Peg - Oxycontin, and many forms of codiene ARE controlled substances. You can't use them recreationally without breaking the law. That's why we have pharmacists.

As for going to prison for smoking pot, where the hell does that happen? Where I come from, people get a ticket for simple possession, recently raised to $250.00.

I avoid marijuana cases every chance I get, because heroin, cocaine and meth are much more fun for me. (Heroin's my favorite) But I helped with an arrest of two fellows with sixty pounds of BC bud last year. One of them got probation, and the other one spent a few months in jail because he had a criminal history.

Right now, the feds classify marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance, ostensibly on a par with heroin, and more dangerous, based on the schedule, than cocaine, a Schedule II substance. But the schedule doesn't equate when compared with sentencing guidelines. Federal prosecutors won't even look at a marijuana case unless it involves more than eighty pounds, or several hundred plants. Marijuana offenders aren't sentenced anywhere near as severely as heroin, meth and cocaine offenders. That's as it should be.

Some people think we should legalize all drugs. I think that's a very bad idea.