A good idea, part II

I came across another good idea (boy, the web seems to be full of them).

The Tax Foundation has an article posted regarding complete (as in, not only medical), taxed, controlled legalization of marijuana for personal consumption and use and for cultivation. I think this is a great idea. I think it's ridiculous that we allow (controlled and taxed) consumption and cultivation of tobacco and alcohol which are substances that can do significant damage to a person's body and can impair one's activities - but criminalize and stigmatize marijuana use. Legalized marijuana use and cultivation is now actually a ballot initiative in California.

Billions upon billions of dollars are completely wasted in the law enforcement and counter-terrorism areas of federal and state governments in waging a "war" on marijuana (among other drugs). I say wasted because approximately 100 million Americans admit to have used marijuana in the past - that's one third of the entire population. More and more will use as time passes, I have little doubt. Yet we wage a "war" on this use and spend billions upon billions doing it, with almost zero results. People still use and all manner of crimes still get committed in relation to the cultivation, sale, and use of the drug.

Legalizing marijuana could have numerous beneficial effects. It could increase tax revenue significantly to the states who so desperately need income. It could serve as a cost savings to the federal, state, and local governments by reducing the costs associated with the "war on drugs". It could remove the undeserving social stigma from casual users of marijuana, whose use parallels a casual drinker or smoker (do we stigmatize they guy or gal who goes out for a drink every week??). It could allow easier access to those that need the drug for medical use. It could help reduce or eliminate the violent crime, trafficking and other nasty activities associated with the current cultivation and trade of marijuana (though also eliminate and entire Hollywood genre in the same stroke). Lastly, it could help provide secondary or alternative streams of revenue for  individuals, thereby producing more tax revenue for federal, state, and local governments.

No one's proposing that we just legalize all willy-nilly; that would be inappropriate. What the state of California's ballot initiative proposes is a controlled and taxed legalization, similar to how the state (or almost any other state for that matter) controls and taxes alcohol or cigarettes (no sale, gift, or smoking to or around minors, require license to sell, minimum legal age, can't use while driving or operating machinery, etc). I urge everyone to read or skim through the actual text of the ballot proposal, found here.

I think it's utterly ridiculous that we the people have no problem with allowing people to drink alcoholic drinks and smoke or chew tobacco, and that we don't view a (casual) smoker or drinker as 'bad', but are unwilling to allow a person to smoke marijuana or remove his or her social stigma. Part of that stigma comes as a result of the illegality of the act. Marijuana doesn't have the same horrible side effects as do cocaine, heroin, etc; those substances should be and are illegal. I do understand that allowing marijuana could lead us down a "slippery slope", but we need to recognize that the cost/benefit analysis could probably end up a net positive and that the reality is that many people can and do use the drug.

This post isn't meant as a personal statement on whether or not I think marijuana is good for you or not, or whether smoking it is a great thing or not. I'm just saying that we need to see the realities on the ground and adapt to them, and pursue the policy that's in America's best interests.

A good idea...

See this post on HonestlyFrum's blog:

A good idea... will we run with it?