goods that could in fact be taxed. But chances are people would just buy the weed at the store. Anybody can grow tobacco, and ferment alcohol, and that's legal, but how many people do you know doing it. And someone gives pot to a kid in a legalized society, they should be treated just as if it was illegal. Sorta like alcohol, and cigarettes, only harsher. And as far as job safety, we can still pay the police, lawyers, judges, and pharmaceuticals companies the same money they are getting now. And what is the worst thing that could happen, we find out weed is actually a bad thing, and make it illegal again.

What is this? 1980? Get off my ass, Nancy Reagan. Ronnie died years ago. Last time I checked our fancy new president had smoked marijuana and he's only the leader of the free world. Some loser! Everyone point at the loser as I go off drinking, beat my wife, then take a xanax and an oxy to fall asleep before I get up tomorrow to do the same!

Seriously folks, this is a joke. Who is Drew Griffin? Why did an intelligent and successful person like Anderson Cooper (who being from money probably toked a bit back in his school days) hire this sorry excuse for ... well I want to say journalist, but he's clearly not that. A journalist is supposed to present facts and discuss things objectively, not promote stale propaganda that everyone stopped taking seriously years ago. How does this guy have a job? There's a depression going on.

"For two weeks, knowing I was assigned to this story, I have been asking that question to the many prosecutors, DEA agents and police I’ve encountered. The overwhelming answer is no."

Do I even need to explain that asking people who profit from drug prohibition if they would like to see marijuana made legal is a waste of time? You know who else loves drug prohibition? Drug dealers and drug manufacturors. Both the legal and illegal ones.

If marijuana is legalized and taxed, there will still be an underground market. The pot sold by the government would be low in potency and high in price.

Alcohol is only only legal because it is socially acceptable, or the laws would have been changed years ago. Like alcohol, marijuana is becoming more and more accepted as time progresses.

I can guarentee that marijuana will be decriminalized across North America as society evolves. It's what we do. We are shocked, we adjust, then fight for these "rights". Example? Homosexuality. 100 years ago, being gay was something you died for. Today, there are growing forces behind these sexual identies and many countries are in the process of legally accepting it.

One hundred years from now, we'll be hosting pot parties.

Get with the times. Let people make their own choices, you don't have any right to tell them how to live.

Who hired this fool? This "loser" should be fired immediately. Get your facts straight, then learn how to be a journalist.

Are you serious!?! I'm a successful member of society, but I'm deemed as a loser? Why because I chose to inhale VAPOR (not smoke) of cannabis to relax instead of poisoning myself with alcohol. End this reefer madness CNN. Cannabis is not a gateway to loser, it's a gateway to healthier recreation.

I couldn't even get through this whole article, and it wasn't even that long. just not interesting and obviously from a very one sided view. The D.A.'s and police think we shouldn't legalize marijuana...wow...what a shock. But I bet good money at least 40% of those people also USE marijuana. It's alarming even to a pothead to learn how many people secretly use it and openly speak against it, and it's users. Most of them, by your yuppie standards, are not considered losers at ALL. I know plenty of people who use marijuana exclusively. any drug is a gateway drug to an addictive personality. And of course even if it was legal we shouldn't teach little kids to use it! thats asinine! but our money as taxpayers is definitely better spent eradicating crack and crystal meth than fighting the obviously losing battle against non violent pot offenders!! I'm not even saying it should be legal. I'm not excited about paying government taxes on government controlled marijuana. But You sure haven't given any logical or sensical reasons against it! calling people losers. I forgot that gem of a reason haha. And it's grown in ......houses!! Oh My God!! lock up your children. honestly though, there are plenty of facts in favor of marijuana being just as harmless as "they" say it is. of course smoking anything isn't good for your body. But Marijuana is much healthier than legal and more readily available drugs such as cigarettes and alcohol, the true "gateway" drugs. It is not physically addicting, it is not mind altering, there are no hallucinations, theres no "trip", I've never heard of a "mean" stoner, a pothead who fights people for no reason, you can't get so stoned you could hurt yourself, or others, without even realizing or remembering it! the worst thing that can happen if you smoke way too much, you might FALL ASLEEP! hospitals aren't full of people dying from marijuana related diseases. It is QUITE legal to be a loser. As i know plenty of them. But most of them are not at all potheads. In fact, if some of the losers I know started smoking a little Ganja, they just might chill out enough to make something of their lives. Why don't you try talking to people with DIFFERENT perspectives before your next article! Then if you still need to pass judgement on others, at least we'd know your informed in your stupidity.

