Can You Teach a 1st World Nation 2nd World Tricks

From The Observer

The article tells a poignant story that sounds all too familiar.

..."Last year three of my friends were caught smoking a spliff in a park and were treated like traffickers," he said. "They went to court, which took six months. One went to jail alongside murderers. The others were sent to rehab, where they were treated for an addiction they didn't have, alongside serious heroin and crack users. It was pointless and destroyed their lives."....

It's a story that I have witnessed first hand, and but for the grace of God it would've been true for myself.

The court's ruling was based on a case involving several men caught with joints in their pockets. As a result, judges struck down an existing law stipulating a sentence of up to two years in jail for those caught with any amount of narcotics. "Each individual adult is responsible for making decisions freely about their desired lifestyle without state interference," the ruling said. "Private conduct is allowed unless it constitutes a real danger or causes damage to property or the rights of others."

Is the "war on drugs" ending? The Argentinian ruling does not stand alone. Across Latin America and Mexico, there is a wave of drug law reform which constitutes a stark rebuff to the United States as it prepares to mark the 40th anniversary of a conflict officially declared by President Richard Nixon and fronted by his wife, Pat, in 1969.

That "war" has incarcerated an average of a million US citizens a year, as every stratum of American society demonstrates its insatiable need to get high. And it has also engulfed not only America, but the Americas...

Albert Einstein once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

We've seen this story before in the early 20th century when groups had deemed alcohol unsafe for public use. This illegalization allowed unsavory entrepreneurs to transform into highly powerful gangsters.

The same is true today. We've taken a marginally harmful, although not useless plant, and made it illegal thus giving those that would produce and sell it a large profit margin.

In my opinion, just let the people have their weed but set reasonable restrictions on it much like we have for alcohol. If you want to reduce the amount of use look at the deeper reasons behind it's use and not the use itself.