This Ain't Your Old Man's Weed

This article had some very very interesting points. I guess until it said it, I had not thought much about the difference between decriminalization and legalization issues. I'm in favor of first decriminalization so we can keep people out of prisons and save some money. I strongly support the law enforcement officers' comment about how if a huge number of people are disobeying the law, and yet aren't killing others or destroying property, then maybe we should re-look at this law. It won't happen very soon, but maybe the libertarians in Idaho will look at it.

I guess I've not really thought much about this issue because it doesn't really affect me. Even if it were decriminalized, or legalized, I would still choose not to do it.

Article is worth the read.

clipped from roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com A New York Times article on Sunday discussed the debate over whether more and more potent types of cannabis affect the levels of addiction to the drug. This particular issue has become part of the larger debate over whether marijuana should be legalized or decriminalized. Surveys indicate increasingly positive attitudes in the U.S. for liberalizing marijuana policies. Two ways of doing this are: (1) legalization, which would involve lawful cultivation and sale of marijuana, and (2) decriminalization, which would retain criminal penalties for cultivation and sale while removing them for possession of small amounts. Any law disobeyed by more than 100 million Americans, the number who’ve tried marijuana at least once, is bad public policy. As a 34-year police veteran, I’ve seen how marijuana prohibition breeds disrespect for the law, and contempt for those who enforce it. we’ve halved tobacco consumption through public education — without a single arrest.