PK>        I don't think that mj will ever be legalized.  The main reason
PK>is
PK>money.  I don't know the exact numbers, but there are millions, if not
PK>billions, of OUR tax money being spent to fund police departments across
PK>the
PK>country.  There are hundreds of policemen out there.  Something like 80%
PK>of
PK>the people in prisons are in for drug reasons.  So, that tells us that
PK>there
PK>are a lot of policemen out there to bust drug users.  In many cities
PK>there
PK>are special narcotics forces that do nothing but bust drug users and
PK>dealers.
PK>Now, if we legalized drugs, then there are thousands of policemen that
PK>are
PK>out of jobs.  Besides these people without jobs, there are millions of
PK>dollars in tax money.  Whereever there is a lot of money, there is
PK>someone
PK>who doesn't want to lose that money, and they have the money to make
PK>sure
PK>they keep it.  No matter what we do, those people are going to do all
PK>they
PK>can to keep that money.  So there's two major upsets to our country's
PK>economy--thousands unemployed, and millions of dollars of funding lost.
PK>Not
PK>going to happen.
       On the surface, this seems reasonable, but it doesn't stand up to 
closer inspection.  There are already examples of economic re-direction, 
vis-a-vis the aerospace industry, and the
supercomputing industry.  Big aerospace is all but over and done with, what 
with government defunding.  Cray is nearly, if not already, defunct.  So; can 
we defeat the insane drug-warrior infrastructure and redirect that resource?  
I *do* think so.  The economic sector is finally feeling flush, so much so 
that, if you want one, there are jobs to be had.  Freeing that funding for 
other uses not only stimulates the economy (people have more to spend), but 
it allows development of *actually* useful programs, instead of the current 
police-state mentality we now possess.
       Police departments may find that, if they stop pursuing marihuana 
users and dealers, they actually have enough money to do more important 
things.
PK>        I have heard that cannabis plants can be used as a fuel.
PK>develop a new fuel, then the entire world economy is disrupted.  Not
PK>going to
       Fossil fuel is on its way out.  There are not enough reserves to 
sustain the next 50 years, and quite possibly less, no matter how efficient 
we make the gasoline engine.  The hemp plant is the next best alternative, 
and we had BETTER start developing it NOW. (alcohol fuel aside - I was once 
briefly involved in alcohol manufacturing, and I can tell you, it isn't a 
viable solution.  A possible
supplement, but not a solution.)
--- Ezycom V1.10
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