Quote Originally Posted by senorx12562
As long as I'm as free to grow my own as I am to brew my own beer, I agree wholeheartedly with you. I do not mean to imply that we are on opposite sides of anything, because we are not, but for business reasons the legitimization inherent in the tax and regulate model works to your benefit, while it just pisses me off. The idea that there is ANY legitimate reason for the government to be involved in any way is laughable. Aside from my inherent distrust of, and dislike for, government, its as if I was told that government involvement was necessary to protect me from the dangers of homegrown tomatoes, so now I have to get a license to eat tomatoes, and can only buy tomatoes at a state-licensed tomato dispensary, which will have to pay thousands of dollars in licensing fees, along with many other intrusive and unjustified regulations. I do not believe that cannabis is any more deserving of government oversight than tomatoes, and I resent its involvement. At least criminal prosecution was consistent, if utterly misguided.

You're free to grown tomatoes at home for your own use without government involvement. And you're free to grow your mmj at home without government involvement. The amount of patients who are growing at home for themselves and who have been hassled is essentially, if not literally, zero. The people getting in trouble are the people operating the professional grows, the MMCs, etc. All of which exist in an idiotic limboland between state and federal law.

But seriously, the tomatoes you buy at the store? Those are regulated, there are all kinds of laws about sanitation, grow conditions, transportation, etc., etc., etc. And they almost certainly increase the cost of the product in the end. But the number of people who die from tainted food in this country is extremely low. So it's kind of a trade off.