The legalization of drugs

I don't know how things are in the States, but here in the UK several drugs are controlled and taxed by the government. Those legal drugs include tobacco and alcohol. Because they are taxed, there still exists a black market for untaxed drugs which are cheaper for the consumer. People inevitably get killed as a result of this. ExampleThe difference is at the local businessman level. As it stands, there are no legal protections for the salesman of the illegal drugs. His business concerns are managed purely through market agreements of price and patch etc. If a well funded competitor was to break market agreements and start undercutting another's business - the salesman under attack cannot complain to the monopolies commission. The only recourse is by legislating themselves in a 'black judiciary' of vendettas.Such things spiral out of control and we get the street level violence we are aware of.If drugs were legal, there would still be a booming black market trade, just like with alcohol and tobacco now - but it will pale into insignificance in comparison to the legitimate trade and the original black market trade.And of course - the taxes from the legitimate business can be put into increasing funds for cracking down on the black market to make sure that the business is a risky one to be in as a potential deterrent for those considering making quick and easy money (though as with the example above, large legitimate businesses are often involved directly in their black market equivalent).

Just a FYI, its THC, TetrahydrocannabinolAs far as I am aware it is basically impossible to get high of hemp. A good cannabis plant will contain 20-40% THC, whereas hemp will be 0.3% or so. It would be like smoking cotton - you'd probably get a chronic headache and give up long before you got high. And even if you got high, you'd probably be to ill to notice!Edited by Modulous, : No reason given.

I'm not disputing your position, but I think your case would be bolstered if you put forward some figures here. The crops grown would have to be suitable - if government weed was crappy and horrid, the black market would still thrive as people would be happy to pay money for better quality product. Growing cannabis is nice and cheap if you just plant it and let it go on its way, but how much would fertilization and lighting systems cost? I haven't a clue, so hence my asking.

If the US becomes the major supplier of drugs world wide, won't thata) mean it would have to dedicate an enormous amount of land to drug production?b) cost a fortune in tax payers money?Surely it affects the US?

You can get high from male plants, but it isn't as good as female plants - it is still worth smoking. Female plants have a much higher yield because they continue to create buds until they are pollinated by a male. As such, cannabis growers have to make sure to separate males and females otherwise their female yield will be reduced as their females start producing seeds instead of buds.The difference is in what parts are harvested. The stems are tough and fibrous (used for hemp) where as the leaves and buds are THC factories which are smokable.Plants that are used for hemp production are bred to be tall and more fibrous (so don't have much THC in them), much shorter and bushier varieties are used for getting high. Manilla hemp has no THC, but cannabis hemp does have THC in it. Its just not particularly smokeable.