Alles Klar?

I need to express my thoughts on a certain subject here, but let me preface this by saying this is not targeting any one person. This has come up with many people I know over the last few months. I usually do not say anything. So, here is my opinion. If you decide to let this offend you, then you obviously don't care enough about me to listen to my opinion. That's fine.

Marijuana.

I know many people that smoke marijuana. They enjoy it. They have seen no negative impact on their life because of it. They think that it is absolutely ridiculous that it is illegal, especially when you compare it to alcohol. Alcohol is not only more dangerous to the user, but is more dangerous to other people as well. Many people have died from alcohol poisoning, or have gotten into fights, beat their wives, or killed someone by driving drunk with extremely hindered coordination and reflexes because they were drunk. Marijuana on the other hand, as many tests have indicated, has very little impact on one's driving, there has never been a known case of someone overdosing and dying from it, and there are no known cases of it causing people to be aggressive or violent and harm others. It is not healthy by any means, but not as unhealthy as alcohol or even normal cigarettes which contain numerous toxins. It seems that the only real side effect of marijuana is becoming lazy and hungry, which is not beneficial to the user, but is not dangerous. Many people believe you should have the right to do anything you want to yourself, as long as it does not harm others. In fact, there is a lot of evidence that shows that marijuana helps people cope with chronic pain, and may even help cancer victims live longer. It seems very hippocratic that we as a nation allow alcohol and tobacco, but not marijuana.

HOWEVER...

This country is a democracy, and it's majority rule. The majority of people who vote and run the government, whether they are ignorant or not, right or not, feel that marijuana should be illegal. If you think marijuana should be legal, then why don't you get off your lazy butt and make an effort to spread knowledge and pass legislation to make it legal. Fighting the battle underground and having the rest of the world see you as rebellious druggies who keep getting hauled off to jail is not helping your cause. While marijuana is still illegal, don't do it. If you can never convince the majority to agree with you, well then too bad. You may just have to cope with the idea that people sometimes just plain don't agree. If you insist on using marijuana anyway, that is your choice, however please do not jeopardize my safety and social standing by bringing me into your car or apartment if you have marijuana with you. If I go to jail because YOU had marijuana, I will hurt you.