Simple Man Politics

As you all know I for the most part consider myself to be a pretty conservative person. However there are a couple of things that I really take a more moderate to liberal view on and today’s subject is on of those things. You see today’s subject is the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes as well as the idea of marijuana legalization for general use.

This subject has been very hard fought by those for and against marijuana legalization for decades. I can understand why some would not want marijuana legalized, but by the same token I can understand why others would want to legalize it also.

I believe that the important question on the matter is whether or not it would be moral or immoral to legalize marijuana at all. I think I can shed a little light on that subject although by the end of this blog you will see that my opinion is a little bit biased.

Opposition to legalization:
Opponents of any legislation to legalize marijuana have a couple of reasons why they oppose legalization. One reason that they have is that marijuana is already an illegal drug and therefore should not be legalized.

Another reason for their opposition is that they believe that marijuana is not only addictive, but will lead to the use of harder and more dangerous drugs subsequently leading to addiction to those as well.

Their last reason for opposing marijuana legalization is that with all of the things out there currently for public consumption like alcohol and tobacco why do we need one more thing that might be considered a health risk.

Proponents of legalization:
Those that favor legalizing marijuana have a couple of arguments of their own. One of these arguments is that certain people with medical problems can use Marijuana to alleviate pain for things like cancer and glaucoma. They favor at least legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Others who are also on the side of legalizing marijuana point to the fact that more criminal acts are committed by people under the influence of alcohol than on marijuana. They point to crimes like vehicular homicide, or manslaughter, murder, and domestic violence. They say that you never hear of anyone smoking a joint then beating on their wife and kids, or robbing a liquor store.

Supporters of legislation to legalize marijuana will also tell us that marijuana is not an addictive substance. They also point out that there is no scientific evidence to support marijuana as an addictive substance or that it leads to the usage of harder narcotic substances and addiction to them either.

Currently the state of California is considering legalizing, harvesting, and taxing marijuana for public use in their state. The reason for this is that the State of California as of right now has a budget deficit of more than 48 Billion dollars. They also point to a Department of Agriculture report showing that marijuana is the states largest cash crop bringing in more than citrus, which is the states 2nd largest cash crop and is responsible for about 7 Billion dollars of revenue to California. Marijuana production in California has been estimated to bring in as much as 20 Billion dollars a year and that may be a conservative estimate.

As far as I am concerned I lean more towards the legalization of marijuana than not. I believe that it should be legalized for medicinal purposes. I would further contend that the supporters of marijuana legalization are right and that it is not a harmful narcotic and should be legalized, produced, marketed, and taxed for public consumption. I am sure that there are those of you out there with opinions that differ from mine, but it is how I feel.

That is all I have for you guys today, but I will be back again tomorrow. Have a terrific day, CIAO4NOW!!!!!


http://norml.org/
http://www.marijuanalobby.org/?gclid=CMj17MOPppkCFSQMDQodS33kqA
http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/?gclid=CPDb4KeQppkCFQHyDAod-nzAqg