Marijuana Laws

"Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marijuana in private for personal use..." - former U.S. president Jimmy Carter

Quite frankly the debate on the ethics of pot usage is, well, tired in my opinion. On social level, at this point it is only misinformation that keeps marijuana illegal in this county, a negative, and undeserved stigma leftover from the propaganda brought to us by proponents of the "reefer madness" phenomenon. The current almost draconian punishment and illegality stem from a stubborn refusal to change perspective on the part of opponents.

Many, in fact countless numbers of intelligent and well informed people have spoken about their feelings on the legality and penalties involved with marijuana possession and usage. People far more impassioned about the subject than myself.

As such, I will attempt to bring a detached pragmatic perspective to the drug debate.

As far as marijuana being a "gateway drug" which leads to usage of harder and more dangerous drugs by the individual. Well, the scientific data, 12 years worth in one study, has shown that not to be the case.

Scoreboard: Legalize Pot 1: Keep it illegal: 0

Health implications:

"In 1995, based on thirty years of scientific research editors of the British medical journal Lancet concluded that "the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health."

I am focusing on long term effects. The short term effects of many substances can be described as negative. Frankly, if given the choice of feeling the effects of marijuana intoxication, or those of coffee jitters or brain freeze from cold food, I have a hunch that a lot of people would prefer being high.

Marijuana 2: No weed: 0

If you are a fiscal conservative and at the same time oppose the legalization of marijuana, then think there are some statistics that you may want to take into account. High Times estimates the marijuana prohibition cost at approximately 42 Billion dollars a year. The lowest figure I can find is about 8 Billion dollars. The truth is probably somewhere in between, and either way that's a lot of money.

Especially when you consider the potential revenue incurred by legalization and regulation:

"Statistics say that the legalization and tax of marijuana in California will result in about $1.4 billion in annual revenue towards the state deficit" (Marcus Wholsen AP)

Besides, how can you deny this kind of hilarity?