..and good weed..I'm told ;)

very much so.

This is a huge waste of resources. The DEA spends $4 billion annually on arresting and prosecuting marijuana related crimes. Do they just need more money..? DEA's efforts to intercept the flow of drugs into and within the U.S. is less than 1% effective. http://www.dea.gov/pubs/pressrel/pr122805.html "I tried marijuana once. I did not inhale." -William J. Clinton ­

Yes. While someone is arrested for smoking a joint and eating a burrito at Taco Bell, someone could be out there murdering and raping people. Bah I say.. Oh and this is where the seized drugs go:

Yes. It is a huge waste. It's disgusting.

Seems to me we have more important *WARS* to be fighting. The war on drugs is a ridiculous waste of resources that could be used to fight the War... on Poverty on Racism on Cancer on Tyranny on Terror

Yes I think it is, especially when in California they have Pot Shops. Why bother if people are not doing any harm . I think only if people are driving under the influence the same as alchohol, should it require an arrest. The Police could be utilized in a much more useful capacity.

Of course its a waste! For the best part a toker never starts fights, cant be arsed to steal, yet there are real wars and worse drugs out there that need to be dealt with, give pot smokers a break at least we are chilled happy individuals that keep ourselves to ourselves!

Yes, it absolutely IS a waste of our resources. People who do MUCH worse of a crime get off easier because our jails and prizons are so full- the people who do something small go to jail but the rapists and murderers get off easy because of the people doing something that's not worth jail time! It's absolutely madness.

there's alot worse things going on down the street. get after them and leave me alone.i'm not hurting any one sitting in my back yard, looking at the stars and wondering about it all.

Yes. It is a waste of our youth/young adults and the criminal justice system.

It also ruins the lives of families, and destroys the lives of otherwise law abiding citizens. War on Drugs is a War on our own Country.

1 every 45 seconds? Really? If this statistic is true not only is it a waste of criminal justice resources and tax dollars (YOURS AND MINE) it is a disgrace!

Smokers are not the problem. The dealers and the people who knock other people on the head for grass are the problem.

i think that the war on drugs is a good thing but marijuana should be excluded from the list of illegal substances because its every where you can't fight something that is grown, sold, and consumed all over the world and through history. now hardcore drugs like crack and heroin those need to be of major consern doctors say the under the influence of marijuana people do crazy shit like rob stores and kill people its a proven fact that pot makes you lazy now after i get blazed the only think i wanna do is eat so funions and watch family guy or king of the hill no go kill somebody or rob the 76 year old lady next door.

Those resources could be spent for Katrina survivors and helping the Afgan government. If pot were legalized and controlled, it would also eliminate a lot of money going to organized crime.

i would say so... if thats true...

$3 billion per year incarcerating pot smokers, $1.4 billion in enforcement, $1.1 billion in use prevention (media campaigns and school programs), $370,000,000 in treatment, and $760,000,000 for policy research (improving the efficiency of drug policy.) Over $6.5 billion annually (since the government restructured how they report the drug budget in 2002.) We spend 10 times as much money keeping pot smokers in jail than we do on treatment. We spend twice as much on drug policy than we do treatment. In fact, everything shows that it is more profitable to keep it illegal than to treat it or legalize and regulate it. To put it simply, yes it is a waste of our criminal justice resources (and our tax dollars.)

You gotta understand something. With some businesses, it's not so important whether is something done effectively, efficiently or qualitatively (is that a word?) What matters most is PRODUCTION, how MUCH you can show Management is getting done. Now, examine you question. Who do you suppose is easier to capture; the smoker or the distributor? So arrests are up, funding is justified, the public sees results, the bosses look productive. Everybody's happy.

It seems to me to be a total victimless crime ~ it should be decriminalized everywhere :-) It's the people doing the cocaine and heroine and crystal meth type drugs. Even alcohol!!! I feel alcohol does way worse damage than pot so why the heck is alcohol legal and pot not??????????????

This is so stupid. Leave the smokers alone, they don't hurt anyone!

I think so, yes. I think the only arresting of pot-smokers that should be happening is if people are driving while high. It counts as DUI. Other than that, there's worse things to worry about. (I don't smoke weed nor advocate it, btw.)

