Legalizing Marijuana

Someone I follow on Facebook wrote a piece against legalizing marijuana. I wrote this in reply;

America is suffering from a combination of a spiritual sickness mingled with liberty and freedom. The total depravity of man being play out in the absolute depravity of his actions. There is no set of laws, no system of government, that can thwart this moral and ethical decay. Americans are in such a state of sickness, they cannot get past a day without their alcohol or their drugs.

The joy of life has left many. Some can't find comfort without a drug. Some just make it a part of their winding down. Since I do not drink, or do drugs, or smoke anything, I do not understand why it is such an epidemic. I only know that the need for some mind altering substance is very real for many, and some folk just do it because they like it.
Our prisons are full of people who are there just because someone decided to declare war against Americans who want to use their drug of choice. We spend $600 Million a year on a war against Americans. We spend thousands of lives, police and private citizens, just to keep people from using their drug of choice. Just because Americans are in such a state of spiritual and emotional sickness that they can't make it without.

Per 1,000 people, 100 X more people are in prison in America than any other country. (not an actual number, just making a point) So, what is the real answer? We need leaders who lead and we need an education system that educates. We don't need more laws, and we could use to have a few thousand less laws. Some things need to be left to individuals to decide for themselves.

Then, we need to start treating driving under the influence as attempted manslaughter and put people away for doing it. We need to increase penalties for crimes committed while under the influence. We need clean, controlled places where we can identify and help drug addicts, instead of forcing them to do their drugs in the shadows and abandoned building shooting galleries.

I have watched America tear itself apart to fight a war against Americans. In the process, we have created a system that rewards drug dealers and has caused the cartels and wars in South America. Which has caused many to flee South and Central America for a hope of peace in America. This has been the reason for illegal immigration becoming more of an issue. We are reaping the results of our policies.

Is legalizing drug use the answer? I don't know. The real answer is to not have made laws against it in the first place. The damage is done and we would be better off spending that money on educating people about drugs. We would be better off using the police for crimes that are one person against another, and not to protect people from themselves.