This is an editorial I did for the Kaleidoscope (Kish newspaper). I wish it could have been longer, but I got my main points in. More to come on this subject in my first "American Dreams" post.
Prop19 was on the ballot in California to legalize marijuana. It’s time to reach up and remove the blinker hood from our eyes.
What comes to your mind of when you think of a “pot head?” I’m sure I know what your thinking. Isn’t it ironic that marijuana was made illegal because it was seen to make people violent? “Reefer Madness” was going to take over the country in the 30’s. It’s ridiculous. The only thing reefer madness could take over is a Panda Express.
The prohibition on marijuana doesn’t stop people from smoking. The prohibition forces tax dollars to be put into a useless war on drugs. It puts nonviolent citizens in jail, and then it requires tax dollars to holding these people in the prison system.
Prohibition doesn’t work. One only needs to look at the current state of the 18th Amendment for the proof. Marijuana is in demand and criminals provide it. The violent Mexican drug cartels help provide it. Of course, only 15-20% of their business comes from marijuana sales, so victimless crime as a whole would have to be evaluated to legalize drugs completely, thus eliminating large scale-international drug trafficking. This is not the article for that discussion, but shouldn’t we think of it?
In a world with common sense, alcohol would be illegal and marijuana would be embraced. Pot is not bad for you. Plain and simple. It ranks closer to caffeine then it does to any other drug. Alcohol is one of the worst. Last week UK experts concluded alcohol is the worst drug for society. It also has the most disastrous consequences for those not involved with the substance abuse. So which is worse?
I believe in liberty. Therefore I think both should be legal. If people are responsible and the public is not in danger, then there is no reason to prohibit something. But Prop19 was a failure. The public voted no. One reason might be the commercial in California that stated, “If Prop19 passes, people will come to worked stoned.”
This fear, without a doubt, scared the older generation. Outright lies stopped the domino effect that will take place sooner or later. Please, inform yourself on the topic; if you can defend the legality of alcohol over marijuana, you win.
“Over one’s mind and over one’s body the individual is sovereign. “ –John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
So what do you think?
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