Should marijuana be legal in the US?

[ElCubano]

Quote from Rearden Metal:

Wrong. You've evidently missed my first post to this thread.
_________

In Amsterdam, marijuana is easily purchased in the Red Light District's coffee shops, while a complete selection of hard drugs is easily purchased from the many African guys standing outside those coffee shops. With it's policy of very lax prohibition enforcement, The Netherlands has an incarceration rate only 1/7th that of the U.S.

So... The Netherlands must suffer far worse drug abuse rates than 'The Land Of The Free', Right? Well, no:

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm


Lifetime prevalence of marijuana use (ages 12+)
U.S.: 36.9%
Netherlands: 17.0%

Lifetime prevalence of heroin use (ages 12+)
U.S.: 1.4%
Netherlands: 0.4%

Let's not forget all the prohibition related murders....

Homicide rate per 100,000 population:
U.S.: 5.56
Netherlands: 1.51

while i agree with you on this issue... there is no argument that more kids would be exposed and comparing the netherlands to our hip hop culture may be like apples to oranges...but i may be wrong...