Also I'd rather free up 50 billion a year in taxes, return to a 10th amendment country and just prosecute those who commit public intoxication, 'drunk' driving and those who commit violence than uncle bob or teenie tom who smokes marijuana in his house.
American Enterprise "Is America Turning A Corner?" (conservative social values)Issue: Jan, 1999, "A New Era of Civic Virtue Is Dawning," Stephen Moore
Over the past five to ten years a remarkable cultural turnabout has occurred. With few exceptions, the same social statistics that deteriorated in the 1960s, '70s, and early '80s, have improved, or at least plateaued.
Since 1990, the abortion rate has dropped, illegitimate births have declined, welfare use has fallen precipitously, as has crime. It's virtually impossible to pick up a newspaper and not hear a story of social improvement. A few 1998 examples:
* "The government's survey of drug use finds that in 1996 only 18.3 percent of teens between 12 and 17 had smoked in the past month, the lowest since 1985." --Washington Post