IS IT TIME TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA?

As students at Vicksburg High School, we were asked to share our
opinion on what we did not like about our world. One of the topics was
drug-related crime.

I thought to myself for a minute about this, realizing that a lot of
crime on the streets does come from the illegal sales of marijuana. I
decided to do some research on why sale and possession of marijuana
are illegal.

After reading articles from both sides, I realized the sale of
marijuana was mostly outlawed because there was no way to control it.
It is too easily grown in the United States, therefore making it
extremely hard for the government to tax the sale of it.

If the possession and sale of marijuana were legalized, the crime rate
of larger cities, such as Kalamazoo, would go down.

I then took a poll of students and adults around the community to see
what their opinion was. In my class alone, I was shocked to discover
that about two-thirds of the class also felt the legalization of
marijuana would help decrease the crime rate. I then asked adults and
found again that two-thirds also agreed.

Maybe if the government wasn't so worried about who's having fun at
parties and focused more on who's dealing in the streets, we'd be better off.

Scott Krieger,

Vicksburg High School