Can anyone out there in Blogland give me a convincing argument why the possession and use of marijuana should be illegal? Well...I'm waiting...

Ha! I didn't think so!!

Think about it. Smoking MJ feels good, it's relaxing, it doesn't smell as bad as cigarettes, it doesn't give you lung cancer, it doesn't make you loud and angry and prone to wreck your car, like alcohol does. So what's not to like? I ask people this question all the time, an no one has a good answer. About all they can come up with is something about it being a "gateway drug." It'll lead to taking worse things.

Well, listen up, guys. Life is a gateway drug! Everything you do leads to something else that's worse than the last thing. When you're a baby, you start out drinking milk, and the next thing you know you're eating cholesterol-laden butter and cheese. Omigod, the cheese! It's everywhere! Then you start out riding your pollution-free bicycle and when you grow up you go on to driving a smoke-belching Hummer. When you reach puberty, you harmlessly jack off, and by the time you're 17 you're impregnating every girl in your class.

There's nothing in life that's free of consequences, so why outlaw a little weed that can make you forget, for a few precious minutes, how fucked up everything is?

I shouldn't bother asking this question. I know at least one of the answers. People who don't drink or smoke or dance or make-love-for-pleasure-instead-of-procreation don't enjoy life, and they want to make sure no one else does either. They would like to legislate against anything and everything that could bring joy to the lives of people who are capable of experiencing it. But as long as the pleasure-seekers continue to seek ways to enhance that pleasure, they will defy the senseless law and obtain the means to that end. The Temperance advocates succeeded in passing the 18th amendment to the U.S. constitution, and we all know how well that worked out. Thirteen years of chaos, as citizens continued to seek alcohol and crime flourished. A strong demand will always be supplied.

IMHO, marijuana should be legal. It could be regulated and taxed, as are alcohol and tobacco. Think of the potential revenue, all you legislators who are reading this! (Yeah, right. Legislators read my blog religiously.) Prison overcrowding could be substantially reduced. Some dealers may have to get real jobs!

And then we can move on to considering legalizing other drugs as well. Can you just imagine the reduction in world-wide crime if marijuana and coca-derived drugs were legalized? The drug cartels in Mexico? Pfffft! All gone! Street thugs in the U.S.? Considerably reduced. If their drugs were legal, they would probably be cheaper and the users wouldn't have to steal as much to supply themselves. Poppy farmers in Afghanistan would not have to worry about their crops being confiscated. Just imagine the RAGE in the plains states in the U.S. if suddenly the diet police passed a law making wheat illegal?

I could go on and on, but I don't want to tax your patience.