it would create taxable jobs, rather than money going to drug dealers tax free

More than the number of already taxable jobs in the tobacco industry that would either be lost or simply converted over to joint production?

It's not like people burn through weed like they do cigarettes. A single plant would last them months. Do you charge them hundreds of dollars for that plant like growers do? No, because anyone with a backyard could cultivate the things.

Look I hate the drug war as much as anyone, but arguing that one of the benefits of legalization is that it's going to create BOOMING JOBS is pretty tenuous.

BOOMING JOBS, no, but perhaps enough to swing some representatives, especially in areas hit hard by tobacco restrictions. Tobacco companies have had contingency plans to start with weed since the early 70s when it first looked likely to be legalized.

Making it legal would take away America's strongest work force, people incarcerated for non violent crimes.

quit your bitchin, fixed

I'm in favor of harsher prison sentences because of that dillweed in the yellow tie now.

Are you serious? Do you really think stoners would go to the trouble of growing plants and shit if they could go to the liquor store and buy a pack of joints, joints of good, regulated, professionally grown pot, for or whatever? You've never hung around stoners much, have you?

Yeah I gotta go with HURF here. People COULD grow their own plants, but that takes work. I guarantee that an industry would grow out of recreation weed legalization. Plus professionals will be able to create better blends than stoners trying it in their backyard by throwing seeds into the air.

What would really suck away jobs from other industries though would be hemp. As Rodents says below, industrial hemp has about a million uses from textile to fuel to food to building material to paper to plastics to paints and even leaves soil better than before it was planted, plus it can be grown in every state.

It seems to be a miracle plant but we'll never know because it's potential was crushed in the 30's right before it was about to take off.

This is the main reason that pot is illegal after various industries (mostly Hearst, Dupont and Mellon) decided that hemp would destroy their empires.

Just google it and I guarantee you won't not be pissed.