Quote:
Originally Posted by eweissenbach
I have never smoked a joint and never would, however I would support legalization.
Instead of making smugglers, street hustlers, and Central and South American cartels rich, why not have it grown and controlled by Americans as it is in Colorado?
Instead of paying for the incarceration of tens of thousands of users and sellers, and spending millions on eradication and police work why not save that tax money and add the tax money on maijuana?
I think most people who want to smoke it already do, it seems to be easily accessable.
Seems to me the quality would likely improve and the controls over it would insure better and safer product.
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As a physician, we could say the same about over 100 prescription only drugs, medically proven to be equally as recreationally enjoyable with low addition potential and less side effects than pot (these are pills, not smoked).
Should we legalize those, too? Make them OTC and tax them?
I point out eweissenbach's post above not to pick him out, but because he so eloquently describes the arguments for legalization. I hope to have made one think about the negative repercussions of legalization...and where to draw the line.
And, The fact that alcohol is a drug and already legal is not a convincing argument for legalizing other mind-altering substances.
The fact that we cannot control pot sales and distribution with current laws and forces is not a convincing argument for legalizing a mind-altering substance. (It is an argument for stricter laws, including potentially capital punishment for the worst offending distributors).
Courts and prisons will not be less burdened with legalization...conversely, they will be more burdened as pot does impede driving, machine operating skills, work occupational safety, etc. at least as much as alcohol.
Bottom line: slippery slope of legalizing mind-altering, impairing substances is "bad" societal medicine.