I do favor legalization of drugs, at the Federal level that is. The DEA must go; the controlled substances act is clearly unconstitutional and these decisions are best left to the states. The states can provide 50 different examples of drug policy, and the people of the states can decide which one or ones are the best. Secondly, the DEA is a weaponized, federal agency that could be used, at least by this regime, to attack political opponents aka domestic terrorists.
The days of conservatives reflexively supporting “law & order” policies are over. The Federal government has used the “war on drugs” to amass power and control the people.
That threat far exceeds any posed by legalized drugs.
Hell, if the federal laws against pot were eliminated that would be a major contribution to reducing the size and power of the federal government AND the drug cartels/narco states.
I saw on the news "El Chapo" got 75% of his revenue from pot.
Maybe we could legalize pot, keep the rest illegal, and make good progress against the bigger threats.
I can imagine a future POTUS/Congress agreeing we HAVE to send troops into Mexico and Central America to break the narco states, cartels...and for "humanitarian" reasons, of course.
All the while the federal leviathan continues to devour what liberty we have left.
It's time to start thinking right on this matter. The general, social consensus (right or wrong) is that pot is no more dangerous than alcohol with a probable majority thinking it's less dangerous. Now, I know many disagree...I'm just offering an unsubstantiated opinion here and will not represent that as FACT.
Another argument is that more kids will smoke more often. I understand the concern, but I don't buy it. Any kid today who wants to smoke pot...is smoking pot right now. There are no real obstacles to access...inconvenience at most. In fact anyone who wants to smoke pot is doing so.
I propose the real question that should be asked is: Should we continue to suffer the costs of keeping it illegal with all the social implications that entails?
Telling the truth there, Brother FReeper. Amen.