Democratic debates

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by mooby

It's certainly not my top priority but it's definitely something I think should be on the long term presidential agenda. As we all know the war on drugs has been an absolute failure. All the money we've wasted trying to stem the flow of illegal drugs into the country (the fact that we trump about collecting literal tons of drugs coming in yet it only represents 10% of the total amount is ridiculous) when we could be properly taxing it and using that revenue for things that help, like lowering the cost of education/healthcare.

I'm not saying make it totally legal on the state level, because that is up to the states. I'm just saying stop making it illegal on the federal level, which will clear the way for states to make it legal if they want to. And while your link makes a credible point, I will point to the fact that I have grown up with a lot of people that use it (and some of these guys are smart, dedicated professionals who are good at what they do and only use in their free time) while at the same time acknowledging that I know people my age who grow their own, live with their parents, and just get by playing video games and getting high all day. It's different for everyone. There are plenty of people who use it but still are productive members of society.

Not to mention the medical benefits and the fact that there are tons of pro athletes who use it rather than get addicted to pills. As dangerous as you might think it is, I would say alcohol is just is, if not more dangerous than it. Either way, I won't continue this debate. It was one of things I had been thinking about when I wrote that post, but I also agree there are bigger issues at hand, like Daesh, etc. If you want to believe that I think legalizing weed should be a top priority, so be it. I've said my piece though.

Anecdotal evidence (I know a few guys who...) does not hold up well against scientific studies where they track progress against a baseline for 3500 people. Besides, the point isn't whether your friends are productive members of society, the point is how much more productive can they be? If you start with an IQ of 140 and it drops to 130 because of weed, you're still in good shape. But I still wouldn't do it personally. The power of the brain is too significant.

But that should be a value judgment for each person to make on his own.

As for medical benefits, that should be done only under the direction of a physician. Nobody should be trying to decide whether it provides medical benefit for them without the guidance and prescription from a physician. So unless you're a doctor whose job it is to balance the pros and cons of each medicinal option, I'm uninterested in that argument. It can only be made by medical professionals.

And on drug cartels, legalizing weed will have hardly any impact on them. They make most of their money from cocaine, heroin and similar narcotics, not weed. Taking away that business from them would be like telling McDonald's they can't sell the Filet o Fish and McRib anymore. There would be some disappointment but they'd survive just fine on their Big Macs and Egg McMuffins.