HIGHLY LIBERATING

Legalizing Marijuana Would Do More to Facilitate Open Conversation
About Drug Use With Teenagers and Undermine Mexican Drug Cartels

The possession and use of marijuana for recreational purposes is
illegal in America, but anyone who has spent even a brief time at the
University knows that it is a highly visible substance both on
Grounds and in the surrounding community.

In fact, it has become so prevalent that one occasionally spots a
student walking to class in broad daylight with a blunt dangling
carelessly from his mouth.

Thankfully, the consequences of this legal failure are fairly minimal
for those in the University community. Other than the occasional
spectacle of a stoned classmate or the minor annoyance of a smoky
bathroom, there are few external effects of marijuana usage for
University students.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for youths living in America's
drug-ravaged neighbor to the south: Mexico. This fact was brutally
illustrated last weekend when ten students, aged 8 to 21, were gunned
down on their way to the town of Los Naranjos to pick up federal
financial aid. These slayings were not random violence -- they were a
part of the systematic campaign of terror and destruction that
Mexico's drug cartels have waged on the government, the general
populace and one another since a military crackdown on their
operations began in late 2006. In the span of a little over three
years, at least 6,500 Mexicans have been killed while individuals
north of the border have remained blithely unaware that the primary
cause of this conflict is not the cartels' greed and savagery, the
corruption in the Mexican police force or the drugs themselves, but
rather the tragically misguided policy of the United States
government to prohibit the sale and consumption of marijuana.

Suggesting that this policy be changed may sound radical to those who
do not face daily the destructive effects of marijuana prohibition,
but it is an argument that at least deserves to be taken seriously
due to its profound importance for the future of both our own nation
and that of Mexico. By legalizing marijuana, the U.S. government
would undercut the primary source of funding for the Mexican drug cartels.

The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that the
sale of marijuana on the U.S. market constitutes 60 percent of the
cartels' annual revenue, most of which goes toward subsidizing the
purchase of the guns, explosives and torture devices that the cartels
use to conduct the conflict.

With marijuana legalized, the cartels would not only be deprived of
the funds needed to wage such a bloody war, but they would also have
no incentive to continue doing so. The sale of marijuana would
finally be out in the open, eliminating the perfect storm of economic
factors -- high demand and restricted supply -- that have served to
make marijuana such a profitable product.

Individuals could then start legitimate business operations that
would cultivate and sell marijuana at reasonable prices, a necessary
outcome because of market competition.

This would not, of course, give the green light for all Americans to
become marijuana users.

Marijuana would have to be regulated and taxed, much like alcohol and
tobacco, so that minors could not obtain it, users were aware of the
risks and those who willfully partook of it to the detriment of their
own health would have to pay the cost. Additionally, it would be
necessary for the government to launch a concerted effort similar to
the immensely successful anti-tobacco campaign in order to dissuade
individuals from using the substance.

By no longer refusing to acknowledge marijuana's presence in United
States, however, the government could finally move away from
addressing marijuana usage as a legal issue and instead start
focusing on it as a matter of public health.

There is no logic behind the fear that such an approach would turn
the nation into a land of individuals who would regularly skip work
and shirk responsibility just to get high. For decades, the
government has attempted to restrict marijuana use through legal
measures, yet the drug remains as popular as ever. Although middle
and upper class parents may not like to admit it, many of their
children are already using marijuana; making it legal would actually
shed some light on this aspect of individuals' lives and it would
allow for mature discussion about the hazards of such a lifestyle.

Furthermore, marijuana usage is very high in poor communities and the
legal response to this has only worsened the situation. By needlessly
incarcerating small-time drug users and dealers, American "justice"
has merely served to put those individuals into closer contact with
real criminals and to worsen their chances for economic success upon
their releases.

Legalizing marijuana would remedy this problem and would likely lead
to a reduction in poverty and violence both in Mexico and in
America's suffering inner-city communities.

Those opposed to marijuana legalization need to explain why they
believe that the murder, terror and ruin caused by the drug wars in
Mexico and in America's inner cities are preferable to whatever
negative impacts they feel legalization would have. Pretending that
U.S. policy has been successful at protecting our nation's citizens
from the ill effects of drugs may be easy and convenient, but it
ignores the plight of those outside of our bubble who have been left
vulnerable by the fatal flaws of prohibition.