Legalizing marijuana is about a lot more than just having some weed for people to smoke. If marijuana were legal, the prejudices against industrial hemp (which is ineffective at best if smoked) would also dissipate, allowing for hemp to perform many roles for us and our society.
Hemp is a far more efficient source of paper and clothing fibers than wood or cotton. It not only grows quickly with a high yield, it requires little care of chemicals to grow. It also can reduce our dependence on foreign oil as a source of plastics, fuel, and chemicals.
Even as a smoked drug, I believe that people have the right to do it if they so wish, so long as people also have the right to not have it smoked on their property.
