Should we legalize marijuana? (The answer is duh)

I'll admit. I lean Libertarian, so when faced with the question of whether or not something should be legal I think the burden of proof lies solely with the those who want to limit my liberty. That is, you better have a good case for why you don't think I should be allowed to do something before I'm going to sign on to any new legislation, big or small. My impulse with drugs is to decriminalize them all and let God (or Darwin) sort it out.

I've had plenty of people try to convince me that I'm wrong, including a few recovering meth heads. Drugs, they say, can totally ruin your life and there's nothing to be gained by legalizing them. Apparently, it's wasted on them that the reason they have this experience to speak from is that the law didn't stop them from trying it or make it all that difficult for them to obtain an ongoing supply. I know plenty of people who have knowingly and intentionally consumed illegal drugs. The law did nothing to stop them.

In fact, when I tell people that I have never taken illegal drugs and don't want to, I get the, "yeah, right," look from a lot of people. It's almost assumed in this culture that just about everyone uses some illicit intoxicants at least during some period of their youth. File this under, "kids do stupid shit." And file my opinion under, "not another self-serving pothead." I don't have a personal stake in this, at least not from a, "make it legal so I don't have to hide my stash," perspective.

So, why do I care if they decriminalize marijuana? Besides my Libertarian leanings, the answer is simple economics. It's costing us a fortune to wage a war on drugs and drugs show no sign of weakness. It's pretty fair to say they're actually winning. No - let's be honest. Drugs are kicking our ass. It's time to surrender.

I'm not saying that no one was ever turned off of drug abuse by drug laws. I'm saying that for every person who was, twenty stupid kids ended up in jail for some minor pot offense, five gangs were empowered, ten addicts didn't seek treatment because they were afraid they'd lose their jobs and their freedom, three hundred showed up at the funeral of a little girl who was killed by a drive by shooting that hit the wrong address, one terrorist cell was funded by international drug trafficking, thirty cops had to work overtime, two prison guards got jobs, three otherwise fit parents lost their kids because they light up on the odd weekend and I had to pay more in taxes.

To paraphrase Aladdin, "Phenomenal cosmic bill, iddy biddy benefit". 

I'm not a Machiavellian. I believe that there are some means that no end could ever justify (if killing all the six year olds could create world peace, I just couldn't get behind it). But I do believe that the end must justify whatever means we employ. In the case of drug laws, they just don't. They create street gangs. They remove husbands and fathers from homes where they are needed. They make it harder for people to get treatment for addiction. They cost a fortune. And yet meth is still easier to buy than Sudafed. Which pisses me off. Because I really like to breathe freely.

I'm not saying "DO DRUGS". I'm saying stop arresting people for doing drugs. Stop putting people in jail for doing drugs. Stop incentivizing organized crime. Put the ugliest, most honest warning labels ever invented on drug packaging. I like, "only a complete idiot would put this in their body." and "don't come whining to me if this kills you". And still hold adults accountable for NOT providing it to minors. See kids do stupid shit. Just get out of the war on drugs. It's over. Drugs won.