Conservatives wanting people to dull their senses? Surprising?

Agreed.  I think there have been far more lives ruined by the insane "war on drugs" (not to mention the billions of dollars spent).

That's one small step for man, a giant leap for mankind.

And think of all the not good it's done.  I don't do drugs, nor do I know anybody who does... but give me, a  half a day and I bet i coud get whatever I wanted if I wanted to do drugs.

There is a lot of hyperbole and overexageration on BOTH sides, but it doesn't take more then just looking at the results to see why it should be legalized.

I think it's something like 1/3rd of people in the US have tried it and 1/2 of college students?    How many people are in jail over it when our jails are overcroweded?  Hell, we're paying people in Afghanistan to grow drugs... then you look at the money spent like you said, sure you'd still spend SOME of that money regulating it.

On the "cons" side is, you wouldn't make as much money off taxing it as you'd think, because it'd cost more for legal companies to grow the stuff, and people probably will grow their own, furthermore you can't tax it THAT high otherwise you'll still have the underground drug trade.

Furthermore, those drug dealers are going to turn to SOMETHING else to make their money, probably sex slavery rings or further illegal gambling.  (Which honestly, i'm surprised gambling is falling behind Marijuana at this point, i guess it's because the government doesn't have marijuana lottos.)

Tell that to Docter Bob Malamede a doctor at my University that studies cannibinoids and smokes Marijuana every day. There are many other successful people that smoke pot regularily, but the news only reports on the minorities(blacks, hispanics) and they ignore the heavy usage amongst white people. Especiallly, those that are in the middle class or above.

Yeah, I don't think we'll cure all of our financial woes by taxing it, but it wouldn't be chump change either.  I would tend to think it would go more the way of alcohol, you can make it yourself, but it is generally inferior to what you could buy already made.  So I wouldn't see home "growing" making too much of a dent.

As for the dealers, they can only prosper if there is demand for their products. Taking away their highest demand product will not suddenly cause other things to be in higher demand.  So I'm not sure what the impact would be here (maybe some even go into legitimate businesses?)

Most people don't realize that pot is a "step-up" drug because it is sold by the same people that usually sell other stuff.  It's real easy to get people to try harder stuff (and get them hooked) if you get them high first.  Take this out of the equation, and pot simply becomes like alcohol.  It can ruin lives, but so can alcohol (or any other addiction).

Not sure where your getting this from.  In college, a lot of the smartest people I knew smoked pot.  It seemed very popular among physicists.  I think it was because theoretical physics require quite a bit of imagination to figure things out.  It's quite mind-bending to try and understand some of the complex theories in physics.

I will agree with that, but your previous statement claims that all cannibis users are trash, idiots, losers that have nothing to give society. Drug abuse has been a part of mankind throughout history and many people did great things through both drugs. You should not make such absolute statements that suggest people who do drugs be they marijuana or alcohol contribute less to society because that can be easily proven wrong.

You think The Beatles wrote all their music while sober? 

I do some of my best thinking when I am buzzing good. I also do some of my best thinking when sitting on the toilet.

Good job! Makes the thread more interesting! Still  you said marijuana users have a less positive influence on society. How can this be proven scientifically?