What kind of legal action would it take to reform marijuana laws?
It’s important to note that for the first 15 years of my life, I was drug-free. I smoked a little herb, and then did not smoke again for 6 years. I smoked for 3 years, and then joined the military. When I finished my enlistment, I smoked regularly for about 2 more years. Since that time I have been clean. Mostly out of fear of losing my job. Though I don’t get tested at my workplace, it is a state job. I look at groups like NORML and LEAP and am curious how these groups have not made more progress. As my above history indicates, I am an on again, off again pot smoker. I have never tried any “harder” drugs. I have never been through withdrawal. I have read propaganda for and against marijuana. I know the facts. I know that cannabis is a far more useful crop than just getting you high. You can make paper, clothes, and rope among many other uses. There are far less carcinogens in pot than in cigarettes, which I also smoke. The effect pot has on you, the short term memory loss (which I’ve never experienced), the paranoia (which I’ve never experienced), the cotton-mouth (that one’s totally legit), and even the high you experience all vanish within months of stopping. Compare this to cigarettes and alcohol (it takes years to fully recover from continued cigarette smoking) and it doesn’t make sense why in a struggling economy we don’t legalize and tax weed to boost our income on a national level. Please inform me of how I can make a difference in the reform of marijuana laws where the political machines can’t.
Thanks for your response! NIDA though? They list marijuana on the same level as heroin. No matter what side you fall on, it’s nowhere near what heroin is. Also, I feel that if it were legalized, the chances of it remaining a “gateway” drug would be reduced if not eliminated due to the ease of acquisition. If you don’t need to go to a shady dealer to get weed, who would try to up-sell you?
http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/
A 1993 Rand Corporation study that compared drug use in states that had decriminalized marijuana versus those that had not, found that where marijuana was more available-the states that had decriminalized-hard drug abuse as measured by emergency room episodes decreased. In short, what science and actual experience tell us is that marijuana tends to substitute for the much more dangerous hard drugs like alcohol, cocaine, and heroin.
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