"SHOULD MARIJUANA BE LEGALIZED?"

The Breakdown Pro / Con Is a Feature in Which We Explore Both Sides
of Timely Topics. This Week, We Ask, "Should Marijuana Be Legalized?"

Pro: U.S. Can Make, Save Money by Legalizing, Taxing Marijuana

Marijuana should be legalized in the United States, some say.

The harmless plant is not addictive, its illegal distribution sparks
a bloody, failed drug war, and taxing it would stimulate the economy,
a former law enforcement officer said.

Terry Nelson is a 60-year-old former law enforcement officer. He
worked for the U.S. Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security.

Today he's a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group
of retired police, prosecutors and judges who think all narcotics
should be legalized and regulated.

"Scientifically, it's proven marijuana is not addictive," Nelson
said. "Yet, addictive drugs like nicotine and alcohol are sold legally."

Nelson spoke from his cell phone outside of El Paso. Across the river
there, a bloody Juarez battle between warring drug cartels killed
thousands of gang members and innocents last year.

"Until you remove the criminal element, you can't get control of the
violence," he said. "We've got to stop the crime and violence
associated with it. It's killing people all over the world."

By legalizing and regulating marijuana, drug cartels and violence
would wither. You don't see Coors and Anheuser Busch fighting with
machine guns in the streets of Golden, Colo., he said

Tim Felger is a former U.S. military member who moved to Canada. He's
organizing the 2009 Worldwide Marijuana March, a civic movement
Saturday aimed at legalizing marijuana.

"When you take drugs off the market, you get an increase in crime and
violence," Felger said.

By giving Americans free choice, the U.S. government could also use
the billions of dollars, spent each year in fighting drug use and
jailing offenders, for better purposes.

"By legalizing and taxing marijuana you could bring in an estimated
$6 billion to $7 billion a year," Nelson said. "That doesn't include
the savings you would have from the cost of jailing offenders and not
having to fight the drug war."

More than 800,000 people a year are arrested and imprisoned for
smoking a plant that's never killed the user, he added.

"When we don't control and regulate a commodity people want, some
other group will fill that void," Nelson said. "We know these drugs
are going to be used. Let's regulate it. We're not going to arrest
our way out of the drug war."

Con: Legalizing Marijuana Won't Improve Society

Marijuana should remain illegal in the United States, some say.

Marijuana is a gateway drug, leads to delinquency and would become a
great problem for young people, those who oppose its legalization maintain.

Do you want your children getting their hands on a drug the way they
can beer or cigarettes?

Victoria County Sheriff T. Michael O'Connor said making marijuana
legal won't make society better.

Many of the narcotics users his department arrests say they graduate
from marijuana to more lethal drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamines.

"Sometimes the grass isn't greater on the other side," O'Connor said.

In California, where marijuana is legal for medical purposes in some
cities, crime rates are still worrisome.

"There is an increased aggressiveness among criminals," O'Connor
said. "They rob these stores for the product. Or, they rob people
for the legal drug profits. Criminals will just wait for pot to
become legal, and they'll just continue to rob."

Life on roadways would suffer, too. Law enforcement at all levels
fight daily the problem of drivers who abuse alcohol. Drivers who
abuse marijuana would worsen the problem.

"To put themselves in an impaired way, then we'll have increased
risks to travel," O'Connor said.

Victoria Police Chief Bruce Ure said he's unsure, without having
viewed ample scientific data, what the full effects on society would be.

"The issue that concerns me most," Ure said, "is what's next? If
society legalizes this particular drug, then what drug is next and
where do we stop."

Legalizing marijuana won't undermine violent drug cartels, as
legalization proponents suggest.

"Organized crime will find something else," O'Connor said. "They'll
continue until we change people's minds about using narcotics. It's a
defeatist attitude to say, 'Let's make it legal.' I'm trying to look
at it practically, look at the bigger picture of things. What kind of
laws will we write up on this? Can we enforce it?"

To legalize marijuana simply for taxation is not enough reason,
District Attorney Steve Tyler said.

"Nicotine doesn't impair judgment like marijuana does," Tyler said.
"It's a concern for young people. Personally speaking, not speaking
as a district attorney, I side toward it being illegal. I believe it
poses a health risk and poses the greatest risk to young people."