I think it should remain illegal because it is bad for public health and we don't need another substance like that as an OTC substance.
What I am saying though is that using marijuana shouldn't get someone thrown in jail, instead they should be fined.
How is it any worse for public health than alcohol or tobacco? If we were to model a federal law off the ones passed by Washington and Colorado, we could confine legal use to the home, thus making it an issue only for the user and residents. If someone is caught riding around with eyes as red as Tommy Chong's with a car reeking of skunks, they would be treated in a manner similar to a drunk driver. Rather than put criminal charges on someone's record for sitting at home, watching
Half-Baked, and ordering a pizza, couldn't we just tax the sale and accomplish the same thing? Except the revenue would be gained through legal means rather than profitting from others' misfortune.
Besides, keeping it illegal ensures that it remains a tool in the arsenal of drug cartels and street gangs. Instituting $1,000 fines won't do anything more to curb use than sending people to jail. For instance, here in Oklahoma, it is a $1,000 fine for possession of hashish, but does that mean people don't try to get hash oils? No. If I had a mind to, I could make a call and probably acquire it within the next 30 minutes. It's also a $1,000 fine for being caught with paraphernalia...I assure you, that has done nothing to limit the use of smoking devices for marijuana. It's also a possible year in prison for your first possession of any amount of marijuana; if people are willing to risk a year in prison and thousands of dollars in legal fees to smoke this plant, why would a fine stop them?
And I leave you with one more bit of wisdom, courtesy of the late Bill Hicks.
"Why is marijuana against the law? It grows naturally on our planet, serves a thousand different functions, all of them positive. To make marijuana against the law is like saying that God made a mistake. Like on the seventh day God looked down, "There it is. My Creation, perfect and holy in all ways. Now I can rest.
[Gives shocked expression] Oh my Me! I left ****in' pot everywhere. I should never have smoked that joint on the third day. Hehe, that was the day I created the possum. Still gives me a chuckle. But if I leave pot everywhere, that's gonna give people the impression they're supposed to … use it!
sighs Now I have to create Republicans." " … and God wept", I believe is the next part of that story."