mGARANDEUR1 wrote...
It shouldn't matter how dangerous it is for you. People use that as a point to argue. The government should not have the right to barge in on peoples personal lives. People are getting arrested and thrown in prison for committing no violent offense again anyone. You could call it a victimless crime. How can anyone justify that? Not to mention all of the money that is dumped into this stupid drug war. I quote:
NEVER before have so many Americans supported
decriminalizing and even legalizing marijuana. Seventy-two percent
say that for simple marijuana possession, people should not
be incarcerated but fined: the generally accepted definition of
“decriminalization.” Even more Americans support making marijuana
legal for medical purposes. Support for broader legalization
ranges between 25 and 42 percent, depending on how one asks the
question. Two of every five Americans—according to a 2003
Zogby poll—say “the government should treat marijuana more or
less the same way it treats alcohol: It should regulate it, control it,
tax it, and only make it illegal for children.”
Close to 100 million Americans—including more than half of
those between the ages of 18 and 50—have tried marijuana at
least once. Military and police recruiters often have no choice but
to ignore past marijuana use by job seekers. The public apparently
feels the same way about presidential and other political candidates.
Al Gore, Bill Bradley, and John Kerry all say they smoked
pot in days past. So did Bill Clinton, with his notorious caveat.
George W. Bush won’t deny he did. And ever more political, business,
religious, intellectual, and other leaders plead guilty as well.
The debate over ending marijuana prohibition simmers just
below the surface of mainstream politics, crossing ideological
and partisan boundaries. Marijuana is no longer the symbol of
Sixties rebellion and Seventies permissiveness, and it’s not just
liberals and libertarians who say it should be legal, as William
F. Buckley Jr. has demonstrated better than anyone. As director
of the country’s leading drug-policy-reform organization, I’ve
had countless conversations with police and prosecutors, judges
and politicians, and hundreds of others who quietly agree that
the criminalization of marijuana is costly, foolish, and destructive.
What’s most needed now is principled conservative leadership.
Buckley has led the way, and New Mexico’s former
governor, Gary Johnson, spoke out courageously while in
office. How about others?
by ETHAN A.NADELMANN, National Review
That's cool. I have no beef about you as long as you aren't making personal attacks on anyone. However, I will say one thing.
The government stops the use of marijuana because it is harmful to you. If they didn't stop things that were harmful to people, then cigarette advertising on TV would be legal, medicines that have extremely harmful side effects wouldn't be pulled off the market, and research to stop negative side effects in drugs would be halted.
... there.
NOW, I would like to think we can get off to a fresh start here. As lemiel has pointed out, you and I are causing a lot of chaos around here. We are obviously both very educated individuals. Any chance we can forget our differences and settle as equals in this land of opportunity?
When the time for you to know comes, I will tell you.