Posted By:
Jeff LichtmanI agree with Jay and Leon though I don't know that I would legalize all drugs. Certainly marijuana since no one can convince me that smoking pot is worse than drinking alcohol -- certainly there are less deaths attributed to pot smoking than drinking every year by a long shot. Tax the hell out of it as well as increase the taxes on cigarettes to at least cover some of the health costs associated with smoking.
And it's true that many, many gun charges come about because dealers are protecting their stashes. Eliminate the need to protect illegal drugs and you eliminate the guns required to protect the drugs. I've made the argument to many judges on pot cases when prosecutors ask for draconian sentences, even life, for huge pot rings. Rarely does a judge not agree with me on this and a judge usually cuts the defendant a break simply because the drug is pot which is never thought to be as bad as heroin or coke. And think of all the money our country would generate from taxing marijuana!