Let me clear the air on why marijuana should be legalized.
First of all, let's get things straight: I do not smoke pot. I have smoked pot before but can count the number of times on one hand and haven't touched it in more than five years.
But I will argue into the ground why those who like to partake in a little bit of the puff-puff should be able to do so legally.
The recent media frenzy over that "scandalous" picture of Michael Phelps smoking the reefer is a prime example of the need to make it legal. Come on, people, the man won eight gold medals and broke world records in swimming. I'd say he's entitled to a toke or two.
People will argue that marijuana is a dangerous, addictive drug.
Guess what? So are tobacco and alcohol.
The number of deaths when comparing alcohol and tobacco to marijuana is staggering – 400,000 people in the U.S. die each year from tobacco-related causes, and 100,000 from alcohol-related ones, according to a National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bureau of Mortality Statistics report.
Guess what the number of deaths attributed to weed are? Goose egg.
That's right, zero.
Alcohol and tobacco are far more lethal than all illegal drugs combined, which chalk up 15,000 deaths per year.
Just to get things straight, I am NOT implying that we should go the other way and make alcohol and tobacco illegal. We all know how well Prohibition worked in the 1920s and 30s.
Legalizing pot would stabilize prices and put the responsibility of selling it into the hands of legitimate business owners rather than padding the pocket of some deadhead dealer. Plus, the government would be able to set age limits and impose a tax on it, which couldn't do anything but help our current sorry excuse for an economy.
Federal spending to incarcerate drug offenders totals about $3 billion a year, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. In 2001, prisoners sentenced for drug offenses constituted the largest group of federal inmates – 55 percent, according to Bureau of Justice statistics.
Police arrested an estimated 723,627 people for marijuana violations in 2001, according to the FBI's annual Uniform Crime Report. This statistic far outnumbers the total number of arrests for all violent crimes combined, including murder, forcible rape and aggravated assault.
I don't know about anyone else, but that disturbs me more than a little bit.
The money to arrest and imprison marijuana offenders isn't appearing out of thin air — it's coming out of taxpayers' pockets. That disturbs me as well. I know I'm not the only one.
Lastly, medical marijuana is already legal in 13 states. Why not go the whole nine yards and make it legal, period?
The arguments for the legalization of marijuana far outweigh the arguments for keeping it illegal. Is it going to happen? Probably not. Our new "President for Change" has already made it clear on his Web site, change.gov, that he is against it.
As it is, the government is making our right for using tobacco go up in smoke. However, if the issue were placed on a ballot, I, as well as many others, I'm sure, would be very interested to see the outcome.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Daily O'Collegian
Author: Lisa Lewis
Contact: OColly.com
Copyright: 2009 The O'Collegian Publishing Company
Website: The burning question: Should marijuana be legalized?
First of all, let's get things straight: I do not smoke pot. I have smoked pot before but can count the number of times on one hand and haven't touched it in more than five years.
But I will argue into the ground why those who like to partake in a little bit of the puff-puff should be able to do so legally.
The recent media frenzy over that "scandalous" picture of Michael Phelps smoking the reefer is a prime example of the need to make it legal. Come on, people, the man won eight gold medals and broke world records in swimming. I'd say he's entitled to a toke or two.
People will argue that marijuana is a dangerous, addictive drug.
Guess what? So are tobacco and alcohol.
The number of deaths when comparing alcohol and tobacco to marijuana is staggering – 400,000 people in the U.S. die each year from tobacco-related causes, and 100,000 from alcohol-related ones, according to a National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bureau of Mortality Statistics report.
Guess what the number of deaths attributed to weed are? Goose egg.
That's right, zero.
Alcohol and tobacco are far more lethal than all illegal drugs combined, which chalk up 15,000 deaths per year.
Just to get things straight, I am NOT implying that we should go the other way and make alcohol and tobacco illegal. We all know how well Prohibition worked in the 1920s and 30s.
Legalizing pot would stabilize prices and put the responsibility of selling it into the hands of legitimate business owners rather than padding the pocket of some deadhead dealer. Plus, the government would be able to set age limits and impose a tax on it, which couldn't do anything but help our current sorry excuse for an economy.
Federal spending to incarcerate drug offenders totals about $3 billion a year, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. In 2001, prisoners sentenced for drug offenses constituted the largest group of federal inmates – 55 percent, according to Bureau of Justice statistics.
Police arrested an estimated 723,627 people for marijuana violations in 2001, according to the FBI's annual Uniform Crime Report. This statistic far outnumbers the total number of arrests for all violent crimes combined, including murder, forcible rape and aggravated assault.
I don't know about anyone else, but that disturbs me more than a little bit.
The money to arrest and imprison marijuana offenders isn't appearing out of thin air — it's coming out of taxpayers' pockets. That disturbs me as well. I know I'm not the only one.
Lastly, medical marijuana is already legal in 13 states. Why not go the whole nine yards and make it legal, period?
The arguments for the legalization of marijuana far outweigh the arguments for keeping it illegal. Is it going to happen? Probably not. Our new "President for Change" has already made it clear on his Web site, change.gov, that he is against it.
As it is, the government is making our right for using tobacco go up in smoke. However, if the issue were placed on a ballot, I, as well as many others, I'm sure, would be very interested to see the outcome.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Daily O'Collegian
Author: Lisa Lewis
Contact: OColly.com
Copyright: 2009 The O'Collegian Publishing Company
Website: The burning question: Should marijuana be legalized?
