Hmm... so this is where this debate gets rather interesting. You say there are benefits to pot, fine maybe there are so when the suggestion is made that it can be made legal for medicinal purposes under the guidance of a medical doctor why isn't that good enough? Why the big push to make it available for "recreational" purposes? This makes no sense whatsoever.
For one, we can stop wasting money, and lives, fighting the "war on drugs" that has NEVER made any real progress in stopping the drug trade. Billions of dollars wasted, and DEA agents killed every year fighting against a non-threat (in the sense of marijuana). That's because the "war" on drugs has never been taken seriously. If it was then there wouldn't be selective prosecution and there would be hard core fines and mandatory lengthy jail time for users and dealers. If there isn't enough jail space build more. Throw all these bums in jail and throw away the key. The whole purpose of having laws and penalties is to discourage certain behaviors yet it's not going to do a damn bit of good when the penalties are laughable. Never mind the fact these criminals are given a very comfortable stay if they do end up in prison. The whole thing is a joke and as is typical of the politicians that claim to be all concerned about it, yeah they are all words and no action.
An interesting thought exercise, but I don't think there is groundswell support for legalizing other drugs right now. I don't think other drugs have shown the same general lack of negative affects, and potential positive affects, that marijuana has. and the same could have been said for pot 10, 20, 30 years ago yet look at where we are today? In fact the same could be said for other recently legalized behaviors but then again it is yet another example of the slow deterioration of a civilized society. Again I say society can legalize whatever it wants, but it doesn't take away from the fact this is self destructive behavior.
There are many many substances that are abused by some individuals. I don't see that as a reason to limit general availability of something that has not been shown to have addictive or harmful qualities in that manner. Many people have no interest in being a part of a functioning society and will abuse leisure time substances for various reasons. You could remove all drugs and alcohol from the world and those people would not suddenly become productive members of society. You're absolutely right, so since we can't stop it completely it's better to just legalize it all and have a ball. That's the most insane argument I have ever heard. However fine let's apply that same thought process to gun control because quite frankly we'll never get all the guns off the streets and what's the harm in letting everyone have whatever they want, whenever they want it. Please do tell how exactly are we supposed to maintain a civilized society when half of it is stoned?
Along the same lines, what about all the people jailed and/or forced to incur large fines for being caught with very small amounts of pot? What about all the cases of police using petty drug arrests as a means to hassle and incarcerate people unnecessarily? What part of possession of pot is ILLEGAL don't you understand? These people break the law they pay the price. My gosh really?
Cities and states can use the tax funds to offset other taxes, or provide more general budget. So as long as there is money to be made that's all that counts huh? Just like the casino argument cloud the negative affects with the promise of tons of tax revenue to create a utopia. Well I suppose if you're stoned it would seem that way.
Your arguments sound like a lot of the paranoia-mongering from people who speculate on improbable outcomes vs. looking at actual data from current legalization efforts and experiments. No I am not paranoid. However make no mistake about it, nonsense like this is slowly but surely destroying this country. So keep it up... like the ancient Romans it didn't happen all at once, a slow breakdown in the morality of the people ultimately lead to it's destruction and we are following the same path almost verbatim. This is just another straw on the camel's back. Legalized perversion of an orderly civilized society doesn't change it's ultimate outcome.
That said this discussion doesn't belong here and is way off the topic of anything having to do with the lake so I will refrain from any further comment.
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