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However, alcohol which the majority of drinkers consume in a moderate amount or at least an amount which their bodies can tolerate and drink for the taste of the alcoholic beverage and for social reasons,
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Agree to disagree. Statistically around half of traffic fatalities and up involve alcohol. I have done some bartending in a fairly upscale bar on the eastern shore. Not too many folks coming in and just having one for the taste. Most bar patrons drink enough to feel it. And it shows.
BY state law in that venue we had to be trained and licensed to serve alcohol. We were required not to serve once people had ingested enough to be legally intoxicated by a mathematical formula. People are at increased risk behind the wheel to themselves and others long before they are legally drunk.
MY main problem with marijuana being illegal is the crime it's legal status engenders. Also resources spent on pot fighting that could be used elsewhere.
You have to remember, I was present at a raid involving over forty officers to take down four potheads who all held regular jobs and other than pot did nothing illegal. There were murder suspects at large when all those officers were getting Navy Seal'd and Ninja'd up. They could have sent three guys with a warrant and accomplished the same thing.
Somebody started to point an MP5 at me and I was the licensed on duty SO, in Uniform for crying out loud. I was nowhere near the apartment they had the warrant for. When I see exuberance like this legalizing marijuna seems a better alternative.
The tax income could be astounding and put to good use. Organized crime and gangs don't sell marijuana for altruistic reasons. They recognize the huge amount of cash involved. I would like to see this cash move way from the underground economy.