Now, when someone lights up inside a domicile smoking cannibis usually is not punished by law. If smoking were viewed in public, those persons would be taken into custody for violating a law. The public knows that possessing marijuana in many circumstances is an illegal act so if someone wants to use marijuana for personal use, that person knows that it is illegal and all consequences of that person's use of the drug rest upon the user not anyone else.

Legalization of marijuana is a huge step to take with the public's health, safety and welfare. Our youth today have enough struggles already. Addiction to new users is a reality for which we are not yet prepared. How many traffic violations would incur as a result from use? Injuries from the operation of machinery? How can health care absorb the legalization of smoking pot?

Maybe establishing an minimum age like with alcohol consumption and printing warning labels about smoking could curb some of the problems. I do think that the drug cartels below our borders would be affected if we had our own weed and there would be more revenue from sales to tax to help our economy and better yet…there would be soooo many happy pot smokers out there who could finally get some pure bud at a decent price! I would really like to talk about this more before we decide to legalize it. Our public welfare could possibly be at stake if we don't do this right.

Super! That's more money for the state by legalizing the ganja. Heaven knows that gay marriage tourism helped the state for those few months it was legal, and heaven knows we could use it.

Maybe the stoners can support the Dems to get it passed. Then once it's passed the stoners can support the GOP to do away with the taxes.

Addiction to what, taxes?

I believe Alaska allows for the personal cultivation of pot, just not the sale. Anyway, legalizing it nationally even makes sense to help break the import drug trade as pot finances small time dealers so they can move up to the big time cash outlays required for cocaine trafficking. If you want to break the Columbian cartels, start by removing the foundation of drug capitalization.

It is a large move, possibly larger than warranted, toward reform of the worst of the Drug War, but no panacea.

It will lead to some increase in drug abuse.

It will _not_ be a fiscal savior for over-spending, lib-idiotic-policy-based Sacramento. (If anything, it will lead Sacramento to _expect_ vastly greater revenue than legalized and taxed marijuana would ever give the state, as an excuse for Sacramento to buy more votes and please more interest groups more, and lead the state toward bankruptcy once more.)

Other states have the right to be tough, and if drug transport became a problem, would have the right (which the facts as well as the law obviously would support) to erect border controls and aircraft passenger searches, and to expose people to different, possibly much harsher laws, even as strict as in Malaysia and Singapore if that's what those states want — that is legitimate under constitutional federalism.

(Example – Placard handed to air travelers and sign as the California boundary is approached: “WARNING DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING UNDER ARIZONA LAW”)

It can be managed like any other over the counter drug in America

Legalize weed so the DEA can focus on “one and done” drugs like meth and crack.