Ok, if you hate pot, fine! Nobody asked you to like it. In fact, all anybody asked for was to smoke it or eat in peace. If it was legal, then the drug lords would not make any money.

Hey griffin, hey AC, why don't you quit enjoying the stink of your own ego, let people do what they want and start encouraging people to quit smoking cigs or drinking before you attack pot.

Dont knock it till you try it

Would someone please tell Mr. Cooper about this story. Tell him to read it and then ask him if he thinks its a story that he would consider "quality journalism". How could anyone think this story was well researched. Surely people on both sides of the issue can agree that, despite your point of view, journalists should be held to a higher standard. Shame on you, Drew Griffin, please do quality work next time.

No, it is most certainly not the first step on the life to a loser. Does every person who ever takes a drink of alcohol become a raging alcoholic? No, and not everybody who smokes weed is a loser. After three years of smoking weed, I got my eagle scout rank and graduated high school. My grades were good enough that I got accepted to Texas A&M within a month or so. Now I study Chinese and I major in economics, and it was a major set-back to be arrested and have to wait 9 months to find out if I was going to go to jail, or just have to serve 1 year of probation. It's funny that after years of smoking, and the only bad thing that ever happened to me because of weed was going to jail. My roommate (who also smokes weed and has been arrested as well) studies Nuclear Engineering here at A&M, and I'd just like to point out that A&M is one of two schools in the nation that has a nuclear reactor on campus. How's that for two "stoners"?

People who smoke can end up becoming losers, but so can people who don't smoke. More people have died playing WoW than have died smoking weed.

And David, as to your question about where pot is legal. Technically nowhere. The last place to have a regulated market for marijuana was Nepal, and after "persuasion" from the US they criminalized it in the 60s. After making marijuana, or cannabis rather, illegal, there become an entire black market which created a criminal element that hadn't been present before in Nepal. As a result of this, cocaine, heroin, other hard drugs, guns and violence all became more widespread. So I'd say that criminalizing marijuana made things in Nepal infinitely worse than they had ever been.

This is one of the worst articles I've ever read on the issue. Marijuana is not a gateway drug, it is a gateway to illegal activity. If marijuana were legal, there would be no access to harder drugs for casual pot smokers. I am an accountant with a large law firm and I smoke pot everyday. I give money to charity and volunteer at my daughters' schools. I don't feel like a loser and since I can string together two coherent thoughts, I already feel like a winner compared to the article writer. Thank God I don't have cable so I don't have to be subjected to this kind of uninformed drivel.

Finally, someone with guts enough to call using what it is-loser behavior. The denial I've seen on this site for the last days has been amazing. Sad, but amazing. When I drank alcohol, I thought there was nothing wrong. I thought every behavior surrounding using and codependency were all right. Just because it all started out innocently doesn't mean it ended up that way. It wasn't that I drank every day. It's that when I drank I drank to numb my world (which meant drinking to black out). Looking back, it was really, really loser behavior. And then finally enough people who mattered told me it wasn't cool, that I wasn't, that the drinking wasn't, that even the tranqs my MD gave me to get me off my edge weren't. Finally, it stuck. And for 15 and a half years it has stuck. If you can smoke and drink without it affecting you, think again. Maybe you won't addict. But every time you use, it does play with your brain chemistry. And that is reason enough to stay clean in my book. As we say recovery, a drug is a drug is a drug...

Most opinions here are not from ones who have used marijuana. Therefore, the conclusions drawn are not valid. There are no data which shows that people have been killed on our roads by smokers, or domestic violence as a result of either spouse smoking. Alcohol on the other hand have so mamy recorded facts nationwide yet there is no debate about stopping the sale of alcohol.
Can someone please tell me where the marijuana originated.

This Gpa of 11,is fortinate enough to live in a state where it is legal for medicinal purposes.This allows me to enjoy alternitives instead of pain,and remain out of our over crowded prisons { high % of inmates for marijuana use or possession}. If I lived somewhere else where an American is not allowed this right I could become a loser for my 4 children, wife, and 11 G`children, all of which do not indulge. The losers are the criminals in the streets, because of overcrowded prisons, which make it unsafe for my family and all of yours. Wake up America, its 2009. Luigi

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahah! This is the best Comedy blog I've read all year!!! Keep up the great work Drew!

