[Carolina_Thor]

Demcriminalizing is not the same as normalizing. There are all kinds of "deviant" activities that are legal. I don't have a lot of respect for drug users, but I wish we wouldn't have to let a muderer, rapist, pedophile etc. out after a too short a sentence because the prisons are overcrowded with drug offenders. Personally, I would rather have a violent criminal in prison for longer than to have someone with a cargo container full of pot.

[SoftballMominVA]

Not trying to pick a fight, but I am asking an honest question--if a drug dealer and murderer are let out on the same day, which one is more likely to pick up where he/she left off and recommit the same crime and how quickly will this recidivism happen? It seems like that subject would have been looked at by some panel.

My gut tells me the drug dealer will go back to his former life quickly, but I've been wrong before.

[robertpaulsen]

"Personally, I would rather have a violent criminal in prison for longer than to have someone with a cargo container full of pot."

Personally, I believe a drug dealer destroys hundreds of more lives than a violent criminal can ever hope to.