Wow, this is a touchy subject for a lot of people. As some of you know, and all of you if you read my profile, I am a Drug Task Force Agent. The legalization of Marihuana (I know I spelled it with an "h", that is how we write reports here, just habit), has been talked about more than you can imagine around my office. My personal belief is that it will be legalized in the near future. Already the consequences for manufacture, possession, introduction, and distribution is less in most places than other drugs. Although Marihuana is a Schedule I drug (Schedule I being worse than Schedule 5) on the CSA (Controlled Substance Act), it is looked at as being less harmful than other drugs such as cocaine, ex, meth, etc. The "ranking" of Marihuana on the CSA has to do with how drugs are "ranked". They are scheduled according to 1) medical use, 2) chance for abuse, 3) history of use. Marihuana has such a high history of use, it bumps it up to Schedule I. There are over 400 chemicals in Marihuana. Of all these chemicals, Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the only "active" chemical. This is the chemical that causes the "high" effect. THC reacts differently depending on the person using it (body mass, history of use, tolerance, etc) and can even react differently from use to use in the same person. This "unknown" is probably the biggest factor keeping Marihuana from being legalized. It is not money, because the government could make a lot more money taxing marihuana if it were legal than they do just from court costs now. I think when the right people pich a good enough explanation of how Marihuana affects the body, and it sounds "not so bad", then the powers that be probably wont hesitate to make some more money. That's just my opinion.
