Glenn Beck: Legalize Marijuana?

Over the years many people, some of them political and moral conservatives, have suggested that marijuana should be decriminalized or legalized altogether. The arguments are rational.

People will smoke pot whether it's legal or not, and some will abuse it the same way some people abuse alcohol. But should every user of either substance be criminalized just because some people are abusers?

Legalization advocates also point out that criminalization raises the price of pot so high that it invites global cartel kingpins into the "business" and siphons money out of the USA into the hands of criminals who should be doing something more productive with their lives. Still others point to the medicinal benefits of the cannabis herb, some of which cannot be duplicated even by the best medical science.

On the other side are the political scientists who recall how previous global empires have used substances, usually opium, to keep the masses pliant so that they could more easily rule them -- not to mention the securing of easy revenue to keep the royal class satiated with largesse. This argument, however, applies not only to marijuana but could equally be applied to alcohol, pornography, and big stadium sports. So, where do you draw the line?