A well written post, but you didn't really say much. You admitted that any abuse resulting from pot is more likely a result of neglect, rather than formal abuse. You admitted that alcohol causes more formal abuse than pot does, yet alcohol is legal.

While I agree that there are likely some examples of child neglect resulting from marijuana use, I sincerely doubt it is significant. If you have any studies to show which proves otherwise, please share them.

I am glad you posted this though, as I have looked at almost every angle for marijuana, except for it's role in child abuse. Thanks to you, I am going to remedy that deficiency.

I jsut started looking, but I found a decent article already on how many drug dependent people get their drugs with US tax dollars.

"Welfare systems are overburdened with drug- and alcohol-abusing mothers and their children," the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University reported in 2001.

Margaret A. Bengs: Drug abuse, alcohol add to child neglect - Sacramento Opinion - Sacramento Editorial | Sacramento Bee

So glad we have welfare so that we enable drunks and addicts to be able to get their fix through the tax dollars of working people.

Another piece........

Child maltreatment has become a national epidemic. More than one million children are confirmed each year as victims of child abuse and neglect by state child protective service agencies4. Every day at least three children die as a result of abuse and neglect4. State child welfare records indicate that substance abuse is one of the top two problems exhibited by families in 81% of the reported cases.

Do parental alcohol or other drug problems cause child maltreatment?
Recent research on the connection between these problems and child maltreatment clearly indicates a connection between the two behaviors. Among confirmed cases of child maltreatment, 40% involve the use of alcohol or other drugs5. This suggests that of the 1.2 million confirmed victims of child maltreatment, an estimated 480,000 children are mistreated each year by a caretaker with alcohol or other drug problems5. Additionally, research suggests that alcohol and other drug problems are factors in a majority of cases of emotional abuse and neglect. In fact, neglect is the major reason that children are removed from a home in which parents have alcohol or other drug problems. Children in these homes suffer from a variety of physical, mental, and emotional health problems at a greater rate than children in the general population6. Children of alcoholics suffer more injuries and poisonings than children in the general population.

Child abuse prevention, child abuse education, Code Amber Alert by child abuse.com

btw, your so-called Gateway theory has been shot to hell. Do you know how to use a search engine?

It is truly frustrating when people post myths as facts and they are simply too lazy to educate themselves on something which has been proven false.

Marijuana And The Gateway Theory

Gateway Theory | Drug War Facts

The 1993 National Household Survey indicates that 79% of regular marijuana users do not use any other illicit drug.(10)

Marijuana Research: The Gateway Theory -- Marijuana Use and Other Drug Use

Erowid Psychoactive Statistics Vault : Debunking the Gateway Theory, by Erowid

RAND STUDY CASTS DOUBT ON CLAIMS THAT MARIJUANA
ACTS AS "GATEWAY" TO THE USE OF COCAINE AND HEROIN

RAND | News Release | RAND Study Casts Doubt on Claims That Marijuana Acts as "Gateway" to the Use of Cocaine and Heroin

The average age of first marijuana use is 17, and only 9% of first time marijuana smokers have not previously tried alcohol and/or cigarettes.

STATS:

A long-standing special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs, headed by Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, held hearings on the issue as well. In May 2002, the committee presented a "discussion paper," summarizing the scientific evidence and opinion on marijuana, including:

* Marijuana is "not a gateway" to harder drugs, such as cocaine and heroin
* Fewer than 10 per cent of users become addicted
* A lot of public money is spent on law enforcement, even though public policies don't seem to discourage use of drug

In September 2002, the committee released its final report saying, in part, that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and should be governed by the same sort of regulations.

"Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health issue," said Nolin.

CBC News Indepth: Marijuana

Just a few pieces which all destroy the so-called Gateway Theory.

There is more, but I am tired of having to educate people who have allowed propaganda and lies to shape their opinions.

SOOOO FUCKING TRUE!! I wish people would regrow the part of the brain that governs common sense.

