Quote:
Originally Posted by fishbones
Johnny, you know which way I lean and I'm all for decriminalization. I think it's less of a government issue and more of a moral issue for the Extreme Conservatives. Keep in mind how people in the bible belt states feel about what they consider morality issues (even though they don't always practice what they preach).
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I completely agree with you. The hypocrisy of the opinion is what is astounding to me. This country was founded by what could be declared as "Extreme Conservatives." People that wanted the minimum amount of government and felt that as long as their personal liberties did not encroach on those of another person, they should be left to do as they please.
Given that, many people with the same "moral standards" that state pot should be illegal, have no issues going home and having a beer after work. If you take the government declared legality/illegality out of the discussion and put both pot and alcohol at the same level for comparison, any moral argument against pot can be directly transferred over as an argument against alcohol.
The flourishing of the Mob and gangs in this country is often attributed to Prohibition in the 1920s. In the 1930s when Prohibition was repealed, many mobsters were forced to "play it straight" because their source of revenue had been removed.
We're living that same scenario right now. I would much rather the pot head, who's going to buy dope anyway, go down the street and pay a clerk or grow his own stash - then for that same pot head to go down the street and put more money in some gang member's pocket.