CANNABIS SHOULD BE LEGAL, TAXED

Things in our environment, from the air we breathe to the food we
ingest and cars we drive, all have toxic elements associated with them.

This statement is also true with food, over-the-counter medications
and prescription medications.

There are risks versus benefits with virtually everything we encounter
in life which must be weighed as the consumer decides what path to
take in given situations.

Prohibitionists have over exaggerated the harms of cannabis
consumption. In this there is no doubt as pharmaceutical companies
(major funders of war on cannabis) have bucks invested in their
chemical cocktails and the last thing they and prohibitionist
physicians want is for folks to not visit them for their chemical
cocktails. For the ailments cannabis helps treat, if the patient grows
his own medicines they lose big bucks.

This does not take a rocket scientist to figure out. For me it comes
down to the right of choice and personal freedom in which we the
consumer in a free country should have the freedom and basic human
right to consume as we choose, taking the course of action we see fit,
not limited by monopolies with vested interests.

Cannabis prohibition is discriminatory and goes against the very
fabrics of freedom in which our country was founded. Furthermore
trying to limit a man's appetite through legislation is
counterproductive to society and breeds more corruption. Want to see
our failing economy rebound? Legalize and tax marijuana.

Mikel Zorn

Bloomington