It is bone-headed comments, and thinking, like this that keep the question of legalization ‘off the table’:
“If the whole society starts getting stoned, we're going to be even less competitive,” Democratic Attorney General Jerry Brown
Politicians tend to speak in hyperbole, and sadly I believe they think that way as well. Alcohol is legal, with certain restrictions, and everyone is not getting drunk all the time. Alcohol being legal is not a defense for getting fired for being drunk on the job, and if we rationally legalize marijuana I would expect to see the same consequences for being under the influence while at work or driving.
Marijuana could be legalized safely, for the consumer and society, if it were simply legalized with with all of the same restrictions that apply to alcohol. That does not mean a free pass for driving stoned, or being disruptive in public because you can’t figure out how to use a cross-walk button, or showing up for work with your pants on backwards. But then, legalizing has never meant any of these things; despite how the opponents frame the argument to make it sound like legalization is some sort of free-for-all.
Can we hold off the election until we have at least one candidate who has brains and balls? Electing people who only have half that recipe hasn’t been working well for the state or the country.
-Chris