Before we legalize pot, if we were opposed to it, we should definitely write an article with a plethora of construed facts that have nothing to do with marijuana at all.
I would not equate the legalization of the least toxic psychoactive substance known to man with providing unstable countries with the means to destroy the free world. In addition, letting everyone carry guns also has nothing to do with the issue.
Anyone in the U.S. that wants to carry a gun legally can get a permit to do so. All of the criminals will carry their guns regardless of the laws in order to carjack, rob, murder and rape the law-abiding citizens. This is why the good citizens have the right to bear arms and obtain a concealed weapons permit.
Back to the real issue here, marijuana.
If we legalized pot, people's interest in smoking the substance would probably decline. Only a minor percentage of high school students in Amsterdam, where weed is essentially legal, have reported trying it as opposed to the 20 percent or more of American high students.
I'm not saying everyone should smoke pot. The fact is, some people, like Gary Colon's father, cannot handle smoking pot in addition to their other responsibilities. Then again, some people can't handle drinking alcohol, but that's perfectly legal. As for marijuana leading to other drugs for his father, maybe he should blame alcohol.
He, like the majority of Americans, probably had his first intoxicated experience with alcohol, not weed. Marijuana being legal would not increase its use, cause harm or make it easier to obtain for adolescents. Ask any kid under 21 what's easier to get, weed or liquor, and they'll say weed.
Drug dealers don't check IDs.
Perhaps Colon should talk to those who have depression, cancer, AIDS and other debilitating diseases who use it for medicine, or those who prefer its relaxing feelings over drunken nights of fighting, vomiting, sex with strangers, memory loss and, of course, epic hangovers.
