The quickest way to ease the budget crisis

[jmowreader]

Move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule V.

Crack and meth are Schedule I drugs.
Cough syrup with codeine is a Schedule V drug.

[JackRiddler]

1. It would be good, but not much as a solution for public budgets...

By the way, who is the woman in your avatar? Thanks.

Oh, it seems the graphic is called Zap Mama, so I presume it's one of them? I saw them live twice, many years ago...

[jmowreader]

2. It would actually do a LOT for the public budget

You ever see anyone do jail time for cough syrup?

Schedule V drugs are kinda weird. They're controlled substances, but all you've got to do to get them is to walk up to the pharmacist and ask. You usually need to be 21 years old to purchase the drugs, you must promise to use them only for accepted medical uses, you've got to fill out a register and you are limited in how much you buy. But with pot reduced to a schedule where distribution is a civil infraction, we can relieve the drastic overcrowding in our prisons--and if we're going to start busting teabaggers and Republican congressmen for advocating fiscal malfeasance, we need somewhere to put them.

With marijuana in Schedule V, it can still be considered an illegal drug if sold for non-medicinal purposes or by non-pharmacists/pharmacy techs. (Google "purple drank.") It can also be taxed.

So let's see...tax money comes rolling in, pot users don't get thrown in jail anymore and Rite Aid makes money hand over fist. What's not to like?

[JackRiddler]

3. No one here is more for it than me. Except it shouldn't be Schedule V.

It should be legal, period. Like it was for all time before Prohibition started. Let the prisoners go and invest the difference wisely!

(Why should Rite Aid make that money?)