4:20

So here I sit, smack dab in one of the largest producers of weed in the entire world. Last year it was estimated that the marijuana business generated something like $7 billion and not one of those dollars was taxed in anyway. I am confused, with the state of our budget, having a good chunk of those taxable dollars would really be a windfall. 

Cannabis, weed, MJ, whatever you call it, is out there. It has always been there, and it will continue to do so no matter how hard the powers to be try to stamp it out. Prohibition, the war on pot, continues and to this day what has it really accomplished? A whole lot of tax dollars flushed down the toilet, a whole of people in jail for no real reason other than someone has an agenda - a big $$$ agenda.

We all have heard the government say how evil it is, how bad you are for using it and yet the Powers to Be continue to allow alcohol and tobacco to be produced and used - making a tidy profit out of it mind you. What is so different about weed? Notwithstanding the real medical uses of MJ, the entire plant can be and has been used for all sorts of things in the past. Food, textile, building material, paper, rope.... the list goes on and on. Why has it been turned into the great evil.

MJ is definitely a drug. Smoking it or eating it will change your perception of the world. Smoke enough of it for long enough and you will damage your body. Some people are violently allergic to the smell of it. All of these things are definitely true.

Alcohol is definitely a drug- have a couple shots of that and you no longer can see properly. Another couple of shots and you cant speak clearly. Take enough of it in a short time and you will die. Spread out the amount you drink and risk losing your liver. There are people who are violently allergic to being around someone who is drunk.

Tobacco is definitely a drug.  Smoking it or crewing it will change how your body is reacting to the world. Smoke enough of it long enough and your will begin to cough your lungs out. Some people are violently allergic to cigarette smoke.

All three of these drugs look really similar don't they, but only weed is illegal. Who is benefiting from that? If weed is illegal, the only ones benefiting are criminals. The overall effect to the people who are using it is nil. The overall effect to those who aren't using is they are paying people to hunt down the pot and those who are using - that means we all pay for something that really should only be paid for by those who are using it. At the end of the day, if a joint costs a user $5, where would you rather that $5 go? To a criminal who we need to spend money on trying to stop, or to you? 

I don't care one way or another if you want to wander around, stoned out of your mind, drunk, or happy on tobacco - it is none of my business as long as you keep it to yourself. You want to toke up? Fine, do so where I don't  have to deal with it in public. You want to booze up? Fine, do so in such a way that I don't have to deal with it in public. Tobacco? I don't care, just don't inflict it on me.