END MARIJUANA CONSUMPTION, CEASE VIOLENCE

Americans Should Stop Smoking Weed to Prevent Mexican Bloodshed, Make
Step Towards Legalization

A couple of weeks ago, The Daily Gamecock featured an editorial that
stated that U.S. demand for marijuana funds drug cartels in Mexico.
Students reacted with letters to the editor and the online version
was besieged with comments. Most of these students recognized that
their use of pot fed the violence in Mexico, yet they failed to take
any responsibility for it.

Almost ubiquitous among these comments was the suggestion that the
government legalize weed. It is true that if weed were legalized,
Mexican drug cartels, which mainly rely on marijuana, would be dealt
a lethal blow and many U.S. problems would evaporate. But the
responsibility for the bloodshed in Mexico can't be entirely blamed
on our government. We buy the product. We are the consumers, and in a
capitalist society, the power of the dollar is often more influential
than the power of the vote.

The argument of the aforementioned students is completely illogical
at best, sadistic at worst. They say that it's the government's fault
that people are dying due to their hobby. They fail to realize that
they can put down the joint at any time.

I believe that weed should be legal. I have smoked weed before, but I
pledge to do it no longer. I support marijuana rights, but that
doesn't mean that I'm going to keep using it and contributing to the
degradation of an entire country.

This is how you should convince to government to legalize it. Put the
drug down. Show them that it's not an addiction. Show them that you
would rather save lives than get high. March on Washington D.C.
Assemble, protest, write to Congress.

Don't put up a Bob Marley poster, get stoned and rant on The Daily
Gamecock's Web site. You're not helping the pot movement. You're
showing the rest of society that you would rather do something
illegal and fund drug cartels than show responsibility and petition
for legalization in a smart legitimate way.

Sure, if everyone keeps on smoking pot it will no doubt be legalized.
But it will be at a high cost. Many compare the situation in Mexico
to that of the U.S. during prohibition. Yes, everyone kept on
drinking and eventually the 18th Amendment was repealed. But not
before illegal consumption of alcohol ushered in the gangster era and
tore this country apart. If only people had put down the moonshine -
thus discrediting reason for prohibition in the first place, the idea
that people couldn't responsibly handle alcohol - and marched on
Washington demanding their rights back. Or simply voted in people who
supported alcohol. Bob Marley said legalize it. He also sang about
peace. You can have both things, you just have to go about it the
right way. Put the joint down, pick up a picket sign, and we'll see
legalization sooner than you think.