What exactly are you advocating? Just weed? Or any and all of anything should be allowed to be made my whoever and taken by whoever and whenever?
"Drug use and drug deaths are complicated phenomena. They have many underlying causes. Portugal's low death rate can't be attributable solely to decriminalisation. As Dr. Joao Goulao, the architect of the country's decriminalization policy, has said, "it's very difficult to identify a causal link between decriminalisation by itself and the positive tendencies we have seen." Who pays for the addiction therapy in Portugal? What is their poverty level compared to the rest of Europe? What is their population compared to the US? What is the education level? What is their primary religion? Way too many factors involved to simply say that legalizing all forms of drugs will have the same result in the US. What do you think will happen to all the drug dealers making bank when that income goes away? You think they'll all enroll in college and go to work for a Fortune 500? Lol. And you may hate the idea but the fact that over 80% of the population in Portugal is Catholic has a whole lot to do with it.
Legalization of Marijuana across the board, and decriminalization of all other drugs under a certain amount. You get caught with a gram of cocaine. You get a fine, you don't get locked up and sent away.
Portugal and other countries who have tried this also had accompanying rehab available. That doesn't work in the US because there's always someone who wants to make a buck, even off of drug addicts. Read this article. CA has basically become a rehab destination for addicts from all over the country and the usual scum have profited. http://www.ocregister.com/2017/05/2...ifornia-drug-rehab-centers-exploit-addiction/ And then when they leave rehab and aren't really "fixed" they end up on the river bed in a homeless community.
You're still thinking small. I understand what you're saying, but I don't think it'll work. There's no right answer for it at all. I'll explain why I think this: When someone gets bad off on illicit drugs and loses everything won't have money to pay a fine. What then? Sure, in theory, prison is supposed to rehabilitate, but it doesn't. But it's how you get punished in our society. What's phase 2 after the fine? I really don't want to live in a world where everyone can be high on whatever, whenever. Not for morality sake, but I've seen what methed up people are like. Why would you advocate that? Because it's their body? As long as you don't try to use tax paid healthcare to take care of you after you put some 8th grade chemistry product into your veins, I guess that's ok. Plus I'm sure trying to score money for legal crack won't cut down on property crimes. I'm not saying what we have now is right, but I don't think an open market is the way. I don't have an argument against weed. Other than trying to talk to someone while their stoned is a goddam nightmare. But then again, so is talking to a drunk.
Sessions is unleashing the police to seize people's assets without being charged or convicted of any crime. This is wrong!! It's one thing to seize assets of a convicted felon as part of the sentence. I could understand if assets were seized prior in certain cases but only if they were returned on acquittal. There is nothing here that indicates the police will ever return seized goods even if no charges are pressed.The attorney general revives a program that invites law enforcement agencies to evade state limits on asset forfeiture http://reason.com/archives/2017/07/26/jeff-sessions-lets-cops-be-robbers