Another point to make is do we want our tax dollars spent enforcing, regulating and criminalizing a drug that is pretty much harmless?

Well, it is the first fabric known to man. Hemp has been used around the world for thousands of years. Sometime around 7000 - 8000 BCE, the first fabric is believed to have been woven from dried hemp weed.

Around 6000 BCE hemp seeds were used as food in China. By 2727 BCE, the Chinese documented the use of cannabis as a medication to treat a variety of health problems. They later grew the plant on a large scale for food and fiber.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus brought Cannibis Sativa to America.

At Mount Vernon, George Washington grew hemp as his primary crop in 1797. Thomas Jefferson grew hemp as a secondary crop at Monticello.

How does having pot illegal make the states money? Doesn't It costs the states money to arrests someone and put them in prison?

I"m in. Make MJ legal and tax it. And as far as taste will I prefer ingestion as opposed to smoking.

The more people you put in prisons, the more prisons that need to be built = $$$

Prisons also provide jobs = $$$

Prisoners are telemarketers, manufacturers, etc. = $$$

Sure, it costs the states gobs of money to go after criminals, but prisons are also machines of $$$

I really don't think that prisons generate net revenues for the government.

Pot is already legal in California. It is called having a Medical Marijuana card. I have a friend, nnww, that has one. He now just has to go down to the local state contolled dispensary to get it. The dispensarys get their weed from Medical Marijuana users that legally grow pot in thier house. He says that you have a choice of up to 15 to 20 different strains to chose from and it is a lot cheaper than buying from a dealer. You can also get eatables like cookies and brownies and even lollypops. He is not a pot head that smokes it all day. He just uses it before he goes to bed at night to help him sleep plus the sex is amazing. This is a great system. Drug Lords are not making sh*t loads of money and users are not getting thrown in jail and waisting state money.

Nope. Federal funding does though. And that's where the business begins. You and I pay for the incarceration of those nasty pot smokers and dealers.

It's a terrible use of resources these days.

You mean a win/win? Who would've guessed? Pot goes from costing money to making money. How's the crime rate looking down there right now? Are those psychopaths raping and pillaging yet?

Oh, but they do. It all started in the 80's with the Mandatory Minimum Sentencing. In the 1980s, the Reagan administration launched its own war on drugs. An average of one person every 38 seconds was arrested for violating marijuana laws.

That money doesn't come from the prisoners though. It's actually tax money being spent instead of earned. It doesn't support the main argument.

I'm sure my info is seriously out-dated now. I did a college thesis on Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Laws years ago. I was basically providing statements from memory.

Seriously, they're not making net revenues off of prisoners. Prison-based industries can't be more than a few percent of the costs. I can see the importation of federal tax dollars as being significant, but even that wouldn't be enough to cover the costs other than the cases where a state prison is importing prisoners from other states.

I'm pretty strongly opinionated on this subject.

Why should I feel like a 2nd class citizen, criminal over smoking pot? I'm educated. I pay my taxes. I'm a responsible adult. Who cares what I do in the privacy of my own home?

Everyone talks about this isn't fair, and that isn't fair, but nobody really cares about what isn't fair unless it isn't fair to them. Ya dig?

The comparison of pot vs. alcohol goes way back. But it's a fact that pot is much, much better for you than alcohol is. It's hypocritical. I feel like I'm being more responsible by smoking pot vs. drinking alcohol yet I could go to jail for it.

That's lunacy as far as I'm concerned. At least level the playing field and outlaw all of it. Otherwise leave me the **** alone.

Good one> :rolleyes: