Gambling, prostitution, and now pot?
Nevada to vote on legalizing marijuana - Yahoo! News
If it passes Nov. 7, Nevada will be the first state to allow adults to possess up to an ounce of pot that they could buy at government-regulated marijuana shops.
Baby steps are better than no steps. The ultimate goal would be complete legalization of the drug, and get rid of government control altogether. I think this will end up the way prohibition did though, with government regulated shops like the ABC.
Proponents of the measure also argue that the legal system wastes time and money on low-level marijuana offenses, and that taxing and regulating pot would put drug dealers out of business while freeing law enforcement to focus on violent crime and more dangerous drugs such as methamphetamine.
Well, how about we free them to do what they really should be doing, and that would be enforcing the laws against violent crime. Why we should move them from enforcing stupid drug laws against one drug to enforcing stupid drug laws against another is beyond my understanding, but I will take steps where I can get them. I don’t think that meth users are necessarily any more violent or prone to hurting other people than pot users, so why the push against that drug now. Hmm, could be the same reasons they went for pot?
“Make no mistake, I don’t think using marijuana is a wise choice for anyone,” said the Rev. William C. Webb, a Baptist minister who joined dozens of other religious leaders in announcing their backing. But “if there has to be a market in marijuana, I’d rather it be regulated with sensible safeguards than run by violent gangs and dangerous drug dealers.”
There we go, another good reason to get government out of it. If there were really no market for it, there would be no gangs currently controlling distribution. But there is a market, and since government has make it illegal, you get violence, high prices, and low quality product.