MARIJUANA LAWS OPPRESS US ALL

More than 847,000 individuals are arrested per year in America due to
repressive marijuana laws.

It is puzzling to me that it is legal to purchase, distribute and
consume alcohol and tobacco, yet marijuana remains a criminal
substance. Roughly 50,000 people die from alcohol poisoning and
400,000 due to health complications attributed to tobacco usage every
single year.

Marijuana has yet to take a single life. According to the medical
journal The Lancet, marijuana causes no harm to an individual's health.

In reality, "no acute lethal overdoses of cannabis are known,"
according to an article in British Medical Journal by M.D. Steven Sydney.

That begs the question: What reasons are there for prohibition of the
consumption, cultivation, and distribution of marijuana?

If the reason is due to the intoxication one undergoes through the
smoking or baking of marijuana -- the "high" -- we also must consider
alcohol and tobacco, which are quite legal and also alter the
consciousness of the consumer. This contradiction, coupled with the
arbitrary punishments, should no longer be bearable for the American people.

As a modern society, founded in logic and reason, our public policies
should reflect our views. According to NORML.org -- the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws -- 25 million Americans
admitted to having smoked marijuana. Those 25 million Americans
represent a significant minority, and their concerns should be of
concern to our government.

Throughout America's history, our predecessors have established our
rights as citizens, and we -- the citizens of this country -- have
been bound by necessity to fight for our freedoms. American society
has maintained that we have a right to live under rational law that
protects the self from the acts of others. And, we have made explicit
our convictions that the rule of law has no jurisdiction in personal
matters that don't affect others in an invasive manner. Therefore,
the consumption of cannabis -- at no cost to anyone but yourself --
does not present a rational justification for a stringent set of laws
and regulations that prohibit you from doing so.

To be clear, decriminalization would simply allow people to cultivate
and possess small amounts of marijuana. We aren't talking about
legalizing the drug trade. Drug dealers won't be free to roam the
streets anymore than they are today. We are talking about a small
step in the right direction. We are talking about progress.

Although the question of whether or not marijuana should be
decriminalized appears to revolve around the argument of whether or
not marijuana is harmful, this is not the question that lies at the
core of this issue. The discussion of whether or not marijuana should
be decriminalized is more closely associated with whether or not an
individual should have the right to choose whether or not they want
to consume marijuana. You are not free to consume marijuana, and you
should be, because the state does not have the right to do make that
choice for you.

"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free
our mind." Bob Marley