The debate continues to rage over whether marijuana should be made legal or continue to be prohibited. Everyone seems to have an opinion. Some feel it does no harm and is in fact beneficial, others think it is the devil’s weed and causes a downward spiral to hard drugs and depravity.
The answer is somewhere in between. While marijuana should not be readily available to children and teens, it should be for adults, much the same as alcohol is. As adults, we have already made up our minds as to whether we would partake of a joint or not. Legalizing marijuana won’t change the minds of those who have already chosen not to use it. But, to deny those with medical issues the benefit of medical marijuana is short sighted and at times even cruel. Responsibility lies with each individual person and it is probably the most valuable lesson parents can teach children in regard to drugs, alcohol and sex.
Marijuana itself is not addictive, what is addictive is the “feel good feeling” and people around the world have been finding it through various means for eons. We legalize alcohol yet it is the cause of more abuse than marijuana would ever likely be. Smoking a joint does not lead to heavy drug use — what leads to that is a person’s need to escape their life and their problems.
Legalizing marijuana is a huge step and one that needs to be weighed out in regard to criminal activity. Take away the profit and you take away the crime. Crime is always about profit and greed — just don’t get in the way of it.
While we do not advocate one way or another, it is an important dialogue which needs to go on.