Maggie Responds: An Argument For Marijuana Legalization

     So a while back, I pop onto Facebook, whoop-die-doodly-doo, and I spot this little gem from my cousin:

     Of course, being who I am, I spent an hour concocting a response, and being as proud of it as I am, I decided to post it here for y'all to peruse and enjoy:

     If an adult with full cognition chooses with an informed mind to engage in a self-destructive behavior, I don't think it's the government's place to tell them they can't, the same way it isn't the government's place to ration our meals to prevent obesity, or pick a career for us to prevent us from falling flat on our faces when we pick something too lofty. We have a right to the dignity of risk. And fewer people start smoking every year; anti-drug propaganda has already been extremely effective, though I think the most effective methods of deterring use of harmful substances is 1) Honest, straight-forward education and information (lies, propaganda, and disinformation just sows the seeds of discontent and rebellion among the young), and 2) Dismantling the taboo. As [REDACTED] mentioned above, prohibition of a substance just encourages black market dealing, and it creates an instant market among rebels without a cause; it becomes "cool," because it's anti-establishment to partake. But when you legalize something like marijuana, it's no longer "cool," it's just a normal thing that happens. 

     In the first year of marijuana legalization in Colorado, teen use dropped .8%, and has since dropped another ~2.5% (depending on what study you draw from). 
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/colorado-s-teen-marijuana-usage-dips-after-legalization/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/12/21/one-of-the-greatest-fears-about-legalizing-marijuana-has-so-far-failed-to-happen/?utm_term=.a76d27a614bc
https://www.thecannabist.co/2017/12/11/teen-marijuana-use-colorado-decline/94306/

     And now that everyone can get marijuana from legalized, regulated sources, Colorado and Washington no longer have need of shady dealers, which can get rid of so much related activity (debt-related shootings, for instance), and because the FDA sets standards for the quality of weed sold, you don't have the chance to get poisoned by poorly grown or stored batches, or having it laced with something you didn't order. Also, the guy at your local dispensary is much less likely to follow you home and try to steal your stuff than that dealer you met on the dark web.

     People trying to stay on the good side of the law also don't have to go to synthetic marijuana to get a buzz, either, which has a huge reputation for poisoning people, or eliciting bad reactions even when not tainted. 
(https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/K2-Mass-Overdoses-Brooklyn-Bedford-Stuyvesant-NYC-386499841.html
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Reported-Brawl-in-Gaslamp-District-Leaves-Two-Unconscious-352960091.html
http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-terrifying-reasons-you-shouldnt-smoke-synthetic-weed/) 

     Basically, legalization reduces general (or at least, underage) consumption, and makes it a whole hell of a lot safer for the people who do continue usage, and I think that's the best defense for legalization of things like marijuana, or even tobacco or alcohol; people will find a way to get it whether you legalize it or not, so we should try to make it as safe as possible for the people who are willing to jump through whatever hoops the government sets up for them to get to it.

     Plus, the tax revenue contributes to schools and libraries and roads and other necessary infrastructure, and legalization of recreational weed in Colorado and Washington has allowed us to do SO MUCH VITAL RESEARCH on marijuana, both to determine how much it really affects the mind (because it's not been legal, we still have so many questions we haven't really been able to answer, like what exactly the link to cognitive functioning is long term, etc), and ESPECIALLY on how it can help medically--they've been able to do amazing things with medical marijuana, mitigating the effects of epilepsy, movement disorders, chronic pain, etc., and we'd never be able to do that kind of wide-spread experimentation, particularly with subjects as young as some of them have been, without the elimination of the roadblocks associated with testing illegal substances on human beings.

     There are lots of reasons not to smoke marijuana--studies have linked it to Alzheimer's, it can trigger mental health issues in people whose genetic code is so afflicted, it impacts immediate perspicacity--but people have a right to their dignity of risk, and if they're going to use, they're going to use. We might as well allow society as a whole to benefit from it, even if you think the people who use it are stupid for doing so.