Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin M
The reason pot isn't legal and isn't going to be int he near future is that too many voters are still not interested in changing anything that isn't preventing them from doing something they want to do. That, and the quasi-morality/religious blocs that think anything they won't do is evil and should be disallowed. So despite the fact that a fair percentage of politicians would not mind legalizing marijuana (taxation would be a separate issue) they can't make any waves over it for a few more decades while society catches up to logic.
This issue is why we still have social-political problems at all. If politicians were able to free themselves from the burden of constantly trying to get re-elected, they'd be much more effective as policy makers. Maybe Congress should serve 10 year terms with a 2 term limit. We should get at least 3-5 years of campaign-free work out of them that way I think...
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I think that's wrong. Pot will be legal in the next 5 years, probably not nation-wide, but as soon as the Federal Gov't drops it as a schedule 1 drug, some states will immediately legalize it. And it will be legal because it'll be a tax revenue generator. And that tax income for their states will give them the money to pay for programs while lowering other taxes, which is a great way to get reelected.
The writing is already on the wall for this, with bills in the House popping up and actually making it to committee for discussion:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/30/frank.marijuana/