As The Machine Turns

To follow the hypocrisy - under the guise of government "protection" - theme I seem to be following, it is high time we decriminalize marijuana. If we could at least legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes, it would be a baby step in the right direction.

First of all, I would like to convey that I am not a stoner kicked back on the couch proclaiming "legalize it!" in the hopes of avoiding prosecution. To the contrary, I am a 30-something, mini-van driving, suburban mom of several kids. I work outside the home, hold down duties within my home, cart my children to their various extra-curricular activities, and take 9-12 hours a semester working toward teacher certification. According to Gallup Polls, I am in the least likely category of American to favor legalization of marijuana. But interestingly, once I receive a 4 year degree, I will statisically move up in likeliness to support removal of marijuana laws. Degree or no degree, I have an open mind, and have read many facts and statistics and have come to the realization recently that we have here yet another lie perpetuated by the United States government to further realize a politicians "ends" - money.

A 2003 Gallup Poll says that 75 % of Americans support medical marijuana. A government study shows that 80 million Americans admit having used marijuana, with 20 million having used it in the past year. So why so many opponents to, at the very least, medical marijuana or decriminalization across the board? Because we have been fed a heaping plate of lies courtesy of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, going all the way back to the Iran-Contra fiasco under the Reagan administration.

The Government has labeled marijuana as an equivalent to devastating heroin. This is a blatant, yet successful, lie to further spread the fear virus in our youth and society. In doing so, they have actually driven more Americans to violence, hard drug use, and confinement. Marijuana itself is not a gateway to cocaine, methamphetamines, etc, but the act of marijuana being on the black market where the harder drugs are sold as well, is the gateway to experimenting with the drugs that can and will ruin lives and kill people.

The issue of medical marijuana is a no-brainer - people suffering from a wide-range of maladies from cancer to glaucoma to post-traumatic stress disorder can receive relief from the mental and physical pain with a remarkably low incidence of addiction and harmful side effects not found in our country's legal drug market, pharmaceuticals. How poor are our human rights policies that we would even bat an eye at denying our fellow citizens the relief they crave in their final hours or the ability to function "normally" in society? Yet, we have no problem hooking up a cancer patient to a morphine drip, which causes most to be unable to eat and in a semi-unconscious state under it's effects. There is no harm levied on us collectively for these citizens to consume marijuana. Currently, 12 states have laws allowing the use of medical marijuana in some form, yet it is still illegal on the national level, therefore many dispensaries and farms are being raided by the DEA, despite being properly registered according to their state's law.

More than 700,000 non-violent Americans were arrested last year for marijuana offenses, with about 90% of these being simple possession charges - not sale or trafficking. Many of the methods used to incarcerate these individuals are unconstitutional under the 4th amendment of the Bill of Rights. However, arrest, prosecution, and incarceration are far too profitable to bother with those silly Bill of Rights. Prisons in our country are private corporations - and the more inmates they have, the higher their stock is traded on Wall Street. And a successful Wall Street parlays into a successful presidency. Not to mention all the free slave labor by pot smokers working side by side with robbers, wife beaters, and other violent offenders. Pot smokers aren't usually violent, but the longer they spend locked up, the likelihood of displaying violence increases.

Not only are we repeatedly abusing fundamental human rights in the name of a phantom drug war on marijuana, but revealing more hypocrisy in the process. The Partnership for a Drug Free America is largely funded by pharmaceutical, tobacco, and alcohol companies. Hundreds of thousands of Americans die every year from tobacco, prescription drugs, and alcohol, yet there has never been 1 single death EVER from consuming marijuana.

While I am not advocating passing out pot brownies at the next PTA function; honestly, if my kids decide to participate in consuming substances, I would rather they smoke a joint than drink a bunch a of beer and risk death on many fronts. And while we are on the topic of kids, didn't the Government learn a long time ago that prohibition doesn't work? If the Partnership for Drug Free America actually talked to real kids in our society, they would learn it is far easier to purchase illegal drugs than alcohol. If we were able to regulate and tax it, not only would it be tax revenue but help protect our children. But that involves true legalization, and a mere decriminalization would be suitable for now. It is really past time to reform marijuana laws in our country and put our actions where our human rights' mouths are.