I like what Cherrynicola had to say
When having this kind of discussion, it is easy to forget the downside of legalization. This is probably because the people discussing this issue are all for legalization. But there are costs associated with legalization like health care, housing, unemployment benefits, etc. But there are also human costs like how use affects not just the user, but the families as well. I was lucky not to have any repurcussions from my years of playing around with various illegal substances, but more and more that is not the norm. I look at my jail roster every day and a good 75% of the inmates are in for either possession, sales, manufacturing, or a drug-related charge like burglary, robbery, assault, DUI, etc (burglary to finance the drug use, assault while high, driving under the influence of a substance). Think of the costs to the victims of those crimes: the wifes, husbands, mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, etc. Yes, you have the same kinds of crimes related to alcohol, but not nearly on the same scale. So, you have to ask yourself, whether you use or not, do you want your tax dollars paying for not only someone's habbit, but also their housing, food, utilities, medical care, psychological care, etc? Do we want to live in a society that is strung out? This is something that can easily become a slippery slope: legalize pot then people start thinking, 'well, why not legalize coke too? or meth?' Frankly, I'm already ticked enough that my tax dollars are paying to take care of the addicts that are working the system, I certainly don't want that population to increase.
( flirting with badgers What? It sounded good at the time., Thu 21 Feb 2008, 0:43, Reply)