First, the costs of the continued criminalizing of marijuana use and possession are far greater in the long run then changing it to a restricted taxable product. The costs of marijuana use and those of upholding its current status includes, law enforcement, the cost of incarceration, the cost of treatment and the cost of social programs designed to help those with drug related problems beyond medical assistance. While this is not a complete list of costs, the main problem here is that no income enters into the current system of handling this problem. If your concern is the cost to you, then unpholding its current status should be the last thing you should want. Changing it to a legal, taxable product removes the underground nature of this portion of the drug trade, creates jobs in terms of growers, processors, and suppliers. Creates tax revenue on these businesses as well as the product itself. It also allows for a redistribution of current resources being spent on handling the criminalization of users/sellers to other issues.

Secondly, your assumptions that "most" people cannot handle drinking or gambling responsibly is false. If you use as a definition for responsibilty not having any criminal/legal repercussions for your indulgence in either activity then in fact most people who enjoy these activities are doing so resonsibly. This definition is not perfect but I feel for such a discussion it is sufficient. I see no reason why legal use of marijuana would not result in a similar proportion of responsbile vs irresponbile use in the long run.

Where do you draw the line?

I would argue that more rigorous cost/benefit analysis should be done in regards to issues such as this, with an attempt to remove prejudicial feels based on nonfactual information when making laws that restrict individual choice and freedom. The current system of handling marijuana denies the realities of drug use and abuse and forces us non-users to shoulder the bulk of the costs.

Again I do not smoke marijuana or use drugs, I only feel that the current laws do little to stop drug use and have created a large and costly system that we as a society must pay for.