Actually, a lot of people don't even get high the first time they smoke weed. I don't know why, that's just the way it is. And pot is not a gateway drug. When you drink beer do you start to crave 100 proof grain alcohol? No, of coarse not, So please, drop the government propaganda. It's absurd.
I,... and I think I speak for most of the other anti-cannabis prohibitionists here... understand that legalizing Cannabis will have both good and bad effects. What I'm saying is that the good outweighs the bad. Far, far outweighs the bad. I know how cannabis prohibition began, For decades, I've seen firsthand the lie's and misinformation spread by the Government about cannabis. I've seen the multi-billion dollar enforcement, prosecution and privatized Prison system that has grown up around it. You simply cannot tell me its not about money.
You have one very good point about anti-cannabis prohibition advocates...My views on the issue are set in stone and there's not a damn thing that you can say that is going to change that. I think people who think like you have control issues and should probably work on controlling your own lives a little better and not be so concerned with how others want to live their lives.

Actually, I have no problem with making those legal. If they want to smoke on board, let them. I just won't use their services. That said, I kind of doubt that the airline company hiring the company would hire people who smoke weed while flying, so it's really a non-issue.Of course they can be addictive. Maybe you won't suffer physical effects from withdrawal (talking about drugs in general), but you can still suffer mental effects, like a strong desire to do it again (eat a lot). Do you think people enjoy being obese? You don't think it has to do with a strong desire to eat fatty foods?Once again, children have no guarantee of free service. If someone stops coming to work or is late all the time, I'll stop using his services. I'm not going to whine about the weed, since he could be out of action for any number of reasons, including laziness.We've already tested this out with alcohol Prohibition. The constant is that prohibition breeds organized crime and is a massive failure.This can be said about video games, too. The 100th time just isn't as great. And I want more and more video games. Of course, it depends on the person and can be applied to almost anything, so why single out drugs?

In any case, as someone already said, does drinking bear make you want to drink rubbing alcohol?Yes, it probably will. But personal use of drugs is certainly not among that "something."And the overwhelming monopoly on reason goes towards legalizing all personal recreational drug use.Yes, I know, it's all about "me me me" and how it will affect you. How badly you'll feel about "your" environment when there are some people whom you don't consider to be model citizens.Well, in this case, the "God" (drugs) pretty much kicked you in the balls and videotaped it for everyone to see. Your position is stupid.

Would you like to re-think this before I begin my rebuttal?

Alcohol is legal and they are not allowed to drink, at least during or within the hours of their job. Yes the business owner has the right to do within their means necessary to keep their employees and customers work environment safe. Now while I would like them to use impairment testing over metabolite drug tests, many are going to go for the latter. Though impairment testing is cheaper, more effective, less invasive, and allows for the personal privacy and freedom of their employees.
There is little evidence of a physical addiction with the use of cannabis. The national institute of medicine puts the rate of dependence among cannabis users at 9%, while alcohol is at 15%, cocaine 17%, heroin 23%, and tobacco 32%. This is according to the DSM criteria for drug dependence. On top of that, many experts say that cannabis is about as addictive, if not less addictive than caffeine.
See above comments.

I also know damn well that if cannabis is not working like it use to do, that all someone has to do is stop for several weeks to a month and the highs are just like the first time.(Sometimes it is even stronger than their first time) Not an issue at all.
There is no evidence that prohibition/decriminalization/legalization has any significant bearing on use in one direction or the other. Anyone can for the most part get any drug they want right now. Most just have no interest in using those drugs. For example if all drugs were legal, would you ingest any new drugs? No and neither would 80+% of the population.

I understand that there is another side to the drug war argument. As for the marijuana legalization argument, there really is not credible argument unless the opponent wants to bring back alcohol prohibition and add tobacco and caffeine as well to the banned list as those drugs are all more harmful to the body than cannabis.

How is it, that the general government of the Union, can trample States' rights concerning the only delegated power to Prohibit commerce that was repealed.

Even though every elected official ever sworn into office has taken an oath, with their hand on a Bible, and swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States, I can only think of one current politician that has not broken that oath. He is a Republican Congressman from Texas by the name of Ron Paul. Think about that for a moment....out of all the politicians in office there is only one who completely abides by his sworn duty.
I can say without a doubt , if every politician since 1900 had done what they were sworn to do, this country would of never gotten to be the ginormous clusterfuck that it is today..

