FREE MARY JANE - THE CONTROVERSARY OVER MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION

It's my turn to be taken seriously. To accomplish this, I will do an
in-depth opinion piece on a controversial topic -- marijuana
legalization.

Okay, stop snickering. You could at least give me a chance; why don't
you read my story before you judge it (although your judgment's
probably right.)

What of this legal marijuana? Do you think it's a good thing or a bad
thing? I won't mention my opinion just yet because I don't want you to
let my opinion guide the way that you read this article.

Instead of presenting my own opinion first in this article, I thought
that I would pose two questions to some of my fellow seniors and
teachers and get their responses. The questions were (1) Do you think
marijuana should be legalized and (2) What pros and cons would legal
marijuana have.

The following comments and quips are in response to the first question
about whether or not marijuana should be made legal:

"With more research anything might have a great benefit. But why
legalize marijuana; the government should be working to make fast food
illegal. I would bet McDonald's kills more people each year than marijuana."

"If marijuana was ever legalized for medical purposes it would be one
step closer to total legalization or over usage. Marijuana would be
easier to get and probably would be misused and over used."

"Only for cancer patients."

"Yes and no. I believe that marijuana should only be legalized by a
medical specialist to patients with a terminal illness. This drug
should only be used to ease a dying person's pain, not for young
pill-poppers to experiment with. Marijuana is often glorified by the
media and public figures, but I believe that it should only be used
for serious medical conditions."

If marijuana was legal, "it would put my drug dealer out of
business."

Now, answers to the question, "What pros and cons would legal
marijuana have?"

Con: "It will inevitably be abused!"

Pro: "If in pill form and in strict regulations the drug could help the
dying have peace."

Con: "It would . . . cause society to disintegrate, crime to increase,
and family life to disappear."

Pro: "Aid in medical condition . . ."

Con: "There is no need for marijuana to be legalized because there are
other pain prescriptions. It kills brain cells and is an illegal
narcotic! There are serious side effects that other prescriptions do
not have. You can pass on problems and disabilities to your children or
become infertile men and women."

There you have it; very valid points raised by the future of
America.

Now for my opinion. I believe that, at this time, marijuana should not
be legalized. Think about it, if medicinal marijuana was made legal,
you'd have doctor's offices all throughout the U.S. filled with people
saying the same thing "I've got a scratchy throat; gimme' some marijuana!"

Cheech and Chong would be happy but its not a good idea at this point
in time. Besides, scientists have made such advances that they've
isolated the chemical in marijuana that causes potheads to get "the
munchies." They've put this chemical in pill-form to give to AIDS
patients to keep their appetites up so as to remain at a healthy
enough weight to receive proper treatment. If they can isolate the
part of the drug that they need, why do they (the doctors) need to
give the entire leaf to patients?

As I close, I would like the readers to know that, to properly draw
their own conclusions, they should look beyond this article (which
doesn't even scratch the surface) and do some research. Just remember
to be leary of sources that might be inappropriate or unjustly biased.
Also, I would like to thank my classmates and teachers for so freely
sharing their informative, and sometimes off-hand, responses.

Katherine Glaser is a teen staff writer for the Laurel Leader-Call