Dear Drew Griffin,

Your article was factually irrelevant and totally biased. I am not claiming that you were out of line, but perhaps the reason you drew this conclusion is that the people you interviewed have a jobs issue interest in continuing the futile battle to eradicated America's most popular pastime.

Rather than just interviewing prosecutors, DEA and judges, you should have spoken with sociologist, psychologist, and doctors and the like.

Alternatively, as well as interview prosecutors you should have interviewed those who have negative experiences with the marijuana laws. For example, in the mid-nineties Will Foster, a man suffering from degenerative arthritis had a medical 5 by 5 foot grow in the basement of his Tulsa, OK home. He was originally sentenced to 93 years in prison.

If the laws are more harmful than the substance or the behavior of those using it, the laws mus be changed. There is no doubt in the majority of American' minds today that the laws are more harmful and costly to society than the drug.

Please email me back at the email I signed in on so I can provide you with some literature, I will even sign them if you would like.

Sincerely,

Ed Rosenthal
author/activist

I really don't think it's the drug, it's the person. Are people who are lazy more inclined to use pot? Maybe, but I don't think pot creates a lazy person. I think a lot of people assume pot smokers are losers because that is all they are exposed to... the losers that flaunt getting high 24/7. It's very rare you will meet a well spoken pot smoker because they choose to keep their lifestyle under wraps. Why would a successful individual choose to expose their illegal habit... it's just not a wise decision to make.

Marijuana is illegal. Just because cigarettes and alcohol are legal doesn't mean people don't die from using them.
Hundreds of thousands die each year from smoking related cancer, alcohol abuse, and cirrhosis of the liver.
Do we really need any more people driving on our roads who are impaired? We have enough already.

I've been a CPA for 15 years. Have a family, pay taxes, etc.

I smoke every couple of weeks. However, I take care of all my responsibilities. I even watch CNN.

Does that make me a loser?

I guess all the folks that drink every weekend and blow all their money drinks and cigs are winners.

I THINK IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, THEY CALL THIS "NAME CALLING".

What a ridiculous blog. Its like when people who don't smoke cigarettes slam smokers because they don't do it. We should not be legislating taste. What ever happened to personal choices and freedom? This blog is extremely judgmental and unprofessional. I'm surprised it was posted. There's thousands of professionals who smoke and do not do any harm to anybody including themselves and around 50 million US users altogether and I'm tired of ignorant people slamming smokers just because it's the status quo. What a triumph of negative marketing and people buying into it because they are ignorant. I'll never stop and neither will millions in every country of the world. I think it's about time to take it to the streets, this is a basic human rights issue.

@ David Netherlands has a much lower marijuana user rate than the U.S. 17.0% to 36.9%

Replace the word pot with booze, grow operation with speak easy, junkies (man I love this one) with... I dunno... flappers? You get more or less an identical article one would find in a newspaper in the roaring 20s about alcohol.

Although comparing marijuana to alcohol is an unfair comparison. After all alcohol is far far worse for the drinker, and society at large, than marijuana. Marijuana is to Alcohol as water is to poison.

Although comparing marijuana to water is an unfair comparison. After all water, if consumed in large enough quantities is toxic and lethal, where there is no lethal dosage of marijuana.

Water is more lethal than marijuana. But I digress.

From your article it says "People who call themselves ‘casual users,’ in the minds of law enforcement, are deluding themselves into believing they are not affected by this drug. They compare it to the drunk who believes he can actually drive better with a few drinks inside." Which is a sentiment you agree with as indicated later in the article.

Law enforcement get large portions of their budget for the sole purpose of fighting drugs. They're paid to think drugs are bad. When marijuana prohibition is repealed, which it will just as it was for alcohol, they're going to lose huge sums of money from their budget.

The line about marijuana users being like "the drunk who believes he can actually drive better with a few drinks inside" is an inane and purely inflammatory statement. It's meant to invoke a comparison of anyone and everyone who imbibes marijuana, all 15 million regular users, to dangerous drunk drivers.

If being drunk behind the wheel is such a terrible plight, why not start with reinstating the prohibition of alcohol? Because we learn from history, however slowly that knowledge takes hold, that prohibition neither works nor is conducive to a free and open society.

Being drunk, high, or in flavor country enjoying a cool menthol blast is not wrong.

