[420 Girl]

Since the Nixon administration declared a war on drugs, the criminal justice system has spent billions of dollars apprehending and prosecuting perpetrators of the nonviolent crimes of smoking, possessing or cultivating marijuana.

Indiscriminately enforcing the morals of the majority upon both recreational users and individuals with a medical need to consume cannabis, the Scheduled Substance Act classifies cannabis as Schedule 1, which means it has shown not to have medical use.

However, Bob Stutman, the retired DEA agent, who represented the feds in the Tuesday, March 30, debate in Schaeffer Auditorium on the legalization of marijuana, pointed out that marijuana contains Delta-9-THC, which has shown to be useful in treating pain and decrease in appetite attributed to cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis and various other diseases.

Stutman also mentioned that despite the fact that cannabis has a medical use, it doesn’t matter because the argument has been redefined. It is no longer the typical back and forth between heads and feds about the various uses of marijuana compared to the minimal risks associated with it. It is an argument of choice and responsible decision making.

The general public does not support marijuana legalization because it believes that use of it impairs judgment. There are countless inconclusive studies on the effects of marijuana.

While some say that it impairs judgment, others claim that it improves judgment, and still more suggest that it has little to no effect at all.

Some of the general public believes that marijuana causes addiction. While smoking grass habitually can cause a form of psychological dependence, anyone who has stopped smoking pot suddenly after an extended period can tell you they experienced no withdrawal symptoms.

Regardless of the long list of studies that provide mixed answers or no answers at all, the question remains: Can people smoke pot responsibly?

How about a better question: Can people drink responsibly?

When was the last time Main Street was quiet on a Thursday? I have walked for KUBoK. There are some things that scare me. For instance, women stumbling drunk in high heels is a worrisome thing to witness. Why not just smack your skull on the pavement?

I have never seen a stoner stumble unless he also happened to be drinking.

When pot use goes up on campus, so does alcohol use. After college, some people stop using pot; they decide to raise a family or get a job. Alcohol use is forever constant. In college, in society, alcoholics are everywhere. They are parents, doctors and cops.

It is unbelievable that the recreational drugs of choice in this country are also the most dangerously addicting and destructive to the vitality of youth. The fact that they are highly addicting makes them more difficult to use responsibly, despite the warnings that blare on the bottles and packaging.

Not long after alcohol prohibition failed, marijuana was made illegal for a countless number of reasons. It was a major competitor for the wood, paper, rope, fabric and various other industries.

On top of that, Congress, although presented with evidence that smoking reefer did not cause a state of lunacy, did not feel that this nation could handle another legal intoxicant.

So now marijuana prohibition is failing. Congress and the president may be faced with an opportunity to repeal this law that is hemorrhaging U.S. citizens of their money – money that goes to the apprehension and punishment of nonviolent individuals – and turns them into cop hating thugs fresh out of the cell – can be better spent on making a better, more sustainable future.

So please, people, if you want the freedom to choose that is guaranteed by the constitution, use drugs responsibly. Know the drug — both its risks and its effects. Know yourself. Know your surroundings. Don’t drink, toke or dose and drive. Practice self-control and moderation. Avoid mixing substances. Have fun and keep it down. In order to make any drug legal, people must show that they can be responsible.


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