Quote Originally Posted by overgrowthegovt
Decriminilization is a lousy idea because it in no way solves the problem of organized crime that has become inextricably linked with the sale of weed. Full legalization is all that makes any sense.

To attach ANY punishment to weed is an injustice, I think. It shouldn't be treated like alcohol or tobacco because that would place it in the same category as dangerous and deadly poisons that it is somehow socially acceptable to consume. Rather, the legal age for cannabis should be lower (16, I think), and if you sell to someone who's under that age, you should get a moderate to low fine, with multiple offences resulting in a possible loss of licence. Any talk of a jail sentence is just ridiculous.

But if it was up to me, this would be important: corporatism would have to be kept out of weed. If it were up to me, laws would be enacted so if you have any sort of weed business, you can only employ a maximum of 10 people. Keep it a strictly Mom and Pop type thing, you know? As it stands, every toke we take is a fat gob of spit in the face of the DEA, the government, and the world of Big Business that would rather have us on cigarettes and pharmaceuticals. If pot were corporatized, we'd just be deepthroating the established order like any other consumers, so I'd want to see it restricted to small business.

If the corporations get their hands on weed, its purity will be lost!
Underage use is not appropriate - the recreational use of an intoxicating substance requires sufficient maturity to keep balance and moderation. Most 16 year olds do not have this level of maturity - 18 or 21, preferably 21.

I have no problem with underage medicinal use - with a doctor's prescription. It would be entirely irrational to allow 16 year olds to purchase for recreational use, however.

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As for keeping the corporations out: there is nothing special about Marijuana that makes it uniquely worth protecting from corporate interests. A solid case could be made for providing an advantage to smaller businesses in general to help counteract the general trend of wealth concentration and consolidation - this could be achieved through a wide variety of means: For instance distance from origin taxes on physical goods such that a local sales tax is exempted on goods produced within the same county, a low in-state tax rate is payed on goods from outside of the county but within the same state, and a higher out-of-state tax is payed on goods produced in another state, and finally an imported goods tax is payed on anything produced overseas. This is a pretty crude example, but it is a means of helping keep markets from concentrating to a handful of large companies whose efficiency of scale prevent competition from upstarts and who tend to push smaller established firms out of the market.

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