"Without the laws making drugs illegal, more people would do them (I cannot believe that you disagree with this)."
I don't disagree with it completely. I just don't think it's people's great respect for the law that keeps them from doing drugs. The biggest reasons people who don't use illegal drugs don't use them are entirely unrelated to the law. People who don't use drugs don't use them because they are dangerous and they cause health problems and all sorts of other misery. For a lot of people religious convictions and their sense of morality play a big factor in their choice to not use drugs. And aside from those reasons, many would prefer to live life sober. There are so many reasons that really have nothing to do with whether the powers that be seek to prohibit use of a particular drug or not.
The laws do have some effect though and do deter some from using drugs who would use them if they were legal, but it's no so much because these people have such great respect for the laws that they would never break them. I'm more than a little amused with the way that you think people in our society were all once so moral and perfect but now we are all so depraved and immoral, yet oddly enough you think people in our depraved and immoral society dutifully bow down in reverence for the precious laws we are forced to obey. I don't think people on the whole in this country have ever had as much dutiful respect for laws as you imagine. In fact I say we've had a proud tradition in this country of ignoring asinine laws. Naive goody two shoes like you who think that just because some jackass politicians write a law it becomes the new divine morality have always been in the distinct minority here.
I stand by what I said. Most people who want to do drugs who aren't being held back by other considerations not related to the laws are going to do drugs despite what the laws say. Only a tiny few who want to do drugs are going abstain for no other reason than that they have some profound respect for things written in law books. As I said, they certainly may be deterred by the possible legal consequences of violating the laws, but the level of that deterrence is going to be directly proportional to the perceived risk of getting caught.
"in 1979, three times as many people smoked marijuana as do today ..."
This isn't even close to being accurate. Check your facts.
I really don't think marijuana use will go up that much when it becomes legal. I don't doubt we'll see a spike when the laws start changing, but I expect that the novelty will wear off, and I doubt people are going to like pot anymore than they ever have here. Already more than half of all people here try it by the time they are 21. Around a 100,000,000 Americans have smoked it. On a per capita basis, Americans smoke more pot than people do in just about every other country in the world that keeps statistics on these things, including places like Holland where for decades they've had coffee-shops with all sorts of varieties of marijuana and hash on the menus. Holland is not the only country that has been allowing marijuana sales. It's just really hard for me to believe Americans are going to fall so madly in love with marijuana if it's legalized. It's not that fun to smoke pot. Most people who try it end up not liking very much. Marijuana smoke stinks. It makes most people turn into dumb-asses when they smoke it. I don't really understand the fascination some people have with it but if they want to smoke it, I say puff away. They're not bothering me, and I must admit I did it myself when I was young and silly. If it was an extremely addictive drug like meth or heroin or something like that I'd understand why you want to fight so hard to keep people from using it. If it turned people into obnoxious jerks and made lots of them violent like alcohol does, I'd be more willing to accept the fact that my government wastes so much money and effort and treats so many of my fellow Americans like dirt fighting against this drug. But pot is just not that bad, not to the extent that my government should ban it and declare war on everyone who uses it.
"I don't think people on the whole in this country have ever had as much dutiful respect for laws as you imagine."Who said anything about "respect" for the laws? Your amusement at my imagination is misplaced.
The behavior is not based on respect, but fear. Do you respect the IRS laws or do you fear them? Give me a break.
"Naive goody two shoes like you who think that just because some jackass politicians write a law it becomes the new divine morality have always been in the distinct minority here."
Nice straw man. "Naive goody two shoes" has nothing to do with the Controlled Substances Act. We don't want drugs. We don't like drug users. We hate predatory drug dealers. We're tired of supporting drug addicts. The 1970 CSA says nothing about morality, and cares nothing about your respect for it. It is the law, and it represents the will of the citizens of the U.S.
"in 1979, three times as many people smoked marijuana as do today ..."
How about this then: In 1979, 13.2% of those 12 and older smoked marijuana at least once per month. With legalization, we can easily return to that percentage, and, more than likely, exceeed it since marijuana was illegal in 1979.
"I really don't think marijuana use will go up that much when it becomes legal."
Think? More like hope. Where do get the facts on which you base your thinking? Maybe from marijuamnaiscool.com, but certainly not from actual history.
And what if marijuana use among teens triple, quadruples? Then what? Would you then repeal the law? Like Alaska tried to do?
It's a Pandora's Box and you know it. And I'm personally not willing to open it.