Legalize it. Put all the taxes on it that are on alcohol and tobacco. Figure out a way to test if one is driving under the influence.
No I don't smoke it, never have. But not only do I know people who use it recreationally, but some who have used it during chemo treatments as it is an appetite stimulant and also seems to help with the horrendous nausea that comes with chemo.
Smoking pot it and of itself, does not lead to using the harder drugs. What leads a pot smoker to the "hard stuff" is the person who is selling the pot. The dealer is going to make much more money getting the pot smoker onto the harder stuff than they are from marijuana. Like Rebel said, it's those animals in the drug cartels in Mexico that are shipping a lot of the marijuana into the US. Grant people licenses to grow it, just like the government does for tobacco farmers. Those leases are hard to get, used to be down here in the south, selling land with a tobacco lease was way more valuable than one without. Make marijuana leases the same.
There are thousands upon thousands of individuals incarcerated for marijuana - either for using or dealing a couple of ounces. Billions of tax dollars go for their court costs, prison costs, attorney fees. All monies that could be used much more effectively somewhere else. Heck, there are people in prison for marijuana crimes for longer prison terms than some murderers have!! What do you think happens to a 18-19 yo kid who got busted for an ounce or more of pot, spending years in an violent environment surrounded by murderers and rapists? Does anyone really think that individual is going to come out of prison any where remotely near "normal"? Chances are much higher that individual will be back in prison within a year or two than becoming a productive member of society.
Does marijuana kill brain cells? Maybe. But so does alcohol and tobacco. Is excessive use bad? Maybe. Excessive alcohol use is bad. So is excessive use of tobacco for some people. For that matter, Rx drugs used to excess can be just as bad - physically and certainly financially. Look at all the people that are hooked on oxycontin. How many of them started out with a 10 day 'script for pain following surgery, and are now seriously addicted to it? How many of you who are so opposed to the legalization of marijuana, have taken oxy, or percoset, or Tylenol 3 for pain - that a physician prescribed for you, because it IS legal - or even have demerol Rx's for migraine headaches? While YOU might not be one who abuses the use of pain pills, doesn't mean that Jimmy Joe Bob down the street hasn't become addicted any one or more of them after he had that little bit of surgery on his knee that he twisted playing tag football with his kids in his backyard.
Those Rx drugs that are oh so legal, are MORE physically addictive than marijuana is. Marijuana is an emotionally/psychologically addictive substance rather than a physically addictive substance. The body does not crave it, the mind wants it to make the person "feel better" emotionally rather than physically. It has a calming effect, making the smoker more "laid back and mellow" rather than argumentative and/or combative.
As far as being a more dangerous person/parent for using marijuana....that's crap. Go live with a violent alcoholic for 6 months. Then come back and tell me who is worse. I've been around recreational pot smokers for 40 years, since I was a freshman in college, and never had a one of them lay a hand on me. But I do know what's it's like to have a black eye from an alcoholic and be chased out of the house with him holding a butcher knife that he threatened to use on me.
