Your heart is pounding, beads of sweat run down your face. You glance in your rear view mirror to find the flashing blue lights still behind you. Your pitch black eyes dart from right to left, then you finally decide to make a break for it. Your foot smashes the break petal into the floor as your car speeds down the highway. You think, should I throw this bag of weed out the window? Should I try to hide it? Your mind races to give you an answer, but all you receive is blank thoughts.

I have personally never been in this type of situation, but I have a feeling that this is what would be happening to the “criminal” in the car. So many times young teens and adults fall victim to the preying eyes of the police. There only crime? Pleasurably smoking a harmless substance known as marijuana, or more commonly, weed. What is the big deal about individuals using such a thing? Yes, in the start of using weed, you do act a bit funky and tend to be more silly than usual, but after some use of this product, it becomes accustom to you and then turns into a harmless relaxant. For many people, weed can reduce stress, help with pain, calm or ease an individual or just make someone’s day better. Weed does not cause car crashes or accidents like alcohol would, if you ration your using limits. Getting completely stoned and being useless is one thing, and there would be no issue with it if people would stay home and party while they were. I guarantee that smoking weed would be much safer or the same compared to drinking. When you drink, your whole mind loses control over decisions and perception. Smoking weed however just makes you silly, not out of control. Sure, you might act stupid or say some weird things, but you are still able to function when needed. My point is, if the government will allow its citizens to become extremely drunk at home, why can’t individuals become extremely baked at home? It makes 0% sense to me. Buying weed can cost the same as buying alcohol, so expense is the same. In the United States, more than 17,000 people fall victim to drunk driving accidents, where accidents caused by smoking marijuana is much less common.

So here is my question: why should people be allowed to buy alcohol and get intoxicated, but are restricted from smoking herb? If smoking, buying and selling marijuana was legalized, there would be less crime, less conflicts and more proactive behavior among users. It would be less of a threat, making it just another recreational pleasure for those who choose to use it. I believe that our government should think long and hard about legalizing marijuana across the United States. What do we have to lose?