Anyway, marijuana should remain illegal, and shouldn't even be permitted for medicinal use. The argument that "it's readily available so it should be legal" is terrible in every way. By that argument, murder, driving at whatever speed you want, rape, and many other things should be legalized. Not to mention the fact that I am strongly against ALL brain altering substances (tobacco and alcohol too). Regardless of WHY it was made illegal, it should STAY illegal.
Why should the law be based on your personal beliefs? What ever happened to freedom of choice, especially when some people, including myself, believe certain drugs can have positive effects when used in moderation?
If used correctly (in moderation and within the right environment), marijuana will help a person concentrate on a certain issue, which in most cases (I've talked to a lot of people, and this is also true for myself) will cause you to notice things about yourself you normally wouldn't notice. Examples would be, "I need to grow the fuck up. I need to get a job. I need to be more responsible. I need to stop being an asshole. I need to stop living my life in fear." It can even allow you to think more clearly about bigger issues such as politics, religion, etc.
"While the
Controlled Substances Act was being drafted in a House committee in 1970, [the] Assistant Secretary of Health [...] had recommended that marijuana temporarily be placed in Schedule I, the most restrictive category of drugs, pending the Commission's (the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse) report. On March 22, 1972, the Commission's chairman [...] presented a report to Congress and the public entitled "Marijuana, A Signal of Misunderstanding," which favored ending marijuana prohibition and adopting other methods to discourage use.
[T]he Commission recommended 'a social control policy seeking to discourage marihuana use, while concentrating primarily on the prevention of heavy and very heavy use.' The report noted that society can provide incentives for certain behavior without prosecuting the unwilling, citing the example that 'the family unit and the institution of marriage are preferred means of group-living and child-rearing in our society. As a society, we are not neutral. We officially encourage matrimony by giving married couples favorable tax treatment; but we do not compel people to get married.'" Source:
Wikipedia, National Commission on Marihuana and Drug AbuseHere are a few quotes from the report commissioned by President Richard M. Nixon, titled, "
Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding":
"Intermittent marihuana users, like the experimenters, are generally conventional in most respects. They are more liberal politically and socially and they tend to stress education for personal improvement rather than for recognition or high grades. Like many non-users, these individuals are likely to be self-expressive, intellectually and culturally oriented, creative, and flexible. Placing a high value on experimentation and responsible, independent decision-making, they often manifest a desire to search for new experiences, resulting in some behaviors which depart from the norms of the larger society. Often accompanying their search is a sense of uncertainty about the future."
"since the beginning of our official life, we have grappled with the threshold question: why has the use of marihuana reached problem status in the public mind? [...] Many see the drug as fostering a counterculture which conflicts with basic moral precepts as well as with the operating functions of our society."
"Our youth cannot understand why society chooses to criminalize a behavior with so little visible ill effect or adverse social impact. [...] These young people have jumped the fence and found no cliff. And the disrespect for the possession laws fosters a disrespect for law and the system in general. [...] On top of this is the distinct impression among the youth that some police may use the marihuana laws to arrest people they don't like for other reasons, whether it be their politics, their hair style or their ethnic background."
The commission was telling Nixon, in effect, that the real marijuana problem wasn't the drug, but the war on the drug. The war was alienating young people, turning "straight" society against the counterculture, and leading police to use pot laws as political weapons. Marijuana prohibition, the commission concluded, is not in the national interest.
I'll post part two of this post later so I don't discourage the reading of this already large block of text.
