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Tallinthesaddle wrote:My first thought was, wonder how long will it take to trickle down to underage kids? Alcohol sure has.

It already has trickled down. The only difference now is that it's illegal for both adults and kids.

You'll never take the illegal out of it but I think it would decrease substantially. Not only that, the result would be a safer pot. Today most recreational pot users are at risk for buying marijuana laced with toxins or harder drugs from people they don't know on the streets. If legalized, more resources would be available that would provide a safer product. Additionally, legalizing would open communications on more health conscious methods of using it such as using vaporizers and food products decreasing the health expenses related to smoking. IMHO. I think there should be laws similar to alcohol to prevent child consumption. I don't have all the answers and it can't be solved in a day. Without an open dialogue, tax payers will continue to spend more $$ on incarcerating people for possession.

I'm ok with legalizing marijuana. To set the record straight upfront, I'm not a pot smoker nor have I ever been. Recreational use is not the reason I support legalizing it. I'm a cancer survivor. I spent thousands of dollars for prescription medications to assist in treating the side effects of chemo and radiation. Health insurance will only cover a specified number of doses of the prescription meds. Costs to the patient can be nearly $1000/month depending on how frequent the patient needs to take it. I was receiving treatment on and off for 2 years. Many times I couldn't afford the prescription and my quality of life was poor. I had friends who were being treated for cancer too. Some moved to states that legalized marijuana for medical use. Others used illegally. Their costs were substantially lower than mine and the marijuana was more effective in counteracting the side effects than the prescription. I will not break the law so therefore I would not use it unless it was legalized. Issues abound when legalizing it only for medical use. Anyone can find a doctor to prescribe it for an real or imagined ailment, therefore legalize it. Let the state gain taxes from its use. I don't forsee Texas ever legalizing it for any type of use. Thank God that I'm in remission now and I don't need it but for those still suffering it would be a viable resource for a better quality of life.