Pubdate: Thu, 31 Mar 2011 Source: Missoulian (MT) Copyright: 2011 Missoulian Contact: http://www.missoulian.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/720 Author: Kevin Rouse JUST LEGALIZE IT ALREADY! Montana citizens are again debating medical marijuana across the state as the Legislature deadlocks on repeal and the Drug Enforcement Administration raids local growers. Some people call it a crucial medicine, others a social poison. Here's an idea: Why not just legalize pot already? The federal government turned marijuana into a demon in the early-to-middle 20th century for political purposes, and the propaganda was successful. The simple fact is that marijuana, while certainly not harmless, is one of the most minor drugs known to man. Scientists have been unable to establish a lethal dose of marijuana. Few, if any, deaths have ever been attributed to it, even indirectly. No, it is not a good thing, when people use marijuana, but it's not a good thing when people eat McDonald's or smoke cigarettes either. We all accept those behaviors as allowable vices, things to be discouraged but not illegalized. There is no reason not to accept marijuana for the same reasons. It is not as if people already don't. Whether or not medical marijuana does help some, thousands of Montana citizens light up legal and illegal weed every day solely to get high, as anyone who's ever attended college can attest. Most criticisms of marijuana are just, well, wrong. One legislator was quoted as saying "it's destroying the fabric of our state." This is typical political inanity; it not only fails to mention a single actual fact, it's not even clear what "destroying the fabric" means. That legislator may as well have been claiming the existence of Santa Claus for all the evidence he has. Yes, marijuana is unhealthy. Yes, medical marijuana is something of a racket. Oh well - we're better off just letting go of unjustified, decades-old prejudices. Kevin Rouse Missoula - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.