I think a large portion of the population probably think marijuana should be legalized.  No matter what your reason is for wanting it legalized, it is important to recognize why it was outlawed in the first place!  Marijuana has been around for centuries, and people have been getting high for just as long.  Afterall, it’s just a plant.  A plant that is actually relatively easy to cultivate (in the right conditions) and whose close relative (Hemp) is potentially one of the most useful natural resources available.  

Also, there is no proof that marijuana is more harmful than alcohol (if anything, alcohol is much more dangerous-See NORML link below) and we all know it isn’t as bad as the chemical soaked nicotine we inhale all day either!  So why, you ask, is little old marijuana still illegal?  Why are pot dealers sitting in jail longer than some pedophiles?  Marijuana does not cause cancer, it does not rot your teeth or make you violent, it probably impairs driving skills but so does alcohol, prescription drugs, and cough medicine. 

So what the hell is this pot prohibition?  It isn’t harmful to our bodies (not that this should matter, since there are plenty of harmful subtances out there are harmful AND legal), it doesn’t cause people to commit crimes, it’s sibling  hemp could possibly prove to be a whole new prosperous industry world-wide, and look at all the people who support legalizing it!  This is a democracy, isn’t it?  And I don’t just want to get high and eat Doritos, I want to exercise my basic human rights and put what I want in MY body!  Excuuuussee Me!

Marijuana is illegal in a society where alcohol is pushed as a dietary staple (especially for college students), prescription drugs are dispensed like Skittles, and pollution is a daily dosage that no one is doing anything about.  So what is the big deal about adding in some pot to our already toxic mix?  Pot would at least calm us down, get us off our sleeping pills, cure our chemo-induced nausea, and possibly (with hemp) put clothes on our polyester and lycra covered backs!  It’s not crystal meth or something, it’s not going to make you crazy or kill you.  It’s going to get you high, help you relax, and you aren’t going to bother anybody.

Pot is illegal because of money.  Big surprise right?  But there’s more… the man behind the early Drug War, HarryJ.Anslinger, had some interesting ties that may have to do with the demonization of cannabis.  Back in the 1920’s and 30’s, when Anslinger was serving as the Assistant Prohibition Commissioner, he decided to drum up some negativity towards the drug to get his own name in the history books.  Interestingly enough, Anslinger was also good friends with William Randolph Hearst (magazine mogul) and the DuPont family, whose patented petroleum compounds could easily be replaced by the more simple and natural hempseed oil.  So, while stirring up anti-marijuana scare tactics and appeasing his buddies, Hearst and the DuPonts, Anslinger successfully fucked over all us potheads for the past 90 years.

He falsley claimed marijuana turned good men evil, and was being used and abused mainly by the already “bad” minority groups.  What a way to win people’s support, through blatent racism.  Here are some of his prize-winning bumper sticker slogans.

So, for no real reason at all, Anslinger and all the Drug War supporters after him have been making this “evil plant” illegal simply to convince themselves they’re helping, but really they are just suffocating what could be a prosperous and ecologically friendly industry (HEMP) and making regular people criminals.  So I have never gotten so much as a speeding ticket, but in the United States I could face jail time for having some leaves on me.  Meanwhile, there are people who still have their driver’s licenses after 2 DUIs, pedophiles being allowed to live a block away from an elementary school, and my neighbor getting completely fucked up off Xanax every day of her life and driving and caring for children.  What is wrong with this picture?  Doesn’t it maybe seem like there are some other motives for keeping pot illegal besides its “negative” effects?  Think about it:

Early protests against taxing marijuana

the Miracle Drug

Costs of illegal marijuana