Legalizing Marijuana: 1-800-BAD-WEED

Fear, it's what drives most of our actions. Fear and sex. But this article is not about our offensive primal instinct, it's about our defensive primal instinct: fear.

People are afraid of what they don’t understand. They seek first to shoot, and then ask questions later. People are confronted daily by things they don’t understand. This article hopes to resolve a bit of that situation, and shed a little light on a subject matter of which some to most people know nothing except for what they see on network television: legal natural intoxication.

"Drugs are bad, m’K." But let's face it. Marijuana use is a victimless crime that creates more criminals than it rehabilitates. The war on drugs is like nuclear war. ("Want to play a game?") No winner.

You want to beat marijuana?

Legalize it. Sell it for less than people pay on the black market. You will drive the competition out of business. That’s right, we could win the war on marijuana the good ol’ American way: capitalism!

Manage it. We already have a system for controlling liquor and tobacco. We could have the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Marijuana!

Tax it. We could turn the new product into a revenue generator. The money could be used for anywhere!

Doesn’t it make sense? DOESN’T IT?

The approvals of using marijuana as a prescribed drug in several states show that people are evolving a better understanding of marijuana. I think it's because people understand marijuana better today, what it is and what it does. Obviously marijuana is understood a lot better from when Nixon’s Drug Committee listed marijuana as a Schedule One narcotic (SCHEDULE ONE!!, can you believe it). If you don’t know what a Schedule One drug is, look it up - you will be surprised!

Things are progressing slowly. Maybe my grandkids will live in a country that is home to a people that is a little braver and a little freer.

Alex Brewster, February 2001