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The war on drugs has cost us a lot of money. I wish that money could go towards a war on ignorance and lack of education!!

I am a substance abuse therapist, and I fully support the legalization of marijuana.

Legalizing it allows it to be better regulated, and could increase tax revenues. It could also help reduce some consequences of illicit drug trafficking. Its far less harmful than nicotine or alcohol, although splitting hairs over this isn't my favorite argument.
The trick with any substance use (alcohol, marijuana, chocolate, whatever you consume to change/alter your mood) and raising kids is, in my mind, teaching responsibility and safety. My message to my children will be that there are ways to responsibly use alcohol and marijuana.

@mrbee: or substance abuse treatment and prevention education!

right now we warehouse people in jail who really need substance abuse treatment- its incredibly expensive, not to mention embarrassingly ineffective and horrifically unethical.

I voted to pass said law. There are lots of kinks to work out I'm aware, but the projections I saw were in the ballpark of 500 million in revenue for our state. That's a lot of money to help bridge the budget gap for our seriously underfunded schools.

I encourage everyone to educate themselves on the actual motivation behind the illegalization of marijuana, as it's rife with racism, propaganda, and misinformation. Eric Schlosser has a classic essay about this issue entitled "Reefer Madness." Here's an important excerpt (I know this is long; if nothing else, read the last paragraph):

"THE first American law pertaining to marijuana, passed by the Virginia Assembly in 1619, required every farmer to grow it. Hemp was deemed not only a valuable commodity but also a strategic necessity; its fibers were used to make sails and riggings, and its by-products were transformed into oakum for the caulking of wooden ships. Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland eventually allowed hemp to be exchanged as legal tender, in order to stimulate its production and relieve Colonial money shortages. Although a number of the Founding Fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, later grew hemp on their estates, there is no evidence that they were aware of the plant's psychoactive properties. The domestic production of hemp flourished, especially in Kentucky, until after the Civil War, when it was replaced by imports from Russia and by other domestic materials. In the latter half of the nineteenth century marijuana became a popular ingredient in patent medicines and was sold openly at pharmacies in one-ounce herbal packages and in alcohol-based tinctures as a cure for migraines, rheumatism, and insomnia.

The political upheaval in Mexico that culminated in the Revolution of 1910 led to a wave of Mexican immigration to states throughout the American Southwest. The prejudices and fears that greeted these peasant immigrants also extended to their traditional means of intoxication: smoking marijuana. Police officers in Texas claimed that marijuana incited violent crimes, aroused a "lust for blood," and gave its users "superhuman strength." Rumors spread that Mexicans were distributing this "killer weed" to unsuspecting American schoolchildren. Sailors and West Indian immigrants brought the practice of smoking marijuana to port cities along the Gulf of Mexico. In New Orleans newspaper articles associated the drug with African-Americans, jazz musicians, prostitutes, and underworld whites. "The Marijuana Menace," as sketched by anti-drug campaigners, was personified by inferior races and social deviants. In 1914 El Paso, Texas, enacted perhaps the first U.S. ordinance banning the sale or possession of marijuana; by 1931 twenty-nine states had outlawed marijuana, usually with little fanfare or debate. Amid the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment fueled by the Great Depression, public officials from the Southwest and from Louisiana petitioned the Treasury Department to outlaw marijuana. Their efforts were aided by a lurid propaganda campaign. "Murder Weed Found Up and Down Coast," one headline warned; "Deadly Marijuana Dope Plant Ready For Harvest That Means Enslavement of California Children." Harry J. Anslinger, the commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, at first doubted the seriousness of the problem and the need for federal legislation, but soon he pursued the goal of a nationwide marijuana prohibition with enormous gusto. In public appearances and radio broadcasts Anslinger asserted that the use of this "evil weed" led to killings, sex crimes, and insanity. He wrote sensational magazine articles with titles like "Marijuana: Assassin of Youth." In 1937 Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act, effectively criminalizing the possession of marijuana throughout the United States. A week after it went into effect, a fifty-eight-year-old marijuana dealer named Samuel R. Caldwell became the first person convicted under the new statute. Although marijuana offenders had been treated leniently under state and local laws, Judge J. Foster Symes, of Denver, lectured Caldwell on the viciousness of marijuana and sentenced him to four hard years at Leavenworth Penitentiary.

Harry J. Anslinger is a central figure in the history of American drug policy. He headed the Federal Bureau of Narcotics from its inception through five presidential Administrations spanning more than three decades. Anslinger had much in common with his rival, J. Edgar Hoover. Both were conservative, staunchly anti-communist proponents of law and order who imbued nascent federal bureaus with their own idiosyncracies. Anslinger did not believe in a public-health approach to drug addiction; he dismissed treatment clinics as "morphine feeding stations" and "barrooms for addicts." In his view, strict enforcement of the law was the only proper response to illegal drug use; he urged judges to "jail offenders, then throw away the key." Anslinger's outlook was consistent with that of most Americans, though his opinions proved more resistant to new scientific evidence. When the New York Academy of Medicine—after years of research—issued a report in 1944 concluding that marijuana use did not cause violent behavior, provoke insanity, lead to addiction, or promote opiate use, Anslinger angrily dismissed its authors as "dangerous" and "strange.""

