What? You go from embryonic stem cell research to gambling to marijuana legalization, where's the connection?

I get the jobs connection, but plain and simple you are confusing economics with social policy. Let me lay it out for you.

Embryonic stem cell research involves the potential for killing human life, and doing so with funding from taxpayers. Gambling has to do with a zero-sum game, where one loses and another (the casino) wins; wealth is transferred through the gambling, only the casino wins.

Marijuana legalization is another matter entirely. Are you going to argue that we should prohibit alcohol again? What about cigarettes? What makes marijuana either a threat to human life, or a zero-sum game? In fact, if marijuana was legal, like alcohol, it could be sold, at a profit, which, the last time I checked, was what FREE MARKET ECONOMICS is all about.

Proposal 2 would create jobs, but they'd all be government funded jobs (or more rightly taxpayer-funded jobs). Casinos fund jobs through their "profits" which are assured as they take other's wealth in exchange for a good time. In actuality, I have no problems with legalized gambling, the real problem is when some dumbo loses their families savings trying to make the big kill. This is a prime example of "the love of money is the root of all evil."

Marijuana legalization would do a lot of things for our economy. First, it would allow our governments to stop interdiction, which would save money AND free up resources for more REAL CRIMES. Secondly, crime would not have to be a part of the equation, since it would be legal. How many legal businesses participate in legal activities? Not many. Thirdly, it would put marijuana into a category where individuals would make money from the sale to people who wanted the product - free markets.