Marijuana

For most of human history, marijuana has been completely legal. It’s not a recently discovered plant, nor is it a long-standing law. Marijuana has been illegal for less than 1% of the time that it’s been in use. Its known uses go back further than 7,000 B.C. and it was legal as recently as when Ronald Reagan was a boy. The hemp plant has also been used for everything from fabric and rope to ethanol fuel. Hemp was such a critical crop for a number of purposes that the government went out of its way to encourage growth. The United States Census of 1850 counted 8,327 hemp “plantations” (minimum 2,000-acre farm) growing cannabis hemp for cloth and canvas as well. Marijuana has been used throughout history in many different cultures to change mood, perception, and consciousness - in other words, to get high! Its effects range from increasing creativity to provoking mystical experiences, to heightening the capacity to feel, sense and share. After alcohol, it is the most popular of what are called "recreational drugs."
Gonzales v. Raich, (2005), was decision by the United States Supreme Court ruling that under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, the United States Congress may criminalize the production and use of home-grown cannabis even where states approve its use for medicinal purposes.

 

Californians vote on legal weed

Current event(2010): California residents are expected to vote this year on whether legalization should be approved to raise nearly $1.4 billion in state revenue. That's based on an estimate from the State Board of Equalization, a tax administration agency. This form of legalization is not restricted to medicinal use of marijuana. The bill proposes that marijuana be regulated and taxed in a similar way to alcohol. According to the bill, people would have to be 21 years or older to possess, cultivate, or transport marijuana for personal use. Californians would not be permitted to use the drug in public or within the presence of minors, and would not be allowed to possess it on school grounds.

I honestly do not believe that anything positive or constructive could come from legalizing marijuana. Why make it okay for people to damage their own bodies and minds, and then potentially the people around them? I mean sure the crime rate would be reduced if it becomes legal but the crime rate would also decrease if burglary and murder was allowed. And if the state of Cali would legalize marijuana as another way to take someone's money, then that's just selfish. What good can come of marijuana?

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2010/11/01/rowlands.ca.marijuana.vote.cnn?iref=videosearch