Patrick Kennedy....why so confused?

[RainDog]

50. Keeping MJ illegal makes other, harmful drugs more accessible

If mj were legal, regulated and sold openly, people wouldn't have to seek out someone in an underground economy just for that. But, because it is illegal, it will be found with other illegal substances.

That's the gateway - and this is the gateway: The long history of lies by our govt. about marijuana has led people to think they're just liars about other things too.

Iow, it's the govt's own propaganda that leads people to consider other drugs some times - when they realize the lies that have been repeated about marijuana.

(and, oddly - the effect of at least some anti-marijuana propaganda, according to a report when ppl were looking at funding for the Drug Czar's office - their commercials led more people than not consider trying marijuana. - you can read up on the office to find that info.)

Also - just as with alcohol, some people self-medicate. I would be inclined to view someone with a substance abuse problem as someone with a mental health issue or someone living in a society that creates unbearable stress that can and does break some ppl.

But, unlike with alcohol, people who use it to self-medicate aren't also in an environment that sells heroin or cocaine, etc.

More people are harmed by an arrest for simple possession than by use of marijuana.

Social liberals don't support keeping marijuana illegal because you are supporting ruining lives for using a substance that is safer than alcohol, which is currently legal.

Prohibition is not a liberal position. It just isn't.

It's a cudgel that the right has used to disenfranchise liberal voters and target political activists for attack. That's what you support. The equivalent of Jim Crow laws.

So, maybe you're a fiscal liberal and social conservative?