MARIJUANA'S ILLEGALITY KEEPS MORE HARMFUL DRUGS IN CHECK

Anybody who has ever read about marijuana knows that it isn't nearly as bad
as the government makes it out to be.

In most people's eyes, smoking marijuana is about as bad as getting drunk.

The inquiring mind then asks why, if marijuana is so harmless, isn't it
legal? Why not bring it out in the open and do away with the hush-hush
mystique that surrounds it?

The problem is that once you legalize it, all the fun ends.

Part of the attraction to smoking weed is the mystique that surrounds it.

It's illegal and everybody knows it. Obtaining that extra special dime bag
of kind bud is a top secret, clandestine operation.

And if you get caught, so what? You pay a fine, maybe spend a night in jail
and then you go home. You have a story to tell your friends and a moment you
can look back on and think, "At least I was risky and courageous once in my
life."

You make it legal, and people will look to other, more dangerous activities
in order to get their thrill-seeking juices flowing.

This becomes a problem for the authorities, people who have dedicated their
lives to stopping us from doing anything remotely irresponsible. Now, they
deal primarily with a few kids huddled around a pop can with holes poked in
the side. Once marijuana is legalized, they have crack heads and heroin
addicts cruising the streets, screaming obscenities and stealing whatever
they can get their hands on.

And the number of people addicted to those drugs will only increase as
people look for new ways to fulfill their need to act out against the
establishment.

This means more treatment facilities, more tax dollars to fund crime
prevention programs and more pointless self-help books about the best way to
deal with your intrinsic-addictive behavior.

So even those who abstain from the use of such things will be affected.

We have a good thing going. Marijuana is illegal, but the consequences of
getting caught are relatively light as long as you aren't selling. Once you
grow up and get tired of it, you can quit it with ease.

Other drugs, like heroin, cocaine and some hallucinogens, have months of
hard work followed by an eventual relapse. Some withdrawal stages can even
kill you if not done properly.

Keeping marijuana illegal lets the socially irresponsible have their secret
fun with little harm to the surrounding community and it keeps worse things
at bay. Making it legal opens up a Pandora's box of craziness.

So fight the power. Fight the enemies of fun. Illegalize it.