I am 59 years old and have worked in heavy industry all my life, building and maintaining America. My back is stiff, my arm joints are beat up from heavy impact wrenches. Constant pi;;s are not good fro me. I smoke a little pot when I hurt and can't sleep. Works great foe me. My wife smoked it when she was dying of cancer and did better than the Oxycontin.I don't want to have my pot become a hassle, why should it?

People have tried to regulate drugs that get used for "recreational purposes" for almost 100 years in this country. But, the real effort started in the 60's with the expanded use of pot and the discovery of LSD. At the time there was a little bit of use of hard drugs like Heroin and Cocaine. Since the "War on Drugs" the country has filled its prisons, driven up the cost of the drugs, suffered increased turf wars over drug sales and profits, the gangs and drug lords have made billions, armed themselves to the teeth, we have spend billions trying to stop the flow, made enemies with most of our southern neighbors. The death toll has climbed from murders, suicides and overdoses. Now there is meth cookers, pot farms in the forests, synthetic drugs, an explosion in the misuse of RX drugs. What has the war on drugs accomplished 00000. Nada. Any drug anyone wants is available in any town or city in Montana and the rest of the nation. We have driven the price of cheap substances like cocaine, heroin and meth to record levels and many of those who are hooked on them pay for them by stealing from the rest of us in one form or the other. The longest war is not in Afghanistan, it is in America and we have blown it far worse than any other. If we would have NEVER LUMPED POT WITH HARD DRUGS, we would be far better off. If we would have spend half as much money on treatment and figuring out why people want to get messed up on hard drugs we would be far better off.

Why are we even worried about pot when surveys of institutions like medical, mental health, social programs, law enforcement and the like show that as a problem it ranks far lower than alcohol? Many rank it below tobacco. The police are not wearing bullet prof vests because of the pot smokers. They don't go to violent domestic abuse scenes when the people have been smoking pot. They do because of alcohol, pills and the like. How many alcohol relate auto fatalities?

Get a clue. Prohibition doesn't work. DUH. Want less of something? Tax it! Want more of it? Simply make it illegal.