I'm not talking about anyone in this thread, but its hilarious how some of the most staunch opponents of marijuana are the strongest supporters of free markets.
While I don't advocate legalizing ALL drugs, Jackson and Libertarians like Friedman have the right idea. We rely on the market for everything else, why not marijuana? Not to mention when a drug becomes legal the amount of scientific research on the drug is generally much higher. People will be given better information so that they can make more informed choices.
Young people didn't stop smoking tobacco because it was illegal to do so. A lot of them stopped smoking because of the vast amount of information out there about how dangerous tobacco was as well as the public campaigns against tobacco. Most people are horribly misinformed about marijuana and can't make a smart decision since they don't have adequate information. Information is power, and a lack of information only causes more problems.
We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke
It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...." Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson
