DEBATE: SHOULD WE LEGALIZE MARIJUANA? - PRO

The biggest hurdle for pot's legalization is its image.

Unfortunately, doctors and economists take a back seat to advocates
armed with pot leaf-shaped sunglasses and the endorsement of every
member of The Allman Brothers.

Jeff Spicoli gave the advocacy a name, a face and some tasty waves.
Seriously, how could dudes know what makes sense or not, critics
(responsibly, I add) challenge?

So don't listen to Wavy Gravy.

Listen instead to ...

Economists who have crunched the numbers...

"We do know," writes Stephen Easton of the Fraser Institute, "that
there are anywhere from 25 million to 60 million U.S. consumers ...
and at an average cost of $5 per cigarette, factoring in one per day
for each user, total spending on marijuana may add up to $45 billion
to $110 billion a year" in new tax revenue. "Government would simply
be transferring revenue from organized crime to the public purse," he
writes.

Those who know what poses the biggest health risks...

Hypocrisy runs for cover when The Center for Disease Control
identifies more deaths each year caused by legal tobacco use (about
one out of every five) than by all deaths from HIV, illegal drug use,
alcohol use, car accidents, suicides and murders combined. A 2009
British study tracked one out of every 25 deaths worldwide because of
legal alcohol consumption. Both numbers dwarf weed-related health
risks. And the gateway-drug warnings? The most addictive drug is
nicotine, and there is no evidence that tobacco use leads to cocaine
or heroin.

The People ...

Recent polls: Zogby, April 2010 (52 percent of Americans support
legalizing and taxing weed); Gallup, October 2009 (U.S. support for
legalizing weed reaches new high, pardon the pun).

Thirteen states now have laws that let residents use pot medically,
according to Fortune, and another 15 states are weighing legislation
that could turn them into medical marijuana states. By 2011, more than
half of U.S. states may legislate and regulate a form of legalized
weed.

So spare the Neanderthal lava lamp jokes, and get your head out of the
clouds.