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Criminal, a. Guilty of a crime.
Original article by SevenLeafs | Exclusive to Marijuana.com

This is the principal definition of criminal when referred to a person. It seems that the War on Drugs', or WoD's, main objective is to make a criminal out of every drug user and, according to my personal opinion, it has done a very good job. But are the governments who practice this war justified? Before answering this question, lets look into what a crime is.

Crime, n. An act or omission, esp. one of a grave nature, punishable by law as forbidden by statute or injurious to the public welfare; hence, serious violation of human law; as, steeped in crime; more generally, any offense, esp. one of grave character; hence, serious wrongdoing.

This is the exact definition that I found in the "New Webster's Dictionary of the English Language". Does it apply to most marijuana users?. The first part states: "an act or omission, esp. one of a grave nature, punishable by law as forbidden by statute or injurious to public welfare; hence, serious violation of human law." The "or" in the first part of the definition makes it clear that there are two sentences present, let's see what the first one says:

"An act or omission, esp. one of a grave nature, punishable by law as forbidden by statute"

If we apply this definition of crime, it is clear that any person who uses marijuana becomes a criminal, because, by written law, most "criminal justice systems" around the world prohibit its use. But lets look at both sides of the coin:

"An act or omission, esp. one of a grave nature, punishable by law as injurious to public welfare".

This would be the same definition, but with the second meaning. It simply states that an act that causes harm to the public welfare is punishable by law, but who can say that using marijuana will be harmful to the well-being of every other citizen who does not use? There is no real evidence that shows that marijuana has this "injurious" nature. In fact, there is solid proof of the inverse, the best example of this being the "Dutch Experiment", as many call it, which refers to the decriminalization of marijuana use in Holland. So, as you can see, "the flip-side of the coin" does not make criminals out of anyone who uses, responsibly, marijuana, but we can not stop here.

"More generally, any offense, esp. one of grave character; hence, serious wrongdoing".

Before we can analyze this second part of the definition, we must look into what an "offense" is and see if it applies to marijuana use.

Offense, n. Something that is offending or displeasing; any wrongdoing, as a violation of divine or human law; a crime or sin; a misdemeanor; an act of mounting an attack; assault.

If, for instance, you were to smoke marijuana in front of a person who finds this displeasing, then, by the definition presented above, you are committing a crime and fall under the "criminal" category, but notice that the explanation of crime refers especially to an offense of grave character. I assume that this and other more compelling reasons, are what determined the legalization of other drugs such as tobacco and alcohol, which many find their use "offensive", so why not apply the same to marijuana? This question remains unanswered so far and is avoided by stating, among other things, that it would be immoral to decriminalize it.

The second part of the "offense" definition is very clear and very unavoidable today in most parts of the world, so I will not dwell upon it. As for the third part, I'm absolutely sure that consuming a natural herb is not a "sin".

Then we read the fourth section, "a misdemeanor". By definition, not by law, a misdemeanor is described as a "misdeed", which is an evil or wicked act, so not only are most of the laws of the world categorizing marijuana users as criminals, they are also saying that by consuming marijuana you are evil. This, in my opinion, is outrageous and not true at all. The fact that some people might behave in an evil, aggressive, or disrespectful manner under the influence of THC, marijuana's main active chemical, does not mean that they behave this way because of the drug and still does not make its consumption a criminal behavior. This leaves us with the last part of the definition:

"An act of mounting an attack; assault". This can not be linked with using marijuana, because the act of consuming it does not represent in any way the mounting of an attack, nor does it represent an assault. You would just be consuming a substance, as you would a cigarette, an alcoholic beverage or even food. If the intake of the drug makes you act in an aggresive manner, then that would be an entirely different situation, and as of now, there is no evidence to sustain this argument. If you were to prove that marijuana consumption does make you aggressive, then you would also have to consider the fact that there are people who act violently when in a drunken state, but getting drunk is not an illegal act, the same should apply for getting high.

Do you not find interesting the fact that the only thing making a marijuana user become a "criminal" is the law? Are the governments who practice this WoD really justified?, I leave the answer up to you. If you want to classify the people who use marijuana as criminals, then do so, this is a free world. But do consider this, you are taking away their freedom, you are complicating their lives and most importantly, you are deteriorating public welfare by not letting these consumers participate in every day activities, such as a simple job.

In fact, the only ones who should be considered criminals are these oppressive governments, who violate the human rights of many "stoners", and if you, the reader, don't agree with this, I urge you to apply the same analysis I have written here to that government that has not decriminalized marijuana's use. If after that, you still don't recognize this fact, then I am forced to say that by not acknowledging this truth, and by supporting the war or the laws that do so much harm to us, then you are committing a crime and should be considered a criminal.

Crime, n. An act or omission, esp. one of a grave nature, punishable by law as forbidden by statute or injurious to the public welfare.

Peace is all we want, not war.

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