Pubdate: Sun, 02 Sep 2012 Source: Daily Courier (Prescott, AZ) Copyright: 2012 Prescott Newspapers, Inc. Contact: http://www.dcourier.com/Formlayout.asp?formcall=userform&form=1 Website: http://www.dcourier.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4036 Author: Drew Desmond MARIJUANA OPPONENTS SECOND-GUESSING GOD EDITOR: With all the debate about marijuana usage, one basic fact is being ignored: Marijuana is not a chemical produced in a pharmacy. It is a species of life. The overwhelming majority of people would either credit its existence to Mother Nature or God. Since no environmental impact study has been done, we can only guess at what its place is in nature, but one would think it is there for some positive role. And yet, we are spending billions to try to actively remove this species of life from its natural ecosystem. Do opponents to marijuana think that they are smarter than Mother Nature or do they think they are smarter than God? I've often heard the argument from those who think God created it that "it's not that God created it; it's the way that man is using it that's the problem." Well, here's a newsflash: God knew that man was going to smoke marijuana before He ever created it and yet, in His manifest wisdom, He decided to create it anyway. Just because one might not understand why God or Mother Nature put pot on this planet doesn't mean that it should be destroyed. It's completely ridiculous to outlaw a species of life. The government has absolutely no moral, ethical or philosophical right to do so. Drew Desmond Prescott Valley - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom