Politics As Usual

Nearly everyone agrees that we have to get money out of politics. Too many laws are bought and paid for. Hell, too many politicians are as well.

Take the legalization of marijuana. In the last week a new study came out that demonstrated the U.S. would save 9 billion dollars annually on law enforcement if marijuana were decriminalized. Another 10 billion would be saved on prisons and court costs. Not to mention the new revenue stream from a tax on marijuana and the local sales tax collected from legally operated marijuana distributors.

Furthermore, more and more regular citizens are coming to the conclusion that the war are drugs is a lost cause mostly because marijuana is included in the target products. Pot is less dangerous than alcohol - well you know the litany of reasons why we shouldn't be wasting our tax resources on pot. 

So why haven't the laws changed? Sure it's politics but do you know which lobbying groups have contributed the most to keeping marijuana illegal in the face of a majority of the voters being for legalization. Here's a list of the top five special interest groups spending money to oppose the legalization of marijuana:

1) Pharmaceutical Corporations

2) Private Prison Corporations

3) Beer & Alcohol Companies

4) Police Unions

5) Prison Guard Unions

Think about it . . .