I think it all depends on what your definition of a "Drug" is. Personally, I don't count Marijuana as a "Drug". Cocaine, Heroine, those Are Drugs, Bad Drugs that ruin people's lives. Pot? Not a Drug. It's all natural. It's the only so called "Drug" aside from Tobacco that doesn't need to be processed in Any Way-Shape-or Form. You grow it, harvest it, and smoke it. You don't need poisonous or hazardous chemicals. Mary Jane is also Not Chemically Addicting like other drugs including Alcohol. You can't even over-dose from pot. It's impossible to over-dose on weed. Alcohol? Yes, you can overdose on Alcohol, it's called Alcohol Poisoning and it kills college students Every Year in the United States.
I Do think "Real Drugs" are bad, but I Do Not see Pot as a "Real Drug". It's asinine that Alcohol is Legal and Pot is not. Do you know Why Alcohol is Legal and Pot isn't? Racism...Yes, that's right, Racism. Prohibition officially ended on Dec. 5, 1933, and up to that point Marijuana was still Legal. Marijuana was made Illegal in 1937. The reason though was all the Politicians back in those days were Rich and White. It was common knowledge that during Prohibition politicians still drank and had Alcohol. How-ever back then most White people did Not Smoke Marijuana. People were so racists for the most part that White people didn't really want anything to do with Black Culture and back then it was mostly Black people that smoked Marijuana. The politicians figured that since they took Alcohol away from the White people they needed to take something away from the Black people as well, so they made Pot illegal through the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. The Kennedy Family made it's money by running "speak-easy's" and bootlegging Alcohol. When the people got so fed up with the failure of Prohibition it was ended because it was proven that Prohibition was actually a Huge Contributing Factor to the rise and growth of Organized Crime.
When the Federal Government made Marijuana Illegal they went on a Smear Campaign against Marijuana and Actually LIED about the affects of Marijuana. If you want PROOF just look up a movie called "Reefer Madness". I promise you'll laugh your ass off. It shows Teens and Adults taking hits off of joints and then going insane and jumping out of windows and killing themselves. The movie "Reefer Madness" was anti marijuana Propaganda, pure and simple, and the common people bought the lies whole heartedly, especially the White people who didn't want anything to do with something that was considered to be primarily a "Black Problem".
We know today, for a FACT, that Marijuana does Not Cause nearly as many health problems as Alcohol. If you take Alcohol away from a Alcoholic they go into with-drawls and get the shakes (also called DT's). An Alcoholic can literally DIE from Not Having Alcohol. If you take Marijuana away from someone who's smoked it most of their lives you know what happens? Nothing. There are NO adverse side affects from suddenly Not Smoking Marijuana. It is Not chemically addicting. There "Could Be" a slight "Mental Addiction", but Physically Marijuana is Not Addicting in ANY WAY and that's Scientific Fact. It should also be Blatantly Obvious to anyone with half a brain that if it was really that bad then Why did the government have to LIE about Marijuanas affects? Why couldn't they show FACTS as to why Marijuana was bad instead? Because there weren't any "Facts" as to why Marijuana was bad.
Tasunke is right in saying that Gangs pay for Guns and Weapons by selling Drugs, but, if Marijuana is made legal for medical uses or just plain out made completely legal then the gangs Won't Be Able to make money selling it to buy guns.
In my opinion people who are against Marijuana for what-ever reason have simply bought into the Anti Marijuana Propaganda, nothing more or nothing less. Also, if those people are so against Marijuana then how come most of them drink Alcohol and get drunk all the time? Alcohol is Far Worse for the human body and has far worse side affects then Marijuana Ever Could.
It should also be Blatantly Obvious to anyone that if Marijuana was Really That bad then why are so many states now legalizing it for medical uses? I've already been told by my family doctor that if I move to a state where Marijuana is legal for Medical uses I can get a "license" to smoke it legally because of me having Crohn's disease. If you know anything about Crohn's disease then you know that it causes Severe Pain and discomfort to most of the people that have it. Crohn's disease may be a bad example though as it affects some people differently. Some people can have Crohn's disease and it doesn't affect them that bad. Other people can get Crohn's disease and they are basically disabled (unfortunately like me). To give you any idea how Bad it can get, I'm in CONSTANT PAIN because of my Crohn's disease. Right now my doctors have me on Oxycodone 15 Mg Tablets that I'm supposed to be taking 5 times a day. On top of that I'm on Xanax and Librax to control pain and muscle spasms in my abdomen. I'm on Metoclopramide to help me keep what little bit of food I can eat from coming back up every time I try to eat. I'm on Dicyclomine to try to control nausea to also help keep my food down and fight the pain that intensifies Every Time I try to eat something. Every Single One of those drugs I'm on could be taken away and replaced solely with Medical Marijuana and I Wouldn't Need any of those other Drugs.
Florida how-ever makes a LOT of money on the prosecution of so called Drug Dealers and Users who smoke Marijuana. In fact, in Central and Southern Florida the Caucasian Male is now the Minority. There are More Latino's and Black American's in Florida then there are White Males. I only bring that up to show that Marijuana is used and dealt more by those populations then it is by Caucasians and the Florida State Government knows this so they crack down on Marijuana Laws even harder because they Make Money off keeping people in jail and in the legal system over "Drug charges". They Make Money off the Tax Payers who pay to keep our prisons and jails running. The State sees this as INCOME..NOT COST. For Every Inmate in a Florida Jail or Prison the State Government makes $400 A DAY in PROFIT by housing these so called "dangerous criminals". Even though the majority of Tax Payers complain about the rising costs of keeping people incarcerated, the State and Federal Government don't see it as a cost because they MAKE MONEY off the Tax Payers. In fact, Incarceration now MAKES MORE MONEY THAN TOURISM in the State of Florida now. That's right. The Florida Prison System now makes MORE MONEY then MICKEY MOUSE does for the State of Florida. I think that's both Sad and Pathetic.
