I was going to bite my tounge (or my fingers) in this situation, but really I cannot resist.
THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE!!
ITS NOT A RELIGIOUS ISSUE!!
Thats the way I see it. Too many people can look at an issue like this and say "someone who supports legalization of pot (as an example) is a devil worshipping demon hippy liberal." While in fact the personal reasons for supporting legalization of a certain controlled substance may be very different from the stereotypical personality.
This is an issue of individual choice and individual thought. Like abortion, it becomes an issue of politics and religion because people want to FORCE others to think the way they think and legislate change in the world, while real change only comes with a change of heart and opinion. This is why education is so important. Tell kids about the dangers of pot, the dangers of alcohol, etc., and let them make their own decisions. Politicians make this a political issue because something like this is so devisive. Taking sides on a debate like this automatically associates oneself with a political party, and grabs votes. Your precious "bloodless conservative" politician or "commie liberal" politician probably believes in only about half of what he says.
As has been said, gangs largely derive economic support from the drug trade in some way shape or form. Gangs will not disappear if we legalize a drug or drugs. Killing will not stop. What will stop is an ineffectual government trying to stop up holes in a very leaky dike with way too few fingers. I am referring largely to the legalization of pot because it is one of the more benign drugs on the list of illegal substances, and the most likely to be legalized within my lifetime. And let me tell you, legalizing pot will probably make it only marginally more available than it is now. Anyone with any ambition at all can purchase pot quite readily in this day and age. Wake up people. Its illegal, but so easy to get.
Captain Sousie, you are wrong. Marijuana does not contain nicotine. The chemical in pot that gets a person high is THC. Nicotine is a stimulant. THC is not. Nicotine is physically addictive. THC is not. "Contact High" is very hard to experience, and likely a figment of people's imagination. As far as carcinogens is concerned, Tobacco wins hands down. Caffeine even has a larger affect on your body than pot does! And its fantastically addictive as you probably already know. Tar levels are quite a bit higher in pot, so you werent completely off the mark. Look what I found on the handy dandy internet:
http://www.cannabis.com/faqs/ Although it is skewed to the perspective of the pothead, it does dispell a lot of myths about the drug. The problems you have in finding the truth in this issue is the fact that there are a lot of crazies on both sides of the issue.
