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At least we now have an administration with an open mind. Now we need Congress to open it's mind and educate itself about marijuana and out dated laws that criminalize one of mother nature's natural plants. How arrogant can we be ! Let's make some comparisons: Tobacco. Kills about half a million Americans a year, some by second hand exposure. Highly addictive. Alcohol. Kills 105,000 a year due to disease and accidents. Marijuana. No deaths. Far less addictive than tobacco. Illegal/not taxed.
Cost to tax payers to enforce pot laws is about $14 Billion per year which includes prisons, police, courts, lost tax revene, lost jobs. It does not count the costs to families who lose their breadwinner to jails and the emotional cost to children separated from parents due to a conviction for possession of pot. Taxpayers often pick up the tab in welfare and food stamps to support families who are separated when one parent is sent to jail. Some would have you believe that smoking pot leads to other drugs. There is nothing to support this claim. Any association is related to the illegality of pot, not to any effect of pot. While it's sources are illegal, people must associate with some of the same people selling harder drugs. These "outlets" may seek to solicit users for more profitable drugs, this is the connection. Legalization removes this association. Legalization closes a huge profit center for drug cartels. Already Gallup Polls show about 1/3 of Americans favor legalization already. Many more likely would if they understood it and were educated about the facts of marijuana as compared to tobacco and alcohol. The present economy and the tax revenue that could be earned would certainly change more minds. When Jimmy Carter was president, his administration seriously considered marijuana decriminalization. There is even footage of Carter and others in his administration saying that the laws against marijuana are more harmful than the drug. California already decriminalized pot despite the federal ban. Already a $14 Billion dollar a year business in California alone Legalizing pot is a no-brainer. But perhaps that is the very reason Congress has not done so...no brains. ( smile ) Judges and prominent members of law enforcement would prefer to see pot decriminalized. In 1982 President Nixon's commission recommended the decriminalization of marijuana. Wake up and smell the smoke. A natural plant, part of nature provides relaxation, stress relief and medicinal properties to many Americans who are forced to sneak around in fear of their own government. In the mean time millions of citizens are free to risk their lives, the lives of others and their health while using alcohol and tobacco. Doctors say they would actually recommend pot for some patients if it were legal. Almost any doctor you ask would say they would rather see people smoke pot than cigarettes. Let's start using some common sense and brain power Congress. Legalize marijuana. Kill part of the drug cartels, earn billions in tax revenue...we need it. Save billions in enforcement. Empty hundreds of thousand of prison and jail cells and re-unite families made victims of bad laws. I dare you...list the down side of legalization and compare. Use FACTS not emotion or propaganda. You can ear mark part of the tax profits for public education. People should not smoke pot or tobacco or get drunk but those choices can be made by well informed adults and should not be made for them by Congress. Resources:
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