Quote:
Originally Posted by jame$thegreat
For legalization of marijuana? Legalization and taxation. The government can tax it much like ciggarettes (which are $7.00 a pack here in NY I might add) and grow it for cheaper. People could grow their own crop or purchase it at their local corner store (for those over 18 of course). Cut out the drug dealer, stigma and legal reprecussions and there you have a less dangerous alternative to alcohol and ciggarettes as well as billions in taxes.
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I agree, but I wouldn't stop with marijuana. It might be a good first step toward complete legalization of drugs (with the exception of particularly dangerous ones). The legalization side is easy. Government control of drug manufacture and distribution will be the hard part. Probably the best approach is for the USG to control manufacture and allow the states to handle distribution through state-run stores. It works pretty well for alcohol.
I would add one wrinkle and that is buyer tracking. To buy drugs you'd need to get a special photo ID card that you swipe with every purchase. I leave to your imagination the benefits of tracking.
Also, unlike alcohol, purchasers could buy only set quantities in any given period. The ID card tracks usage as well.
In addition all packages of drugs sold would have unique identifiers right in the drug so that police could find out the source of drugs found in the possession of minors.
Finally, there would be strict laws against reselling, gifting and so forth.