The central issue here is not about marijuana's level of harmfulness, but about it's legality. As is clear to most everyone (with half a brain) who really thinks about the issue, there is more than a little something of a double standard here. Among substances that have been shown to be "harmful" are such legal things as alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, saccharin, aspartame, cholesterol, air (in certain parts of the country) and water (in certain parts of the country)!
Somehow I don't think that many (read: any) of these will be made illegal anytime soon, and if I want to give myself cancer by eating 10,000,000 pounds (or whatever the number is) of saccharin, that's my prerogative, and I should have the same choice for all other such "victimless crimes", including currently prohinited drugs and prostitution.
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The central issue here is not about marijuana's level of harmfulness, but about it's legality. As is clear to most everyone (with half a brain) who really thinks about the issue, there is more than a little something of a double standard here. Among substances that have been shown to be "harmful" are such legal things as alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, saccharin, aspartame, cholesterol, air (in certain parts of the country) and water (in certain parts of the country)!
Somehow I don't think that many (read: any) of these will be made illegal anytime soon, and if I want to give myself cancer by eating 10,000,000 pounds (or whatever the number is) of saccharin, that's my prerogative, and I should have the same choice for all other such "victimless crimes", including currently prohinited drugs and prostitution.
Heh, always assuming that the site wasn't so lame that it actually got a lot of visitors. :)