You wrote:
“His problems are not because of the drug. His problems are because of drug laws.”
No, it’s his behavior that ultimately is his problem. He apparently has a weakness for mind altering substances.
“No I do not use and have no desire to use. I’m just missing seeing what the great societal benefits of marijuana criminalization is. While I do not use, I know many people who do and they all remain productive members of society.”
Maybe they do now, and maybe they won’t be tomorrow. The people I know who used drugs damaged their lives. I never used and never suffered the same problems.
“I especially don’t see how anyone can think it is worthwhile to put any man hours into tracking down evidence to give someone what amounts to little more than a speeding ticket.”
That fact that you don’t see it, doesn’t make it so.
OK, please explain to me how the people of the county are going to be improved by it? Especially when the sheriff could just as easily hand out the same ticket to probably hundreds of people tonight. Instead, their money will be wasted by the sheriff trying to get his 15 minutes of fame.
Maybe they will have problems in the future, but I doubt the risk is any higher from that than any number of legal substances.