REEFER MADNESS!!!!!!

[Succulent Plant]

This may have already been addressed (I skimmed through all 35 pages, didn't read them closely) but if pot was legalized and treated like alcohol, theoretically it seems that it would direct the attention of drug enforcement to minors using drugs to a greater extent that it is now, because adults who choose to relax with a nicely packed bowl could do so legally and law enforcement wouldn't be required to harass them. 

And you guys harp on me when I point out just what was demonstrated in this very post.

Anyhoo, if marijuana were legalized and treated like alcohol we might also have the problems we've had with underage drinking.  While the rates have been inching down for the past few years, previously they were rising at an alarming rate.  And we still have a significant amount of youth who engage in binge drinking.  Legalizing marijuana, I believe, will erase a lot of the progress we've made with underage usage rates over the past few years.  I think that would be a significant social cost for society to bear. 

I haven't been here long enough to know what you get harped on about, but in reference to law enforcement being required, by the nature of their job, to harass adults who enjoy illegal substances, that's just a fact.  Doesn't mean I can't rage against it and/or try to change it.  I currently haven't had any weed in over 5 years because of military restrictions, and because I'm a mother and don't want trouble with law enforcement to be one of my kid's childhood memories...  And this alone is enough to fill me with rage against the anti-legalization groups. 

[Cinderflame KSC]

If I ran this bitch, I'd make possession and most nonviolent crime decriminalized, but any crime committed under the influence carry triple the sentence.

[East Coast Hustle]

I love how we've managed to build a 36-page thread around everybody willfully missing the point as intently as possible.

[Succulent Plant]

 

[Cinderflame KSC]

I love how we've managed to build a 36-page thread around everybody willfully missing the point as intently as possible.

You mean you actually expected me to read through 36 pages of spag-sense?

I thought I could just drop my two cents here and watch the rest of you guys tear it the fuck to pieces while I sat back with my popcorn...

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The cost of criminalization on society has already proven to be intolerable. Criminalization (of marijuana) is antisocial, to the point of, probably, actually being evil.

[Bruno]

I use it to justify stealing things from the government. 

[Prince Glittersnatch III]

I love how we've managed to build a 36-page thread around everybody willfully missing the point as intently as possible.

Just according to plan.

[AFK]

The cost of criminalization on society has already proven to be intolerable. Criminalization (of marijuana) is antisocial, to the point of, probably, actually being evil.

Really?  Evil? 

And I of course disagree that anything has been "proven" as far as criminalization of marijuana being intolerable. 

Again, I think people link tend to link this to the fall out from dealing with drug cartels, but as I laid out earlier, that would not go away if you legalized marijuana.  They still will be in the illegal Rx drug trade, they'll still be in the heroin trade, cocaine trade, etc., etc.,  You might kill off a small-time operation here and there, but you will still have cartels and you will still have the associated violence.

Hell, you could legalize ALL drugs tomorrow and you would still have cartels.  Why?  Because if you legalize drugs, said drugs will have to be regulated.  And many of your illicit drugs are a completely different animal compared to alcohol.  The drugs would be regulated based upon potency and composition.  As people develop tolerances to legal drugs they will be seeking bigger and "better" highs.  Where the government can't keep up with that demand, (because we all know how the government is like unto a nimble gazelle), the cartels will deliver. 

I will concede, that the cartel animal would certainly be smaller in that scenario but it would not cease to exist.  Moreover, the legalization of all drugs will most certainly come with increased social costs as well as health care costs. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Yes, evil. It's a religion, and it's both antisocial and evil.

[AFK]

Well, okay, I can play too.

Legalization is an anti-youth cult! 

[Bruno]

I'VE READ SEVERAL EXTENSIVE STUDIES THAT CONCLUSIVELY PROVE THAT YOU ARE A DOODIEHEAD!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Sigh. I'm not playing a game. I am thinking of all the destroyed families, imprisoned people, and lost college educations that are the direct result of criminalization.

Working to solve the community and social problems that result in drug abuse is a good thing. Criminalization of marijuana, though, is a corporate industry that hurts communities.

[Freeky]

I'VE READ SEVERAL EXTENSIVE STUDIES THAT CONCLUSIVELY PROVE THAT YOU ARE A DOODIEHEAD!

SIR, I'VE READ SEVERAL OTHER EXTENSIVE STUDIES THAT DISPROVE YOUR THEORY AND PROVE THAT IT IS YOU WHO IS IN FACT A POOP-FACE!

[Cinderflame KSC]

Sigh. I'm not playing a game. I am thinking of all the destroyed families, imprisoned people, and lost college educations that are the direct result of criminalization.

Working to solve the community and social problems that result in drug abuse is a good thing. Criminalization of marijuana, though, is a corporate industry that hurts communities.

Absolutely. We spend so much money on incarcerating people that didn't do anything but get high. We're letting murderers and rapists out of jail because our prisons are too overcrowded to keep the druggies behind bars.

That's why I phrased my answer the way I did. Possession? Not a crime. Intoxication? As long as you're not behind the wheel, not a crime. Knocked over a liquor store while high on crack? Now you're going to jail.