I think first and foremost we should consider that we have a Bill of Rights and no man should be able to prevent another from putting something into their body.

With that said, you could walk into any middle school or high school in the area and purchase a variety of drugs. One thing you won't likely find being sold? Alcohol. Why? Because we have a sensible policy that says responsible ADULTS are allowed to purchase alcohol from a licensed distributor. If we were to regulate it put an age limit on its sale, we could curb use by denying profit motive from dealers and more importantly drug cartels. Just like alcohol prohibition, study your history people. Also, we would generate billions in tax revenue, an estimated 14 billion in California alone.

It makes no sense to saddle the next generation with a criminal record that will make finding financial aid for college impossible under current law and cripple their ability to find a good job.

Ultimately whether people accept it or not, it is the parents and families responsibility to teach our kids the TRUTH about drugs (yes alcohol too) and make sure they have strong leadership at home. Let's not let the government and schools raise our children.

Don't legalize it. Marijuana can lead people to doing other drugs such as crack, cocaine, herion and other lethal drugs. These drugs lead people to do other crimes such as stealing or murder to get $$ for their drug habit. I used to work at a pawn shop over 15 yrs ago and many of the frequent customers were "rock stars" who steal to support their habit. Sure, we let them pawn the merchandise, but what they don't know is that the police get a copy of every pawn ticket or receipt of merchandise taken in by the pawn shops.

I have seen what drugs have done to families. It starts off with a little weed and end up doing harder drugs. I have some personal experience of someone dying of drug use and I've seen how it affected the family of that person.

I have never done drugs or ever will do drugs because DRUGS ARE BAD!!!!!!!!!

Drugs have been demonized by politicians looking for a popular straw man argument to hang their hat on forever. The people who become addicted to drugs are losers, and they would equally be losers had they never consumed drugs. Drugs are not the reason people are losers, it's their convenient excuse for failure! To keep us from sin and temptation, politicians pass laws to keep us safe from ourselves.

Although I must say that I agree with Aubrey on this one. Perhaps complete legalization is too much at first. Baby steps. However, with me, as I'm sure with most people that smoke, the legality status of marijuana either way is not going to prevent me from partaking. But I would feel MUCH less paranoid if I knew I wouldn't go to jail from being caught with it.

I can't believe we are still having this inane, ridiculous debate in 2009. In the words of Peter Tosh, "Legalize it and I will advertise it!"

if you look in the arrested section of the paper daily you will notice that most of the people arrested in the town is for the possession of less than 2 ounces of marijuana. of course O'Conner doesn't want marijuana legalized, his crew would get bored.

Scientists have just proved that one of Bob Dylan's most famous lines--"everybody must get stoned"-- is correct. That's because they've found that the brain manufactures proteins that act like marijuana at specific receptors in the brain itself.

We need to fight drug abuse with compassion; treat nonviolent abusers as patients not criminals. Fight use with factual evidence! We are diminishing the use of tobacco with the campaign, Knowledge is Contagious, so Infect Truth! Educate people and they will make better choices for themselves.

True education is our most important duty; the way out of ignorance and repression. Do not doubt history will mark this time as a new beginning for a period of enlightenment and abundance.

Marijuana is safer than alcohol, which is eight times more likely to cause violence, over indulgence can cause death and other dangers to users' health. Patients swear cannabis is an effective, safer replacement for dangerous, expensive pharmaceuticals.

The tobacco, alcohol and prescription drug gangs cause more death annually than all illicit drugs The worst public policy since slavery disregards science and punishes families of nonviolent citizens, confiscating their property for making a safer health choice in a social or medicinal drug; that is pretty insane!

Laws based on racist lies do not belong in the statutes—

"Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice." (Hearst newspapers nationwide, 1934)

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S., and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana can cause white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others."

"...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races"
- Federal Bureau of Narcotics Director Harry J. Anslinger, 1930

"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."
- Federal Bureau of Narcotics Director Harry J. Anslinger, 1929

"Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality and death."

"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."

"[Smoking] one [marihuana] cigarette might develop a homicidal mania, probably to kill his brother." (see US Government Propaganda To Outlaw Marijuana - http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/h...)

People will continue to use it, why not get the tax revenue from it?
Maybe it will help my kids and grand kids pay for the obama administrations trillion + tab...