I'll repeat that, being drunk or high is not wrong. Being drunk or high in the wrong situations is wrong; but, human beings have been getting drunk ever since some cave man left some grapes out in a jar too long and decided to have a sit. Mankind has been using marijuana for relaxation and for medical purposes for over 5,000 years.

I'm not very interested in hearing what law enforcement individuals, who reap billions ever year from prohibition, feel about marijuana. They're paid to have a negative opinion.

I'm far more interested in hearing what doctors and scientists have to say about it. Do you know what they say? It has been proven, again and again, through countless studies over the last 30 years, and through nearly all of recorded history, that marijuana not only has no long term damaging affects on the user; but, has many beneficial qualities.

The continued prohibition of marijuana saves no one. Not one life is saved. Countless people die every year because of its prohibition, just as countless people died in the streets of Chicago and elsewhere during alcohol prohibition. Continuing the prohibition stops not one criminal. Does nothing to reduce its use. Prohibition is what creates criminals. People don't go down the street with tommy guns running hooch any more, and that's because as a nation we wised up and realized the prohibition of alcohol was strangling our nation.

It's time that we all grow up as a nation. We need to get serious about our problems. The answer is easy. The problems we face are not new. They happened before in the 20s and 30s, and though people once said alcohol would never be legal again, today I can jaunt down to the corner store and pick up a six pack, and no one had to die for me to get it.

Smoking pot does not make you a loser. Someone who drinks is no more or less of a loser that someone who smokes pot. And neither of them is more or less of a loser who abstains from both.

Whether you're sitting at home smoking bowl after bowl, guzzling six pack after six pack, or just cramming your finger up your nose it's not the vice that makes you a loser. It's being a loser that makes you a loser.

Since when does legalization of pot result in legalization of losers?

Too bad we are already a nation of losers for insisting that the war on drugs that we are LOSING should be continued. If we legalized pot, it would make millions of people safer by decreasing the violence associated with it. Those kids in the projects who profit from dealing illegal drugs would not be able to sell at the same rates and would probably not deal any longer.

Get your heads out of the gutter, you conservative LOSERS, it is because of people like you that this pot house exists.

I think pickup trucks are for losers... Should they be illegal then?

You don't ban something because losers like it. That's idiotic. There isn't going to be less losers because there is no pot...

The government will allow smoking cigarettes to be legal. And will allow alcohol to be legal. The later has shown some medical uses, i.e. red wine helping the heart or whatever it is. But both of these cause CANCER. Yet they are still legal? Pot is actually used to cure and TREAT symptoms of cancer.
How's that for logical?

Pot,marijuana,dope,pothead are all used to portray the cannabis plant and cannabis users negatively.

The term "Marijuana" was not recognized by Americans until the introduction of the Marijuana tax Stamp Act of 1937.

For the past 70 years we have been taught that Marijuana has no medicinal value and should be considered a dangerous mind altering drug.

There are now 13 different states that have enacted Medical Marijuana Bills. Hundreds of thousands of state registered patients rely on this plant as medicine. Including eight federally registered medical marijuana patients.

Most Americans realize that Cannabis is no more dangerous than products we buy at the local grocery store. For example the Cannabis flower is far less toxic than the common potato. Ever heard of solanine?

Yet millions of U.S. risk being robbed,killed, prosecuted,fined,imprisoned, and fired for a personal choice. The choice to use Cannabis in the privacy of one's home. It's time to end this failed war on American citizens.

Sick of Americans Ignorance.

@CNN When someone speaks in favor of legalization. you repeatedly post pics of an unkept male smoking a pinner (more paper than bud) STOP IT!! There are millions of examples of people using water filtration techniques,vaporizers,and medibles.

It's time for some real reporting with unbiased representation of both sides.

Don't take it out on the rest of us "stoners" because you can't get laid.

Your arguments are absolutely ridiculous. First off, millions upon millions have tried marijuana, including our last three Presidents. So would you consider them losers who led unproductive lives? How about the patients, losers? So if someone has a full time job to provide for his/her family and take care of their responsibilities, they can't make the safer choice to use cannabis on occasion rather than alcohol because it makes them a loser? Oh sure, the police, prosecutors and DEA are really going to want to lose all the money they make from pot cases by making it legal. I really bet they have an open mind and look at the issue from both sides....are you kidding me? Your ignorance is pathetic, are you or are you not supposed to be a journalist who takes an honest, un-biased approach and do interviews from both those who support and don't support the cause. If you did, you would discover there are millions of people who don't even use pot that want to see it legalized. More than half the country, as a matter of fact. There is no reason for you to bash and insult millions of our hard-working, fellow Americans simply because they consume cannabis. I say thumbs down to this Drew Griffin character

This was an extremely biased, limited, and lazy report. You're not a good enough reporter at all.

