Whether you like it or not, do you think it will happen?

[MachNU]

At first maybe but overall it won't (DUI). As I said if they legalize marijuana I highly doubt you're going to see this mass influx of people trying it for the first time.

People who want to smoke weed are already doing it. Legalizingit won't change the customer base AT ALL. It will just allow existing users to purchase it legally at a higher price but they will gain access to better quality too regulated by govt.

As for the "people losing jobs" from legalizing weed and being stoners that's extremely far fetched. People smoke weed now and go to work fine.

Of course moderation is key. If someone smokes a pound and misses work, what's different than a guy drinking a gallon of whiskey the night before and being hungover?

Alcohol causes live damage, brain damage, etc

weed only hurts your lungs and at a much lower rate than cigarettes

How would crime rise? Street level dealers who don't pay taxes now, would either go into business for themselves legally or work for a larger conglomerate in the "industry" maybe as a marketing person or customer relations :p

the thugs will lose their cash crop. There will be no incentive to sell it.

But that opens up another area, let's make the private growers sell it to "abc weed store" as a distribution center a kind of wholesaler, then they sell it to the street dealers at a profit if they buy in bulk. Require every street dealer to have a registration card or id. Now we track them and can identify them

Again your basing this all on good faith. Do you really think people who have lived there life's by doing this illegal, are just going to up and go by the books because of it being legal? Why pay more when they can get it from across the border or grow it themselves and completely cut out hte middle man and have larger profits.

Also like you said people do it in moderation just for the hope of not getting caught. Make it legal and you remove that getting caught aspect. Meaning the moderation level changes.

Just like you said, no different then someone drinking heavly and going to work hung over. But like alcohol there are addictions and there are those that can be mentally addicted to marijuana if it becomes legal and with more oppurtunity to use it.