Lit_Match

High time for marijuana legalization
03.08.07|independant florida alligator|By DAN BURROUGHS

So you're on your way back to your dorm when you see a couple of nondescript students huddled up in the woods.

Of course, as nondescript as they may be, you know exactly what's going on. They're smoking weed, and judging by the pungent smell, you know those guys are going to be high as kites in just a few minutes.

Marijuana use is something that happens every single day at every single hour, on and off college campuses, all across the nation. But it's also an act deemed illegal.

But why? While I myself have not partaken in marijuana use, I see no reason why others shouldn't be allowed to. After spending years hearing all the arguments behind keeping marijuana illegal and realizing a lot of them are faulty, I honestly feel that we should just go ahead and legalize it.

But before you label me a hippie, consider the following:

Think about the two most consumed drugs in this country - alcohol and tobacco. Both of them are perfectly legal. But tobacco, especially in the form of cigarettes, is cancerous.

In fact, cigarette smoke is packed with radioactive isotopes such as polonium-210 and lead-210. Then there's the tar and the physical nicotine addiction.

Alcohol is the most abused drug in the country. Aside from causing serious - potentially permanent - damage to the brain, it also destroys the liver. Alcohol is toxic in every sense of the word. When you chug that beer, you're doing nothing short of pumping poison into your body. Plus, like cigarettes, alcohol can be physically addicting.

So what is so dangerous about marijuana that makes it illegal? Some argue that it's highly addictive - but so are many legal drugs. Surprisingly enough, marijuana is not physically addictive at all.

It's all in your head - unlike the truly addictive drugs like alcohol, nicotine and some prescription drugs like Oxycontin.

Is it because marijuana has hallucinogenic effects? While marijuana screws with the brain, so does alcohol. But pot doesn't incite violence and anger in its users. It usually causes one to become lethargic and spacey. I've never once heard of a pothead going bananas and beating his or her spouse.

Perhaps it's illegal because of its status as a gateway drug. But this "slippery slope" argument is unsound. Just because someone drinks one beer, it doesn't make him or her an alcoholic.

Legalizing hash doesn't mean that after people smoke weed once, they'll become heroin addicts. Besides, it seems that the vast majority of pot smokers stick to weed.

I look at it like this: Every adult has the full right to control what goes into his or her body. All drugs are harmful in some way, and while I don't promote their use, I don't think it's right for the government to tell people they can't do any drugs at all. There is no reason that this drug should be illegal.

There's a lot of money to be made because a lot of people smoke pot - nearly 95 million people older than 12, according to National Institute on Drug Abuse. So at the very least, legalize it and then regulate it. It's high time.

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Donation links to NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) | MPP (Marijuana Policy Project)