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I support both gay marriage and the legalization of pot, but I think using this study to justify US legalization could be dangerous. There are simply too many variables. Isn't Holland a socialist state? My sister has been there twice, and she described it as being a wonderful place where people are free to be themselves, a place without judgement (unless you're American, then prepare to be judged). I inferred that it was a seedy shithole, but the same things that led me to my opinion led her to think that it was great, so who knows. My point is , America and the Netherlands are such different places in so many ways, who knows how it would actually turn out in the US? Like I said, I support it, I just think we should gather more relevant info.
Concerning the prison system, there are FAR more gun crimes (hell, violent crimes period) in the US than in Holland, so we can't really expect the same thing. A lot of people in for pot charges (distribution, manufacturing) are in gangs. I'm not talking about small time users here; smoking pot doesn't make you a criminal.
About the coffee shops, the coffee shops that sell pot aren't really coffee shops, that's just what they're called. So go to a REAL coffee shop, and you won't have to deal with it. I'm sure the anti-smoking laws we have in place for tobacco would be applied to pot as well.
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Free will lies not in the ability to craft your own fate, but in not knowing what your fate is. --Me
"I have just returned from visting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world." --Douglas MacArthur
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