Where's the investigation?

How many DEA agents could you find for this interview, Drew?

There aren't really a whole lot of them and literally none of them have time to talk to you... I doubted paragraph two sentence one from the beginning.

BUT:

Not one sheriff could leave you a quote, Drew?
How about the Lake County prosecuting attorney, Orange County?...
No One?
Did you even go to Florida, dude?

I could personally find law enforcement willing to leave me a statement and their name from Florida over the phone... and I don't work for CNN.

I don't think you ever went to Florida.
I think this "report" is a joke.

P.S. AND it does not give a hangover. Your body knows!

Asking our, for the most part, for-profit criminal justice system (i.e. property seizures, lawyers, cops, drug war funding, private prisons, etc) if cannabis should be legalized is like asking a bank CEO, pre-recession, if there should be more regulations on lending or credit.

It is like asking a republican if tobacco companies should fall under FDA oversight.

It is like asking a democrat if cap-and-trade will combat global warming.

Is everyone who disagrees with you now Drew, as defined by federal law, a criminal? Is there no room for honest debate, or must our freedoms continue to be eaten away by the manipulation of emotion and social stigmatization for arbitrary personal "health" or religious "moral" reasons?

Also, as someone else has already stated, did you happen to interview any LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) members? I highly doubt it. I was just thinking, since you're interviewing the DEA and all, why not ask someone else on the other side of the spectrum? Wouldn't that be the logical way to approach this issue? Sounds to me like you're just another prohibitionist who doesn't care what anyone else thinks, you just buy into the government propaganda like everyone else without considering the harms that the prohibition of marijuana has brought forth for so many years. It's truly a shame

Apparently, facts and unbiased investigation are just meaningless and easily-overcome obstacles for those in the "CNN Special Investigation Unit."

Nice hate-mongering and jugdmentalism.

WEED IS THE BEST DRUG OUT THERE! It's a God given gift. It grew naturally on earth and IT WILL keep GROWING!

You call this journalism?
Yeah. Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Bill Maher, Neil Young, etc., whatta buncha losers. Never amounted to nothin'! They all deluded themselves.
And again, for the millionth time, smoking is not the only method of ingestion, you "reporters"! There is vaporization, tinctures, teas, and other edibles! You are perpetuating public ignorance. Joesph Goebells would be proud.

Totally wrong. Unbelievable for you to call potheads losers. What about the person who drinks every night, is that good for their body? Has anyone ever stopped to think why so many people are growing pot? Because so many people are smoking it and it is a huge cash crop. With a one time set up you can bring in thousands of dollars just by growing some plants. So why doesn't the government make it legal, tax it, bring the country slowly out of debt, and then let pot join in on the cigarette anti smoking bandwagon. Make it where you have to be 18 or 21 to buy it like cigarettes or alcohol.

Legalization of marijuana makes more sense than shoving pharmaceuticals down our throats and forcing us to watch advertisements almost every other commercial. What I don't get is how the losers who choose pharma drugs don't see the list of side effects that far outweigh the benefits?

In this day and age, in this country, anyone that wants to use pot, is using pot, plain and simple, regardless of the fact that is illegal. You are lying to yourself if you think that it's not easily available to get all over this country. So, if pot was made legal, all those same people would still be using pot and all the people that think pot should remain illegal would still not be using it.

People against legalizing it act like it will be so much more available and easier to obtain if made legal and we will have this huge increase in the number of people that are using it. That argument does not hold weight.

Go find me someone that is really interested in trying marijuana but won't because it is illegal, but would if it was legal..... good luck.

This is the absolute worst piece of writing I've ever seen on CNN, and that's saying a whole lot. I'd rip it apart, but I don't even know where to begin.

I think the real losers are people that sit on bar stools everyday destroying their livers and lives. I will never understand why alcohol is legal and marijuana is not. Alcohol causes a plethora of problems that marijuana does not.

I'm a professional engineer and I smoke pot. Why don't you take your joke of a 4 year liberal arts degree in journalism and smoke that.
who is the real loser here.
(Notice I didn't end that with a question mark.)

