| Son of Opie - there are some policy arguments in favor of legalizing marijuana - but they have nothing to do with the facts of this case. These students are in trouble over both cocaine and guns - hardly a combination that is easy to assert as harmless. Your reflexive reaction to marijuana is just that - reflexive - and is probative of nothing as to this event.
I am also often astounded at marijuana apologists. I can see in arguing for legalization one can argue in favor of its non-addictive propensities and its relative lack of harm compared to "harder" drugs - particularly if the comparison is slam dunk easy - such as comparing PCP (which I would think no one sane would recommend be legalized) to marijuana. And one can assert that the costs of enforcement outweigh the benefits. But so often apologists bleed into exalting the virtues of marijuana. No one rational should applaud the benefits of smoking anything - neither should they trivialize the gateway nature of the drug - and neither should they ignore that in a minority of the population some users become highly dependent on the drug - destroying motivation and in essence in many cases making them dependent on others for support. Burnouts are humorous in their teens and twenties - and incredibly sad as time goes on. Yes, it is the case that some of the same externalities get overlooked with tobacco and alcohol - but public health shouldn't be a race to the bottom that starts by looking in a relativistic sense at other harmful behaviors. |