On Sept. 7, 2007, Danny Danko wrote in the magazine "High Times" that he believed marijuana should be legalized. He has made some very good points during his article, but I think other points, against the legalization, should be considered as well.
One of his reasons he believed that marijuana should be legalized was he believed that so many people smoked marijuana already that it should just be legalized. He stated that people are going to keep breaking this law and nothing is going to change. Seeing how he believed this, he thought that since the law will keep getting broken, that the best thing to do would be to legalize it.
Well, I have to say that I strongly disagree. Just because a lot of people use it does not mean it is OK. Laws should not be changed just because people keep breaking them.
He also stated that in New York City, most people getting caught with marijuana were African-Americans and Hispanics, feeding into the card that he felt would cause people to believe they are targeted. Well, I also disagree with that. The 2011 U.S census stated that 27.6 percent of New Yorkers were of Hispanic descent while 29.2 percent were of African-American decent. If you add that up, more than 50 percent of New York’s population is African-American and Hispanic, making it easy to see how they are more likely to get caught with marijuana, because there are more of their ethnicity than Caucasian.
I do agree with him that making the drug legal would reduce the want to use among teenagers and actually reduce their exposure to worse drugs in the illegal market. I also agree that the legalization would help with the value of hemp because citizens could start legally growing the valuable plant.
However, Danko claims that marijuana is safer than alcohol, but has he proved that theory? It seems like that is just his opinion. I do not believe that marijuana is better for you than alcohol. People who can consume alcohol in moderation and not abuse it are not putting themselves in any more danger than they would smoking. I also believe that once you have developed your tolerance to marijuana, you are more likely to move onto bigger drugs. So Danko saying that it is better and safer is really just an opinion.
Based on this article, I have not been persuaded to agree that marijuana should be legalized; it has just reinforced my thinking that it should be outlawed and more serious consequences should be put forth.
Kelly Hill
Milford