I would agree with you except for the fact that we still have a Drug War, and Dr. Paul is wasting resources trying to abolish the Fed.

Surely you jest...The fed is the hub. Getting rid of the Fed is key....The fed has made our money worthless. They are the root cause of all our monetary woes. They have raped the dollar and put so much into circulation that Inflation has robbed us of our savings. In case your not aware, the dollar is the walking dead.
There is only two choices for the Dollar. Either it will fail completely and everyone holding Dollars will lose everything, or they will devalue it like what the Mexican government has done to the Peso a couple of times. You go to sleep with $100,000.00, you wake up with $10,000.00....Or there's always the a new currency option, like the AMERO.

You are definitely wrong. The fed must lose it's charter before we will ever get back to a stable currency.

If politicians had followed their oaths of office, the Drug war would not exist. It is un-Constitutional.

Where are you getting your information from? Our current US inflation rate is -0.4 percent. (Current Inflation, Current Inflation Rate)

The Fed. has no authority of over fiscal policy. Massive deficits or surpluses can be attributed to domestic and foreign policy decisions by the chief magistrate of the Union.

One has nothing to do with the other, since each is a separate public policy and institution. Both were created by acts of Congress and are nominally or actually, part of the executive branch of our federal government.

You have already stated that you believe the drug war is not Constitutional. Shouldn't Dr. Paul be drafting resolutions every year to abolish the drug war instead of the Fed?

Even if we ended the unconstitutional war on drugs, it wouldn't change the big picture. The power of the FED is enormous and must be removed if this this country is to have a chance to change course.

If recent events have not alerted you to the dangers of the FED, then you are not half as smart as you think.

Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn't require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where their money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return.

Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Disclose (Update2) - Bloomberg.com

HUH? Federal Reserve refuses to tell Congress where money has gone? Who exactly is running the US, Congress, or the FED?

THEN WE HAVE THIS TIDBIT.......

Congressman Wants to Know Why Geithner Contradicted Congressional Testimony in 24 Hours
Friday, March 27, 2009

Geithner told Congress under oath Tuesday that he wouldn’t consider China’s proposal to shift away from the U.S. dollar toward a world currency -- then the following day (Wednesday) said the U.S. would “be open” to the idea.

Rep. John Shadegg (R.-Ariz.) thinks the Treasury secretary's swift about face demands an explanation.

CNSNews.com - Congressman Wants to Know Why Geithner Contradicted Congressional Testimony in 24 Hours

And btw, where do you get your information? Your numbers for inflation are a fucking joke. Please tell me you don't believe the official numbers. CPI is the most manipulated of all the economic statistics. This under reporting saves the government many billions of dollars in interest payments and cost of living increases to Social Security recipients.

If you would care to educate yourself........

US Manipulated CPI Inflation Statistics- Stagflation 1980 and Now :: The Market Oracle :: Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting Free Website

Does the Government Manipulate Economic Data? at Emac’s Stock Watch | Fox Business



Grand Illusion: The Federal Reserve (Part 1) -- Seeking Alpha

I would of replied to this but NR has already done an exemplary job. Daniel, one would have to live in a vacuum to see the Governments inflation stats as anything but false. If you don't buy groceries week after week, or buy clothes and shoes for the kids, or pay tuition for their education or purchase anything wholesale or retail, if you never go out to eat or buy parts or have your car serviced, if you don't spend money anywhere, then, and only then, could you possibly not notice the rapid rise in prices, continually, across the board. How anyone could seriously make the statement that the inflation rate is at 0.4% is beyond my scope of comprehension.

I don't just believe the WOD is Un-Constitutional, I know it is. And as much as it is a blight upon humanity, Dr. Paul is doing exactly what is necessary to start the domino effect that will make this whole house of cards collapse. Without the ability to generate (seemingly) unlimited amounts of cash, funding for the WOD as well as our imperialistic occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and our policing of the World, will no longer be available. Then and only then, will you be able to save a Dollar and have it still buy the same amount of goods and services a month later.........0.4%........I can't believe you even said that...

Are you implying that Congress would do a better job than the Fed. at money management?

The drug war is unconstitutional, costs money, and reduces the amount of revenue we collect from taxes.

I got those numbers from economy watch.