cannabisnews.com: It's Immoral To Not Vote 'Yes' on One





It's Immoral To Not Vote 'Yes' on One
Posted by CN Staff on October 14, 2008 at 19:37:18 PT
By Constance York
Source: Michigan Journal
Michigan -- There have been a lot of ads running recently about Proposal Two, but Proposal One is just as important to Michigan, as well as to the country. Proposal One is a "legislative initiative to permit the use and cultivation of marijuana for specific medical conditions."My only argument against Proposal One is that it doesn't go far enough, but we have to start somewhere. The fact that marijuana is legal for medicinal purposes on a statewide level in 12 other states, yet remains illegal on a federal level should tell you something.
Someone is making money of the illegality of a common plant. Not off of the plant itself, which many people suspect they do, but through the illegality of it.In the United States of America, land of the free and home of the brave, you cannot grow a marijuana plant on your own property, for your own personal medicinal needs, but you can go to the store and buy a fifth of whiskey and get so intoxicated that you could die or kill other people.You cannot legally smoke a marijuana cigarette, but you can smoke a tobacco cigarette, even though cigarettes are known to be addictive and cause cancer.You can't legally use marijuana to calm anxiety attacks, or for an upset stomach, but you can go to a doctor and he will prescribe you a variety of drugs, many with serious side effects and addictive qualities.For anyone that thinks legalizing marijuana would increase teenage drug use, wake up and smell the Prozac. According to National Institute on Drug Abuse, 16.2 million Americans age 12 or older had taken a prescription pain reliever, tranquilizer, stimulant or sedative for non-medicinal purposes at least once in 2005. Parents get drugs like Vicodin and Xanax by their doctors and either sell them to make money, or they're stolen out of medicine cabinets by teens. These drugs are very addictive and often lead to harder drugs like heroin after a tolerance is built up to the point that heroin just becomes cheaper. 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.Source: Michigan Journal (MI)Author: Constance YorkPublished: October 14, 2008Copyright: 2008 Michigan JournalContact: http://drugsense.org/url/IAo4QTHsWebsite: http://www.themichiganjournal.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Stop Arresting Patientshttp://www.stoparrestingpatients.org/Vote Yes on Proposal 1 for Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24207.shtml Yes on Prop 1: Allow Relief Marijuana May Offerhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24201.shtml
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Comment #7 posted by ripit on October 15, 2008 at 16:56:14 PT:
nice!
good work!this one made me feel good!
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on October 15, 2008 at 07:45:14 PT
Runruff
I get it now. I didn't at first. But I finally did. Peppermint patties!
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on October 15, 2008 at 07:44:05 PT
Medicinal gardens
It would be nice if people could have more complete medicinal as well as regular cooking gardens if they wanted to.Aloe Vera, cannabis, peppermint, and medicinal poppies would be a nice base.But no. Government says you can't be trusted with some of those. 
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Comment #4 posted by runruff on October 15, 2008 at 06:27:48 PT
Mmmmmmm York!
It's good fresh and sweet.I wonder if this lady is part of that family.Good job Connie!
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Comment #3 posted by CanadianGanjaman on October 15, 2008 at 06:18:11 PT
Yay Michigan
I am reasonably satisfied with this article :)
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 19:51:06 PT
Go Constance!
Outstanding.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on October 14, 2008 at 19:37:56 PT
Good Article
Go Michigan!
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