Help Legalize Marijuana in California

A sufficient number of sugnatures were collected to put legalizing marijuana to a vote in the golden state. In a recent poll, 56% of California residents surveyed were in favor of legalizing pot. The recent push to legalize marijuana in California has gained momentum but, the fight is far from over.

There are people who feel very strongly about this issue on both sides. The people against legalizing marijuana have been lied to by the government and big corporations for decades. Drug companies stand to lose billions of dollars if it becomes legal. Alcohol comanies will also lose billions in sales to marijuana.

You've probably seen those anti-pot commercials with the cartoon dog talking to his master, asking him to quit smoking pot. Those commercials were paid for by alcohol companies. Don't kid yourselves, alcohol is a drug. Alcohol kills more people every year than cigarettes, car accidents (that is the 50% that don't involve a drunk driver), murder and all illicit drugs combined.

Fact: Nobody has ever overdosed on marijuana. You would have to smoke 1500 pounds of pot in 15 minutes to overdose. An impossible feat.

There is no evidence that using marijuana over a long period causes any life-threatening conditions unlike our two legal recreational drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

The war on drugs is a complete and utter failure. There are even police officers and judges who highly recommend legalizing pot. Listen to why Judge James Gray thinks we need to legalize marijuana.

Then there's the organization Law Enorecment Against Prohibition (LEAP).

There is an ever escalating gang war going on just accross the US/Mexico border. They grow more and more violent as time goes by. Drug money puts guns and explosives in the hands of violent, greedy criminals. Sales of marijuana in the US account for 75% of their income. Demand for pot in the states increases even in the face of the senseless "war on drugs". Former Mexican President Vincente Fox suggests that the best way to curb this violence is to legalize and regulate marijuana in the US.

Alcohol prohibition caused a gang war in this country from 1920 to 1933. People did not stop using alcohol, they just went underground and it created a black market in which gangsters killed eachother and innocent people to get a greater share of the pie.

Part of the reason alcohol prohibition was repealed was that the great depression had hit and taxes on alcohol would help pay for government expenses.

We are in very much the same situation today. Only this time the drug in question is a much safer and more useful substance than alcohol could ever hope to be. Hemp is more durable than cotton, produces more paper per acre than lumber, more ethanol per acre than corn and, it can be harvested twice every season.

Hemp can be made into paper, rope, clothing, soap, food, fuel, plastic, and beauty products just to name a few. It has proven to be a useful medicine in treating patients with any number of chronic and incurable diesases such as cancer, aids and, glaucoma to name a few.

There has even been a study that indicates that children with ADD and ADHD could benefit from marijuana. The medication typically prescribed for ADD and ADHD is methylphenidate or Ritalin. Ritalin is chemically similar to methamphedamine and cocaine. Therefore, methampedamine and cocaine are "Schedule 2" drugs meaning they have medicinal qualities and have a high potential for abuse. Yet marijuana remains a "Schedule 1" drug with supposedly no medicinal qualities even though the AMA (American Medical Association) has asked the government to reschedule it.

If you live in California, you need to make sure you get registered and vote to legalize, tax and, regulate marijuana. California can be the trendsetter for the rest of the country. I am sure that many states will follow suit. The federal government will need to reconsider it's stance then.

To everyone else I say: Get involved. Write your representatives. Support movements to legalize.

LEGALIZATION NOW!