It's one thing to arrest growers who booby-trap their crop with dangerous weaponry, or who mutilate dogs for protection.

It's quite another to arrest otherwise law-abiding members of society who procure, or cultivate, small amounts of marijuana for their own personal recreational or medicinal use.

To lump all "pot-smokers" into the same category is very wrong indeed, and leads to the sort of mentality that thinks the guy who is found with fifty kilos, a full drying shed and rifles in his cabin is no different from the guy found with an ounce and a bong. Yet both, in some areas, might end up doing jail time. This is very wrong.

Marijuana is the number one cash crop in the United States and has been for years now. While the anecdotes our law enforcement friends have provided may be true, I am thinking they represent a VERY small percentage of the growing and distribution activities in this country. And we still have a much bigger problem with heroin, amphetamine and crack cocaine use in this country than with marijuana, in terms of the cost to health and the amount of violent crime connected to their abuse. Also, marijuana is not addictive: cocaine, heroin, oxycontin, etc. are extremely addictive. They are also widely available in prison, which is why addicts sent to prison (for possession or larceny, not for violent crime) are virtually impossible to rehabilitate and often end up back on the streets, still addicted, and often led into crime to support their habits. The vast majority of pot smokers are productive members of society and include doctors, lawyers, cops, teachers, artists, politicians, and virtually every line of work one could imagine.