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COLUMN: It's immoral to not vote 'yes' on One
Constance York
Issue date: 10/14/08 Section: Perspectives
So while it isn't okay with the federal government to smoke a joint, which by the way is all natural, free of additives or preservatives, it's okay to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and take addictive prescription pills.
Is it possible that lobbyists for major drug companies, alcohol companies and tobacco companies have anything to do with it? How much money would Anheuser Busch and Pfizer lose if people could grow their own marijuana? Enough to make it worth it for them to do whatever they can to make sure we never get that chance.
Alcohol, tobacco and drugs ruin lives. Marijuana is a plant, and unless I'm mistaken, the only plant United States citizens are not allowed to grow on their own land that they pay taxes on.
We don't always know the effects of drugs until after they have badly affected people's lives. Marijuana has been around for thousands of years for medicinal purposes.
To make matters worse, our country is broke. Our prisons are so overcrowded they allow pedophiles to get parole. Why waste tax-payer dollars on search planes and incarcerating people for growing plants?
If you decriminalize it, marijuana dealers would no longer be breaking the law, no longer making thousands of tax-free dollars each year and no longer taking up valuable space in our prisons.
People would either pay less for marijuana, because without a threat, prices would go down, or they would grow their own. The people who used to buy from dealers would have more money to shop, invest and pay their bills, while the drug dealers would no longer be collecting tax-free money and the government would no longer be spending billions on preventing the growth, sale and use of a plant.
Why doesn't the government legalize and tax it? Because they tried it before and it failed miserably. Imagine trying to tax dandelions and you get the picture. It's a plant, so most people wouldn't pay high-taxed, marked-up prices for something they could easily grow in their own backyard. The federal government knows this. And the lobbyists for big tobacco, alcohol and drug companies know this.
And they would all rather we keep killing ourselves and each other with their manufactured products than to allow us to grow our own non-toxic ones.
I find it immoral that the government won't allow people to use an easily grown common weed to ease their own pain.
Vote yes on Proposal One. It's not nearly enough, but it's an excellent start.
Is it possible that lobbyists for major drug companies, alcohol companies and tobacco companies have anything to do with it? How much money would Anheuser Busch and Pfizer lose if people could grow their own marijuana? Enough to make it worth it for them to do whatever they can to make sure we never get that chance.
Alcohol, tobacco and drugs ruin lives. Marijuana is a plant, and unless I'm mistaken, the only plant United States citizens are not allowed to grow on their own land that they pay taxes on.
We don't always know the effects of drugs until after they have badly affected people's lives. Marijuana has been around for thousands of years for medicinal purposes.
To make matters worse, our country is broke. Our prisons are so overcrowded they allow pedophiles to get parole. Why waste tax-payer dollars on search planes and incarcerating people for growing plants?
If you decriminalize it, marijuana dealers would no longer be breaking the law, no longer making thousands of tax-free dollars each year and no longer taking up valuable space in our prisons.
People would either pay less for marijuana, because without a threat, prices would go down, or they would grow their own. The people who used to buy from dealers would have more money to shop, invest and pay their bills, while the drug dealers would no longer be collecting tax-free money and the government would no longer be spending billions on preventing the growth, sale and use of a plant.
Why doesn't the government legalize and tax it? Because they tried it before and it failed miserably. Imagine trying to tax dandelions and you get the picture. It's a plant, so most people wouldn't pay high-taxed, marked-up prices for something they could easily grow in their own backyard. The federal government knows this. And the lobbyists for big tobacco, alcohol and drug companies know this.
And they would all rather we keep killing ourselves and each other with their manufactured products than to allow us to grow our own non-toxic ones.
I find it immoral that the government won't allow people to use an easily grown common weed to ease their own pain.
Vote yes on Proposal One. It's not nearly enough, but it's an excellent start.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Mark Entry
posted 10/15/08 @ 5:57 AM EST
It is compassionate to vote 'yes' for one.
Nik
posted 10/15/08 @ 12:34 PM EST
It's nice to see some positive logical coverage on this one, FINALLY.
The only excuse the anti-drug crowd has against this thing, is that they think it's legalization, and it's not really. (Continued…)
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