"I have seen the negative affects of drug prohibition first hand. I have also seen the affects of drug use, and guess what, it turns out that the affects of drug use are no where near as bad as portrayed by the media"....

Are you kidding me? Ride with a cop some night...spend some time in Crack Alley...go to a rehab and see the effects...go to any cemetary and see the dead...talk to any parent, wife, dad, son or daughter and then tell me all about the effects of drug use not being so bad. I'm not a liberal or republican...I was a hard core pot head and a speed freak for over 20 years...I survived but at the same time I lost a lot in my life and don't have much to show for a wasted 52 years. The effects may not all be the same for everyone but the effects are negative no matter what. And as for your " obvious racisim"....@#$% off...I'm a well known non-racist, with plenty of minority friends and work in minority areas everyday plus the fact...my fiance is an American Indian...I was rasied in the mid-west and taught to be poilte to everyone...no matter the color of there skin etc....it's the ones like you I have a problem with.