Regulating Pot

Yesterday the supreme court decided that marihuana can in effect not be used as a drug in the US, even if some states have regulations that permit the use of marihuana when prescribed by a physician.

I wonder why the government needs any regulation for pot. People that use it are adults, if they want to be potheads - let them. They are not destroying my health, they do not put our society in danger, they do not do anything that puts a strain on public life. Let them have their pot.

Legalizing (or simply not enforcing pot laws) has several advantageous side effects:

• It frees a large part of the law enforcement from handling pot cases, leaving more time for serious offenses (rape, murder etc.)
• It takes the fear from the pot user, permitting him/her a better live without criminal convictions (and eventually a better integration into a pot-free part of society)
• It reduces crime because no criminal acts have to be committed in order to get the pot or the money for the pot

Of course there has to be some enforcement (for instance in traffic law) but generally decriminalizing the average pot user has advantages for society. You think it can't done? Ask your Dutch friends what effect decriminalizing pot had on their society.

Sometimes less government and fewer regulations are better.