OP inadvertently causes marijuana debate. wonderful
Here's my take on legalization:
yes
Here's why:
1. Cuts gang revenue
On average, 70% of gang revenue is marijuana sales. Lots of people want marijuana. It's very accessible now. By taxing it and having it sold by the government, you won't need to bother with a dealer or a gang. Many gangs will fall apart. They're just businesses and we're cutting the need to buy from them.
2. Saves money
The government has spent 35 billion dollars on the "war on drugs". I have seen little progress. Lots of the money spent is on processing and jailing people charged with possession of marijuana. At the very least, decriminalize it, so we can focus on more important things than arresting people for smoking a plant that affects nobody but them.
3. Safe
Marijuana is not chemically addictive. Unless you develop a psychological addiction (like being addicted to eating or something) you'll be fine. Marijuana cannot kill you, but it can make you lazy, depending on the person. It's not likely to do anything to your brain long term. It will make you hungrier. If you're trying to lose weight my advice is not to eat snacks every time you smoke marijuana if you do it often. It's been known to help people taking chemo with nausea. It's also been known to reduce the symptoms of glaucoma. However, just remember
smoking marijuana is still unhealthy because it's smoke. Inhaling anything through smoke is bad for you. There is paraphernalia that will let you ingest marijuana without smoking it. (like bongs)
Here's my source:
http://www.perkel.com/politics/issues/pot.htm I'd say it's pretty unbiased but make your own judgement
Poll