If you do some how eliminate marijuana, what are left are all the hard drugs that are easier to conceal during production and at the consumer level than marijuana. The majorities of America's marijuana smokers are happy with the herb, and rarely look for a harder drug. However, if you eliminate marijuana somehow, these people are far more likely to consider hard, addictive drugs like heroin and methamphetamine. We saw this happen before, when the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed. Amphetamine use went through the roof. If marijuana had not been done away with, perhaps these speedsters would have smoked pot instead. All you've done by eliminating marijuana is to create a more dangerous recreational drug user, whether dangerous only to self or to others. All the sick people whom could benefit from marijuana herb are left with nothing, as in many cases pharmaceutical drugs aren't doing all that they could. These sick patients are not likely to move on to hard drugs, however. Eliminating marijuana and the research into validating the medicinal value of the cannabinoids only makes people suffer, whether that's from their debilitating illnesses, or their new found addiction to hard drugs.

I distinguish hard drugs by their potential for physical addiction. My anti-psychotic is highly physically addictive, and I consider it a hard drug. Marijuana is about as addictive as coffee. A single digit percentage of marijuana users actually abuse marijuana by smoking it at every possible opportunity. Most smoke only in the evenings or on weekends only, much like how many alcohol drinkers responsibly use alcohol, or how a coffee drinker only drinks in the morning. They're not addicted. People are generally responsible, but that lies in how they were raised. Teach children to be responsible, and you lessen the adverse effects of irresponsible marijuana use, as the occurrence is lessened. "Just say no!" to all marijuana use doesn't teach responsibility. It only teaches bigotry towards the responsible users of marijuana, whether they're patients or recreational users. A child should grow up being able to distinguish irresponsibility from responsibility, lest the future adult fall into incessant irresponsibilities.

Doctors and patients do not feel awkward talking about coffee or alcohol, but when it comes to marijuana, there is tension. This is unfortunate. Marijuana is a medicinal herb, much like St John's Wort, Ginseng, and Black Cohosh. A doctor should be discussing these without any tension, because in the end it is about the patient's overall health. If the doctor feels that coffee is causing a problem, he or she is obligated to say so and encourage the patient to cut back. The same is true with alcohol. The same should hold true for marijuana, especially seeing that it is a medicinal herb. While marijuana has about as many dangers as any other medicinal herb, everybody's body is different. Only a doctor can say if a patient is better off cutting back on marijuana consumption, but the doctor can only say so if there's an open relationship between doctor and patient. The stigma associated with marijuana, caused by the overzealous demonization of an otherwise fairly harmless herb, is debilitating to America's health. Even smoked, marijuana itself causes far less harm than the stigma. Jobs are lost, education is halted regardless if the student has a 4.0 or a 3.0 GPA, friendships are broken, families are divided, and law enforcement, local government, corporations, etc... have the potential to exploit America's citizens, not just those whom are using marijuana herb. If you search "marijuana victims" the first result shows countless of innocent people falling victim to the side effects of prohibition. Marijuana doesn't cause insanity, like Harry Anslinger told congress 75 years ago. Marijuana is not a stepping stone into harder drugs like he later claimed when the insanity theory was disproved. Most marijuana users never touch hard drugs, and that percentage is growing as more and more people discover the many medicinal properties of marijuana. These users have no more risk of using harder drugs than before they started using marijuana herb, and it is highly doubtful any of them are going to start using illegal hard drugs, as they are generally very health conscious people. The fact that marijuana's illegal along with heroin and meth, only secures a connection between the drugs. Youth view heroin and meth just as harmless as they find marijuana to be, until they're addicted to that hard drug and it's too late. Legalize marijuana and you sever the strong connection marijuana herb has with hard drugs.

Marijuana was put on earth by God for many reasons, and we are not taking advantage of any. Industrial hemp, which is less psychoactive than tobacco, is possibly the most advantageous commodity in the world, yet it is illegal because Anslinger convinced congress that marijuana caused insanity. Chapter two of The Emperor Wears No Clothes by Jack Herer starts off stating the following.

Yes, he's talking about industrial hemp. Legalizing industrial hemp is the single most "green" thing America can do today. The costs of many of today's "green" ideas are staggering in many cases. Some of these ideas cost very little, but legalizing industrial hemp remains the single most cost effective solution to reversing our plight and insuring a healthy posterity for centuries to come.

There are many well educated voices in this initiative to end the war on marijuana herb, as there are many educated voices opposing. Marijuana is one of today's most controversial subjects. Attempts to squelch this noise are feeble. It still makes it into the media. It still encourages grass roots activity on both sides. Polls show strong favor for legalization, both for medicinal and recreational use, despite 75 years of lies and deceit. This entire time opposition has portrayed marijuana as a highly addictive menace, yet it has been proven to be less harmful to adults than alcohol. The opposition continually brings up the youth to support their claims that marijuana is the single most dangerous drug in America. Legalization doesn't open the door to a doped up American youth. It didn't lead to a drunken American youth when Prohibition was nixed. The opposition uses scare tactics to prove their points and secure their footing, while scientific research shows otherwise that marijuana is nearly benign in comparison to legal substances.

I want to encourage you to support our cause. We weren't made "the enemy" by our own doing. We were attacked first, and bigotry was used to exaggerate this dangerous enemy. Marijuana users harm nobody, unless they're irresponsible. Marijuana is not at fault. The responsible users are not at fault. The severely ill patients are not at fault. The harmless spiritual use of marijuana is not at fault. The contained private party of friends smoking marijuana is not at fault. Irresponsible use of alcohol is more costly than the irresponsible use of marijuana. I don't know about you, but I would rather these irresponsible alcohol drinkers smoke marijuana than drink alcohol. Often times the worst the marijuana smokers do is crank up the stereo.

Driving while intoxicated is an issue I am positive we both agree upon. It is a major problem, and alcohol is literally covering the pie chart illustrating various drugs' roles in accidents. I am going to tell you a secret about the life of many who smoke marijuana. Often times they can't smoke anywhere due to its legal status, so they hit the road and smoke to hide their use. This puts people in danger, and it is caused directly by the prohibition. I guarantee you that the prohibition on marijuana is causing more harm than marijuana itself, by magnitudes. Mexico is in shambles over the prohibition. That is literally an entire country in peril over the legal status of a rather harmless herb.