Let's Talk Marijuana

I have been somewhat interested in the legalization of marijuana debates going on in California right now. I believe that it should be legalized. Of course there are pros and cons to everything. Here is my take on it.

Marijuana is generally no more harmful when used in moderation that alcohol or cigerettes. The studies of the harmfulness of marijuana are inconclusive and contradictory. Most doctors would agree that it's not very harmful if used in moderation. It's only when you abuse the drug that problems start to occur. But isn't abuse of almost any bad substance a problem? If you abuse alcohol, caffeine, Ephedra, cigarettes, or even pizza, health problems are sure to follow. Would you want the government limiting how much coffee you can drink or how much cheesecake you take in? Most doctors believe that marijuana is no more addictive that alcohol or tobacco. All illegal drugs are higher in price because the production, transportation, and sale of the drugs carry heavy risks. When people develop drug habits or addictions, they must somehow come up with the money to support their cravings. Unless a person is wealthy, he or she must often resort to robbery and other crimes to generate the money needed to buy the drugs. Legalization would reduce the risks and therefore reduce the prices. There would be less need for the secondary crimes needed to raise money. An enormous amount of money is raised through government taxation of alcohol, cigarettes, and other "sins". The legalization of marijuana would create another item that could be taxed. I'm sure the government would have no problem spending all that extra money. Just ask the drug dealers how much they currently make on weed...

Many consider the War on Drugs an expensive failure. Resources for DEA, FBI, and border security are only the tip of the iceberg. You must add in the cost of police officers, judges, public defenders, prosecutors, juries, court reporters, prison guards, and so on. Legalization of marijuana would free up those people to concentrate on more important things like terrorism, harder drugs, rape, murder, etc. In addition, an already overloaded civil court docket would be improved,therefore the wait time for other legitimate court cases would be reduced. The medical benefits for cancer patients has already been proven. Legalizing weed would allow more studies to be done on this drug. The biggest risk-takers already smoke weed. Consider the risks that pot smokers take: They risk being arrested. They risk testing positive for drugs in a workplace drug test. They risk being robbed by an unscrupulous dealer. If you want to smoke weed today, you really have to like weed, and you have to be a risk-taker. Risk-takers are the ones who drive while stoned. People who don't smoke weed today avoid it because they don't want to take the risks. If weed was legal, people who are more risk-averse would try it. These are people who are more responsiblethan the people who smoke illegal weed. They're not going to take chances with their lives any more than they currently take chances with their freedom. Drunk drivers fly through stop signs...stoned drivers stop and patiently wait for it to turn green...LOL