I'd far rather be paying taxes on a spliff, like I do on a glass of wine, than risk prison for wanting to light up once or twice a year (about how often I smoke a fine cigar with my father-in-law).
It's a myth that legalizing drugs would automatically lead to an explosion in their usage. We probably would see a moderate spike in usage for a while, until the novelty wore off, and then it would decline.
Think about it. Nicotine is completely legal, yet the number of smokers has been declining for years. Caffeine is completely legal, yet I use it maybe a couple of times a week (I'm partial to chocolate and tea). Alcohol is entirely legal, yet millions don't drink at all, and even I might have a glass or two of wine maybe three or four times a month. Maybe.
I actually heard someone say on the radio a few months ago, "If we legalized drugs, we'd have bus drivers using cocaine on the job." Preposterous. Legalizing drugs wouldn't make intoxication on duty permissible for
any job. Just as it's illegal to operate machinery under the influence of alcohol, it would be illegal to do so under the influence of any other intoxicating drug. Institutions like the military or police force would still perform routine drug tests and punish offenders -- it's not safe to give a guy a gun when he's high. Transportation companies would still fire operators for using while on the road. Restaurants would still terminate cooks who were altered, if only for liability reasons.
It wouldn't make as big a difference as so many seem to think.