Anathema
Crotchety Olde Man
Let's tackle "traditions and values". Until the 1930's, marihuana was legal. And it's been in use for thousands of years.
Not in decent society it hasn't been used for thousands of years.
There are lots of substances which produce "altered mental states" including coffee, sugar, alcohol and wine. Eating a turkey sandwich with a glass of milk will make you drowsy. Are you proposing that all substances that alter your mental state be banned?
For the most part, YES. I probably wouldn't ban the turkey sandwich, but alcohol, wine, coffee, caffeine, tobacco, etc.... would all be right out the door so far as I'm concerned.
There is no logic or reason to your beliefs and yet you would inflict them on the rest of us.
There is absolutely a logic to it. I would inflict this all on you in order to ensure that this society returns to one of decency rather than the absolute chaos that we now have. Unless people can be held 100% responsible for their actions while under the influence of a substance, that substance has no place in society.
The U.S. has incarcerated thousands of people because of laws prohibiting pot. The costs for keeping people in prison for pot use are onerous, not to mention the wreckage this makes of lives. These laws are disproportionately used against young black men, criminalizing these men which affects their families and their job prospects.
I agree, don't incarcerate them..... EXTERMINATE them with extreme prejudice.