State/Fed. government: Let's make recreational marijuana legal! Citizens: Awesome! We all feel relaxed, and those of us dealing with pain feel much better, an

State/Fed. government: Let's make recreational marijuana legal! Citizens: Awesome! We all feel relaxed, and those of us dealing with pain feel much better, and we're not dying from over-doses; yay! ...But, uh-oh, a few more car fatalities...what to do? State/Fed. government: Let's build hypertube all over the state! Citizens: Unsafe drivers - including drinkers AND smokers - simply take the hypertube home; fatalities have taken a nosedive yay! Second benefit: individual and state costs typically associated with maintaining cars and roads for cars (to support long work commutes) goes down, and overall traffic congestion is diminished; yay! ...But uh-oh, our healthcare costs are still pretty high, since now the likes of Pfizer, Merck, etc. are legally producing marijuana, and not cheaply, what to do? State/Fed. government: With the infrastructure funds now more narrowly focused on supporting efforts such as hypertube, re-allocate (as appropriate and legal) the remaining, unused funds to help bring down health care costs...Either through government tax breaks (just plain giving this unused money back to citizens) for citizens to pay their healthcare insurance...OR...to buy their own marijuana at retail...OR...use these remaining, unused funds to subsidize programs like ACA. Citizens: Yay! ...But uh-oh, now that marijuana is legal there are less people being put into jails...and now the jail lobby is whining, what to do? State/Fed. government: Invite the people who might otherwise be sent to prison (or who have been freed from prison after being unfairly jailed for minor amounts of weed) and have them work as construction workers building the country's hypertube network. A likely side-effect is that the private companies running the jails will surely convert into hypertube construction/management companies, but hey jobs, right!?! Citizens: Yay! Long-term problems - while not solved yet - are on the mend...but, uh-oh, it appears while sending our satellits to other planets, we disrupted the hybernation of some war-like aliens, and they're bent on attacking us with their advanced technology, strategically planning to strike the most powerful nations on earth first! What to do? State/Fed. government: ... ... ... Citizens: Hello? Hello!?! Did you hear our pleas about the pending alien attack? Hello? Is there anyone there in the government offices? where the hellz did they all go???? somebody help us; these guns we have are worthless against these aliens! Heeeeeelllpp!!! ... ... ... Narrator: Apologies for the levity on serious matters. My whole point is to remember that things don't exist in isolation...and maybe there will always be good and bad side-effects that get triggered from one major legislation change. Nevertheless, the country has lived through Prohibition, and there are expected patterns that likely emerge. So, i say, marijuana should definitely be legalized, though let's have a plan to be ready for any unexpected fallout, should they manifest. Cheers!