Pubdate: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 Source: TCU Daily Skiff (Texas Christian University, TX Edu) Copyright: 2010 Daily Skiff Contact: http://www.tcudailyskiff.com/2.6819/2.16120 Website: http://www.tcudailyskiff.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1289 Author: Shane Smith Note: Shane Smith is a senior secondary education major from Fort Worth. LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA IS A DANGER TO SOCIETY Proposition 19 did not pass in the California elections last week. The proposition, if passed, would have given Californians over the age of 21 the right to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and smoke it in non-public areas as long as minors were not present. Arguments for legalizing marijuana in California were that the drug would help decrease the state's debt and decrease drug war violence. However, there is no substantial evidence that supports these outrageous claims. Not legalizing marijuana establishes a few important points. First off, California is one of the most liberal states in the country. Because it did not pass Prop 19, the rest of the country might not either. By not legalizing marijuana, society is doing its job of protecting individuals from others that take advantage of individual freedoms. If marijuana were legal, we would see people walking around and going to work high on pot. Society has the responsibility of protecting individuals from those who exceed their individual rights. The decline of Prop 19 does exactly that. There is a misconception that making marijuana legal will help the state budget. This is not true at all. The main problem with the argument is that proponents assume that by making marijuana legal, more people will start buying the drug. This is a false assumption. Assumptions like this are dangerous because humans tend to be consistent. Whether or not it is legal, those who smoke pot now will do it again later. Those who do not smoke pot will most likely never smoke the drug even if it were made legal. Marijuana sales would hardly impact the budget in California. Marijuana is a drug that is harmful to the individuals that smoke it. If people want to smoke pot in their own houses, I personally do not have a problem with that. However, the smoke from pot does travel through the air, and therefore it affects the lives of anyone within smelling distance. Just because an individual wants to smoke pot does not give that individual the right to force the smell and the smoke on others. The good news is that Californians are smart enough to realize that the legalization of marijuana is dangerous to society. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake