Legalizing marijuana

[The Ghost of RubangB]

I guess I haven't made this clear in this thread yet: I am for legalizing ALL drugs, including cocaine and heroin, and the really freaky ones that aren't even invented yet. I think ALL drugs should be regulated and taxed (you can't do them at school, you can't give them to kids, you can't do them and then drive, and if it involves smoke you can't do them inside public buildings).

I'll tell my kids the truth about drugs and how bad most of them are, but I'll also tell my kids about drug laws and how backwards and harmful all of them are. I'll let my kids read about any drug they want, and the history of the drug laws. I think most people who try drugs try them before they're 18, so I'll help my kids learn everything they can before they make any decisions. I'm not gonna tell them not to do drugs or that I never did, and I'm not gonna encourage experimentation (but I will expect it). I'll trust my kids and do my best to get them to trust me and talk to me about this kind of stuff so they don't get hurt.

I think all drugs should be legal at age 18, including alcohol. There is no reason to have people be adults for 3 years with one random illegal substance with a bonus age that legalizes it. Alcohol should be legal at 18 like cigarettes, porn, and guns. I also think heroin and cocaine should be legal at 18. If every drug is legal, there is no gateway drug into a life of drugs. All drugs would be as clean as they can possibly be, and you could obtain them without clogging our prisons and wasting the time of our police officers and courts (and tax dollars). You could also tax the drugs like cigarettes and booze. The money saved from having fewer prisons and the money collected through drug taxes would be more than enough to pay for any needed rehab clinics.

If you take away drug laws, gangs have no way of making money. The reason gangs kill each other (and innocent passersby) over their turf is because they can sell drugs on that turf. If they can't make money off drugs, the whole point of owning turf becomes pointless. Then gangs would just be fighting over places to hang out, which makes them sound like a youth group.