[Sailor Steve]

A lot of interesting ideas. Rather than quote so many, I'll just add a few more of my own. First, though, I'd especially like to thank Arclight for the observations from one who lives where it's legal. I didn't know about all the illegal parts though.


I've known a lot of pot-smokers in my day, and I won't even try to argue that it's not bad for you. Yes, it does depress the nervous system, sometimes permanently. But we do a lot of other things that are bad for us, and if you try to make greasy hamburgers illegal we really are gonna have a fight!

Yes, smoking is bad for you, and I don't expect to see pot 'bars' spring up everywhere. But again, making something illegal in places where it affects others and making it illegal entirely are two different things, and there are few laws I think are more evil than ones that make you safe from yourself. On top of that, I've never met a user of Mary Jane who was a chain smoker. One joint a day is usually enough to keep him happy. And, other notions aside, many 'potheads' are intelligent, creative, productive members of society.

As for growing it in your backyard, that's where we really differ. Trying to legislate away growing something in the ground? That's where most of comes from now. Another bad thing to do is try to pass laws you can't enforce. I wonder how many people currently grow pot in their homes?

Violence? As I said, I've known many people who smoked weed, and the effect is very different from that produced by rampant alcohol consumption. The ones I've known all become quite mellow when high. They tend to avoid people altogether, and don't like to fight while in that condition. I've never known anyone who got high and then proceeded to beat his wife.

And then there's the driving problem. Drunks either become belligerent or inattentive. Pot-smokers tend to become paranoid. Their biggest traffic problem is driving to slow, looking around all the time to see if they're going to get caught. Do they have less accidents because of it? I don't know.

What I do know is that this is a behavior which is much more benign than drinking, and it's against the law for no other reason that it offends some people's moral standards.