Pubdate: Thu, 19 Dec 2013
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact:  http://www.ajc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Jerry Luquire
Note: Jerry Luquire is president of the Georgia Christian Coalition

DRUG LAWS ARE CLEAR: MARIJUANA IS ILLEGAL

The growth, possession, use or sale of marijuana in the United States 
is a violation of federal law. There are no exceptions, and I could 
find no court cases or, as the legals say, "precedent" where any 
judge has decided this law somehow was not clear or an unusual or 
imprudent violation of citizens' rights.

If this were still the America where clear violations of our nation's 
laws were adjudicated, the essay could end here. Instead, by some 
sponsoring open defiance of a law and the refusal of government 
chiefs to take action, the fortunes that were lost and lives ended to 
guarantee us a nation which is governed only by laws, not by man, 
regretfully seems almost a cartoon.

Breaking drug laws is not the same as easing 10 miles over the limit 
or an 18-yearold buying alcohol. At least violators of these laws, 
when caught, face a court. The speeder's defense of being in a hurry 
or drinker's explanation that he was really thirsty would not excuse 
them from facing the law and its judgment.

On any square foot of the United States, involvement in marijuana is 
a crime, a felony. Within these clearly explained rules, there are no 
footnotes where enforcement of these laws is denied or exceptions made.

Wait. Isn't there permission in the law legalizing use of this 
powerful drug to make the sick feel better? No.

The most logical legal standard to find exceptions of federal laws 
against trafficking in cannabis is to check its drug counterpart and 
make a comparison of laws. In 75 years, with Congresses of many 
thoughts and mores, there is no footnote or annotation, for example, 
that the drinking of wine by a child for his stomach's sake is OK. 
Even the sick must wait until he or she is 21 to discover any 
medicinal value of alcohol.

As a publisher of books, I have the pleasure of meeting those from 
many trades and professions. In recent years, I have asked of those 
whose livelihood is derived from their knowledge of the human body if 
God had somehow changed his recipe to create us.

After all, we have discovered males and females who say they received 
the wrong body parts. So could any modern-day fetal development 
engineered by our Maker bring a propensity to develop an illness only 
marijuana could aid?

To those who want to break drug laws with unjustified excuses, why 
not spend that time you are coddling the media by redressing Congress 
for changes? I suggest you do this soon, as the recent rash of 
sicknesses that can be abated only by cannabis use may rapidly 
advance to fatalities, and there will be no one left to light the fire.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom