Glenn E. says:

Well I’m not an advocate of smoking anything. Nor making the hard drugs legal, because they’re just to dangerous to allow people to decide for themselves to use them. But I think more money in anti-drug education, would be better spend, than it military style enforcement action. That only strengthens the Police State powers, in the US.

The problem with Ron Paul’s stance, is that it will be used to scare the easily fooled, conservative voters, into thinking he’s too radical. They want less government “helping people”. But not less government “locking people up”. Seems there’s always room for more prisons, in the conservatives’ thinking. And when those start costing too much to run. They want the death penalties for more crimes, to lower the prison rolls. Not realizing that a death penalty trial costs more than a 20 year life sentence. So next they’d want far cheaper trials, and no repeals. Just about gutting the US Constitution in the process. But hey, the rich folk don’t need it, they can buy justice. Only kiss the middle class goodbye.

Smokers of pot, aren’t that scary. You’re more likely to get killed by drivers distracted by their cellphones. Or drug trafficking gangs, drive-by shootin up the neighborhood. Or even someone drunk on alcohol, than stoned on weed. But the scaremongers want us all to think legalization will let lose the flood gates of the high times drivers. Just so they can keep the highly profitable anti-weed law in place, and enforced.

Americans still believe that some form of Prohibition works, even if it only applies to weed sales and use. If weed were as available in the grocers as head of lettuce. Much of the crime, and the cost of fighting it, involved in weed’s black market sales, would vanish. And think of the tax revenue that could be made from its legal sales. Because obviously, like booze and tobacco, its a vice that can be taxed extra. And at least the FDA would have to make sure the legal weed was pure, and not a bunch of crap, stuffed into a cellophane baggy. There’s no such quality control with the junk people get on the street now. And legal sales competition, would soon “weed out” the fakers pretty quickly.

And I can’t help but think that, like wine, the US could be the leader in growing the finest in the world. So think of the export value, to the rest of the world, who seems to have no problem with its use. I still don’t encourage its use. But I’d rather they smoked that, than tobacco. That crap is just pure poison. And don’t you think that market doesn’t fear being replaced by weed sales. Especially as any farm could grow and sell it, like common produce, without going thru the tobacco monopoly/bureaucracy.

nauc says:

good read…

Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work?

http://time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html