National Review: Colorado’s Marijuana Law Is Sensible

This article probably has blown the minds of a few liberals. Here’s NRO’s Editorial Board

Launching 17 million “Rocky Mountain High” jokes, Colorado has become the first state to make the prudent choice of legalizing the consumption and sale of marijuana, thus dispensing with the charade of medical restrictions and recognizing the fact that, while some people smoke marijuana to counter the effects of chemotherapy, most people smoke marijuana to get high — and that is not the worst thing in the world.

Regardless of whether one accepts the individual-liberty case for legalizing marijuana, the consequentialist case is convincing. That is because the history of marijuana prohibition is a catalogue of unprofitable tradeoffs: billions in enforcement costs, and hundreds of thousands of arrests each year, in a fruitless attempt to control a mostly benign drug the use of which remains widespread despite our energetic attempts at prohibition. We make a lot of criminals while preventing very little crime, and do a great deal of harm in the course of trying to prevent an activity that presents little if any harm in and of itself. (snip)

Perhaps most important, the legalization of marijuana in Colorado — and the push for its legalization elsewhere — is a sign that Americans still recognize some limitations on the reach of the state and its stable of nannies-in-arms.

While NRO does discuss the fact that pot is, yes, a drug, and can be abused, they seem to be taking the position that 1) government wastes too much money on resources and enforcement of what is a minor drug, as well as judicial proceedings and incarceration, and 2) if a State wants to do this, hey, that’s what the Constitution is for, particularly the 10th Amendment.

While there can certainly be some negative affects from Colorado’s pot law, most particularly making it easier for people in the surrounding states to obtain pot in a “black market”, I’ve argued before that if people want to get stoned, or even buzzed, go for it. I won’t get deep into that argument, as I’ve done it before. Just don’t blow it in my face. I don’t smoke pot. I used to, long ago, but I stopped enjoying it.

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