It's very sad that you talk about how you spoke to so many dea / police / prosecutors and those who come in contact with..yada yada yada. Yet your end result and conclusion is the professional opinion that pot smokers are losers.

Legalizing being a loser is an interesting thought. You managed to find a job that pays you. can't be that bad.

Anti-Smoking campaigns help against tobacco?

Who do YOU know who has quit cigarettes because of an ad and not the health problems it can cause?

For six thousand years the people of asia have been utilizing Cannabis, the stalks having a massive value for clothing and rope, with the buds that are left being smoked because they have no other use themselves.

And, if smoking pot makes you a loser, how do you explain THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

It's hilarious to me that people talk so badly about weed as they light up their cigarettes and slowly die of lung cancer.

All other arguments aside, there's no reason cigarettes and alcohol should be legal and weed be illegal (I don't smoke it, and wouldn't even if it was legal.)

If anyone thinks that weed isn't available to everyone who wants it, they're delusional. Legalising, regulating, and taxing it is a logical step that will make the country millions of dollars.

This article is pathetic, and everyone you know should be embarrassed that you wrote it. Also, CNN should fire whoever decided to publish it.

Keep digging your hole of crappy journalism, retards.

A loser? Really?? Way to back that statement up? Journalism at it's finest... I don't drink alcohol, and I don't call drinkers losers, even though they kill people every minute with thier irresponsible actions. Anderson Cooper should ask for his username and password back so hacks like you don't ruin his name.

Although I don't think that everyone should go out there and smoke pot, I do think that people are free to make that decision themselves. By legalizing pot you're not making people smoke it, but you could make it safer for those who chose to smoke it. It also gives you more control over the industry (you know what I mean) by making you the market leader. If it's too strong you can tone it down, if it's flooding the market you can slow it (not stop, because that just leads us back to the start), you can check I.D before purchase, you could even keep track of purchases, the list goes on. By taking the allure of the illegal away from it you'll cut users by a sizable portion, you don't get many speak easy's these days do you? All liquor is bought from stores and is taxed. Kids don't buy booze from a guy in an alley, they get an older sibling/friend/stranger to go into a store an make the purchase. Not only is the money going to the gov (lets face it that's important to them) but the item sold is what it says it is and not goat droppings and tar, and there was not a felony crime committed (I do understand that there is still an underage issue, but in the grand scheme of things would you rather an underage drinking charge or a felony charge clogging up the system. Apply that same principle to the pot trade and you'll soon find that legalization is a smart move. It also unties your hands to use the plant for other much more productive things. You need to look at the front and the back of a thing to get the gist of it, you then need to speak to it. Not blast at it till it submits. USA I'm looking in your direction.

Nor did you capitalize the W.

While I don't smoke, I don't think it's fair to (so easily) judge all marijuana smokers as losers. It's just as easy to say that people who eat ice cream are a waste of space, or that people who judge others based on habits unrelated to their own are a waste of air.

Everyone is smoking for either recreation or medical purposes, and some are losers and some are not. I know a lot of losers that do not smoke cannabis. Why does everything have to be about winners and losers in the US? Look at our economy. Who is the true loser. Even Zimbabwe's growth is 6%. This cannabis engine is here and gaining momentum, plus we have the numbers and the research to prove the right to be so called "losers". .

ok it sounds interesting but it.s pretty unreal... first of all marijuana is not a drug. i.m 19 and i do smoke pot. honestly i.ve seen no "pot addicted" people. it.s just harmless from this point of view. i really prefere to have hallucinations in stead of having cirrhosis... so you better use your energy on releaving the serious problems of the alcohol consumption.. have a great "green" day
p.s. i.m not from America but even here are people who think like you unfortunately....

The unfortunate part of this article, really, is the stereotype presented therein. I’ve always been very impressed with Mr. Cooper’s reporting. However, I am genuinely disappointed by reading this article. Criticizing the ‘casual user’ as one would the habitual abuser is as foolish as categorizing the individual consuming 2 beers on a Friday night alongside the belligerent drunk speeding down the freeway in the wrong direction. Yes, marijuana can pose serious risks to one’s health and wellbeing. As can alcohol. I would think no less of the person relaxing by smoking a little pot than I would of the person relaxing by having a drink. However, both these individuals must exercise responsibility and restraint to not let either drug control and/or harm them.

“Drink Responsibly.” “Smoke Responsibly.” “Report Responsibly.”

