First, while growing outdoor pot is not especially ecologically benign, it’s far more benign than raising commodities like cattle, rice or alfalfa. Consider: Agriculture uses 80 percent of California’s developed water supply; alfalfa soaks up a full 20 percent of that. The alfalfa is used primarily to create forage for feedlot and dairy. That means that 1 gallon out of every 5 used in California goes to a crop that humans can’t eat.
People don’t make a meal of marijuana either, of course. But measured by water, marijuana barely registers on the California’s water scale. A pound of pot requires, at the outermost limit, 250 gallons to grow, which means that a large serving of it requires about a half pint of water. By contrast, an orange takes 13 gallons water, a glass of wine 32 gallons, and a hamburger 600 gallons.
http://www.miller-mccune.com/business-economics/marijuana-dark-horse-savior-of-california-agriculture-11863/
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Harperdog.
Also, federal law doesn't trump state law thanks to the good ol constitution of America which allows a state to ignore federal law if they so choose.
It's grown and regulated by the Government.
Alot can be learned from Hollands approach to drugs.
In Holland, if you have a cocaine addiction, you go to the doctor, and get some Cocaine... it's MUCH more sensible than having it unregulated and being sold by people on the streets... At least if it's being administered by a doctor, the user KNOWS what he's getting, also the doctor can slowly ween him off it and offer him help... How can anybody think our system is better at dealing with the issue of drug use? People in America are buying drugs from people they don't know, that are cut with God knows what from people who are actively ENCOURAGING their drug habbit.
IMHO The government should grow some balls and REALLY confront this problem... They waste time targeting the end user and very rarely take down the people making and supplying the drugs
"No, sir, you're in the wrong line. This is line is for S&M only. You'll have to fill out this form and wait over there."
Sorry, way off-topic.
If prostitution were legalized, how would it be regulsted? Would every john go to a "Prostitution Store", and would every hooker suddenly become civil servants? No, there would still be women and men who wouldn't register their sex trade business with the government, and who wouldn't abide by the regulations. There would still be crime associated with the business.
If pot were legalized, the government would still have to enforce traffic laws just like with DUIs. There would still be people selling it illegally, along with other illegal drugs, because nobody wants to pay the same price as in the Pot Store. There would be a minimum smoking age. There would still be crime and laws associated with it, and people will still break the laws.