As of recent I learned about the Courier releasing a 4/20 addition of their paper, and that you all were releasing a paper about the views of whether or not marijuana should be legalized.

I’ve never smoked in my life, save for a single puff of a cigar, and I can safely say that, for now, the practice isn’t for me. For others, it is a method of dealing with stress or just a recreational activity for having fun. Unfortunately, the drug war sparked by the Reagan Era has created an atmosphere a problem far deeper than any simple drag of a joint.

Personally, despite not smoking anything, I am in favor of legalizing marijuana. As someone who deals with depression, I would like to see what impact this seemingly “illegal” and “immoral” drug has in the medical field. After all, the medicalization of drugs isn’t a new thing, only new nowadays due to the dependency stigma that it carries.

I’d also like to have marijuana legalized (and eventually other drugs, if possible) because the drug war has impacted the lives of a disproportionate number of minorities. Criminals (and the accused) of drug usage and sales are often are given longer sentences than more serious crimes such as robbery and embezzlement. Drug arrests are often in low-income neighborhoods, even though there are plenty of “high-class” drug cases that are ignored because the perpetrators are rich and white.

Legalization of marijuana has a number of benefits. If it is regulated and heavily taxed, it could help us shrink out national debt. It would also be the first industry to allow women and some minorities to be in control.

Many people make the claim that marijuana is dangerous, but this isn’t an entirely well-informed expression. Marijuana is impossible to overdose on. You’d have to smoke

an entire joint every two seconds for five to seven hours straight. Add to that the fact that cigarettes, which are legal, have far more unnatural chemical compounds and addictive substances, and it becomes very clear that marijuana should have been legal instead of our current-day nicotine smokes.

All in all, the choice comes down to our lawmakers, who still believe that they know what is moral. It’s a shame that they don’t want such a profitable new business being opened up, but then again, they probably know that the marijuana business would be less easy to take advantage of considering the demographic of people who smoke.

-Anonymous