“My uncle drank himself into a diaper and a wheelchair. Should we ban alcohol?”
As you know, it’s been tried. The difference is that alcohol has very deep roots in the West through its connection with Christianity. Marijuana has a far more recent history.
The question is: How many legal drugs can a society tolerate and remain functional? Most societies have two. In our case, it’s cigarettes and alcohol. If we legalize marijuana, we would solve the problem of people doing jail time for weed, but we’d institutionalize other problems. I’m wary. The states are laboratories of democracy. See how it works out in a few places. One other poster here has already said that it’s a problem in his state where it’s legal.
As you know, it’s been tried. The difference is that alcohol has very deep roots in the West through its connection with Christianity. Marijuana has a far more recent history.
That's a plausible theory ... but the evidence is that marijuana prohibition, like alcohol Prohibition, has the primary effect of enriching criminals as use of the prohibited substance continues. And marijuana's U.S. history goes back at least half a century - long enough for half of Americans to have tried it themselves and most of the rest to know people who have. This is probably why 68% of Americans support legalization.
The states are laboratories of democracy. See how it works out in a few places.
That's the proposal on the table - federal legalization means only an end to federal anti-marijuana laws, not a mandate to the states.