The Blunt Truth

The first legal retail marijuana establishments opened in the state of Colorado on New Year’s Day. Although this seems to be a shocking turn of events, let’s look at the facts. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the CNN chief medical correspondent, has told us that he himself has been systematically misled on the health effects of marijuana. Not a single person has ever died from marijuana overdose. From Bill Clinton’s “I didn't inhale it” through George W. Bush’s ‘I was young and foolish” to Barack Obama’s teen years in the Choom Gang, the last three Presidents of this nation have more or less owned up to breaking America's drug laws.On December 10, 2013, Uruguay became the first nation to legalize marijuana countrywide. And as of now, more than 53 percent of Americans are in favor of legalizing marijuana. Possession of marijuana is even legal in North Korea.So are those fighting against legalization really fighting marijuana… or are they fighting reality?The hyperbolic claims of the dangers of cannabis are being ignored by a justifiably cynical public as it becomes more and more educated about cannabis itself. Americans sixty-five years and older seem to disagree…, as over 70 percent of them favor maintaining criminalization. But perhaps this is because these people have lived in the days when everyone’s fears were based upon spewed racist ideas and the movie Reefer Madness. We now know that marijuana is far less addictive and harmful to our bodies than tobacco or alcohol, both of which are currently legal, and that marijuana can help improve the conditions of those with severe health impairments. Anti-marijuana propaganda can no longer stop the progression of legalization; their voices will become hoarse while screaming about the falling sky.However, the issue of marijuana legalization has much more sophisticated tensions than the action of smoking weed and its mythical health side effects. Millions of Americans have been arrested for nonviolent crimes, and for the past 45 years, we have spent up to $1.5 trillion on drug control. But even with all this effort, the addiction rate has not changed since the 70’s.Furthermore, a disproportionate number of African Americans and Latinos are arrested for marijuana in comparison to the actual number of people who possess the substance. Aside from this racism, there are fears that merchants will sell to children, whose productivity and emotions have been shown to be adversely affected by marijuana. Storeowners and clerks who legally sell booze and cigarettes are not allowed to sell to children, and neither will marijuana shop owners.And for those who are worried about the black market, polls report that most high school students think it is easier to obtain illegal drugs than alcohol or tobacco. The legalization and regulation of marijuana, along with proper taxation can only result in the overall lowering of usage. As seen in Colorado, the black market has already deflated because of falling prices. More significantly, this declining market will make the drug less accessible to teens and young adults, the only group whom it really affects negatively.Marijuana is a plant, that when smoked or healthily vaporized, has no strong physiological addiction. It is a drug that, when given to a girl with cerebral palsy, removed her stutter and bodily pains. It is a substance that will remain only purchasable to adults and away from our youth.This is the beginning of an escape, an escape from nearly a century of criminalization, all started by a racist named William Randolph Hearst, who slandered hemp plants in favor of his own timber industry. As more and more Americans begin to show that they are in favor of legalization, the rest of the world will surely follow. The research, the numbers, the scientific facts and the morals have justified the legalization of marijuana. In the words of Sojourner Truth: “Reality is powerful. And it always prevails."