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I generally agree with your major thesis which is that the laws need to be consistent and fair. Clearly the majority of Americans see no harm in an occasional

I generally agree with your major thesis which is that the laws need to be consistent and fair. Clearly the majority of Americans see no harm in an occasional toke, and the majority indeed have tried MJ. That in itself argues MJ should be made legal. The one argument that the police might make against legalization is that it deprives them of a useful tool -- an immoral tool, but nonetheless vital -- for getting scumbags off the street. Example: The cops stop a guy who they basically know committed a murder or a rape or some other violent crime, but they don't have the evidence to hold him. He'd call his lawyer, the lawyer would come in and make sure he's held for no more than the maximum number of hours, then he'd be freed and nothing gained by anyone. But if they can nail him on possession, they at least can get him off the streets for some days, weeks, or months, while they gather the evidence to really put him away. Not really the spirit of the law, but it works. That said, I'd rather we focus more resources on the few sociopaths and violent types out there, and clear out the over-crowded prisons.

pakled_engineer 11y ago
They do this already with tax evasion laws or they just keep throwing charges at gangsters to get them off the streets, like here where they use confidential informants to claim somebody did something then lock them up for years pending trial which is later dismissed. They also bust them on petty driving infractions all the time then wait for them to pay with unlaundered money, which opens the tax evasion case. When police and the state want to make your life hell they can easily do that without drug charges. The real problem with the black market is it's wide open to robbery. Criminals can't do armed escorts for their product and cash or turn to police for protection so they get violently jacked by anybody with a gun. There's no insurance or legal recourse so their only method of compensation is more violence. Nobody jacks beer trucks anymore because the operator can phone police making such a robbery too risky, and they have insurance, so the beer company doesn't have to seek compensation by shooting up their rivals company. As it stands right now the first thing a violent felon does upon release is rob a drug delivery driver, the black market is their ATM.

pakled_engineer 11y ago

They do this already with tax evasion laws or they just keep throwing charges at gangsters to get them off the streets, like here where they use confidential informants to claim somebody did something then lock them up for years pending trial which is later dismissed. They also bust them on petty driving infractions all the time then wait for them to pay with unlaundered money, which opens the tax evasion case. When police and the state want to make your life hell they can easily do that without drug charges. The real problem with the black market is it's wide open to robbery. Criminals can't do armed escorts for their product and cash or turn to police for protection so they get violently jacked by anybody with a gun. There's no insurance or legal recourse so their only method of compensation is more violence. Nobody jacks beer trucks anymore because the operator can phone police making such a robbery too risky, and they have insurance, so the beer company doesn't have to seek compensation by shooting up their rivals company. As it stands right now the first thing a violent felon does upon release is rob a drug delivery driver, the black market is their ATM.