I used to be really skeptical of marijuana legalization Here's what changed my mind.

[jaysunb]

I'm not sure of this writers motivation, but I'm happy for the dialogue.

(snip)
I'm very doubtful about giving big corporations the ability to market potentially dangerous drugs — seeing what they've done with tobacco and alcohol, which both contribute to hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, gives me pause. So when I considered the merits of legalizing pot, that was my first concern: that companies would turn a potentially dangerous — although not inherently deadly — substance into something that would hurt thousands of lives.

But as I've reported on legalization over the years, my skepticism has worn off. I still don't think marijuana is a perfectly safe drug — and most experts agree it carries some risks. But these risks are nothing compared with the real harms of keeping pot illegal: America's prohibitionist regime has not only led to hundreds of thousands of unproductive arrests, but it's fed a black market for illegal drugs that empowers drug cartels to commit violent acts across the world. Those tangible harms seem much worse to me than the abstract, unclear risks of legalizing marijuana, even if it means handing it over to big companies.


http://www.vox.com/2015/4/27/8500531/marijuana-legalization-commercialization-prohibition

[msongs]

1. legal = small changes. those using still will, a few new might. otherwise just another day

and if it cuts down on alcohol and hard drug use, substantially eliminates drug cartels and violence, those are plusses

[msongs]

2. and btw do NOT "hand it over to big companies" - grow your own nt

[jaysunb]

3. +1

There are many factual errors in the writers essay, which is why I prefaced the thread questioning his motivations.

[Indydem]

4. Why do I care who makes the marijuana cigarettes?

Legalize it. Decriminalize it. Tax it.

Set millions of incarcerated people free.

Let people grow their own (if they wish).

Quit wasting money on chasing some guy with a 1/10th of an ounce in his pocket.