[Calgaryborn]

Originally Posted by Mtt48

The legalization of marijuana has a lot of benefits. When I was growing up, it was so much easier to buy weed than buying cigarettes or booze. Why? Because you had to go to a store that was regulated and had rules indicating who they may and may not sell to. This would at least have the benefit of making it more difficult for young people to obtain. I have also read studies that show that marijuana has a much greater effect on young people and their brain chemistry which can cause problems later on in life. There is an added benefit that regulation would provide to children in their formative years.

Marijuana is easy to grow so having a legal source is only going to make access easier for young people. The illegal sources just won't go away while there is a market.

Originally Posted by Mtt48

Also, all of these growops around the city are a serious problem. There was that fire a couple years ago that was the result of a growop. It burned down the growop house and a bunch of surrounding homes. Those families lost everything.

Hydroponics produce higher quality and higher yields. It isn't going away anytime soon. There is still the American market as well as Canadians who want a better buzz. If anything the result will be more basement growops as more Canadians become accustomed to marijuana and seek greater highs.

Originally Posted by Mtt48

Also, I will quickly and generally state that the treat the hard drugs problem as a criminal one is the wrong way to do it. It is a health problem first. Heroin, crack, meth are serious health problems and making these people criminals does nothing but shut them off from normal society and essentially force them into a life of criminal behavior in order to get their fix.

Actually it is a criminal problem first and a health problem second. Nobody comes down with a case of heroin addiction out of the blue. They were doing something illegal and stupid and got caught. Moreover the addiction causes all sorts of further criminal behaviour including selling drugs which in turn creates more addicts.If you want to see addicts as ill then you should at least acknowledge that they are also dangerously contagious and shouldn't be walking the streets.

Originally Posted by Mtt48

There is a program in Switzerland I believe where the government provides free heroin to addicts that meet certain criteria. The results have been astonishing in that crime has dropped dramatically, ie: robberies, theft, etc. This program has allowed addicts to remain in "normal" society and to function as people and not force them into a life of criminality. I could blabber on and on, but I really think the hard drug problem needs to be looked at as an issue of health and not as one of crime.

This logic is akin to giving bank robbers government VISA cards with the promise of paying their balance for them at the end of every month. It will decrease bank robberies initially but, the money needed to sustain them will grow with their greed. Also it will do nothing to deter future bankrobbers. In fact the life style might look more attractive.