Want to get your state to legalize weed? Cut them in on the profits. As poor a reason as it is, the tax revenue is why states like CA are allowing it.
Loudmouths with no understanding will try arguing that it is for health reasons. If that were the case then why the hell would tobacco and alcohol be legal? Others will say that it is because of an association with crime. Nice circular reasoning there. Make something illegal then say only criminals use it.
The "drug war" started when I was in high school. Since then it has only hurt a lot of people. It has not stopped anyone from using, or even raised the price much. What a total boondoggle! The real question is not why legalize it, rather why is it illegal in the first place?
This:
http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-marijuana-illegal/America’s first marijuana law was enacted at Jamestown Colony, Virginia in 1619. It was a law “ordering” all farmers to grow Indian hempseed. There were several other “must grow” laws over the next 200 years (you could be jailed for not growing hemp during times of shortage in Virginia between 1763 and 1767), and during most of that time, hemp was legal tender (you could even pay your taxes with hemp — try that today!)
~Bruno~