SHOULD MARIJUANA AND COCAINE BE LEGALIZED?

I've written favorably about the legalization of marijuana before.  The war on drugs is a lost cause and the sooner we realize it, and stop wasting taxpayers money, the better.  Yes it should be restricted, much like tobacco and alcohol.  It would create badly needed jobs here at home and put a stop to some of the violence the drug trade is causing in neighboring countries such as Mexico.  If you take the money out of the illegal drug trade by making it legal, the black market ceases to exist. 

As for cocaine, which some are also advocating legalizing, I think it should only be legalized as a strictly controlled substance.  Even then I believe it should only be used for medicinal purposes.  What that might be, I have no idea, but I'm sure the R & D departments of some of the major pharmaceutical companies would welcome the chance to find out.  At any rate, decriminalisation of currently illegal drugs would undoubtedly be a boon to tax revenues and jobs, and we could definitely use more of both.  Although I think all tax revenues from legalization of marijuana and cocaine should be strictly set aside to pay off the national debt.  Otherwise I believe tax and spend politicians would piddle away any revenues on pork barrel projects and special interest groups.  While we would still benefit from a decrease in drug related crime and violence, why not put the money to good use by reducing the national debt.

I can't very well justify talking about legalizing drugs without some mention of tobacco.  Currently I think the tobacco industry is the target of a modern day witch hunt, being blamed for untold deaths and diseases.  Don't get me wrong, I quit smoking for health reasons in November of last year and I don't think anybody with any sense would argue that smoking is not bad for your health.  However, it gets to be a little ridiculous when people can't even smoke outside (banning smoking in public parks etc.).  I mean come on!!!!  Do you really think someones cigarette smoke is any more detrimental to your health in a city like New York, where you're breathing in exhaust fumes from hundreds of thousands of automobiles every time you go outdoors?  And what about the people who get on their high horses about smoking?  Have they given up driving their cars so people won't have to breathe their exhaust fumes?  Have they lost weight and gotten into shape so they're not causing a burden to taxpayers for weight related illnesses like cancer and heart disease, which they're so quick to point out are caused by cigarette smoking?  I've never heard of cigarette smoking causing diabetes, but obesity has created an alarming upswing in diabetics in the U.S..  Are we going to carry on about tobacco use until we've created another black market to support the drug cartels?  Wake up people, we have a lot worse problems than cigarettes.