Peter, there's very little point in attempting to argue it out because the Yea-Sayers will continue to say Yea no matter what I say. In fact my views were rubbished by some people for the very reason that I have experience (not only family but also professional) of hard-drug use which evolved from the use of cannabis! What a pie-eyed way to try to win an argument - they tell me "You're too experienced in the problem for your views to have any weight" whilst at the same time using the "I did it and I got away with it, therefore it's harmless" routine - is there any wonder I have no respect for these people? Do they also drive their cars under the influence of cannabis, or alcohol for that matter, on the basis that they've always got away with it so it's harmless? Duh!

I understand the reasoning behind the argument that legalisation will remove the dealers from the equation, however it's simply untrue that those who make serious money from trading in drugs will go away, and anyone who thinks they will clearly has never experienced the way they work (which is a highly-developed and intelligent marketing strategy, it's insinuous and involves a persuasiveness so effective on the minds of adolescents that it would astonish anyone who'd never witnessed it), nor their resilience, persistence and business acumen. Pot's as cheap as chips now, and it'll be a lot cheaper if and when it's legalised, so they will simply give the stuff away as a 'loss-leader' to ensure they make contact with, and exert influence on, the innocents who are susceptible to their persuasion. Despite what the pot-heads try to tell us, cannabis is psychologically addictive (witness the number of Good Ole Boys 'n' Gals on this thread who boast about how they smoke and what a great way it is to have fun and no-one gonna stop 'em spliffin' it up - a perfect indicator of psychological addiction n'est ce pas?), and once they have them in their grip they'll manipulate them, and move them on to the stuff that really brings home the bacon, exactly as they do now.

Drug dealers aren't people with dirty nails, in dirty coats, so high on drugs themselves they can barely think, who come up to you in alleyways and ask you if you "Want some good stuff" - they're just the messenger boys. Drug dealers live in big expensive houses in Cheshire and the Home Counties, they drive Mercedes' and Jags, they wear designer clothes and educate their children at private schools. They could live in your town and you'd never know. They're intelligent, articulate people who know the way to run a business. And legalising cannabis will be a godsend to them

I'm not a druggie or a pot-head trying to justify my habit, or past habits, by rubbishing the views of someone who opposes them and who, in my heart of hearts, I know has good justification for his opinion. I'm just a guy who's seen where this 'harmless' substance can lead. If one kid has a spliff and it stays there, well and good. If he or she moves on down the road to bigger and 'better' hits, that's one too many. I don't give a shit about the pot-heads, I care about the ones who don't 'get away with it'.