Oh no. Another college student is going to talk about marijuana. You pick up this column and think, “Another 20something student who wants to legalize pot, just so he can smoke freely on his drive to class and stink like hell when we wanders confusedly into a McDonald’s.”
If that’s your disposition, then nothing can be done, and a few hundred words won’t convince you.
April 20 is celebrated althroughout the country as the unofficial holiday of smoking marijuana.
This year, though, it comes on the heels of one of the most serious discussions the nation has ever had about the ever-controversial drug.
In November, California will place on its ballot a proposal to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana for recreational use among adults. Fourteen states have standing legislation legalizing medical marijuana. Several states, including New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii and Oregon, all have laws in place, or under consideration, that would decriminalize small amounts of the drug for recreational use.
The obvious question is “why?” Why legalize a drug that has landed millions in prison? Why legalize a drug that seems to promote unsavory lifestyles, complacency and lung damage?
Marijuana has been used for medical purposes, religious ceremonies, and good ol’ fashioned parties for centuries.
The obvious and most prevailing argument is that marijuana seems to be far safer than substances that have been readily legalized.
Cigarettes, which contain one of the most addictive substances on the planet, and demonstratively deteriorates the health of any regular users, has never been illegal in the United States. Alcohol, which can severely inhibit judgment, coordination and decision making was banned only briefly by the 18th Amendment until the nation recognized its collective need to sit down and have a drink.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as of 2009, more than 41 percent of Americans report that they have used marijuana before, with 15 percent (just over 6 million) describing themselves as regular users.
The association with laziness and overall malaise is so powerful; it is overpowering our common sense.
With the nation’s economy still struggling, and states all across the country heading into deficits, it’s time for new and innovative ideas to help provide more revenue.
The legalization and taxation of marijuana could drastically reduce state and national debts.
With many more danwgerous and toxic substances freely available to the citizens, the continued punishment for recreational marijuana-use becomes more and more insulting.
Decriminalization can save states drowning in debt, and provide a new product for large midwestern states that are already agriculturally inclined. We can no longer afford our stance on marijuana, and the change needs to come soon. When the going gets tough, the tough get stoned.
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