Aside from it's badness or goodness (and it doesn't seem to be as dangerous a substance as alcohol), keeping marijuana illegal has great costs (increases corruption in the legal system and police agencies, leads to the formation of violent organized crime syndicates, and all the other things that came to pass during alcohol prohibition in the U.S.). After all the years of marijuana's being illicit, the price is still dropping; enforcement of the anti-marijuana laws is not effective. But when marijuana is really cracked down on, traffickers switch to easier-to-transport substances (like heroin and cocaine), which also happen to be far more dangerous.
The fact that people are given jail sentences, and have to live with a criminal record, stemming from marijuana infractions, is a travesty, and a slap in the face to individual rights. |