Perhaps, Mr. Cooper, a more effective article would be one presenting both sides of the marijuana debate. Compare and contrast the casual user with the addict, the medicinal user, the past user, and the nonuser. At any rate, I still look forward to reading your next blog.

With concern to David's "Micheal Phelps" argument, Phelps just did poorly in a timed event this past week. His star is falling and to say drug use has nothing to do with it would be ignorant.

It amazes me how many users there are. Even my own parents. It's illegal, enough said. And the arguments of why America has a ban on pot are just smoke and mirrors. It's not just the US who have banned the drug, it's many first world countries and for good reason.

I'm young (mid-20's) and have never smoked it and never will. I've seen what it's done to my friends and family. Complete losers who do nothing but complain about how life isn't fair so they sit and puff up every night. It's pathetic. I don't understand this superiority complex pot smokers have over alcoholics either.

And sure, college educated people can lite up too. My father-in-law is a talented computer engineer. But due to his obsession with pot he gets fired non-stop and shifts from job to job with nothing to show for it. His house is bare, he never once paid child support, and his Christmas gifts are used junk he grabs from his basement. All this despite the fact he often made over 80K in salary. Instead he chose to smoke it all. Way to be a valid member of society!

This is not news. It is commentary, or opinion. If you are looking for an unbiased and factual article on this, and many other subjects, I suggest you look elsewhere. CNN gets more views, comments, and ratings by publishing tripe like this to get people to start arguing. Honestly, all that Mr. Griffin did by writing this "article" was insult the intelligence of the American people. I would take this piece about as seriously as a letter to Penthouse, maybe even less. The only good thing that has come of it is the people who have commented with actual facts, but that is really not enough to justify this type of underhanded brainwashing. No matter your viewpoint, please make an attempt to find out as much factual evidence as possible and make up your own mind. Modern media has a nifty was of influencing peoples opinions and decisions by the way they phrase and present things. Not only is that incredibly offensive but also unethical. I used to trust CNN but those days have long since past.

This article is total poo. Why would you take the word of a law enforcement officer.. They are trained to LIE more than anyone. It's a proven fact.. CNN this Program on pot you did, you might as well of saved your time and money, because its garbage. Period..

Being a loser is illegal?

And please stop saying that this is a gateway or pathway drug.. this is furthest from the truth. I have never tried any other type of drug before in my life. this article is just not realistic. Period

This article is just plain ridiculous. I am so tired of hearing "arguments" like this. Is smoking pot unhealthy? Yep, because you are putting smoke into your lungs. Smoking ANYTHING is bad for your lungs. But eating or vaporizing the drug is an excellent alternative. Saying pot smokers are losers is such a sweeping generalization, and those kinds of comments are exactly what fuels the ignorant fire of anti-pot talking heads. It's articles like this that mislead the public about marijuana. We should legalize marijuana, regulate it, tax it, just like tobacco and alcohol, and promote responsible use. Plenty of successful, functional and productive adults use pot, and as long as they are doing so responsibly, what business is it of yours?

People should be allowed to be losers if they want to be. We don't need the government to step in and make us who we are. And when they try, it doesn't work.

Obviously if your going to only research your story through the perspective of various branches of law officials, your going to come out with a one sided conclusion.What ever happened to fair balanced journalism?Oh ya as Bill Hicks would say "better go and burn all your records and cds because most of the bands that made all that great music that has enhanced all of our lives....really fn high on drugs".

"we should be telling our children that no matter what it is, putting smoke into your lungs is unhealthy, uncool and in the case of pot, a first step towards a life of a loser."

That is why we vaporize these days.

Well since this is a so called "free" nation. I should be able 2 put whatever i like into my body regardless of what anyone things..smoking cigs isnt illegal and it has killed billions of people the last century...think about all the uses hemp "the cousin plant of pot". there is over a 1000 different uses from hemp from all papers cloths ropes paints all textiles and foods. Hemp has the most fibers found anywhere in nature. Also hemp seeds have a chlesterole burnings effect on the human body which is found no where else in nature and u cant even get high off hemp. You would have 2 smoke a telephone poll sized joint 2 even get high...if they should legalize anything it should be hemp. it takes trees hundreds of years for trees 2 grow it takes hemp 1 year 2 grow....think about that!

