Our prisons are over flowing with people who are non-violent offenders. Pedophiles are given slaps on the wrist for sexually abusing children and teens. Murderers and rapists walk after serving only months of their sentence.

Ive read that the prison industry is one of the largest if not the largest industry in the US. Having sat in court rooms and seen how many people are involved with system, I can belive it. It is amazing how many people were in there for simple marijuana posession or posession of paraphanelia.

Considering how many tax dollars are chewed up by the courts, police, and prisons, how many peoples lives and families are damaged and destroyed, we can see the casualties are already very high. Just because someone else doesnt like the idea of another smoking pot or using any other recreational drug in their own homes.

Though the casualties are high they are all (almost) one sided. The general populace pays for the mess this drug war has caused. The people pay for the bloated police forces raiding clinics and kicking in peoples doors at night. The people pay by having their neighborhoods rot away by criminal elements thriving on the black market. The people pay by having the courts and law corrupted and made into a mockery of justice.

What if the tides turned. What if enough marijuana users were to get angry enough and assult the officer trying to harrass them for posession of a plant. What if pot smokers were to firebomb and target judges and local politicans and business leaders with violence? What if the cycle of violence as seen in the times of alcohol prohibition were to be displayed again today?

How many police, public servants, or business would have to be killed or destroyed before everyone screams enough is enough?

When the federal government steps in and shuts down and arrests doctors at a clinic for legally distributing marijuana to patients, or when the State sends paramilitary police into your home to arrest you for altering your consciousness, what options do we have left?

My friend, you make some very great points. I am totally with you on this, but I do have say this...

If "users" decided to take matters into their own hands, and use violence, you know what would happen...the government would now use these violent acts as even more reason to crack down on users, and tighten its strangle hold on our rights. The "drug war" right now is B.S. I mean think about it, if the government really wanted to stop all drugs from entering the country, dont you think they could search EVERY car, truck, train, plane, boat that enters the U.S.? It may sound like a lot, but if they have the resources to invade, occupy and bomb multiple countries at the same time, I'm sure they could find the manpower for such searches. But without all the drug busts, court costs and fines, the legal system would be missing out on huge amounts of revenue. Its kind of like the tobacco industry...its been proven that tobacco leads to disease and illness, so from a moral standpoint, shouldn't it be banned? Shouldnt the government be looking out for the health and well being of its citizens? Not when there is huge revenue at stake. Sorry, but the government cares more about $$$ then it does its citizens.

The war on drugs has taken a toll on our nation and it didn't just begin with Ronald Reagan, but the real tragedy is the pervasiveness of drug abuse in America. It is really tearing our nation apart. There are no easy answers, but my advice is to stay the hell away from drugs and the people who do them.