re: “It is beyond belief that there are so many liberals here at FR who want to legalize this.”
I agree. Alcohol is number one in its involvement in fatal auto accidents (not to mention hundreds of thousands maimed/blinded as a result of such accidents), near number one in its contribution to spousal abuse and child abuse, - why? Because of its accessability!
Legalizing pot may affect criminal profits some, but it won’t eliminate it (i.e. black market sale of cigarettes is huge), and worse, the accessability of pot will create an even bigger social problem.
Again, alcohol is the huge problem it is among teenagers because it is everywhere and it’s accessable to them. Yes, they can’t legally enter a store and purchase it, but it’s in the family fridge or in dad’s cooler in the garage.
You think we have drug problems now - we haven’t seen anything yet if it’s legalized. Legalization also removes much of the stigma as well. Some kids/adults won’t use it now simply because it is illegal. With that gone, many will give it a try.
As to eliminating organized crime - is it gone? I don’t think so. They move on to something else make the drug/alcohol/cigs/sex cheaper than buying it legally. In other words, the market is still there.
Legalization is a BAD BAD BAD idea.
So is pissing on the Tenth Amendment. Are you willing to do that just so you can have your drug war?
“Alcohol is number one in its involvement in fatal auto accidents (not to mention hundreds of thousands maimed/blinded as a result of such accidents), near number one in its contribution to spousal abuse and child abuse, - why? Because of its accessability!”
Which accessabity you apparently attribute to its legality. Wrong. As every elementary student is taught, alchohol consumption went up under prohibition.
Funny, that's the same knee-jerk response I heard today from Romney. (But he'd also be likely to say that about coffee, tea and beer, too, for our own good.)
Black market sale of cigarettes is not "huge" anywhere - and is significant only in those locales (e.g., NYC) where cigarette taxes are astronomical.
Again, alcohol is the huge problem it is among teenagers because it is everywhere and it’s accessable to them.
On the contrary, teens report that they can get pot more easily than they can get cigarettes or beer. It seems the best way to restrict access for teens is to make the producct legal for adults, so sellers have an incentive to restrict their sales to adults - that incentive being the potential loss of their legal adult market (through loss of license) if they sell to teens.