For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, a bill has been introduced before the House of Representatives which would decriminalize Marijuana and eliminate Federal prosecution against those who use or possess it for personal use.

Have you ever found yourself caught in a debate which seemed so obvious as to be ridiculous, and yet? The viral insanity with which our government has rabidly pursued its own people, largely a demographic of hard-working, taxpaying citizens, over something as innocuous as a plant seems so laughable as to be incomprehensible.

Arguments are made about how marijuana depresses. Or demotivates. Or causes the user to appear in a trance-like state of beingness. Actually, most of the symptoms used to justify the war against marijuana are not much different than those caused from watching too much TV.

I take that back - pot smokers are generally among the more alert.

For the record, I'm not a marijuana smoker. But I am a conscientious woman who has had more than enough of watching decent people camped into the same drug genre as heroin and cocaine. I'm a mother who has seen sons and daughters arrested and gifted with a life sentence of 'criminal' for the want of a little herb. I am not a 'drug advocate', but an advocate of the rights of humans to indulge their sense if and when they seey fit, and without harm to others. And an advocate against laws that criminalize vice by using lies to perpetuate fear in order to control the masses. Nuff said.

And let us also not alienate the serious profits that could be garnered for our economy if we were to invest in the production of hemp alone, an absolutely miraculous crop that could replace ethanol, the sustainable, biodegradable and non-toxic (not to mention financially unbelievable) details of which can be found here and here . Add marijuana taxes to the (ahem) 'pot', and I see the end of the oncoming recession, and painlessly! Toruism skyrockets, new jobs and businesses are created and the prisons can revert back to housing rapists, murderers and thieves. But I digress.

The bill, H.R. 5843, also known as Act to Remove Federal Penalties for the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults is now in the first step of the legislative process and has been referred to the House Judiciary.

Note that, again, this is not advocating Marijuana use or the illicit sale of it, but simply removing prosecution of those who choose to use it privately. Marijuana is a plant. It's insidious to believe that in this day and age of culture and sociological enlightenment that we have actually criminalized something that is a not only a natural growing thing of the earth, but an extremely beneficial one.

So beneficial that our forefathers saw fit to penalize anyone not growing it!

Truly a wonderous and very wrongly demonized herb.

What You Must Do

Drop the pipe and contact your representative immediately and urge him/her to support this legislation. NORML, the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws, has a convenient form to fill out here.

No, seriously. Before you stumble one more page.


Lisbeth Cheever-Gessaman