SHOULD MARIJUANA BE LEGALIZED?

A column for marijuana

Sticky subject or not...let's just get to the meat of the issue. Whether you
are a pothead and simply just want easy access to your drug of choice is
beside the point here. Let's look at some other legal drugs of choice and
the negative consequences they offer. First and foremost, alcohol. In
"Addictions, A Comprehensive Guidebook," author Elizabeth Epstein states
that approximately 50 percent of violent crimes in the U.S. involve the use
of alcohol. We could go through countless other statistics on the direct
correlation of violent behavior and alcohol, but let's move on. No doubt,
marijuana does significantly alter one's mood, but the overall bodily
effects of it come no where near the damage alcohol does to someone's body.
In fact, there is no recorded death caused by acute marijuana use.

This does not ring true, however, for its somewhat 'lesser' of a counter
part, that is to say, the almighty cigarette. We all know what kind of
damage is done by smoking cigarettes and even second-hand smoke, so again
I'll spare the anecdotes. There is a major campaign going on right now
against cigarettes and the tobacco companies. Perhaps you've seen them, the
notorious "Truth" campaigns. Did you see the ad where it lists all the
different chemicals in cigarettes? I got sick just watching. At least
marijuana is all-natural.

I imagine none of this information is new to anyone, and neither is the
whole "legalizing marijuana will shut down the black market and make it more
difficult for underage kids to have access to it" argument, so let's explore
some other issues. Think of all the money spent by our government annually
to fight the war on drugs. Can you imagine if all the money spent on ridding
America of pot (legal fees, etc.) was spent on education? Perhaps our
schools would not be in the shape they are in now.

Here's something else to think on. What if the founders of our country
brought over with them marijuana leaves instead of tobacco leaves? Would our
concept of which one is wrong be different now? In conclusion, let's look at
the morality of legalizing pot. Think long and hard on this one. What is
really so wrong with smoking marijuana? How is it any different than
drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes? If you think logically you'll
realize it is not that different at all. The only difference I could come up
with is that it is illegal and the other ones are not, so let's solve that
problem and go ahead and legalize it.