The Economics of Marijuana Legalization

YES-I smoke marijuana…Why?-I live ion a state where medical marijuana is NOT legal; you may have heard of this place,FLORIDA, where the current fervor is the criminialization of patients,like myself, who require strong pain medications due to numerous physical issues.
The first axiom of NOT legalizing marijuana is that “if a substance is illegal, there is a black market for it.”
Legalization of Marijuana will:ELIMINATE THE CRIMINAL ELEMENT responsible for its ubiquity.
PEOPLE HAVE USED THIS SUBSTANCE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS,and they won’t stop because it’s illegal.
People will always smoke it. As an ER nurse for 25 years I have not seen ONE OVERDOSE from it.
Alcohol, on the other hand is legal, but contributes to THOUSANDS OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT DEATHS EVERY YEAR-NOT TO MENTION THE DETORIORATION OF THE FAMILIES OF ALCOHOLICS.
Is marijuana harmless? NO!, but it’segalization, for any reason(use) will add to government coffers in every state.Medicinal marijuana does not add ONE DIME. Why? because of the beauracracy surrounding medicinal use.
Personally, if I use marijuana for (medical) reasons-I use LESS morphine to contreol my chronic, intractable pain.
Every responsible adult over the age of 21-or even 25, should be able to purchase marijuana much as they purchase alchohol.It can be taxed, regulated and its quality can also be controlled.
We have LOST THE WAR ON DRUGS-SHORTLY AFTER IT BEGAN, so why do we continue to incarcerate innocents who’s drug of choice happens to be marijuana.
Making criminals out of, otherwise, productive citizens is the biggest crime. So why isn’t it legal?
because of the stigma that the 60’s “counterculure” and before that the mexican immigrants-dating back to the 1930’s have tied-to it.
GROW-UP AMERICA,let your voice be heard. Last I checked, politicians work FOR US, not the other way around….Any thinking person can see the “war” has been lost. The cartels won!so why can’t we just agree that legalizing this substance would be the BEST solution for america…dOUBT MY WORDS? LOOK AT aMSTERDAM, WHERE MARIJUANA IS “TOLERATED”, here in the good ‘ole U.S.A TOLERANCE is simply not in politicians vocabulary.
Do not give up,There are too many reasons to legalize marijuana and(mainly) the right wing will have none of that…..Any thoughts fellow citizens?
Legalize, Regulate, Tax, Control-and then we can support Medicare/Medicaid as well as support our citixens in their quest for “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, whatever your happiness is-as long as it hurts no one but the user-it is reprehensible that for more than the last 40 years-we have WASTED BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS OF DOLLARS fighting a war we lost…many years ago.
ELIMINATE THE BLACK MARKET, and subsequent criminal activity