My argument is that marijuana is harmless to society at large and any individual damage it does is selective and minor stemming mainly from its illegality. I've never heard of someone dying from smoking marijuana by itself, having lasting effects, or doing something completely out of character worse than a drink would have.

"Marijuana use and distribution is prohibited under federal law because it has a high potential for abuse and does not have an accepted medical use in the U.S.," Smith said. "The Food and Drug Administration has not approved smoked marijuana for any condition or disease."

Yeah, because smoking tobacco is good for all sorts of diseases!

I love this part:

The bill would have to go through the House Judiciary Committee. Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said his panel would not consider it.

"Marijuana use and distribution is prohibited under federal law because it has a high potential for abuse and does not have an accepted medical use in the U.S.," Smith said. "The Food and Drug Administration has not approved smoked marijuana for any condition or disease.

"Decriminalizing marijuana will only lead to millions more Americans becoming addicted to drugs and greater profits for drug cartels who fund violence along the U.S.-Mexico border. Allowing states to determine their own marijuana policy flies in the face of Supreme Court precedent."

The entire thing reeks of bullshit, but it's particularly telling that Republicans don't really care about smaller federal government and deferring to states.

there is virtually no chance of it passing a Republican-controlled House.

Sadly I don't see this bill passing even in a Democratic-controlled House. The Dems talk a good game but when it comes to police-state bullshit they're not that much better than Republicans (and getting worse).

Democrats, especially California's, are useless in this area. Despite the lack of a harm case against it and flying in the face of medical evidence showing that in fact, marijuana can be helpful for a number of conditions, the federal government and all of it's law-enforcement branches will keep pretending that it's a scourge that kills untold numbers(actually, non-existent numbers).

I’m all for smaller government, but I don’t support legalizing marijuana except in the case of medical purposes. And I’m not talking about glaucoma either.

My main beef is the drug cartels. They aren’t going to retire because they’re not making as much money as before or because they have a wider competition. So what are they going to do? They send hitmen (which are increasingly teenagers) to kill members of rival gangs as well as police and lawyers who make a stand against them and their operations, and not just in Mexico. And let's say they give up their weed operations, they'll focus more on the illegal drugs, which will still be in demand here, and the violence will still continue. It won't abate with a passing of a bill.

It’s a damned if you do and damned if you don’t situation. I see the ‘let’s legalize it’ perspective, but I also know that legalizing won’t help that much. Problems like these can’t be solved by signing petitions and passing bills. These are difficult problems with a wide spread impact and severe consequences.

I'm not trying to be combative, but I see no reason to legalize marijuana outside of the medical arena. Yes, I believe in personal freedom (as well as taking responsibility for your personal freedom), but I know that said personal freedom comes with a price tag. How much personal freedom depends on the price. So what will this cost not just us but for our neighbors in Mexico and beyond? The world is getting smaller so our actions (and inactions) have a much more stronger impact that spans to areas in far off places.