“The president said that it was “important for it to go forward because it’s important for society not to have a situation in which a large portion of people have at one time or another broken the law and only a select few get punished.””
I know it’s Obama’s argument (or more like his speech writer’s), but that’s a good argument for marijuana legalization there - something like 40% of the entire population has tried it at sometime, and a significant percentage of young people use it regularly. But only a few, and disproportionately the poor and minorities at that, ever get arrested or convicted for it. Ruining someone’s life with a criminal record for possessing some plant material and causing no harm to anyone else seems, well, counterproductive IMO.
That’s my opinion, anyway. I know there are many who would disagree, for a variety of reasons.
Personally I don’t care if people grow or smoke dope, as long as I don’t have to support them when they fail at life.