Notice I said decriminalized, not legalized. If you don't think cannabis should be legalized, you probably have your reasons, and some of them are probably reasonable. But there is no reason anyone should want their fellow human beings to be labelled as criminals, as a result of making a personal decision, to use a generally harmless substance, whether it be for recreation, or medicine.
With everything we know about cannabis these days, there is no reason why our society should be so openly tolerant of potentially lethal, and heavily intoxicating substances such as tobacco and alcohol, yet be so firm in resistance to an herb with a body count of a whopping 0, since the beginning of recorded history.
The main reason YOU want cannabis to be decriminalized (believe me, YOU do), is because if you ask yourself, "Do I feel any safer knowing that a pot smoker is locked up in jail?", you'd say of course not... if you're honest with yourself. And if you put aside the negative social stigma about people who smoke cannabis that has most likely penetrated your mind by now (it must have, if you're a proponent of criminalization).
There are thousands of people in prison right now, for nothing more that simple possession crimes - possession of cannabis for personal use, to be exact. In every reported study, almost all of these people have no prior criminal record. It was their fondness for a particular plant, or more accurately, their fellow countrymen and women's misinformed hatred for a particular plant, that got them locked up. Is that fair? And how can anybody sleep better at night knowing that real criminals such as burglars, murderers, child abusers, etc. are not filling those spots in prison, where the laid-back, peaceful neighborhood stoner is currently residing?
So, who would you rather have roaming the streets at night? If you're honest with yourself... if you have a family... and if you care about the preservation of our society and it's morals... YOU KNOW you would say you'd rather have the stoner, walking down the street at midnight to get a bag of chips at the local market, rather than some scumbag hiding in the bushes, waiting to jump out at you, place a knife on your throat, and take your wallet. You know you'd feel much safer, if when you walked down the street, you bumped into a stoner who was too absorbed in his cell phone to see you coming, than to look up and see the eyes of a deranged lunatic, who feels like spilling some blood that night. And I'm pretty sure if you have a family, and you have children who walk to school, you'd much rather have them walk past a stoner sitting on a bench, puffing a joint while listening to trippy music on his headphones, than some creepy jalopy-driving predator, looking to snatch up another innocent young victim to take back to his house, torture, rape, and possibly execute them.
Anyone who cares at least the slightest bit about truly making our country a better, safer, happier place to live, would greatly desire for all laws prohibiting the use and possession of cannabis to be removed from the books. Not only because they're obviously ridiculous, but also because they serve no greater purpose. But mainly so we can allow these peaceful people to enjoy a life outside a cell that they never deserved in the first place, and also to use those same cells to put away the people who ACTUALLY cause problems in our society, making life rougher for the rest of us. YOU KNOW it's the right thing to do.
Decriminalization simply means that it would still be against the law, but rather than arrest, trial, and imprisonment, you'd be given a ticket for possession, pay a fine, and have that be the end of it. Just like driving faster than the speed limit. It's against the law to speed, but you don't see people going to jail for being clocked at 60 in a 45 zone. Because it would be ridiculous to do such a thing. I see imprisonment for cannabis the same way. It's ridiculous. So what do you think about that?
There are so many other reasons why the prohibition of cannabis should be repealed, but this is just one of them. I just want to focus on neighborhood safety at this time. :)
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