opposition i don't use drugs. i probably never will. though i consistently vote for a person's right to kill themselves any way they want. an interesting number is the total cost broken down by drug. this would be the cost to the individual, their family, and society per drug user. the most expensive ones are cocaine (any form) and heroine. let's give them a cost of $20. next most expensive are alcohol and tobacco at $10. and bringing up the rear are ecstasy and marijuana at $1. hrm. curious. alcohol and tobacco are legal but regulated. yet they're ten times more destructive than weed and e. which are completely illegal. that doesn't make any sense. well, it doesn't make any mathematical sense. enter social forces. politicians can run on a platform of tough of crime. which is very popular. they can point to how many criminals (stoners) they've locked up. great. cops like it this way too. i explain. being a cop is dangerous. and it's hard work. it's much easier to bust a dozen stoners than to track down one murderer. lots safer too. and finally we have the very powerful prison lobby. they get paid by the prisoner. they want nice well behaved prisoners (stoners). they don't want the violent types. yeah. wonderful country. the current economic mess might change things a bit. it's estimated that legalizing marijuana across the country would be a $15 billion financial swing. assuming we taxed and regulated the largest cash crop in california. that doesn't even count the social and political benefits. violent drug lords run large chunks of mexico. the police are powerless against them. why? because they have the money. we can take that away with a stroke of a pen.  ¶ 8:00 AM