[420 Girl]

I recently read an article regarding the possible legalization of marijuana in Ohio. The article was interesting, but I was more interested in the numbers involved in the local "war on drugs."

I have done some research and found that marijuana is not the cause of a single death per year and that the criminalization of this drug has ruined the lives of literally thousands of "good people."

By "good people" I mean my neighbor and yours, our friend that hosts the yearly Superbowl party and family members. Look around you and ask yourself if the neighbor you trust to watch your back while you are away is a criminal simply because they want to smoke a marijuana cigarette instead of drinking a few "Jack and Cokes." Is your daughter a criminal because she smoked grass at a party?

Should their lives be ruined because they took part in smoking a drug that is less harmful than a cigarette or alcohol?

Back to the local cost on the "war on drugs"; I have a friend that is a part of the military team that flies that Blackhawk helicopter around to find marijuana plants in the local area. This is what I am concentrating on with regards to costs. Just a note, this is a fraction of the total cost as it represents a small limb of the entire body of anti-drug warriors.

1. One Blackhawk Helicopter ($14 million without upgrades) over five years is $280,000/year at a monthly cost of $23,333.

2. Flight costs takes fuel and maintenance on a "per flight hour" basis at $2,199.00 multiplied by 3 equals $6,597, monthly cost is $197,910.

3. Flight crew (pilot and co-pilot) average salary is $60,000 each, monthly cost is $10,000.

4. Agents on board make an average of $50,000 multiplied by 2, monthly cost is $8,333.33.

5. Total cost (not including any equipment, upgrades, extra fuel, ground forces, insurance, disability etc., $239,576.33/month or $2,874,915.96/year.

Remember, this is only in one county.

Why the overkill for something less harmful than the beer, or wine you drink with your dinner?

It is this authors opinion that not only could this money be better spent, but it is disgraceful that anyone who lives a hardworking life, does not hurt others and even attends church should be made out as criminals because of a choice that does not negatively affect society.

Think about this, marijuana is legal and we save $239,576.33 per month (on the helicopter surveillance), plus the cost of incarceration and all other facets of the drug war. On top of that we have a secret population who will (and don't kid yourselves) go out and buy legal marijuana legally. At $40/gram of grass and a smoking population of 2,000 and a 10 percent tax we could also bring in another $8,000 per day. That is $240,000 per month for a total savings of nearly $500,000 per month (or $6 million per year). These numbers are conservative.

Now I know that there will be police and other righteous individuals that will claim that I am lacking the "morale" constitution that is needed to see things clearly on this subject, but the same was said about bootleggers and anti-prohibitionists in the old days. At the end of the day all prohibition accomplished was to make some very bad people rich and a lot of "good people" dead.

This is what they call a "no brainer."

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/in...o-brainer.html