[livius]

Rehabilitation is good, and many places have already decriminalized possession of small amounts that were obviously not meant for sale.

I think marijuana is greatly underestimated as a dangerous drug and from personal experience, that is, what I saw among my high school friends and among those of my kids, there is no way it should be legalized. This is without really discussing the long term effects: I saw smart or average kids who were heavy users literally turn into spaced out losers who watched Scooby Doo all day. And it wasn’t funny or cute.

I know Obama wants it legalized because a stoned population is a docile population (plus, maybe his peculiar behavior is the result of the effects of pot on his Choom Gang brain?).

But Perry wants rehabilitation for people picked up with pot for personal use, and I think that’s a good thing.

[fr_freak]

I saw smart or average kids who were heavy users literally turn into spaced out losers who watched Scooby Doo all day. And it wasn’t funny or cute.

Marijuana is a psycho-active drug, and therefore has harmful effects by definition. I'm sure we can all agree on that. But so does alcohol. Using the example of how marijuana has negative effects on teenagers is not an honest appraisal of its risk relative to something like alcohol, unless you compare its effects on teenagers to the effects of alcohol on teenagers. The reality is that teenagers are in a crucial state of development, both physical and mental, and ANY drug, legal or illegal, or chemical exposure, etc. will have a negative effect on the teenagers development. In other words, if all your buddies were drinking daily when they were teens, you would have seen destructive effects there, as well.

And NONE of this has anything to do with the potential decriminalization or legalization question, since that question refers to legal adults using the drugs. Nobody is arguing that it should be legal for minors.