ANTI-MARIJUANA, PRO-ILLEGALIZATION

"Acapulco Gold" Not the Lesser of Two Evils

Americans did not start opining for the legalization of cannabis until
the early seventies, long after its initial prohibition.

Federal law classifies "buddah" as a schedule-one drug amongst other
favorites like methamphetamine, oxycontin and heroin. Marijuana has
"70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke and has
the potential to cause cancer of the lungs and respiratory tract,"
states the Surgeon General's warning.

"Acapulco Gold" is also at the heart of over 62 percent of drug
rehabilitation cases. Some people say it's because the law punishes
people who are doing relatively nothing wrong. However, once the drug
is legal this percent will not dwindle, thanks to marijuana's
psychosis effects.

While it takes alcohol an average eight hours to leave your system,
"green" can cause short-term impairments for up to three days.

"Reefer" is in no way the lesser of two evils when comparing it to
alcohol. Alcohol causes bad incidents and can kill people, but most
people learn to drink better after their formative years and usually
don't drink all day; "not-hemp" on the other hand is the leading cause
of schizophrenia and psychosis in people under 18 and can be consumed
all day long with no hangover or recourse. It doesn't help that
pro-pot legislation, (as in the recent Amendment 44 case in Colorado)
usually allows teens as young as 15 to buy "buds."

At the end of the day, whether "wacky-backy" is legalized or not, it
is already too imbedded in our social conscious for anything
revelatory to take place due to a newfound legality. The pro-pot
movement does not have enough ammo to make the government take any
notice. It is a topic for peacetime when the country has really
nothing noticeable to talk about.

Most college students try "skunkweed," but do so as a rite of passage
and not as a life choice. It's a taste of rebellion to appreciate and
decide the rules of their generation. Being legal, however, "cheebah"
would no longer serve as a passageway and would become only another ID
required item behind the counter at 7-Eleven.

An issue that has a much better chance to succeed is the lowering of
sentencing for possession. To turn jail time into a large fee would
shrink our jails and protect our young in the long run, rather than
making marijuana a part of American life.