Marijuana doesn't ruin people's lives. People Do NOT rob and steal to support their Marijuana Habits. People DO Steal and Rob to support their Cocaine and Heroin habits. Marijuana can do a Lot of Good for people with certain medical problems and it can take the place of many other drugs. The Pharmaceutical Companies are fighting to keep Marijuana illegal so they can Keep Making Money off selling Man Made Drugs and prescriptions. They know that if Marijuana is made completely Legal people will use it to self-medicate and the pharmaceutical companies won't make as much money selling their synthetic drugs.
I've been arrested and went to jail and prison over Marijuana. I was kept in the same place as Murderers and Child Molesters and Thieves....and over what? Weed. Am I a Violent Criminal? No. Have I EVER been in a Gang? No. Have I ever stolen anything? NO!!! Yet I am still hounded to this day because I have a "Drug Charge" on my official record. Legally I'm "scarred for life" because of a drug charge on my record. I can never run for public office. I can't vote because I'm a felon and they denied me when I applied to get my rights restored. That's right....I applied to get my rights back when I got out of prison and I was DENIED....even though I was in prison for a NON-Violent charge.
In my opinion, if you drink Alcohol and you're still against Marijuana you ARE a HYPOCRITE, plain and simple. Get off your Soap Box and look at the facts people. Alcohol does FAR MORE DAMAGE to our society then Marijuana EVER COULD. Al Capone and many other "Gangsters" came to power in the 20's and 30's buy making and selling Illegal Alcohol. However if Gangs make so much money off of Marijuana then how come you don't hear about it the news today? How come we don't have any Famous Mob Bosses like Al Capone today who make all kinds of money off of Marijuana? Because Marijuana IS NOT as profitable as Alcohol nor do gangs make very much money off trafficking it. In reality today's "Gangs" make money off selling HARD DRUGS such as Cocaine and crystal meth and heroine. THOSE are the REAL Dangerous Drugs that DO ruin people's lives. Marijuana has NEVER ruined a person's life unless it was the Government that was ruining the person's life because they busted them with a little bit of weed. The weed its-self doesn't do any damage aside from maybe lung cancer which you'll get from smoking ANYTHING. Speaking of Lung Cancer, it has ALSO been proven that Tobacco causes Lung cancer and Heart Disease and other health problems over 10 Times Faster then smoking JUST Marijuana. Cigarettes are FAR MORE HARMFUL then Marijuana....yet Cigarettes are Legal.
The only thing keeping me from moving Out of Florida is the fact that my Grandmother is too old to have to move again. That and my wife doesn't want to go too far away from her family. My wife and I have talked about it though and in the future, maybe 10-20 years from now when my Grandmother and her parents aren't around anymore we'll probably be moving to a state that does have Legal Medical Marijuana as it will help improve my health and save us a bunch of money that I would otherwise have to pay out buying all the medications my Doctors give me.
The Last Time I got in "Trouble" because of Marijuana my lawyer told me that the day is coming when a Marijuana charge will be laughed out of court and that most of the country is moving in the "Legalization" direction but that Florida would be the LAST STATE to EVER Legalize Marijuana because of the population statistics involved in it's use and sales. Even in today's world Racism STILL plays a part in the Legal Issues surrounding Marijuana yet people ignore those race issues. Luckily though today there are Almost just as many White people smoking Marijuana as there are Blacks and Latinos so those Race Issues are becoming less and less of a obstacle.
In my personal opinion I think All Drugs should be legal. Why? Because all the addicts who are Too Stupid to have any WILL POWER or SELF CONTROL will run out and Overdose on the hard drugs and kill themselves which I think would be a good thing. We need less Stupid People in the world and more people with Will Power and Self Control. Alcohol, used in Moderation, doesn't cause problems. As long as no-one is drinking and driving or drinking themselves to death Alcohol CAN be used in Moderation by MATURE people. Pot is the Same Way. So are any drug really. I look down on "Addicts" as people who have NO Self Control and NO Will Power. Addicts are WEAK. It's NOT the Drugs Fault if YOU Don't have the Will Power to NOT USE IT. It's the Person's Fault, PERIOD. Anyone who says otherwise is a Weak Willed Person with NO Self Control. Blaming it on whatever drug is nothing more then a Excuse for the Addict in question to try to blame something other than themselves. I would love nothing more then for all the world's Crack Heads to run out and Overdose on Cocaine. If they did then we wouldn't have Crack Heads breaking into people's houses to steal something so they can get their next "fix". When is the last time you ever saw a Pot Head running down the road carrying a stolen VcR or Computer? I doubt you've EVER seen that because Pot Heads don't need to steal and hurt people to support their habit. People don't steal and kill to support their Alcohol habits do they? No. People don't steal and hurt people to support their Tobacco habits do they? No!!! It's only the Hard Drugs that cause serious issues in our society.
Also Marijuana is NOT a so called "Gateway Drug". In fact that whole term, Gateway Drug, is BULLSHIT. I've smoked Marijuana all of my life since I turned 18 and I have NEVER done Crack, Cocaine, heroine, or ANY other "Hard Drug", EVER....and I NEVER WILL, period. I've NEVER felt the urge of felt compelled to run out and try Hard Drugs, EVER. ANYONE who says that Pot made them try other drugs is nothing but another WEAK WILLED person looking for something to Blame Their Problems on because they Can Not Control their own actions, Period.
