Would You Accept a 2-Sixpack Possession Limit For Alcohol?Eric Blair Since the comparison safer than alcohol convinced many of you fence-sitters to support cannabis legalization, I ask you: would you support limits on how much alcohol a person could possess? Each of the states where recreational marijuana is legal have put restrictions on the amount allowed for personal possession. Legal weed states possession limits: Washington: Washington allows for personal possession of 1 ounce of marijuana for adults, but doesnt allow for cultivation for either personal use or distribution. Its still a class C felony to grow any amount without a commercial or medical license. Residents face a complicated step-down of fines and punishments beyond these limits and for marijuana infused items. Its considered the most restrictive legalization state so far. See more details here. Oregon: Adults in Oregon can now possess up to 8 ounces (one half pound) of cannabis flowers but are limited to carrying 1 ounce in public. Personal cultivation of 4 plants per household is also allowed under the new as long as plants are hidden from public view. Persons are also allowed to transfer 1 ounce to another party free of charge. Then a convoluted menu of permissions and punishments applies to items made from cannabis. Oregon is considered the most free of all states to date. See more on the new law here. Alaska: Alaskas new law allows for personal possession of up to an ounce in public and cultivation (or transportation) of up to 6 plants with 3 or fewer being mature flowering plants. The law also allows the personal transfer of up to an ounce to adults without remuneration. Again, these limits are followed by a graduated punishment scale. See all of the details here. You almost have to laugh imagining the authorities trying to police these arbitrary restrictions on a legal substance. It begs the question; if its safer than alcohol, to be regulated like it, why have any possession restrictions? Every pot smoker for 5000 years or longer has known that marijuana is significantly safer than alcohol. Yet it took an organized medical marijuana movement to open the door to legalization. Perhaps thats why the public is conditioned to think in terms of limited prescription amounts? The success of medical marijuana has not just been in proving its natural health benefits, but in proving to skeptics that it generates revenue and that the people involved arent scary criminals. However, just because we can legally buymedical cannabis seedsonline andwill no longer be assaulted by shady drug dealers or no-knock SWAT raids in a few states, doesnt mean freedom has been achieved yet. I never supported marijuana legalization because it has health benefits, or because its safer than alcohol, or because it can be taxed. I support legalization because I own my body, not the State. Consequently, I believe personal possession or ingestion of anything should not be a crime (nor should there ever be forced medication in any form for the same reason). When peaceful victimless behavior is criminalized, the State, by their aggressive prosecution of forbidden behavior, is the only entity creating victims. This couldnt be more obvious than the FBIs recent seizure of darknet drug markets which were self-regulated solutions to the dangerous black market created by prohibition. All participants in these marketplaces were there voluntarily and the platform reinforced honorable behavior. Few, if any, victims resulted from these markets until the FBI smashed and robbed them, kidnapping a few tech geeks for an extended stay in labor camps. It boggles my mind how anyone can still believe that an actual war with spying, guns and prisons destroying peoples futures and families is safer for society than dealing with even the worst effects of drug dependency. As Dr. Ron Paul is fond of saying, If we cant even keep drugs out of prisons, how do we expect to keep them out of a free society? At least the war on cannabis is slowly coming to an end, but theres still a long way to go before common sense is achieved. Either you own your body or not. And marijuana is either a legal substance with no possession limits or its not. Compromise on these issues is not logical or practically enforceable. More by Eric Blair 