In recognition of the legalization of recreational marijuana use in Colorado, I wanted to revisit the arguments in favor of legalization by conservative icon and one of the people I most admire, William F. Buckley, Jr. . Buckley was a long time advocate of legalization when most conservatives adamantly opposed legalization. Buckley also admitted to smoking marijuana, sailing his boat outside the territorial water of the U.S in order to do so legally.
Buckley once said, "Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could."
Buckley also said, "The amount of money and of legal energy being given to prosecute
hundreds of thousands of Americans who are caught with a few ounces of
marijuana in their jeans simply makes no sense - the kindest way to put
it. A sterner way to put it is that it is an outrage, an imposition on
basic civil liberties and on the reasonable expenditure of social
energy."
In 2004, Buckley advocated the complete legalization of marijuana. If I were in Colorado, I would smoke one for WFB.
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