[quote=4plexowner]in the Netherlands they are having to close prisons because they don’t have enough people to incarcerate – coincidentally, pot is legal there as are most recreational drugs

here in the States we have made a growth industry out of incarcerating people so we need to have lots of things that are illegal

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another reason pot is illegal is because it falls into the hemp family – hemp is a very useful plant and it grows easily with little water
– hemp oil can be used as an energy source (competition with petroleum industry)
– hemp oil can be used to make plastic products (competition with petroleum industry)
– hemp fibers can be used to make long lasting clothing – I mean loooong lasting – like hand this hemp shirt down to your children (competition with textiles industry)

the hemp plant represents competition to some very powerful industries in this country so legalizing it (or pot) will be an uphill battle[/quote]

4plex: Help me out here. Am I thinking of DuPont when I reference one of the major companies that was involved in a war on pot? I think so. They employed heavy lobbying and legal efforts during the 1930s (I think) to criminalize pot, and largely because of the threat that hemp posed to them.

It’s interesting, but the anti-pot folks cannot come up with a single study, medical or otherwise, that supports the notion that pot is addictive, dangerous or a “gateway” drug. Law enforcement tried to sell that line for years, but without any real support.