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Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3
The one thing I will say is if they did legalize it, they would have to make it illegal to be high and drive at the same time just like driving drunk.
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Agreed. I think they should treat it just like alcohol where you can smoke it in 'pot shops' and/or your private residence. But if you are walking down the street or driving stoned you should be fined and possibly jailed depending on the circumstances. I'm definitely not in the group that wants a free for all.
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Originally Posted by HotHotHeat
It's a gateway drug!
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The best part of this argument is according to the US drug administration cocaine (class 2) is better for you than marijuana (class 1), so it's a gateway to a safer drug!
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Originally Posted by SebC
Really?
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Ya really because I'm sure the government could somehow screw it all up. IMO the government needs to regulate and tax but let companies control the distribution similar to cigarettes. This way there will be competition, meaning top notch green, where the government would probably grow Mexican swag and people would just grow their own anyways.
I know if you asked most growers and dealers they would want to keep in the same because the government would be taking money out of their pockets. That IMO is the scariest part, criminals fighting for criminalization of a product, the higher the penalty, the higher the price!
For me it's about the economics of the whole thing. Why let all that money sit there when it is clear the mission for prohibition and the war on marijuana hasn't and won't work. In Canada alone you could see taxes and police savings would be in the $20B+.
With a national debt of $550B (and counting) that injection of 10% of the national spending could be huge for this country. All they have to do is legalize something that is already taking over the country. It's the biggest crop in Canada, even more than wheat.
I just haven't heard a good argument about why it shouldn't be legal because compared to the other 'big 3' in caffeine, alcohol & cigarettes it's the lesser of evils and studies are starting to show the effects aren't what was drilled into us growing up.
The criminalization in Canada is thanks to the early US and for them it has always been about control of certain people, not because marijuana is such a bad thing. It goes back to the 30's with the Mexicans, 50's with the African Americans and 70's with the Hippies. Screw the US they can keep spending $17B a year on a fight they can't win but Canada should save it's tax payers money and start collecting that tax money and spread it around the country instead of continuing to cut budgets hurting our future.