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Isn't legalizing marijuana just the opening wedge to legalizing all drugs?

In a word, no. It is understandable that social conservatives fear the infamous "slippery slope," but marijuana is just not on the same slope with the other illicit drugs. In a few more words, what does that question mean?

Alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, and morphine are all "drugs" that are "legal" in different ways. Will making marijuana as "legal" as tobacco somehow lead to making heroin as "legal" as caffeine? How would that work?

Prohibitionists like to call anyone who criticizes anything about prohibition "pro-drug," but this is simply non-sense. Except for hard core libertarians, who often are personally very "anti-drug," most people who favor the "legalization" of marijuana do not favor treating other "drugs" in the same way.

It is my impression that most people who favor the "legalization" of marijuana also oppose arresting people for the simple possession of "hard drugs" for personal use. This is not so much the result of sympathy for addicts as it is an almost total distrust of the "narcotics police" from the DEA on down, or up, as the case may be.

It seems likely that the political process that leads to the legalization of marijuana will result in the discrediting of the prohibitionist establishment. This, in turn, will lead to the reform of the way we handle "substance abuse," but this is not at all the same thing as the "legalization of all drugs."

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