HERE'S THE DOPE ON WHY POT SHOULD BE LEGAL

Every college should be a free marketplace of ideas where all perspectives
joust. Yet even to consider legalizing marijuana is often unacceptable in
academic company. But because all public policy should be rationally
debated, let's at least look at some legalization arguments.

I wish no one used any recreational drug. I avoid them all. But if we must
outlaw everything that is potentially dangerous, then we need a federal 30
mph speed limit and a ban on fatty foods greasing the obesity epidemic that
kills more than 300,000 Americans annually.

Somehow we survived legal marijuana until 1937. Hemp actually helped
finance our revolution, clothe the Continental Army and provide the paper
for our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. George Washington
and Thomas Jefferson grew it for fiber. In fact, before 1870, hemp oil
ranked second only to whale oil in creating light around the world. During
World War II, the feds pushed hemp production to make rope for the war effort.

Dope was banned because federal cops wanted to keep their jobs, cotton
farmers wanted to end hemp competition, and whites linked pot to Mexican
immigrants and black jazz musicians. Louis Armstrong never performed
without it, and a later user, Beatle Paul McCartney, calls joints "herbal
jazz cigarettes."

Caucasians feared white girls would "go crazy" on dope and become intimate
with minority males. So, to avert "Reefer Madness," the weed was outlawed
instead of the cancer sticks, liver poison and "Mother's Little Helper"
pills preferred by the ruling class.

Now an estimated 500,000 Americans are in jail for marijuana (and more than
700,000 are arrested for it each year, according to the FBI). Pot smokers
get locked up with and brutalized by our most violent felons. How's that
for "rehabilitation"? Then their records deny them student loans, voting
rights and many good jobs. Does our abuse of drug users resemble how we
used to mistreat the mentally ill? Medical evidence shows drug addicts are
unwisely self-medicating a dopamine deficiency in the brain. They need
treatment, not an 8-by-10 cell. How do you think future generations will
judge us?

Commentator William F. Buckley Jr. notes that 400,000 police can't go after
violence and theft due to the endless "War on Drugs." Why not tax our
biggest cash crop and let cops chase violent felons?

Doesn't prohibition fuel the forbidden fruit syndrome? The 1920s' alcohol
ban criminalized a huge percentage of decent Americans, created organized
crime in the United States and corrupted thousands of police and officials.

Is pot remotely as bad as alcohol or cigarettes? CBS News reported that
half of U.S. hospital beds are filled by folks with alcohol-related
problems. Then we have 110,000 alcohol-lubricated deaths a year. Also, the
Justice Department admits that alcohol was the only drug found in 36
percent of all convicted criminals and is a factor in more than 40 percent
of murders.

Cigarettes are as addictive as heroin, do far more bodily harm than any
opiate and kill 430,000 Americans a year.

Though pot is psychologically addictive for some, no one ever overdosed,
got cancer or died from marijuana. Nor do people get violent on it. Also,
studies show most pot smokers do not graduate to harder, illegal drugs.

Since decriminalization in Holland, police say, pot use is down and youths
are less exposed to illegal drug dealers and worse substances. In fact,
most of Europe is now doing the same and has far less drug use and crime
than we do. With effective health classes and ad campaigns, U.S. tobacco
and alcohol consumption are way down. Better education can lower pot use as
well.

Though many states have passed referenda liberalizing marijuana laws, the
feds keep vetoing our constitutional democratic states' rights. Ultimately,
either we're for less government or we're not.

Is it really state business what consenting adults do in their own home?
Must we have a national nanny state with Big Brother jailing citizens for
weed? Wouldn't our libertarian Founding Fathers be appalled at this gross
encroachment on our privacy rights?

Let's at least debate returning to our roots and finally standing up for
freedom. Exactly why not?