Pot laws were originally put in place at a time when only black people smoked. The laws were basically a part of Jim Crow, a way to keep blacks in their place.
By the time of the Vietnam War, drugs were a part of the lifestyle of many of the left wing Vietnam protesters. The government couldn't make opposition to the war illegal, but by going after drug use it was able to shut up a lot of people, either by directly busting them, or scaring them into silence.
Later on, Ronald Reagan successfully used the theme of "just say no to drugs" to effectively deprive many, many people of their right to vote (by putting them in prison), and of course many, many others were scared into not participating in the political process, and of course almost all of these were Democrats and progressives.
It was a very skillful way to stage a coup d'etat, a right wing takeover of the country, and of course once they got into power, they passed more and more draconian measures, such as the California 3 strikes law.
Just think of the difference all these votes would have made in elections, both national and local. No Reagan, no Bush I, no Bush II, no Democratic party going so far over to the Right that they are basically the left wing of the Republican party.
To my mind, this was the modern day equivalent of Hitler's Big Lie, in which all evils were blamed on the jews.
America has more people per capita than any other Western industrialized nation, most of them for drug "offenses". Black people especially find themselves in prison in almost unbelievable numbers, 1 in 3 black men in their 20s, i believe is the figure.
My own opinion is that in most cases drug use is, at best, a waste of time. In no way do i want to see serious drugs too freely available. LEGALIZE and CONTROL. Control by treating drugs the same way we control the right to drive a motor vehicle, by having to study the effects, go to a training for hard drugs where one will have to listen to ex junkies tell their stories, but finally, if you want to do it, it's your right.
This will also serve to destroy the drug cartels, which were created by anti-drug laws, the same way the Mafia was created by prohibition, because production and distribution will be done by Pfizer and other "legitimate" companies, thus cutting off funding from the gangs.
Dr. Andrew Weil's first book, The Natural Mind, is the most sensible thing i've ever seen on the subject of drugs. Take the time to follow the link, maybe do a google search of your own.
http://www.psychedelic-library.org/weil1.htm
WHAT RIGHT DO THESE RIGHT WINGERS HAVE TO TELL PEOPLE HOW TO LIVE?
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