Harming our children through prohibition

Do you have or know a child aged 11-19 currently attending a public school in California? If so, then you likely know or should know that your child could easily score marijuana today. In fact, your child could probably get a better quantity at a better price than you. Does that bother you? It should. Ask your child: "How long would it take you to score some dank at school? What would be their answer? By lunch time at most?

Our teenagers have easy access to Marijuana and virtually any other illicit drug. In contrast, they will tell you they have the most difficulty in obtaining alcohol and cigarettes. Why is that? Those items are regulated and controlled and distributed by licensed legitimate business who stand to lose a great deal if they sell to children. On the other hand, ensuring a "blackmarket" marijuana scheme through prohibition ensures the only one regulated illegal marijuana distribution is the criminal element. In our cities, this criminal element enslaves our children in lives of crime and our children are used as lookouts, runners, and dealers. Prohibition and the market it creates causes this and other irreparable harm.

When cannabis prohibition ends a regulated, taxed, and controlled market will emerge. It will become MORE difficult for our children to access Marijuana because legitimate business will be in control of product distribution and children will simply no longer be allowed to purchase or sell it. Period.

BUT MORE KIDS WILL SMOKE IT!
What is stopping them from smoking it now? A lack of marijuana availability in the Motherlode or anywhere else?

Let me tell you, the drug warriors really screwed this one up. California's market is literally flooded with Marijuana and the kids can get it and is very inexpensive. The answer is can't be prohibition; that has been tried. The answer is to regulate it, tax it, and put that money back into our communities and our starving coffers.

We are already a quasi-legal Marijuana state now; statistics and logic do not support that prohibitionist hand wringing. Your children are harmed by prohibition and the war and black market it has caused. We need to move the entire market under our control. Who are those most vocally opposed to legalization? Dealers! They do not want to lose that control

BUT THERE WILL BE MORE TEENS DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE!!
Again, what is stopping them now? Lack of availability of Marijuana in the Motherlode? I don't think so. Legalizing Marijuana does not make it legal to drive while intoxicated. It does not make it legal for teens to smoke marijuana. Since a regulated market will result in a decreased black market and increased difficulty in minors obtaining marijuana – this argument is again fear mongering and holds no basis in reality.

Are we as a society ready to continue to tolerate the harm prohibition has caused our children? Are we going to continue to allow the Marijuana market to thrive tax free? Are we going to allow the criminal element to still control a large portion of the market?

Tax Cannabis in 2010 and Regulation it. Think of our children.