When someone tries to explain why pot shouldn’t be legalized I think to myself, “Grow up.” If you try to defend the societal and economic cost of marijuana criminalization has had on our society, you are out of touch with the realities of our criminal justice system. The felonies placed on young people for nonviolent offenses does more damage to our society than someone smoking a plant. This is especially true in the African-American community.

Mitch Daniels was busted with a shoebox or two of pot, and he turned out to be a productive member of society. Would that be possible with today’s laws for nonviolent offenses?

Arguments against legalization or decriminalization aren’t based on scientific or reasoned arguments. It’s based on stereotypes and propagandized traditions.

I could care less about availability. I am not interested in drugs. I AM interested in not locking up a nonviolent offender to the tune of $50K per year to teach them how to be a violent offender because of their new surroundings. Then when they get out, the parole system and societal attitudes are rigged against a person that has served their time. So the less people we lock up for silly offenses, the more room we have for thieves, rapists, murderers, fraudsters, and Illinois Governors.

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