Here's the link to the essay:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/08/reefer-madness/303476/?single_page=true

ETA: This is all to say that I agree with Silva and Mrs. Jazz.

@DigAPony: I love all the history. I'm very much in the "meh" category. It doesn't really impact me here in the red state I live in, but it will be an interesting experiment to watch unfold.

I'm for it. Legalize it, regulate it and tax it.

I am all for legalizing it. I don't see how it is considered any worse than alcohol or cigarettes.. if all of the people who drank alcohol just smoked weed instead, there would be a huuge decline in assault/battery, driving accidents and things like that. There is a commercial where the actor is sitting on a couch talking about how he got high and nobody died, no one got hurt, etc. He says "I got high and sat on Steve's couch". I love it lol.
That being said, I don't smoke but I probably would if it were legal.

@Mrs. Jacks: Me too--I find it fascinating! I didn't start learning about it until a few years ago.

I don't really care one way or the other if it's legalized; but I am a little tired of the argument that nothing bad ever happens after smoking. Plenty of people abuse pot and smoke enough to not be functional workers or members of society; like any other drug. That doesn't mean it should or shouldn't be illegal; but it means weed isn't some totally harmless thing. Overall; I'm in favor of increasing federal and state funding for in and out patient rehab, drug counseling and education services whether or not any illegal drug is legalized.

@yoursilverlining: I guess I understand this logic but there are also people morbidly obese from consuming too much food. There is a clear difference between responsible use and irresponsible. Tis human nature.

Legalization and reform is what a capitalist nation should do! This will stimulate the economy.

Legalize it, but don't allow it to be smoked in public (I wish we could do that with cigarettes too). It's definitely better than alcohol, cigarettes, food addiction, etc. I like that it has lots of medical benefits as well.

@mrbee: Man, that would be so nice!! Now if only they could extend that to entrances to stores/malls/etc as well.

@mrbee: Ah, nice! Thank you for looking that up!

@yoursilverlining: I agree with that statement. Weed ISN'T harmless, but I also don't think it should be criminalized to the extent it is. It is certainly a drug (as are cigarettes, alcohol, etc). But I believe the money that goes into policing it would be better spent on education and rehabilitation.

I think it should have the same restrictions as alcohol, like 21+ (although I think the drinking age should be 18), driving limits, etc. Legalize it, tax it, and oversee regulation of the grow/cultivation process to make it safer. I'm not about to start up a weed smoking habit regardless of its legal status, but I know many very good and productive members of society who enjoy it in moderation, and I don't think that should be an illegal thing.

Legalize it and tax the crap out of it. I have never and will never smoke it but I'm definitely all for legalizing it. The tax revenue is my biggest reason for supporting it but I also feel like it would limit the crime that often comes with buying and selling pot and it would make the product safer for those who do chose to use it.

@Adira: @hilsy85: the only concern with a test for marijuana "influence" is that it stays in your system for *weeks* because its metabolized in your fatty tissues, or something. you can test positive (urine) for quite some time after smoking.

And there are some more dangerous drugs (cocaine, for example) that are flushed out of your system very quickly. (Which is why all of the athletes I knew in college preferred the hard stuff to smoking in-season.)

I voted "yay." Legalize it and tax it. Also, if you would have to buy from a dispensary or something, you're removing the drug dealer - and his/her attendant other wares - from the equation. There's no motivation in a legalized system to push another drug, whereas in the current system, capitalism/ supply and demand drive people to other drugs. (Ie: moving from OxyContin to heroin)

I don't think it's harmless any more than alcohol or nicotene is harmless, I don't like it, and I do know people who drive cars while high and I find that just as dangerous as driving drunk :S I don't love the idea of it being legal, but I will choose not to partake. I'm just hoping if this becomes a real thing, we can tax the ever living crap out of it and make some serious revenue

I'm ok with legalizing it for recreational use, but I believe it should be strongly controlled by the government. I live in a state where it's legal for medicinal use and a bunch of grow houses have popped up in my neighborhood because of the loose growing regulations. I hate walking around my neighborhood and smelling at least 4 grow houses (within about a 10 block radius) now venting their crops. It stinks so bad. I think the government should regulate growing, selling, and purchasing very closely, similary to how some states (like Montana, Utah, and Pennsylvania) regulate alcohol.

@dagret: but as long as it's in your system, I think that counts as "under the influence'--the same way you might not feel drunk, but could have a BAC over the legal limit. I don't know...it's complicated!