Marijuana legalization is a weird one. It's never seemed real to me that pot is illegal since I've never been anywhere in the United States or Europe where it couldn't be purchased quickly and easily and never been anywhere where people felt the least bit inhibited about admitting they have smoked pot. It's like this big theory of illegality.

So, on that level, I think making it officially legal is a good idea, because it's up there with laws against wearing ties on Sunday - an anachronism from an earlier era.

On another level I like the idea of legalizing it so that it can be taxed and the funds can help with our current budget deficit.

On a broader note, I think the best way to reduce marijuana usage would be to lower the drinking age to 18 - since a lot of people of high school senior and first three years of college age smoke pot because it's easier for them to get their hands on on a Friday night than alcohol is.

On a still broader note I think that the illegality of pot - and the huge unencumbered consumption of it, leads many young people to believe that all drugs are as mostly harmless as pot is. So, they try other drugs.

Now, I don't give a shit if people use heroin or opium or LSD because in all of those cases they are generally not annoying in public.

On the other hand coke heads are really annoying so I do worry about the illegality of pot leading people to try pot think it's not a big deal and then try coke and end up annoying me in public after it's turned them into huge assholes.

Now, it's true that people have the right to be raging assholes in public. I'm just against public policy that encourages them to be raging assholes in public.

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Frankly, I'd rather people used marijuana than alcohol - the odds of someone holding up a liquor store or beating their spouse while high is a lot lower than while drunk. Mostly there's just the munchies to contend with.

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On the other hand coke heads are really annoying so I do worry about the
illegality of pot leading people to try pot think it's not a big deal and
then try coke and end up annoying me in public after it's turned them
into huge assholes.

This is how I feel about alcohol. :-P

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Ah. I see a massive racial disparity there. I know a bunch of PoC who are scared spitless of using pot, lest they get the nasty end of race-based sentencing/etc. (Which bugs me, because I'm with you...I'd much rather see potheads than drunkards.)

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