"Few still believe the old myth that smoking marijuana leads to a spiral of drug dependence and dissipation. Some claim prolonged use can adversely affect the mental health of certain individuals, and it certainly has the potential to make driving dangerous, but compared to alcohol it is a drug of peace and tranquillity."

One wonders whether the good senator-elect spent time living in a hippy commune, and consequently whether that had a lasting effect on his thinking.

There is no shortage of drug dependents who started by smoking marijuana, a harmless drug as the author erroneously assumes. This does not inspire confidence in his acting responsibly in his coming six-year service in the Senate.

Legalizing most drugs, which should be available legally and over the pharmacy counter for registered users, would destroy the illegal industry, almost overnight!
These very same drug barons, which include the Taliban, [who are now financed almost exclusively by the illicit drug trade,] argue most convincingly, for the status quo, given just how much financial skin they have in the current illegal trade.
Ditto many law enforcement agencies!
Rhrosty.

I do hope the Senators actually try and do something about this. They should also use these almost certainly narrow opinions here. Perhaps we have to go for a referendum on this. As with many others here I will be voting drop all restrictions or perhaps the same as Alcohol & tobacco?

Do the maths.
How much does it cost to keep pot illegal? Factor in the cost of incarceration and the cost to young futures with a criminal record.
Then, how much could it earn as a taxable item?
Of course regulate it. Think alcohol and tobacco.
And try to remember two points: 1) With it illegal, there is no quality control and 2) Recreational drugs are with us whether we use them ourselves or not. Why send those buying them into the arms of criminals?

Well anyone using it after legalisation should have to surrender their
drivers and or pilots licence.
Its effect can last for days so I believe watching RBT police on TV.
It would be too much to expect that someone who smoked it on Saturday
would not drive to work on Monday to Wednesday.

Perhaps the senate should now do random drug tests before senate votes.

Hi haldwell, I agree completely with your point. The cost of keeping cannabis as an illegal drug is enormous: the income to the state from regulating its production and sale is, likewise, very large.
Hi Bazz, I think your figures are a little off - I'd appreciate it if you could point this discussion to your source. I know that some by-products of cannabis, being fat-soluble, remain in the body and can be detected at very low levels some day or even a week after use. I don't think that applies to the active ingredients: then, I could be wrong - please give us something to work with.
My main quibble with cannabis is the same thing as smoking tobacco: that is the act of smoking. All the arguments that have been used against the inhalation of the by-products of tobacco in a high-temperature smoke apply equally to the inhalation of the by-products of cannabis. Eating cannabis cooked into food or drinking pureed cannabis straight or or mixed with fruit juice seems preferable to getting it into our bodies at the expense of our lungs.
I don't agree with much of what Senator-elect David says, but this is one time when I can say thank you for re-starting a debate we had to have.