from Alan:

Is pot still illegal in California?

Sometimes I think it should be legalized. CA jails and prisons are filling up with people who aren't really "criminals", wasting the collective tax payer's money with court costs, etc. It would lower the cost to buy and sell, hurt competition, etc..

However.. what I don't want is a bunch of morons driving or working under the influence. Legalizing pot is like legalizing (or at least encouraging) stupidity. I realize there are some intelligent people out there (who even read this) who smoke pot. And I'm not trying to say they're stupid for using it. I think the people I know (who read my blog) are intelligent enough to realize when it is and is not appropriate to use any controlled substance. But not every pot smoker (hell, probably most of the people I went to college with) is going to be responsible. That's a scary thing.

Besides which, pot doesn't affect every user the same way. I've never smoked it, but I've ingested it (brownies, a half cookie- seperate occasions), and holy crap! I'd rather be drunk. There is no way I could drive. There's no way I could count the fingers on my hands. Get a new user smoking a legalized joint, and who knows what the hell could happen.

But that's just me. My opinion on the subject. When I was 21, I actually signed a petition to "legalize it". I don't think I would now because of what I said above. I think if someone's going to smoke out, it's probably best to do it in the privacy of their own house where it affects nobody but themselves. I doubt it would ever become legalized anyway.. too many conservatives out there.