Clinton got away with saying he didn't inhale, Gore got away with admitting to smoking it once in college, after some initial attention from the press, Bush has gotten away with ignoring the issue even though allegations of drug use have been made against him. The attitude of the public is clearly changing. I don't think it will ever get to the point that the public would elect someone who admitted to being a current smoker, but very soon, it will be no big deal for a candidate of either party to say "I smoked a lot of weed in school, but I quit later on in my life.", and the statement will be met with a big "So what." reaction from both the public, and the newsmedia.

During which presidential election do you think that will finally happen?

Actually Gore said he smoked it while he was in Vietnam.

I think that smoking pot will soon be made legal. There is a very large underground movement to make it so. There is also too many potheads in prison and soon the government is going to see that they need the room in prisons for those who are really detrimental to society. We as a society need to treat pot just like alcohol. You already see some areas with very loose laws concerning pot. In california if you are caught with less than an ounce and it is not sectioned out for sale you get a misdemeanor citation and cut loose.

With that out of the way I think next electoin will see less of the whole drug spiel.

From where I am, Americans seem very conservative in their political views, so I picked the last one. If I had to pick New Zealand, I'd say 2008 - our next election. We have an election coming up next month, but I don't think anyone is pulling out drug scandals unfortunately.

I think it will come when Gen-Xers are running for president.

We are in our thirtysomething years now, so maybe in about fifteen to twenty years.

Get rid of that fucking sig pic.

Quite honestly I don't think it will ever be legalized. Twenty years ago, I'd of said "any day now", but it seems as more time goes by, the country gets more and more conservative when it comes to drug use, and there seems to be an ongoing tendency to lump pot with harder drugs. I realize there are several states like Washington and California that are fairly liberal, but let's face it, we live in a country that has outlawed devices meant for smoking as "drug paraphernalia" in a lame ass attempt to stop drug abuse. This makes about as much sense as making it illegal to sell shot glasses to anyone under 21 because the might use it to consume alcohol under age.

The pipe displayed at this link ( http://www.flamewerks.com/images/bea...n-pipe-001.jpg)

is a beautiful work of art. Get busted with it by a Federal DEA agent, and you could be charged with a federal felony. Get caught making it in some states and you could get up to ten years in jail. IMO, as long as this kind of idiotic law exsists in this country, there isn't a snowballs chance in a hot place pot will be legalized to the degree that tobacco and alcohol are.

Personally, I think it aught to be legal, taxed heavily, and the proceeds used exclusively for substance abuse programs. I would also advocate increasing the taxes on tobacco and alcohol, and those proceeds used in the same way as the pot tax.

I was agreeing with you til you mentioned raising tobacco taxes. Now I wish only for your death.

I take it you're a tobacco addict, with no desire to quit?

I see no reason why pot shouldn't be legalized. You're more likely to die from alcohol poisoning and lung cancer than anything pot could do to you, why shouldn't we treat it as such? And how many potheads drive? They're usually so tired they don't even want to leave the house, much less drive or beat their wives, which would be a tendency for a raging alcoholic.

I'll probably quit eventually, when the bad starts outweighing the good, but I just dont want the price to go up anymore.

I think you're wrong. It seems to me that as the country moves more conservative, it's slowly going Libertarian on drug use. It's only a matter of time until weed is legal, which will be followed by other drugs. Libertarianism and conservatism have many things in common, and a libertarian drug policy would work with a conservative gov't.

I'd like to think you're right, but I haven't seen any evidence that anti-pot laws are becoming any more liberal. It's true that Norml has and is working to reform the laws, but I don't think they're getting much of anywhere. Mandatory random drug testing, for instance, is still enforced for many people working under DoT regulations. This includes truck drivers, aircraft pilots and aircraft mechanics. In South Dakota a positive urine test or other evidence of recent marijuana use is considered possession, for which you can get one year in jail and up to a $1,000 fine. "Other evidence" can mean a cop testifying under oath that they "smelled" pot on you.

i don't think cannabis should be legalised.

i can't be bothered to type why.

Could you imagine if I was president? There'd be like, laws against gravity and shit. Yes that's right, laws against gravity, and television would be all anime, all day long, every channel, so there would be no news ever. And then you would have to come on here to get your news.

And you could sell drugs on the internet.

I beg to differ, especially considering that just in these past few months, the US reached its arm of law enforcement right past its own borders, and is currently fighting to Extradite a Canadian politician (Mark Emery, the leader of the BC Marijuana Party)

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/waw/press_.../jul/emery.htm
^^^There's the source link for the article that quote was taken from.

This is a person that the Canadian Ministry of Health has worked with previously, to supply marijuana to patients who require medicinal marijuana.