Poll: Marijuana Legalization Support Reaches New High.

PHOTO CREDIT: "Cannabis" by M. Bartosch for Free Digital Photos

In a new poll from Gallup, a majority of Americans now support legalization of marijuana. Fifty percent now favor the end to prohibition, whereas 46% oppose it. Just last year, that support for ending prohibition was at 46%. Americans are finally seeing through the propaganda that has incorrectly labeled marijuana as a dangerous drug.

Not one person has ever over-dosed from marijuana; compare that to alcohol, and yet alcohol is as available as Starbucks coffee. Marijuana isn't physically addictive like tobacco and yet tobacco can be easily purchased at convenience stores!! Anyone who says marijuana is physically addictive is misinformed and has obviously never tried the herb. I have used marijuana throughout various times in my life and it has never been hard to stop when I wanted to.

Then there is the fact that marijuana pacifies people and therefore you just don't see the violence associated with it that you do with alcohol. Think about all the violence on the border with Mexico over drugs; sixty percent of that drug trade is in marijuana!! If we legalized it then that crime would drop drastically. Some people say that drug cartels would still have other drugs to sell but who in their right mind would oppose putting a 60% dent in their business?!!!

And, the cost to tax payers of enforcing a failed 70 year prohibition in police resources has been atrocious. That is time that the police could be chasing violent criminals and solving cold cases. In addition, we already clogging up our already crowded prisons with non-violent marijuana users and growers while pedophiles and rapists get light sentences!! The warehousing of those marijuana "offenders" also costs the tax payer ridiculous amounts of money. The money is flowing the wrong way--out of our pockets; legalization and regulation similar to alcohol could be bringing in millions (if not billions) to state and federal coffers to balance budgets and fund schools.

The last time I checked, America was a country where we have a right to personal freedom and unreasonable searches and seizures. Tax paying, law-abiding citizens should have the freedom to enjoy small amounts of marijuana in the privacy of their own homes. Whatever happened to the pursuit of happiness?!! For these, and many other reasons, marijuana should be legalized and it appears that America is ready to do it. The tipping point is upon us and now it just looks like it is being opposed by "do-gooders" who oppose it purely on religious, moral grounds. However, a religion shouldn't have the right to deny others personal freedoms; this is a country after all that allows for the practice of no religion, too. Even amongst the religious there are many who agree with legalization, so the time is now.

---The Green Man has Spoken---

Groups Offers $10k to Dispprove Claim that Marijuana is Safer than Alcohol.

The Safer Texas Campaign is offering $10,000 to anyone in Texas who can prove that three statements claiming marijuana is safer than alcohol are incorrect. The three statements are:

1. Alcohol is significantly more toxic than marijuana, making death by overdose far more likely with alcohol.

2. The health effects from long-term alcohol consumption cause tens of thousands of more deaths in the U.S. annually than the health effects from the long-term consumption of marijuana.

3. Violent crime committed by individuals intoxicated by alcohol is far more prevalent in the U.S. than violent crime committed by individuals intoxicated by marijuana only.

"We are confident that this $10,000 will not be claimed," said Safer Texas Campaign manager Craig Johnson, when he posed the challenge.

Green Man: It's basically impossible to overdose on marijuana. You'd have to ingest it by the ton in order for an overdose to occur--and it simply isn't realistic to believe someone would do such a thing. As for number two, there aren't the numbers of people dying from marijuana related effects like alcohol. I know many old hippies who've been using marijuana since the 60s and are in perfect health. Lastly, marijuana isn't a drug that makes one aggressive. It makes people relax, laugh and calm. I can't tell you how many times I've seen fights break out from people drinking alcohol but in all the people I've seen ingest marijuana--nothing. Committing a crime is the last thing on someone's mind after using pot.

They are too relaxed to get off the couch let alone to commit a crime. People on marijuana are peaceful and often get into deep discussions on how to make the world a better place. I've never heard of a domestic violence crime break out from marijuana consumption, whereas with alcohol it's all too common. Alcohol is a drug that often makes people aggressive, unruly and rude. People who use marijuana are super polite because it makes you feel chill and mellow.

So, if we're going to allow alcohol then marijuana should be allowed as well. It's so frustrating, yet somewhat hilarious that the same politicians who cowardly stand in the way of legalization of marijuana due to fear of not being re-elected are also the same people who guzzle gallons of liquor in their off time. No one thinks anything of it and the same should be true of marijuana.

It simply isn't the drug that it's been demonized to be during the past 70 years. All that "Just say no" crap and "Reefer Madness" videos from the 50s are pure propaganda. Pot doesn't make you go insane like those ridiculous old black and white films they showed in health classes in school. I doesn't belong in the class of hard drugs with cocaine, crack, meth and heroin. It belongs in the same class as alcohol despite it being less of a problem for society than booze.

In other news, a recent poll in my home state of Colorado shows that a majority supports legalizing marijuana.

~The Green Man has Spoken~