[KoRn]

Anyone favoring drug prohibition should be intellectually honest and tell everyone how they also support alcohol prohibition. One only needs to look back about a hundred years to see what kind of colossal mistake that was. The drug prohibition has been even worse!

[RightOnTheBorder]

No you see alcohol is totally different becuase the people who want to control others happen to consume alcohol so it should be legal.

[NKP_Vet]

Watching out for drunks on the highway was bad enough, now be on the lookout for driving while on dope. Driving while drugged arrests have gone up in Washington State since the state legalized the mind-numbing recreation drug. It will only get worse.

http://reason.com/blog/2014/03/07/drunk-and-drugged-driving-arrests-fall-i

[re_nortex]

Anyone favoring drug prohibition should be intellectually honest and tell everyone how they also support alcohol prohibition.

I've been a lifelong member of the church of Christ (except for a few years in the early 60s when I strayed, went hard left and joined the NAACP -- but that's a whole 'nother thread in itself). Most of us in the church aren't too keen on the many of the vices, notably drinking alcoholic beverages, but we value freedom first and would never support prohibition. So, that's some personal background, and as non-drinker myself, I have no problem with beer, wine and even the hard liquor. It's legal and alcohol was enjoyed by many of the Founding Fathers.

That said, I draw the line at drugs, yes, including marijuana. Both Ronald and Nancy Reagan were supporters of the war on drugs. They were right. And, I think these pictures capture the significant difference between alcohol compared to drugs and the type of people who use them:

I've pinged a few FReepers that I often engage in dialog to get their viewpoints. They may or may not agree with me but I always find their viewpoints thoughtful on what's likely to be hot-button issue.

[heye2monn]

Cartels bringing in boatloads of highly addictive marijuana. The Netherlands found out that legalization causes huge problems. Not matter what the new libertarian rules are, there will always be organized crime lurking in the shadows.

Yep. In your words, colossal mistake.

[Pining_4_TX]

Not so fast, my friend! (as Lee Corso says) One can enjoy an adult beverage without getting buzzed or drunk. The sole purpose of drugs is to change the brain and mood of the user.

Studies show that heavy marijuana users, particularly those who use it in their teen years, have a high rate of psychological problems, such as schizophrenia, later. It also seems to destroy a person’s drive and ambition.

I find it funny that the people (mostly liberals) who are out to rid the world of cigarette smoking don’t seem to think anything is wrong with smoking a joint. Doesn’t that harm the lungs, too?

And, yes, marijuana has been shown to be a gateway drug. I think we have enough impaired drivers and loonies on the loose without legalizing drugs.

[itsahoot]

The drug prohibition has been even worse!

Worse for you personally or are you just pretending to be a Constitutionalist.

[tbw2]

Prohibition of alcohol ended when economic arguments amid a Great Depression sufficiently eroded the moral ones.
With the Great Recession, economic benefits of extra tax revenue coupled with lower government costs (policing, incarceration) are leading to more medical marijuana allowances.
Is the slow legalization of marijuana proof that we are in a severe economic downturn, despite media’s claims to the contrary since 2009?