Absolutely. Not only is it a waste of resources which could be going towards law enforcement against crimes that actually harm others like murder and rape and child pornography rings, but punishing people for what they put into their bodies without hurting anyone else is a crime against people's basic rights in and of itself (Just watch a few episodes of 'Cops' all the way through and try to tell me it isn't). The original laws outlawing marijuana passed under false pretenses regarding the effects of the drug itself, and through the use of deceitful tactics in the form of a stamp-based "Tax Act" (No marijuana stamps were ever printed). Not only that, but the true reasons behind the laws were... Well, pretty racist. Harry Anslinger, America's first drug Czar, once said: "Most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, jazz musicians, and entertainers. Their satanic music is driven by marijuana, and marijuana smoking by white women makes them want to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and others. It is a drug that causes insanity, criminality, and death -- the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind." These justifications can obviously no longer be considered even remotely valid, and very few valid others have arisen to replace them. And yet, the "War on Drugs" has only escalated, at great cost to the American people and their civil liberties. The question is, why? Well, when I try to answer questions about why certain things happen in this capitalist world, I've always found it helpful to look at who profits from it. In the case of the "War on Drugs", the main beneficiaries are Pharmaceutical Companies and the dozens (Nay, probably hundreds) of politicians with money invested in them. Cannabis has many uses in medicine, most of which are probably still undiscovered because of its illegal status. But although it has great medicinal potential, marijuana is not a profitable drug because it would be very difficult to build a monopoly on. People realising that natural things can heal some of their afflictions just as well the drugs they get from their doctors (And without the side effects or the price tag) could start people down the road of questioning why they're paying for drugs from the medical establishment at all. And that just wouldn't be very good for economy, now would it? And the only way they've found to stop that is to discredit natural medicine with lies until they can find a way to distill it into a "Safe" (i.e. Marketable) form and start selling it. And all that aside, people have the right to do whatever drugs they want as long as they're not hurting anyone else. And even in the case of drugs like heroin and methamphetamine, which do nothing but harm and truly *Are* scourges on our society, the "War on Drugs" only makes them worse by increasing demand and making their production and distribution exponentially more profitable. In short, the whole "War on Drugs" is a miserable failure that needs to be abandaned ASAP in favour of more constructive policies. But hey, that's just one guy's opinion.

mm yes, total waste, so much effort could go into something else -- Like giving tickets to people not wearing seatbelts a month before christmas.

EXTREME waste. Furthermore, people should be able to do as they choose as long as they aren't harming anybody else. It's not right for the government to legislate morality OR health, because it goes against the very definition of liberty and freedom AND it simply does NOT work. Also, I suggest that you check out Ron Paul. As president, he would end the "war on drugs." Check his website out at http://www.ronpaul2008.com and, more specifically, his views on this appalling drug war: http://www.ronpaullibrary.org/topic.php?id=23

Yes its bull!

Very, very much so.

It most certainly is...the reason our prisons are so over crowded is because of 'criminals' like this. Seriously, I'm not exactly worried about some guy getting high...I'd much rather them worry about more violent criminals. I really don't think that just using drugs should be a crime that neccesitates incarceration period.

Alcohol is legal, due to three things, the first being that it is constantly used in religious ceremonies, just like in canada there is a hullicenagenic (mind the spelling) drug called salvia divornium that is legal due to the use in wicca or pagan type religious, ceremoniously. The second reason is chemistry, the fact alocohol can be made hypothetically by leaving apple juice unattended and oxygen free, with enough space for the gases to excape or accumulate. The third reason is due to the social acceptance of alcohol throughout history, being that the Prussians were constantly regarded as drunkards by the Romans, and also that of high society way back when, One could also use the Medical arguement, being that alcohol is a great anti-bacterial remedy.

Just relized that this isnt really answering the question, But if you are interested why not look into why marijuana became illegal in the first place, and take into account that, that predjiduce (again spelling) is still being used today, except that its now towards the poor, the governments belief is still of the old times where they believe if legal would bring soceity into disrepute. Oh yeah the way it became illegal was in fear that Minorities would become intoxicated and rape white women.

If you do not think so, you probably have never smoked weed and believe the hype about permanent short-term memory loss and terrorists connections to marijuana. The fact is: Marijuana has NEVER supported terrorism. Heroin has. Most marijuana in America is grown and smoked indoors in the U.S.A. The effects on short-term memory and executive brain function are scientifically proven to be temporary and disappear as the drug wears off. In Las Vegas, having a loaded unregistered handgun is a misdemeanor offense while having any amount of marijuana(a stem, seed, or crumb) is a felony. In many states, growing marijuana will get you years in jail while sexual offenders(rapists, child molesters) are released after only months or weeks. The system is twisted.

I rather see child molesters and dirty cops be put to jail than pot heads. I mean, who cares if we are sitting on our couch smoking pot while giggling over tv shows. We aren't hurting anyone? Yeah, it will make you lazy, but not kill or rape someone.

yes, instead of pedophiles, hate crime activists, murderers, and thieves.

Yeah I think it is. Pot smokers usually dont hurt anyone, and I think pot should probably be legalised. I mean, it didnt become illegal based on any strong scientific evidence, it becale illegal because apparently, it made black men think about raping white women. Resources could be much better spent capturing people who are actually criminal.

No. As long as marijuan is illegal, its not a waste of resources. People who smoke pot and drink alcohol, commit crimes they never remember.

Yes. There is not one good reason to criminalize pot or pot use!

Yes it is the cops should be out catching real criminals,it was down graded to a class c in the u.k meaning anyone over 16 can be caught with an 8th or less will not be prosicuted(they do have it conviscated though).This allows the cops to focus on harder drugs like heroin.