Spend time and educate yourself. Not with the rhetoric that is being spewed by an anti-marijuana government, but by scientific facts. Marijuana is no more damaging to your health than tobacco. It is no more damaging to your senses than alcohol. So why is it illegal? The simple answer is, "because it always has been," eventhough that isn't true. I dont have 3 hours to sit here and type about the war on drugs and how it began. But please, everyone, please educate yourself. Search for your own answers. The beauty of our government is that we have the right to question it. It is our duty to question it. This country was built on the fact that people disagreed with a government and laid the grondwork for a nation of the people.

John is correct. Drinking, smoking, sodomy, abortions, pornography, prostitution... all these loser habits are made worse by blanket prohibition.

I care zero about the health of adult losers who abuse their bodies with junk. Why should I?

I DO care a bit about the destruction of Western Democracy as Prohibition enables great wealth acquisition for violent criminals.

Our authorities are corrupted. Our housing estates are taken over by violent thugs. And our kids are recruited to addiction by intimidation at school and on the streets because prohibition has made it hyper-profitable.

Before, we had a molehill. Since the rule of the fool gave us Prohibition, we have a mountain range.

Oof! Had to recheck my address bar and make sure this wasn't foxnews.com. Way to go Mr. O'Reilly,er, I mean Griffin.

Wow Cnn........ you allow straight name calling? Laughable.........

Marijuana makes you no more of a loser than than going out to the bar.
IMO in makes you less of a loser as i can't stand to be around drunks.
Legalize It Tax It & Let us stoners live peacefully lives amongst you.

i hate when people call it a gate way drug.....prescription pills are the gateway drug they are the most abused drug out there..i work in a doctors office and ive seen people on theres knees begging the doctor for pain medication..those dope and opiod users are the losers...also how many times have u seen drunk idiots try fighting anyone for no reason...just becaues they are drunk...all the time....how many times have u seen that with pot smokers NEVER pot makes u relaxed and peaceful in the mind and to others...dont drop bombs smoke bongs....

You are focusing on the wrong aspect of the issue. The criminal side of the marijuana debate incorrectly skews the public's view of the cannabis community. Simple users are not violent menaces to society. I will concede that many cannabis users partake too often. However, millions of people use cannabis in a responsible manner. Unlike an alcoholic, a marijuana user can function while "high". In addition, it is utterly impossible to create an anti-marijuana campaign to eradicate usage. The citizens of this country are becoming educated on the marijuana issue. AnsIinger style propaganda is not effective anymore. Accept the fact that cannabis culture is a relevant and powerful demographic force in this country. Remember the words of Dylan."..the order is rapidly fadin' and the first one now will later be last for the times they are a-changin"

It is about passing judgement and relegating your negativity onto another group. This is discrimination. God's gift to life is freedom. We should educate and work to find more healthy ways to live. But can we play gods and take control of others' lives in order to Order others as to the Right way to live. That is not democracy or justice. You utopian idiots think that there is only one way to righteousness. And yet you fail to find happiness because of OTHERS. That's right, it's all THEIR fault. How about working on being an advocate for truth. Allowing others to find for themselves, and being a responsible teacher and student of the world of LOVE!

Is it really that hard for people to understand and realize that there ARE hard working, tax paying, responsible marijuana users that indulge in a puff or two in the privacy of their own home after a long day of work instead of an alcoholic beverage? The reason non-pot smokers think marijuana users are "losers" is because of their perception of the one's that are more apt to be open about their use. (i.e. hippies, punks, law breakers, criminals, etc.). Those people have much less to lose and are more rebellious to begin with. I bet all of you who are so against marijuana would be SHOCKED to find many people you know actually indulge in a puff or two every so often. You wouldn't know it because these people may even "pretend" to be against its use because they are successful "law abiding" citizens such as lawyers, bankers, teachers, IT personnel, judges, cops, etc. You can relate this to gays and lesbians about being "in" or "out" of the closet. Once marijuana becomes legalized you will undoubtedly see many professionals creep out of the wood work and "out" of the closet and declare their marijuana use once they have no fear of being prosecuted by the law and prosecuted socially by people like you who label them as "losers!!!"

I don't think pot is for losers. The guys who introduced me to it in my prep school were all 4.0 GPA, on Varsity teams, and all went to college. Hmmm, maybe they're losers now.
Has anyone ever died from an OD on pot? Has anyone ever assaulted a cop while stoned?
I bet more people who drank milk and ate white bread went on to harder drugs.
Besides, how romantic is beer anyway?