FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I used to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana on a regular basis. I've
since stopped drinking and partying because I've got kids to raise and
just got tired of hangovers and the money being blown by drinking. In
all the years I smoked marijuana, I never knew of anyone committing
any crimes that involved marijuana intoxication.

Alcohol is a different story. Lots of guys, when they've passed their
level of clear mindedness, go and do something stupid. I've never had
any friends that beat or abuse their wives or kids, but have always
heard of someone doing this when drinking alcohol. There's a saying
here in town, when the weed's in short supply more women get abused by
their husbands and also vice versa.

Perhaps alcohol creates too much energy from the sugars and marijuana
just plain calms people down from the THC. I've thought about what
would it be like today if 30 years ago marijuana was legalized or at
least decriminalized to the point where lots of people would have
smoked it instead of drank alcohol. It's obvious to me that a lot of
people would still be married and unabused.

It only seems thinkable that after 30 years millions of people
wouldn't have liver, heart and other complications and the untold
billions of dollars spent helping these people would have been
available for other programs. If they would have had a choice to smoke
marijuana, I know and it's obvious that there would have been less
damage to their bodies and the funds that it took and those taking
care of them now. We're not going too solve any problems by
prohibition of marijuana; it will help to at least decriminalize it.
Most people have limited funds so there's a lot of people that are
going too spend their money on just one item and not many other kinds
of drugs.

There is no hangover with marijuana smoking, no matter how loaded you
get. Plus the roads are much safer to drive on because even when
extremely loaded on marijuana you can still maintain a lot better when
driving than when drinking alcohol. I've talked to a doctor about this
subject and he doesn't agree with taking any drug but he also told me
that it's the puritan age now and they're trying to fix everything
into perfection and that's impossible, he said, because people aren't
perfect. I'm for safety for all humans and for me it's easier for
everyone to stay healthier when smoking marijuana than other hard
drugs like alcohol, methadrine, OxyContin, and many others.

Dan Bramow

Cedar Rapids, Iowa