Logos

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.

__________________
Brother Logos
The more I learn, the less I know. | Truth doesn't change, only our perception of it does.
THC Ministry | The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ | The Reluctant Messenger of Science and Religion
True religion is real living, living with all one's soul, with all ones goodness and righteousness. --Albert Einstein

Logos

I don't think I have ever seen this line of logic used, very nicely done SevenLleafs!

I have often times had conversations with an imaginary officer of the law on this very subject.

Where is the harm, and who got hurt is always at the root of that argument. Lately I have seen that sentiment come up in articles and comments. Someone even has a signature along those lines.

I definatly do not feel like a criminal for smoking marijuana. If anything it has made me a more responsible courteous member of society. In other words, less of a criminal.

The criminal activity definatly rests in the hands of the people who enforce this unjust law.

Amazing just how much words on a piece of paper can impact ones life, isn't it?

Refer madness is a crime against a peace loving culture, and humanity in general. How many lives and families have been destroyed because of these laws? How many people have suffered needlesly because they couldn't have that which helps them? How much destruction of our environment could have been avoided if we had been cultivating this plant since the 30's? How much less spiritual are we for not having this substance that brings our minds into greater contact with the divine? How many lies have been told to perpetuate this madness?

How much total harm has come from this outlawing of a relatively harmless plant?

How much harm has come from the use of this plant?

Which is more harmful, the plant or the laws?

Thanks Mr Anslinger, I sincerely hope that when you died, you realized the ramifications of your quest for job security. Apparently you learned nothing from the prohibition of alcohol...

Increased crime seems to be more a result of prohibition than this plants use.

I'm NOT a criminal!

Thanks for this article Seven Leafs!

Peace!
Logos
P.S. Now leave a comment SevenLeafs so we can all give you some much deserved +K

Kannibal

^5

__________________
Keep the wall of reality and fantasy high enough not to fall over but low enough to see the other side.

Suetaz

Well written Sevenleafs! Some day we will prove to the world that we are not evil criminals.

Originally posted by Logos:
My first thought is of all the coal miners that lost their lives needlessly. Marijuana was outlawed in 1937 in the US, the same year that coal was discovered and the same year Dupont patented Nylon. With hemp suddenly illegal, they had to turn to coal mining. If hemp hadn't been outlawed, coal mining wouldn't have been necessary and less lives would have been lost. We would all be wearing hemp now and our environment wouldn't be in the shape that it's in.

__________________

SevenLeafs

Heh, no, thank you Logs, the creators, moderators and all the members of this community. This forum has really opened my mind to issues I didn't even dream about a couple of years ago. It is good to have a community that's based on news, friendship (for I think everyone here is willing to support any other member) freedom of opinion and most importantly, freedom of TRUTH.

Hope everyone enjoys reading the article as much as I enjoyed writting it,
Peace (is all we want )

__________________

"A soul in tension that's learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit"
- Pink Floyd -

Just say KNOW!

Logos

Hmm, apparently I have given you too much +K lately, I guess it'll just have to wait till I spread some more around...

I see a mutual admiration society forming here...

Logos
P.S. Having spread some around in this thread, I was finally able to give ya some. As I went to give Suetaz some, it said I had given all I can for this day. I hath depleted my K....

Greenbud

That was incredible, SevenLeafs! Thank you for that refreshingly different observation. I have to agree with Logos; I've never seen that logic used. It gives me more food for thought as I work on my letters to government officials.

Mass +K comin' your way!!

__________________
"I believe in the near future, the government will use anti-drug hysteria to set up a police state."
-author William S. Burroughs, 1947

Community Posting Guidelines | Front Page Article Submission Guidelines

SevenLeafs

You're very welcome Green, and thank you for the compliment.

I was just trying a new approach on the matter because I think that the whole "marijuana is good, marijuana is bad" argument will get us nowhere, and it seems that no matter how much proof we can get to support the "marijuana is not bad" position, there will always come counter-proof from the prohibisionists, so I decided to go for the "what the hell are you blaming me for!?" argument.

One more thing, if you want to use this article in any way, send it to anybody, well go right ahead! That's exactly what I wanted, for people to read it, just be sure to tell me what you do with it (I do like to know who reads it )

Kudos.

Suetaz

Originally posted by SevenLeafs:
The difference is, we know and tell the truth about marijuana here. The prohibitionists tell lies for the most part. Lies that they have been told by the government for decades. The truth will prevail eventually. We stoners are a very determined bunch.

Since you enjoyed writing that so much, I hope you will do it again sometime. I know I will look forward to more writing from you. I think this topic was a great idea, we need to point out to non-stoners that visit this site that we are not criminals. It's an individual thing, there are criminals out there that use marijuana and there are marijuana users that are not criminals. A destinction needed to be made. Great job SevenLeafs!

SevenLeafs

Thanks Suetaz, I agree with you on the lies thing. I hate being lied to, it just makes me explode.... uhm... well not literaly

I'll be sure to write something new soon, in fact, I already have a couple of ideas in my mind, maybe by next saturday you'll see another article written by me who knows... I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Peace.