90 % of all drug offenders in prison are in there for marijuana charges, and I'm pretty sure that most all of them were non violent offenders. What a waste of tax money. Here in the US, we have over double the percentage of MJ users than Amsterdam has, where MJ is legal! Our strategies are not working. It's time we legalize it! = )

Defiantly there needs to be some changes, but im sure they will not come anytime soon.

lets think hmm the government spend around 12billion a year on arresting and detaining dope offenders, yet they could stand to earn around 45billion a year by legalizing it hmm....

they waste jail space on pot smokers instead of real crimminals

i think it is a absolute waste of money time and prison space... it should be legal because after you smoke you just want to watch a funny movie eat cheetos and listen to music (KMK)

It is a HUGE waste of resourses (jails are overcrowded as it is) Marijuana should be legalized

hell yes...if someone taking drugs or alcohol commits a crime, then that crime should be addressed...there is no difference between this and making a television show, movie, website or piece of art or music illegal because someone might be influenced to commit a crime after they saw or heard it... this is simply a matter of taking freedom of choice away from citizens, which has become a serious issue since the reagan administration...we are a nation moving more and more towards facism...

After reading all these statistics about how bad pot smokers are clogging up the system and being unfairly fined and treated like criminals,...it seems to me that they should start figuring it all out pretty soon. Why smoke the stuff? Why waste the money? Get a real life.

cite your info. Depends, Statistics are malable, and you can make Statistics reflect what you want them to. are these for arrests, convictions and sentencing? what was the average amount of marihuana retrieved? remember that there are lies, damnlies and Statistics.

biggest waste.

That is scary. We really need to chill out on the petty pot "crimes" and use that money to fight the was against CRACK!

Absolutely yo...

It's absurd that marijuana is illegal at all. i could go into detail, but i'd first like to hear a good argument for it's illegality.

haha hell yeah so many people do it....its a waste of time trying to bust them all i mean what the hell they culd spend more time chewing on a donut instead of a weed farm bust, but i guess they get sum money out of the bust...they prolly smoke it 2 when they get it ;]

It's not that simple, but I do think it should be legal to some extent.

Considering marijuana is not harming anyone, its not addictive, and the deaths per year add up to ZERO, fuck yea its a waste. The DEA wastes time, tax payers money, and research and intelligence on busting medical marijuana shops. There seems to be a problem with American policies when it comes to America. Its easier for a rapist to get out of jail than a person being held on marijuana charges. Our education system is below average compared to other industrlized countries. Our President is so covered in oil that he cant see the blood hes been spilling all over the middle east. shouldn't tax payers dollars go to something useful other than busting kids for pot?

a massive waste of time and money. If they legalised it we would make a killing in income and employment

Yes. The war on drugs is a joke and will never work.

yes. they should really be more considerate of our criminal justice system and just stop smoking pot. thanks in advance guys!

YES YES YES YES YES! this is a huugeee waste of criminal justice resources first of all weed should NOT be illegal, its a plant why arent flowers illegal, or any other plant but marijuana is just bcuz someone smokes pot doesnt make them a bad person weed doesnt make u function badly like alcohol can and thats legal this is fuckin ridiculous thers so much i want to say to the government about imprisonment of people for possession of marijuana its so wrongg because they dont see that weed is actually the key to peace, and making our country a better placee, and we have to pay taxes to help put people in jail that dont deserve it and for doing the same exact thing we do thats fuckin bullshit!! LEGALIZE WEED YO

This is a good example of how the democratic system does not work as it should. Every single person I know says it should be legal, and look at how many people respond with "yes" to this question (in one form or another). If so many people think it should be legal, then why isn't it? Seems to me like a select few lining their pockets are controlling this decision, not the American people.

absolutely. my husband and i got hit up on the way out of the supermarket to donate for the war on drugs. my husband said "nah, I support the other side." lmao. couldn't believe he said that.

Considering i once heard a figure there is a homicide in america every so many seconds (it was a short enough legnth of time to be measured in seconds) it is a TERRIBLE waste of police time and tax payers dollar. Think of how much money goes into that? Now think how much money could be saved by legalisation of marijuana. OR better yet legalise it but keep the funding the same and have an even quicker justice on serious crime eg MURDER

yup. somebody is probably getting killed or raped why they are wasting time arresting stoners.

How many people with weed are actually doing anything wrong? unless ur dealinjg with pounds of the stuff what could really come of having weed? WHy dont we go and arrest every person who is drunk? Alcohol can make you violent...i have never scene someone get angry with weed....alcohol kills your organs....weed does not.....the point is if you really look at weed in a whole most of the reason people get hurt because of weed is because its illegal and people have to fight over it. Weed is good!

YES YES YES!!! Even when I see grow op busts on the news I think of all the time the police wasted on busting a house with less than 100 plants when they could ahve been busting crack dealers or meth labs! Pot does not kill people! The U.S. takes pot a lot more seriously than we do in Canada but I think it is only to make the people think that the "War on drugs" is actually successful.